By MONTE DUTTON

Clinton claimed the Laurens County championship in softball by defeating Laurens, 22-6, on Wednesday evening.

The Red Devils won the first game between the rivals, 7-2, on March 14.

Third baseman Kamryn Campell went 5/5 with base hits in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth innings. She drove in four runs and scored five.

The Red Devils (6-8) broke the game open with seven runs in the third inning. Halleigh Luke tripled, Campbell laid down a sacrifice bunt, Alyssa Young singled and Cat Wilkie tripled.

Laurens (6-6) scored five of its six runs in the second inning; The highlight was Carly Edwards’ three-run triple. Thus was the Clinton margin briefly reduced to 7-5.

Winning pitcher Me-Me Smith struck out five and walked two. None of the six runs charged her was earned. She and Wilkie each had four of the Red Devils’ 22 hits.

The Raiders had four hits, one each by Zealy Martin, Edwards, Ashlyn Messer and Myleigh Robertson.

Summer Nations took the loss. Martin pitched the final three innings.

All was not lost for the Raiders, whose baseball team defeated Emerald, 15-10, in Greenwood.

Laurens (8-5, 6-2 Region 1-4A) scored in every inning but the second but trailed 6-5 after three. Second baseman Zay Pulley rapped three singles in five at-bats, scoring three runs and driving in three.

Five other Raiders – Ben Willis, Logan Martin, Coleman Coker, Tristan Buzbee and Jireh Brown – each had two hits. Martin, Willis and Buzbee doubled. Willis tripled. Laurens amassed 15 hits.

Noah Hughes started, but Connor Rice received credit for the win with 3-1/3 innings of relief.

Laurens stole eight bases, including two apiece by Coker, Brown and Pulley.

Aaron Polly drove in three runs for Emerald (5-8, 1-3). Tucker Meredith went 2/3 at the plate.

Finn Howard took the loss.

On Sunday afternoon, the Presbyterian College competitive cheer team will perform a sneak preview of the upcoming National Championships routine at Templeton Center, beginning at 4 p.m.

The NCAA National Championship competition is scheduled for Thursday, April 10 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Health update: I still have to be careful regarding my abdomen and the emergency surgery of Jan. 2, but things continue to get better. For instance, I’ve stopped having to go to the bathroom during the night.

On the other hand, I have vivid dreams, usually on a specific subject. All last night, I was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It involved getting from one place to another in my present condition. In order to get out of the sprawling place, last night I left a golf cart abandoned, and I awakened thinking an old friend was really going to be angry. Then, once I climbed out of bed and got my bearings straight, I felt better once I realized it was just a dream, and there was no need to call my friend and apologize. This happens almost every morning.

On Wednesday, as is my habit, I was reading a book at a local establishment while waiting for my food. A fellow sitting next to me informed me that he had read every single book in the local library. I said, well, that’s nice. He went on to tell me he was a speed reader.

Then I made the mistake of asking him who his favorite writer was, and he said that he liked them all. Okay. From that point on, his goal seemed to be talking non-stop so that it was difficult for me to read. It considerably hindered the speed of my reading, but I didn’t want to encourage him, so I didn’t say anything.

Laurens District 55 High School is one of few sports venues where a fan can go to a softball game to hear John Wayne and George Jones.

Before every Raider home game, Wayne leads the Pledge of Allegiance and Jones sings the national anthem.

At LDHS, The Duke and The Possum live. Personally, I think this, like love, is a many splendored thing.

Another of my favorite things about Laurens baseball and softball games is the hot dogs.

Buy my books. A lot of them are on Amazon. Most of them are fiction. This website satisfies my need for real life.

Crazy of Natural Causes is about a coach who is nearly killed in an automobile accident, gets religion and finds out there’s not much religion in those who preach it for money. Forgive Us Our Trespasses is a tale of small-town corruption.

Lightning in a Bottle and Life Gets Complicated are about rebellious stock car racer Barrie Jarman.