By MONTE DUTTON

Sometimes peace in the valley is not a great thing.

Another strong Clinton High School baseball season ended there on Saturday as Mid-Carolina eliminated the Red Devils, 2-0, in the Class 2A Upstate round.

It was a great season by a team armed with just three seniors. Mid-Carolina (23-8) defeated Clinton (21-8) three times, two while en route to the Region 3-2A title.

The Red Devils succeeded all year by putting pressure on the opposition. On a warm, windswept afternoon, thanks to Rebels pitcher Kaden Myers, there wasn’t much pressure to put. A righty, Myers also blanked Clinton (3-0) on March 18. The first time was a one-hitter.

This time Myers allowed seven baserunners: three hits, three walks and a hit batter. Only four reached base with less than two outs. Only two led off an inning.

The Red Devils couldn’t use a clutch when the opposition was on automatic.

Clinton pitchers Zack Lawson and Jaydon Glenn held the line as best they could. Each allowed a run, but Mid-Carolina runners were jiggling around the basepaths all game. Two of them made it home, one in the fourth inning and one in the seventh.

The miracle was that this youthful Clinton team made it all the way to the Upstate’s final four. Only three – Brett Young, Hunter Avery and Jared Willard – are seniors.

Peyton Spangler excelled in his first year as head coach.

“I thought at times, we overachieved, for sure, and I thought at times we underachieved because you could see the potential that’s there,” he said. “If anything, it was a great year for me, learning how to be a head coach, because we faced so much adversity. It seemed like every game had weather. There were bad calls and unfortunate breaks. Somehow we stayed together and kept fighting until the very last pitch.

“As a coach, as long as your team is fighting and believes, you feel pretty good about it.”

A single by Davis Ruff and a sacrifice bunt by Cade Moore set up the first run, provided by Gage Hunter’s double over Brett Young’s head in left.

Myers, Blake Mills and Ruff each had two of the Rebels’ six hits. Owen Glenn had two of the Red Devils’ three.

In the seventh, Myers led off with a double, and Mills singled to left. Jaydon Glenn hit Jaquon McKinney with a pitch to load the bases. Myers scored on Moore’s grounder to first.

In Clinton’s last gasp, Rhett Gilliam walked with two out, but Myers struck out Tanner Finley to end the game and the season.

“Next year, with these young guys, we’ve got to play a little better, get a little tougher, and make sure moments like this speed that process along,” Spangler said. “It’s my job to reflect on this year and see where we can get a little stronger and a little tougher.”

Brett Young, by the way, committed to play football this fall at Newberry College.

Shortly after baseball season ended on Saturday, he posted on social media:

“First, I want to thank God for all the He’s given me the ability to do. Without Him, I am nothing. Second, I want to thank my family for always being there with me through all the ups and downs. Third, I want to thank my coaches for giving the opportunity to play the game of football. Fourth, I want to thank my teammates past and present for having an impact on my life. …”

Brett’s younger brother, Luke, shared both the gridiron and the diamond.

Clinton won the state championship in football and reached the Upstate’s final four in baseball. They also played on a baseball state championship team in 2023.

Against all odds – and in spite of losing 17 of its last 18 games – Presbyterian managed to earn the sixth and final seed for the Big South Baseball Championship, to be contested at Truist Park in High Point, N.C., beginning on Wednesday.

The Blue Hose concluded the regular season with a 17-33 record, 9-15 in Big South play, and will open the tournament against third-seeded Charleston Southern on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
The loser will play an elimination game later that evening against the loser of the No. 4 Radford vs. No. 5 Winthrop matchup, while the winner will advance to face No. 2 seed High Point on Thursday.
The championship game will on Saturday, May 24. The tournament champion will receive the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship.

It’s appropriate. I went out with the Red Devils, where I mainly came in.

Soon I will redesign this website, though it will still be titled wellpilgrim.com. It will no longer be Blue, Green, Purple & Red because it’s not going to cover comprehensively the sports teams (PC, Laurens, Furman & Clinton) that wear those colors. I’ll still write about sports – I’ve done it for most of my life – but just in the form of the occasional feature.

Instead of writing about things I go to, I’m going to write more about things that come to me.

I’m moving. I don’t know exactly when. Don’t know where. My new home may be movable, and it’s definitely going to be smaller.

I am not without sadness because I don’t think there are many who love Clinton more than I do. It’s time for a fresh start. It’s time to find new friends. It’s time to do new things.

I tried to find a niche for local sports coverage. When I climbed on that train, it had already left the station. Most folks don’t get their information from reading anymore. They get it from what they see and what they hear. I think that’s the main reason the world is getting dumber and dumber, but my view is not unjaded.

Journalism is dying. The world has passed me by. I’m tired of struggling. The struggle has been personal, professional and financial. The longer it takes, the more it has to be done.

This isn’t new. The process has been slowed by illness and other complications. All this time has given me more opportunity to think it about it than I need.

More than anything else, I want to get going. I’m tired of being broke. I want to be a success again.