Inevitably, when one team – any team – sweeps another in a season and plays it again in playoffs, the same cliché is going to invoked.
It’s hard to beat a team three times.
When region rivals play the second time, particularly when the first one was close, it’s said that it’s hard to beat a good team twice.
It’s true. In the case of the Clinton Red Devils, who are playing the Eau Claire Shamrocks on Tuesday for the third time in the Class 2A Upstate finals, it’s a familiar scenario.
“We need to be the tougher team, both mentally and physically,” said Clinton head coach John Gardner.

Clinton (23-5) just defeated Fairfield Central for the third time, which is why it finds itself at Florence Center on Tuesday at 6 p.m., playing for a shot at the state title.
The final four teams in the Upstate bracket – Clinton, Fairfield Central, Eau Claire and Mid-Carolina – were all from Region 3-2A. Clinton was 10-0 in the regular season against its region foes.
“That’s got to be rare,” Gardner said. “Eau Claire is another team we’ve got to beat three games, and that’s not going to be easy, either.”

The earlier games against Eau Claire (18-8, 7-3) were back-to-back early last month. The Red Devils defeated the Shamrocks, 36-28, on Feb. 6, and, 34-31, on Feb. 7.
Riding an eight-game win streak, Clinton defeated Fairfield Central, 40-30, to reach Florence and the 10,000-seat arena where the S.C. High School League conducts its final fours in all classifications: A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A Div. 1 and 5A Div. 2.
While the Red Devils were eliminating the Griffins, the Shamrocks were dispatching Mid-Carolina, 54-43.
Bryanna Belton, Clinton’s energetic senior, led a balanced attack with 14 points and nine rebounds. Ry’Daijia Mars added nine and five.

Eau Claire has won five in a row. The Shamrocks’ Destinee Tiller scored 19 points against Clinton in their most recent matchup. Eau Claire has swept past Ninety Six, Blacksburg and Mid-Carolina while Clinton was vanquishing Liberty, Landrum and Fairfield Central.
Meanwhile, Andrew Jackson (26-3) faces Lake City (17-7) in the Low Country finals. The state championship is to be played on Saturday at noon.

Presbyterian salvaged a baseball series split with Eastern Michigan on Sunday, winning 10-9 in walk-off that was dramatic, as all walk-offs are.

Mikah Conner led off the ninth inning with a base hit, then stole second and third. Rhogue Wallace drew a walk and stole second, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Cam Mallo then came through in the clutch, lifting a sacrifice fly to right field to score Conner, knotting the game at 9-9.

A wild pitch allowed Wallace to dash home, sealing the Eagles of Ypsilanti’s fate.
Eastern Michigan (5-5) once led 6-3 and lost in spite of outhitting Presbyterian (6-6), 12-9. The Blue Hose won despite committing three errors.
Ryan Ouzts went 3/4 for the Hose, belting his second home run of the season. Brody Linker’s seventh-inning, two-run bomb marked his first of the season.

Devan Zirwas wielded the bat best for EMU, going 3/5 with his first home run of the season.
Jacob Fields (2-0), the fifth PC hurler, gave up a run in 1-1/3 innings. Nick Keane (0-1) took the loss.
Presbyterian remains at home to face Wofford on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
PC (1-3) pounded Delaware State (0-5) in lacrosse, 18-6, on Sunday.
In the Blue Hose’ highest goal count since 2016, freshman Emily Currie scored seven times, the highest output ever for a PC freshman. Senior Willow Hammond added three goals.

Next up in the third of six straight home games for the Blue Hose is a visit from Mercyhurst on Tuesday at 4.
Words can ill express my appreciation for the assistance I’ve been getting from lifelong friends and acquaintances in regard to my recent health struggles. I am deeply touched at the concern of people I’ve known for most of my life.
The coming months will bring more change, and I don’t know yet what shape it will take.

From time to time, I have thought it a shame that people don’t often know what others think of them while they are alive. I’ve had a rough go of it recently, but I know that others respect, appreciate and support me.
Thanks for reading my stories, overlooking my flaws and indulging our differences.
My books, most of them fiction, are available at Amazon and on other bookseller sites. I’ve written two novels about stock-car racing, Lightning in a Bottle, and the sequel, Life Gets Complicated, both about fictional young driver Barrie Jarman.
Thanks for putting up with me.