By MONTE DUTTON

Three Clinton pitchers – Isaac Cane, Jaydon Glenn and Camden Finley – combined for a three-hit shutout, and the Red Devils completed a sweep of Chester by a score of 10-0 on Friday night in the home valley.

None of the three – Cane pitched the first two innings, Glenn the next two, and Finley the final one – yielded a walk until Clinton (8-4, 2-2 Region 3-2A) reached double digits, ending the game.

The Red Devils ran Chester (7-2, 2-2) to distraction, stealing six bases and taking advantage of four Cyclone errors. Clinton followed up a 14-0 shutout on the road Tuesday with a 10-run outburst.

Left fielder Brett Young and first baseman Tanner Finley (who stole three bases) each had two of the Red Devils’ nine hits. Angel Vargas and Jared Willard each laced doubles.

The Red Devils opened the region schedule with a pair of losses to powerful Mid-Carolina (10-3, 4-0) but won this week’s three games by a combined score of 36-5.

“We took some tough losses, had some growing pains we had to go through and had to figure out what it takes to compete at a high level,” head coach Peyton Spangler said. “We played some good teams. You have to give them credit. They took advantage of opportunities when we made mistakes.

“We’ve cleaned up some of those mistakes, still made a bunch tonight, but, overall, we’re pretty happy with the performance on the mound. We threw strikes, no matter who we put out there. When you have that kind of tempo on the mound, it makes it a little easier to play defense.”

Clinton played errorless ball.

“We’re starting to become a true team,” Spangler concluded.

Vargas’ RBI double put the Red Devils on top in the second inning.

Tanner Finley’s steal of home, coupled with two Chester errors, allowed Clinton to add four runs in the third. The Red Devils put the Cyclones away with three more runs in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Spangler will undoubtedly caution his team against taking its next opponent, Columbia, lightly, but that will be difficult. The Capitals, whose girls’ basketball team lost a game to Clinton 50-5, lost to Dreher on Wednesday by a score of 39-1.

With the exception of one, the 0-10 Capitals have given up double digits in runs in every game. Clinton travels to the capital city on Tuesday and hosts Columbia on Friday.

Presbyterian College remained hot, opening a Big South Series in Asheville with an 8-3 conquest of UNCA on Friday.

The Blue Hose (13-14, 5-2) never trailed after right fielder Amman Dewberry cracked a two-run homer in a three-run first inning.

Tyrell Williams (1-1) pitched seven strong innings, allowing only one earned run and three hits, with a walk and two strikeouts.

Dewberry’s homer was his third, and later, PC polished off the Bulldogs with four runs in the top of the ninth. Trey Fenderson, Ryan Ouzts and Eli Lazio each had two hits. Fenderson, Lazio and Brody Linker all ripped doubles.

Closer Jacob Fields gave up two hits in the ninth but struck out the other three batters he faced.

Nick Bruno (0-1), the UNCA starter, took the loss. Third baseman Patrick Gillen and left fielder Blaize Johnson each had two hits for UNC Asheville (9-17, 2-5), which hosts PC again on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at noon. The Blue Hose enter the twinbill with four victories in their last five games.

In Region 1-4A, the standard format is three games a week. Laurens (6-5, 4-2) has won two games in both such series thus far but fell on Friday night, 4-1, in Piedmont to Wren, which it had defeated on Monday and Wednesday.

The Hurricanes’ Austin Vinson quieted the Raiders with a complete game on the hill, limiting them to one hit and one walk, with one strikeout.

Catcher Bennett Edwards’ solo homer was the only Laurens hit.

Ryland Paxton took the loss, allowing four hits but seven walks in 4-2/3 innings. He fanned five.

Six different players accounted for the Hurricanes’ six hits, all singles.

The Raiders travel to Greenwood to take on Emerald Monday, then play the Vikings at home on Wednesday and back on the road Friday.

The Green Upstate Owls managed an 11-8 victory over Thornwell (3-8) on Friday, despite three doubles by Saints center fielder Parker Workman.

Thornwell couldn’t overcome a 5-0 deficit after two innings, though they were within a run when the Owls put up five runs in the sixth.

Sam Robertson took the loss, though only four of the eight runs charged him in five innings were earned. Thornwell committed six errors, Green four. Robertson also collected two hits.

The first three batters in the Owls’ order – Corbin Little, Landyn Simmons and Mikael Collins – combined for seven hits, seven runs and five RBI. Green stole 15 bases in 17 attempts.

Elly Meeks was the winning pitcher.

Ware Shoals visits Thornwell on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Oakbrook Prep (13-0) clobbered Laurens Academy, 24-1, on Friday.

Mason Cooper was 2/2 for the Crusaders (3-4), and Evan Asalone drove in the only run.

Dallas Collins and Sam Hatcher each had three of the Knights’ 13 hits.

Oakbrook scored at least two runs in each of the five innings played, finishing off LA with nine in its final at-bat.

Clinton boys’ tennis remained unbeaten with a 6-0 Region 3-2A victory over Mid-Carolina.

Clovis Simmons’ Red Devils return to action at Woodruff on Wednesday.

# 1 Singles Nathan Meade defeated Gavin Thornhill 6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 2 Singles Edwin Orr defeated defeated Kason Spells 6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 3 Singles Jacob King defeated Lyon Abraham 6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 4 Singles Matthew King defeated Alex Bunce 6 – 0, 6 – 0

The Red Devils traveled to Newberry and returned with a 17-4 softball conquest of the Bulldogs on Thursday.

It wasn’t much of a tussle after Clinton (4-7) opened the game with eight runs in the first inning. Cat Wilkie highlighted the rally with a three-run double, and Sierra Templeton drove in two of the runs with a single.

After scoring single runs in the second and third, the Red Devils added seven runs in the fourth. That eruption included a two-run triple off the bat of Taylor Davis.

Templeton pitched all the way in the game, shortened to five innings by a 10-run rule. She never issued a walk, giving up four unearned runs and six hits, striking out six.

Davis, Micah Snelgrove, Wilkie and Kamryn Campbell each provided three of the Red Devils’ 20 hits.

Clinton amassed seven stolen bases, two apiece by Campbell, Snelgrove and Sophia Sullivan.

Abbeville defeated Thornwell, 12-2, on Friday.

Thornwell (4-3), led by Karleigh Porter with two hits, scored its two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Panthers responded with two of their own, followed by four in the second, three in the third and three in the fifth.

The Saints host Emerald on Monday at 4:30.

An old sitcom of my youth, Petticoat Junction, had a theme song that included, “That’s Uncle Joe, he’s a-moving kinda slow, at the Junction.”

As I make my appearances at local baseball games, I can relate.

But I’m walking, getting better all the time, but as with my gait, slowly.

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Cowboys Come Home is about two Texans who return home from World War II hoping in vain for their lives to return to normal.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a tale of political conspiracy and corruption set in the present.

The Latter Days is about an aging scout who discovers a baseball prospect he takes under his wing.