By MONTE DUTTON

The country has gone crazy. On that we can all agree. Most folks are mad. What we cannot agree on is what has made us mad. An old folk song comes to mind. It’s about the collapse of a musical group.

Well, the one on the right was on the left / And the one in the middle was on the right / And the one on the left was in the middle / And the guy in the rear was a Methodist.

And, by God, it’s a Johnny Cash song.

It’s spread. Now it’s not just the country. It’s the world.

That’s why it’s good we have baseball. During the depths of World War II, Pres. Roosevelt insisted that baseball go on, even though many of its greats were abroad fighting for things more important even than the Strait of Hormuz.

I wish I’d taken a panoramic photo of Monday’s game between the Clinton Red Devils and the Newberry Bulldogs. Presbyterian College’s Elton Pollock Field was green. Huge cumulus crowds hovered beyond the outfield. It was warm with just enough of a breeze to condition the air.

Even the visitors from Newberry and the local Clinton partisans got along. Seldom was heard a discouraging word, even though the Red Devils won the game, 16-1. The day was too beautiful to hate.

Baseball still brings out the best in us.

Clinton (8-1) is a thoroughbred in need of a good workout. The Red Devils have won eight straight since falling to Belton-Honea Path, 2-1, on Feb. 28. Clinton has outscored its opponents, 95-19. The past three games have been 47-1. That’s going to change. On Tuesday night at 7:30, the Red Devils play Mid-Carolina (6-5), which in turn visits Clinton on Friday at the same time. The Rebels begin Region 3-2A play.

It took four innings for Clinton to end Monday’s game via a 15-run rule. In the previous two games, it took 2-1/2 and 3 for a 15-run rule. The hurlers are rested. Tanner Finley and Angel Vargas each toiled two frames. The latter struck out four of the nine batters he faced. Entering the bottom of the fourth, the Devils led, 7-0. A nine-run inning took care of that.

Cayden Wicker, Mason Mills and Omarion Wicker each had singles for Newberry (3-6). Columbia had been hitless for two games.

Vargas’s three hits numbered among them a double. Catcher Luke Young and third baseman Jaydon Glenn each had two. Young doubled and tripled and drove in three. Glenn doubled and drove in one. Isaac Cain’s single drove in two. William Addison doubled.

Glenn stole three bases, Camden Finley two and Tanner Finley, the winning pitcher, one.

Mid-Carolina is coming off road losses to Dutch Fork and River Bluff.

Many thanks to the advertisers who keep wellpilgrim.com going. If you’d like to join that number, contact me. Supplies are limited. The site is also supported by reader contributions. If you’re interested, you can make modest monthly payments on my Patreon page or a one-time contribution via Venmo (@DHKSports).

Or, if you’d like to make a contribution by check or cash, my mailing address is: Monte Dutton, P.O. 221, Clinton, S.C.  29325 (hutdut@outlook.com).

It means a lot to me that you enjoy what I write.

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.