By MONTE DUTTON

To borrow from an old country song, it was back to the basics of love

On a Friday night in March, Clinton (4-1) handled Laurens (0-5), 12-6, at Ed Prescott Field. All there were appropriately bundled. The Red Devils wore all-black uniforms. They were sort of “stealth players.” Cast against the blackness of night, Clinton was hard to see through a camera.

I don’t think that had anything to do with the game’s outcome. It was more a consequence of aging eyes.

It also wasn’t that cold. It’s just yours truly had just returned from a week-long trip to the mountains in which the weather could have been from Montgomery, Ala.

Three years ago, Clinton played Laurens in weather that could have hosted one leg of the Iditarod (well, they’d have had to make some artificial snow).

It was good to be back in a ballyard, even one cut by a cold breeze. It was good to move around, albeit stiff because arthritis steps up in such conditions, me snapping photographs and cracking wise. The Raiders are coming off a fine season with little left but youth and inexperience. Clinton was good and getting better. Laurens’ youth will gain experience. In both cases, it’s all a matter of keeping things together.

“We made a lot of mistakes, but good teams find a way to win games,” said Clinton head coach Peyton Spangler. “We really respect Laurens. Coach (Tori) Patterson does an amazing job. They’re not off to the start they wanted, but the last two years they beat us four straight, so we took this game very seriously. It was a huge game for us emotionally.

“We want to challenge ourselves. We feel like we’ve got a pretty good team, but in baseball you’ve got to bring it every day.”

Like many baseball games, something nutty happened. Clinton’s Camden Finley launched a ball deep into the night with the bases loaded. Waiting to see if it cleared the fence, the runner on first remained there. I was watching and Finley didn’t pass him. They were, however, on first  base at the same time, which I believe to be legal. Only one runner has possession of the base, but both can stand on it.

Umpires are trained on such matters much more than I, and rules change from coach’s pitch to the World Baseball Classic.

Anyway, Camden Finley clouted either a three-run grand slam, or a three-run out, or a 3/4-run homer, or a three-run sacrifice fly. Beats me. Considerable debate occurred in the dugout. Perhaps it was a grand-slam wannabe. It went out of the park. Bases loaded. None away when he hit it. It made little difference in the outcome.

At the top of the Clinton order, Camden Finley drove in four runs, thanks to another homer that was uncontested, and Jaydon Glenn added two hits. Five other Red Devils – Luke Young, Owen Glenn, Angel Vargas, Talan Campbell and Tanner Finley – chipped in singles. Owen Glenn drove in two runs.

Ke’Allen Blackwell collected two of Laurens’ seven hits. The Raiders committed five errors to the Red Devils’ three. Braden Yarbrough, J.P. Smith, Blackwell and Wyatt Pinson all doubled for Laurens.

None of the three runs charged to winning pitcher Isaac Cain was earned. Tanner Finley and Jaydon Glenn each toiled an inning.

Logan Martin, the first of four Laurens hurlers, took the loss.

Tommy Spangler, retired after 42 years of football coaching, is helping son Peyton coach the Red Devils. Tommy clearly hasn’t retired. He reminds me of what I say about writers: we retire when they find us nose down in a keyboard, :”XXXXXXXXXXX….” streaking across the screen toward infinity.

Tommy and I were swapping baseball numbers, while he, at the same time, was screaming instructions.

“I tell you who was the best No. 9. Everybody on the fence!”

“Why Ted Williams, of course,” I reply. “Greatest hitter who ever lived.”

“Yep, you’re right. I was thinking Joe Torre. Run it out!”

“True. Good choice, but it’s gotta be The Kid.”

We even got to Andy Messersmith and Felix Millan both wearing No. 17 for the Braves. (Upon further consideration, the correct answer is Glenn Hubbard.)

It was a long night. It got longer. The greatest baseball movie ever made, “Bang the Drum Slowly,” was on TCM at midnight.

Class 2A Clinton has won three games against 4A opposition —  alphabetically, Emerald, Greenville and Laurens – and 2A Ninety Six. The Red Devils host the Raiders on April 15.

Both teams open their region schedules next. Columbia (0-5) visits Clinton on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Laurens takes on Westside (4-5) in Anderson on Monday at the same time.

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Most of my books are available at Amazon. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions.