By MONTE DUTTON

The latter baseball meeting between Laurens County’s premier public high schools was an entirely different affair.

Clinton (16-2) won, 2-1, on Wednesday night. The Red Devils won the earlier game, on March 13, by a score of 12-6. This time Laurens (4-16) made Clinton sweat from its first at-bat until the final out.

The Red Devils’ starter, Camden Finley, allowed only one hit, one run and three walks. He struck out 13 in five innings. Isaac Cain earned a save with two innings of no-hit, three-walk, one-hit-batter relief.

Laurens’ Noah Hughes did not surrender an earned run in 5-1/3 innings of work, giving up three hits and three walks. He fanned six.

The Raiders broke on top in the second inning. Wyatt Pinson led off with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ke’Allen Blackwell’s sacrifice fly.

Clinton scored both its runs in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of two errors by LDHS shortstop Brayden Patterson and a third by Logan Bragg at second base. Talan Campbell reached base on one Patterson miscue and scored on another. Luke Young’s sacrifice fly drove in Owen Glenn with what proved to be the game-winner.

The Red Devils failed to produce an insurance run in the fifth inning when Jaydon Glenn, who walked, was thrown out at third base trying to go from first to third on a passed ball. Young then singled.

The top of the seventh was tense. Laurens put its first two batters on base, thanks to Cain hitting Braden Yarbrough and walking Miles Crow, but Patterson popped up a bunt attempt, secured in foul territory by Red Devils catcher Young, and Bragg brought the game to a close by grounding into a double play.

Yarbrough collected Laurens’ only hit, a leadoff triple in the fifth inning. He remained at third as Finley struck out Bryson Redd, Patterson and Bragg. Cain weathered two-out walks to Pinson and William Nunley in the sixth by inducing a groundout to Clinton first baseman William Addison.

Camden Finley, Jaydon Glenn and Young had the three Clinton hits, all singles. The Red Devils have won eight straight games. Excepting three forfeits by Southside, which disbanded its team, the Raiders have lost 10 games in a row.

Clinton has won eight games by eight or more runs. The Red Devils host Fairfield Central (3-10) on Friday night at 630 after shutting out the Griffins, 12-0, on Tuesday. Laurens hosts Emerald (6-13) at 6:30 on Monday.

Laurens Academy (7-4) belted Bob Jones (4-6), 12-2, on Tuesday, thanks in part to three runs batted in by Wyatt Little. Evan Asalone, the winning pitcher, and Little combined to limit Bob Jones to three hits.

Thornwell (6-12) broke a three-game skid with a 6-5 victory over Greenville Tech Charter (1-16) on Wednesday. Logan James and K.J. Thompson each had two hits for the Saints. Brayden Brewer’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning was the game-winner.

Clinton improved its record to 11-4 in softball with a 16-0 domination of Fairfield Central on Tuesday. Alyssa Young drove in four runs, and Sierra Templeton collected three hits. The Griffins (4-6) visit Clinton on Friday evening at 5:30.

Laurens (8-10) clobbered Emerald (5-9) on Thursday behind two-hit games from Addison Trevino, Summer Nations and Makayden Livingston. Neely Stoddard stopped the Vikings on one hit.

Presbyterian College (8-30, 4-8 Big South) came off the baseball deck by capturing a Big South series against visiting Winthrop (23-13, 7-2).

The Eagles won the opener, 4-2, but the Blue Hose responded by taking a 5-2 win on Saturday and a 12-11 slugfest on Sunday. In the final game, PC scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Left fielder Andrew Albertus drove in three runs. Albertus, James Green, Matthew Rollinson, Emory Guilford and Mason Caden all had two hits for the Hose, who then fell, 11-2, at Wofford (26-11) on Tuesday.

Shortstop Brady Gold singled, doubled and homered for the Terriers.

The Blue Hose bus to Farmville, Va., for games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday against Longwood (21-16, 6-6).

A Saturday doubleheader sweep gave PC (17-27, 5-7) a road softball series win against Gardner-Webb.

After being shut out, 2-0, in the opener, the bats came alive with 12-2 and 11-10 victories on Saturday.

PC collected 19 hits in the nightcap. Hali Duke drove in seven runs during the doubleheader.

Charleston Southern (7-36, 2-10) visits for a single game on Friday and a Saturday doubleheader.

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