Tuesday’s Laurens-Clinton baseball game was about the same speed as Monday’s.

The Raiders’ center fielder, Jireh Brown, was the speediest in a 7-1 victory, one day after a 5-0 triumph in Laurens.

Brown singled four times, one on a bunt, in as many at-bats. He scored three runs. Following the pattern established in Monday’s 5-0 win, the Raiders broke on top – four runs in the second inning – and gradually pulled away.

They also played sounder baseball, taking considerable advantage of four Clinton errors.

Ben Willis afforded the Red Devils numerous opportunities – eight hits, three walks, a hit batter – on which they couldn’t capitalize. Willis struck out nine. Three of them put innings to bed.

Laurens (11-8) led 6-0 before Clinton (11-6) scratched across a run in the bottom of the fourth, scored by Angel Vargas, courtesy running for catcher Luke Young, on Rhett Gilliam’s sacrifice fly. Luke Young was the only Clinton batter with two hits. His brother, Brett, was the only player for either team with an extra-base hit, a double.

Second baseman Zay Pulley and shortstop Brayden Patterson each had two of the Raiders’ 10 hits. Tristan Buzbee drove in a pair.

Tanner Finley took the loss, yielding eight hits, seven runs (four earned), a walk and two hit batters. He struck out two in 4-1/3 innings. Isaac Cane toiled the rest of the way, producing four strikeouts.

In Due West, it wasn’t much of a game after Dixie scored 11 runs in the first inning en route to a 16-1 decision over Thornwell Charter.

The Hornets added three more runs in the second and two in the third, and that was it.

The Saints scratched across a run in the second on a balk.

In spite of a record-tying three doubles by third baseman Matthew Rollison, Western Carolina managed to hold off the Blue Hose, 9-7, at Elton Pollock Field on Tuesday.

Rollison was 4/5. Rhogue Wallace homered for Presbyterian (16-19).

Trent Turner, Josh Ossiander and Trey Spees all hammered bombs for the Catamounts (17-19).

Thirteen pitchers saw action in the game. Carter Burnette (2-0) was declared the winner. Mason McDaniel (1-1) took the loss.

Quinton Ferrell has added Sam Houston (Texas) transfer Erik Taylor, a 6-1 guard from Orlando, Fla., to his men’s basketball program.
Taylor had four double-figure scoring nights, though averaging only 3.1 points for the Bearkats.

PC finished seventh in the Big South women’s golf tournament, played at Ocean Creek on Fripp Island.

Sarah Boteller tied for 11^th, shooting 231 (+15).

Charleston Southern won the tournament at 914. High Point’s Julia McLaughlin (+4) was the individual winner.

Clinton’s soccer teams got little resistance from Fairfield Central.

The boys swept past the Griffins ,13-1 and 4-0. Freshman Gray Garrett scored three times in the latter match.

Senior Erin Donley also provided three goals for the girls’ team, which won 7-0 and 12-0.

The boys are 4-4 in Region 3-2A. The girls are 5-3.

The Winnsboro school was no match for the Red Devils in softball, either. Clinton swept a doubleheader, 5-0 and 15-0.

Me-Me Smith pitched a one-hitter in the former game and a two-hitter in the latter.

In the opener, Taylor Davis scored three runs, and Kamryn Campbell drove in three.

Alyssa Young led the batters in the nightcap. She was 2/2, scoring thrice and driving in twice. Cat Wilkie, who, like Young, tripled, had three RBI. Clinton is 10-8, 4-4 in region, and has won six games in a row.

I really enjoyed a lousy movie on Tuesday night. In fact, I put off writing this story and assembling photo galleries from Laurens-Clinton for it. The flick was after Coal Miner’s Daughter, a splendid piece of work starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn, and was called Road to Nashville, starring Marty Robbins, Connie Smith and everybody in country music who was anybody in the 1960s.

Robbins and Smith are two of the finest singers country music has ever produced, but it was basically an almost plotless tale of a dim-witted Hollywood emissary – surely you remember “Doodles” Weaver – attempting to sign country stars to appear in a movie, which this became.

I love country music – old country music, in particular – so I enjoyed seeing a young Ralph Emery introduce singers like Lefty Frizzell doing “I Love You a Thousand Ways,” Hank Snow’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” and Robbins’ “El Paso.”

I like stupid movies about music and auto racing. Can you say Elvis Presley? They are guilty pleasures.

What can I do to get you to sample my fiction? How about a cheap sample of short stories, Longer Songs? The stories all originated in songs I’ve written. It’s been a few years since I published it. Not too long ago, I read it – before that, I merely wrote it – and, amazingly, I still thought it was pretty good. Remember, most people don’t write crap on purpose.

Most of my books are available on Amazon.