Laurens remains alive in the Class 4A baseball as a result of Saturday’s 7-4 victory versus Daniel (20-8) in Central, thus atoning fo a 3-2 loss to the Lions on May 6. In between, the Raiders defeated Blue Ridge on May 8.

Monday finds Laurens visiting Daniel for the third time.

The Raiders broke on top with three first-inning runs, built on Zay Pulley’s double, which drove in Ben Willis, who had walked. Bennett Edwards drove in another run with a single to right field, and Logan Martin drove in third on a sacrifice fly.

The Lions tied in in the fifth on Lee Turnipseed’s home run and Julian Baldwin’s double. The game went to extra innings.

Coleman Coker put Laurens (19-9) ahead to stay in the top of the eighth inning with a solo home run, and the Raiders added two more scores o n Avery Madden’s sacrifice bunt and Tristan Buzbee’s double to center.

Edwards nailed down the win, pitching two innings of one-hit relief, striking out two.

Jackson Ownbey took the loss.

Rain, however, is in the forecast on both Monday and Tuesday.

Oceanside Prep (12-0) of Mount Pleasant defeated Clinton (11-1), 6-0, in the Class A/2A/3A boys’ tennis state finals in Cayce on Saturday.

In winning their fifth consecutive state championship, the Landsharks lost only a single game in the entire playoffs, that in a 5-1 Low Country title match against Philip Simmons. En route to the title, Oceanside defeated, in order, Academic Magnet, Green Sea Floyds, Philip Simmons and Clinton.

En route to the finals, the Red Devils defeated Landrum 6-0, Saint Joseph’s 4-2, Chapman 4-2 and Christ Church 4-2.

# 1 Singles Nathan Meade lost to Alex Lozano 6 – 1, 6 – 0

# 2 Singles Edwin Orr lost to Luke Skillman 6 – 1, 6 – 2

# 3 Singles Matthew King lost to William Claus 6 – 2, 6 – 0

# 4 Singles Jacob King lost to Oliver Hair 6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 5 Singles Cooper Stinson lost to Huck Reynolds 6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 1 Doubles DID NOT PLAY

# 2 Doubles Jake Meyerholtz & Malakye Brewer lost 6 – 0, 6 – 0

Gracie Underwood of Clinton signed the paperwork on Friday, committing her to play volleyball at USC Union.

Underwood wants to be a teacher and coach and plans to major in education. She will commute from Clinton. She took a look at other schools but decided on the Bantams because of the school’s accessibility.

Presbyterian College’s splendid linebacker, Alex Herriott of Hanahan, is to play next for the Helsinki Roosters.

Yes. Helsinki, Finland.

In the team’s release, defensive coordinator Timi Tuominen stated: “Alex brings, athleticism, speed, energy and a violent playstyle to our defense. He is a vocal leader and a ‘hype-you-up’ player with unmatched energy and effort. Perfect fit as a person and a player to the Roosters family.””

Added Herriott: “This opportunity is a blessing and I’m so excited to be apart of a great team like the Roosters. I can’t wait to have fun playing football and striving for a championship with the team.”

Clinton (20-6) takes on Chesnee (18-11), this time at home, on Monday, with the Upstate District 1 championship on the line.

The Red Devils defeated the Eagles, 14-5, on May 8. Chesnee stayed alive by defeating Central of Pageland, 4-0, on Saturday.

A Clinton win will wrap up the district. Should Chesnee win, a second game will be played.

Clinton remained active in the 2A softball playoffs thanks to an 8-5 victory over Landrum (9-12) on Friday

The Red Devils never trailed after scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Cardinals did manage to tie it with two runs in the sixth. Clinton responded quickly as Halleigh Luke keyed a five-run rally in the bottom half with a two-run triple.

Me-Me Smith outpitched Landrum’s Danica Prince.

Center fielder Taylor Davis went 3/4 for Clinton (14-10).

Clinton is scheduled to visit North CentralI in Kershaw on Monday.

Laurens wound up 10-13 after Seneca ousted the Raiders from the 4A softball playoffs by a score of 6-1.

Seneca’s Kassidy Wood stopped the Raiders on four hits over five innings, though Carly Edwards and Myleigh Robertson each had two hits for Laurens. Sophia Wylie led the Bobcats (17-9) with three hits in four at-bats.

Skyla Bates drove in five runs as Thornwell (7-9) remained alive in Class A with a 19-0 victory over Great Falls.

The Saints scored 10 runs in the fourth inning. Bates had two hits, a single and a double, in the inning.

Camden Nelson yielded only two hits in the circle.

Madi Porter also had three hits for the Saints, who are next scheduled to face Horse Creek Academy of Aiken on Monday.

How bad can it get for Presbyterian College baseball?

Not much worse.

With a game left, the Blue Hose have dropped 10 in a row and 16 out of 17.

On Friday in Spartanburg, USC Upstate trailed the Blue Hose 3-0 in the second inning, but the Spartans obliterated that margin by scoring 12 runs in the fifth and proceeded unimpeded to a 16-3 victory.

USC Upstate (30-22, 16-5 Big South) then swept a Saturday twinbill, 12-3 and 10-2.

Presbyterian (17-32, 9-15) was once 8-3 in Big South play and upset Alabama, 11-8, on March 9.

Rhogue Wallace and Ryan Ouzts homered for the Blue Hose duriing the doubleheader. Brody Linker had a blast in the Friday loss.

The Blue Hose close the season on Tuesday evening in Orlando against Central Florida.

I often get amused by broadcasters’ misstatements. I don’t mean it as a criticism. I realize the writer has the advantage of being able to edit, and a broadcaster doesn’t have a backspace button. It just makes me laugh when I’m watching or listening to a sports event.

A color analyst kept saying, “Now, quote me if I’m wrong, but …” Uh, okay.

As you know by repetitive mention, I have written many books that are available on Amazon.

The most recent is The Latter Days, which is about an old scout and a young baseball phenom.

Some are about sports and most have a connection. I like ‘em all because I wrote them. If you’d like some samples, check out my collection of short stories, Longer Songs.