By MONTE DUTTON

It’s all busy work, mostly thankless.

Thanks to staking out Laurens County as part of my territory, I’m aware of the importance of baseball.

It’s big. Clinton won the state title in Class 3A last year. An inexperienced team is getting better by the week and still has a shot at a third straight region championship.

Laurens looked up its Class 4A top region seed last night.

Presbyterian College is in contention for the Big South championship.

Football and basketball draw more fans but not more interest, at least not proportionally.

I have concluded that more fans follow football and basketball, but more will read about baseball.

I’m a writer. You do the math.

This is, of course, not the case at Furman.

I’m undeniably biased. I had some great times traveling with the diamond Paladins decades ago. It was something of a cross between Bingo Long’s Traveling All-Stars and an overlooked HBO flick, Long Gone.

My heart aches and not because I’m getting old.

I dream of baseball’s return, not to mention Jeannie with the light-brown hair. If Jeannie shows up in the baseball dream, all the better.

The lacrosse joust between Furman Paladins and Longwood Lancers, who would seem figuratively to be similar, the Paladins prevailed, 17-16, on the Lancers’ home grounds.

Hannah Dintino’s goal with 14 seconds remaining in regulation lifted Furman in Big South play at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
Furman (7-8, 5-1) fell behind 5-2 in the first quarter.

Dintino, who became the Paladins’ all-time leading goal scorer, netted the game-winner off Sophie Shaw’s fourth assist.

The Paladins opened the second half scoring five consecutive goals from Dintino, Shaw, and Reynolds Hester to take its largest lead of the game, 13-10, at the 5:12 mark of the third quarter.

Longwood (7-8, 4-2) answered by tying the game at 14-14 less than four minutes into the fourth quarter until Furman answered with goals from Shaw and Anna Roser to give it a 16-14 advantage just over two minutes later.
The Lancers tied the game again, 16-16, with 2:08 remaining in the contest when Riley McDonald, who finished with a game-high 10 points for Longwood, evened the score with her seventh goal of the night. The Lancers had forced the Paladins into a turnover with less than a minute to go in regulation before Sousa forced her second of the match, leading to Dintino’s game-winning goal.

Queens swept a twinbill, 5-1 and 4-3, over the softball team in Charlotte, N.C.

Royals righthander Autumn Courtney (16-7) tossed a complete game and fanned seven batters to power Queens in the opener. The sophomore held Furman to a run on three hits over seven innings.

The Royals took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as three of the first four batters earned walks. An error, passed ball, and fielder’s choice helped Queens get on the board first before starter Emme Buzhardt escaped the jam.

Furman halved the lead in the top of the third inning. Ashlee Lykins was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a grounder and stole third before scoring on Sylvia Burrough’s two-out, RBI single to left field.

Buzhardt (2-4) suffered the loss for the Paladins. She limited Queens to one earned run on two hits over four innings but allowed five walks.

Ashlyn Mickler went 2/2 at the plate with a walk and scored three runs for Queens.

The first inning struggles continued in game two as Mickler worked a four-pitch walk to start the game and moved to second base on an error. Furman starter Sierra Tufts retired the next two batters, but Haley Nelson lined a two-out single down the right-field line to stake the Royals to a 2-0 lead.

Kiley Perry and Hannah Poole set the table for Furman in the top of the second and the Paladins got on the board when Chloe Fabio legged out an infield single. The Paladins evened the game an inning later. After Burroughs and Ansley Chiang reached on one-out singles, Kiley Perry bounced a ball up the middle that was misplayed allowing the tying run to score.

Queens regained control of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Mickler drew a leadoff walk ahead of back-to-back singles from Smith and Kasidi Staley that put the Royals in front 3-2. A squeeze bunt extended the lead to 4-2 before Tufts escaped further damage by starting a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat.

In the top of the seventh, Burroughs led off the frame with a single but pinch-runner Charlotte Brooks was called out for leaving first base early. Perry kept Furman’s hopes alive with a two-out single and Hannah Poole followed with an RBI double off the left field wall to cut the deficit to 4-3. Queens (21-20) went to the bullpen, and reliever Jordan Dunn struck out Hana Hashioka with the tying run on second base to end the game.

Abby Craver (3-5) earned the win, limiting Furman to three runs on eight hits over 6-2/3 innings.

Tufts (8-8) limited the Royals to three hits over five innings, but the senior walked six batters and allowed four runs.

Burroughs, Perry and Poole each went 2/4 at the plate for the Paladins in the nightcap.

Furman (19-25) returns to SoCon play this weekend with its first series versus the Wofford Terriers. The Paladins and Terriers play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday at Pepsi Stadium before concluding the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

An Upstate standout highlights a pair of recruits who signed with Furman’s women’s basketball program.

Raina McGowens, a 5- 10, two-time all-state guard from nearby Wren High School, is joined by 5-10 forward Hilary Englert from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., as the latest additions to Pierre Curtis’s Paladins.

McGowens, who played for her mother, Pam McGowens, averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 3.3 steals as Wren achieved a state runner-up finish.

She completed her career at Wren with a school record 2,268 points, 718 rebounds, 501 assists, and 385 steals.

Englert played high school ball at Bolles School, where she was a three-year starter and averaged eight points and seven rebounds per game while helping lead her squad to a 19-9 season and third consecutive region semifinal finish this past season.

Furman’s three November signees were guard Samaria Taylor from Knoxville, Tenn./Fulton High School, Clare Coyle, forward from Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny High School, and forward Chantelle Stuart from Ontario, Canada/Crestwood Prep.

Furman’s Maeve Thornton is Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Year, and the Paladins had five other players earn postseason accolades.

Junior Sara Snyder was selected to the All-SoCon first team for singles, while junior Ellie Schulson and freshman Macy Hitchcock were named to the first team for doubles. Junior Grace Thomas and junior Marissa Pennings were on the second team.

In doubles, Furman captured second-team citations Jess Dawson-Snyder filling and Thornton-Thomas.

Both Thornton and Hitchcock were named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.

Three men’s tennis players made All-SoCon.
Junior Elijah Poritzky was selected first team in singles. Sophomore Thomas Kennedy made the second team.

Kennedy and Poritzky were second team for doubles. Freshman Walker Allen was named to the All-Freshman team.

Anna Morgan is SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week as the Spartanburg senior won the league’s individual women’s golf title for the second straight year.

Morgan averages 69.63 strokes per round this year, the lowest in school history, and holds a 3.59 GPA majoring in politics and international affairs.

Megan Marvin is SoCon women’s outdoor track and athlete of the week.

A senior from Chapel Hill, N.C., Morgan competed at the Electric City Invitational in Anderson, S.C., where she won the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.44, which leads the league this season.  She also finished fifth in the mile with a time of 4:55.28.

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