By MONTE DUTTON

I’ve seen a lot of celebrations.

This spring the most uncontrolled was when the Clinton High baseball team won its region for the third straight year. The Red Devils attempted to build a skyscraper in the infield grass. It was a human pyramid without order and support.

Laurens hasn’t rejoiced with quite the same reckless abandon, but, then again, the Raiders are still playing. Their biggest celebration may be yet to come.

I don’t think anyone at PC dirtied their uniforms after the hustling Hose won the Big South regular-season title for the first time ever. That alone won’t get Presbyterian College into the NCAAs, but a tournament starts Thursday to determine that.

The college kids are a bit more concerned with surviving to play another day. They’ll sacrifice their bodies on the basepaths. Plus, the rain had stopped, but it wasn’t far away.

Me? I knocked out most of the photos in the first game and really did what I seldom do, which was enjoy the games. After the Blue Hose won the first game, and word arrived that Gardner-Webb had upset High Point, they just needed a win in the finale and the Big South was theirs … so far.

I skipped out to Fiesta Grande for a No. 26 (chicken burrito), ran into a musician friend and talked about music, politics and whatever else came to mind, for too long. I took my time, and when I returned to Elton Pollock Field, two innings of game two were in the books.

I sat in the stands talking baseball (Kluszewski, Campanella, The Man and Bobby Feller) with a scout, trading quips with a couple Blue Hose fans I see all the time, Irby and Fran Hipp, and a PC professor with whom I attended high school. Fran, a librarian by trade, and I even talked about the decline of the Dewey Decimal System for a while.

Then the drizzle turned to rain, and most of us retired somewhere, me to the awning in front of the concession stand, which was closing down, where sports talk ensued with John Clayton and Harold Nichols.

We rummaged through the proverbial grapevine.

The weather was briefly frightful, but the talk was so delightful.

It reminded me of the time four of us went out to dinner near a NASCAR track. One scribe brought his daughter along. After listening to us tell tales of whales, she looked up and said, “Daddy, y’all are meaner than you write.”

Aw, we mean well.

After the rain stopped and so did the doubleheader, John and I went to the field and watched everyone celebrating, then interviewed three players, taking turns, and head coach Elton Pollock.

The Presbyterians are such nice kids. Joel Dragoo loves to talk hitting. No surprise there. Daniel Eagen, who had pitched 8-2/3 innings of no-hit ball the night before, was as bold as his fastball. Charlie McDaniel was diligent and tactful in his answers.

Pollock was as he quintessentially is. Boundless enthusiasm. Work ethic. Every season is making the best of what he has. This could be the best of his best.

The Big South Championship, which is what the conference calls its tournament, is not at High Point’s campus diamond, but at the North Carolina city’s minor-league park, Truist Point, home of the High Point Rockers. Once upon a time, the team was called the Hi-Toms for the towns of High Point and Thomasville.

One truism of baseball is that lots of parks are named for Truist. I’ve always preferred a truist to a falsist.

Presbyterian (29-25) hasn’t been more than four games above .500 since the first series of the season. The Blue Hose went 18-6 in conference games and 11-19 in all the rest. The Big South doesn’t provide opposition like Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia and Georgia Tech.

The best road to the NCAA tournament involves Eagen blowing Charleston Southern away on Thursday, then McDaniel taking down the High Point or USC Upstate on Friday to keep the Blue Hose in the winner’s bracket and give them a loss to spare.

A tournament seldom goes according to plan, or else every team would win it. High Point handed PC three of its six Big South setbacks, and while it’s not at the Panthers’ home park, it is their hometown.

PC won its last seven conference games.

Laurens High (27-6) kicks off its bid for the Class 4A state title at James Island (27-3-1) on Monday, then hosts the Trojans at Ed Prescott Field on Wednesday. The games are to start at 6:30 p.m.

James Island dispatched North Myrtle Beach in the Low Country title series, 13-2 and 12-2, after losing, 7-1, to the Chiefs in game one.

While James Island was playing in three blowouts, winning the final two, Laurens needed just two games to oust Easley, both in dramatic fashion, 3-2 and 7-6. The Raiders swept Easley, but not easily.

The day was solid. I went home, rummaged through the photos, wrote the story, posted it, occasionally watched the Indiana Pacers wreaking havoc on the New York Knicks, and, sleepless, watched a tape of Thursday’s Law and Order in the wee hours of Saturday.

Decision time is approaching. What’s next? Do I keep doing it the way I am now? Do I amend this site? Do I continue to concentrate on local sports coverage, or do I change my priorities?

I’m thinking. I’m thinking.

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