By MONTE DUTTON

Surprising no one, Clinton (21-2, 9-1 Region 3-2A) turned Eau Claire every which way but loose on Friday evening after the Red Devils honored their seniors at their valley baseball park.

The region has been utterly dominated by Clinton and Mid-Carolina (14-9-1, 8-1), which split the games against each other. The Red Devils and Rebels are likely co-champions, but Mid-Carolina is to get the top seed in the playoffs.

“We might be better off,” reasoned Clinton head coach Peyton Spangler, who has pored over the potential brackets.

The six seniors started and occupied the top of the batting order. One, Luke Young, set a school home-run record with his 11^th (one more was in a practice game), took the mound for the first time in the third inning and lacked only a triple to hit for cycle. Young went 3/3, scored once, drove in five and struck out two of the three batters he faced.

Angel Vargas started and won on the hill, allowed a hit and fanned six in two frames. Young, Avery Barnes and Logan Johnson followed.

Jaydon Glenn played every position in the infield except first base, was 2/3, scored four times, doubled and drove in three.

As per the established region pattern, Clinton didn’t require the scheduled distance. The Red Devils lost, 7-5, and won, 2-1, in its games versus Mid-Carolina. The combined score of the other eight games was 119-3. The Rebels, who close with Chester on Tuesday, have outscored the others thus far by an 82-0 margin.

Clinton has won 12 consecutive games. Region 1-4A champion Fountain Inn (22-2, 15-0) visits on Monday at 6 p.m. Gaffney arrives on Tuesday (6:30) for the final regular-season game, and the playoffs open on May 1.

The second batter of the game, Eau Claire’s K Craft, doubled, but Vargas struck out the other three. Clinton then scored a run in the bottom half of the first inning, seven in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth, at which point the game ended via run rule.

Ten walks had as much to do with the Red Devil runaway as their six hits. Three of them – Jaydon Glenn, Young and Rhett Gilliam – doubled, and Young hit his record-setting blast with two on and one out in the third, putting Clinton ahead, 11-0.

Eau Claire’s two pitchers hit five batters, victimizing Tanner Finley twice.

I am a chronic optimist in that I rarely get everything done that I plan to do in a day. I took a day trip on Thursday. It was supposed to be on Tuesday. See?

Everything went right. I visited three towns just across the North Carolina border. I made a tentative decision. I had enjoyable conversations at one visitor center and one campground office. I drove to Furman and visited the football office. I went to see some Furman friends play music and was back at the shoe box before the NFL draft started.

I had one of my favorite meals, a Caesar salad with blackened salmon. Also, some fried calamari, which I hadn’t had since I wrote about races in New Hampshire, where calamari is almost mandatory and ranch dressing is almost taboo.

I can hear Cliff Clavin’s mom in my mind. “We dahn’t suhv rauhnch!” It was cool. I’m a blue-cheese man myself (not on a Caesar, of course).

By Friday, I was back to normal. I had a phone conversation with a friend I didn’t mean to call. I thought I was checking my messages when he answered the phone, and we both figured we might as well talk a while.

Even as I write these words, I’m wanting to read my book and play my guitar. It’s Friday, for gosh sakes. I’m not going to the laundromat.

Back to baseball, Emerald (9-14, 6-8) won its Region 1-4A series by defeating Laurens (5-18, 5-7), 7-4.

Three runs in the top of the sixth inning doomed the Raiders, who had only one hit (William Nunley’s double) but took advantage of four Emerald errors, five walks and a hit batter.

Eli Swancey doubled and drove in three runs for the Vikings.

At PC, Cam Mallo’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly lifted the Blue Hose to a 6-5 victory over visiting Radford (19-19, 7-10 Big South).

Mallo also homered for Presbyterian (10-33, 6-10). Robbie Boykin (2-2) pitched 3-2/3 scoreless innings. Amman Dewberry also homered for the Hose.

The teams play again at Elton Pollock Field on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1.

Riley Whitaker went 3/4 to help lead Laurens Academy (10-5) past Northside Christian, 5-3.

Five Crusaders took turns on the mound, giving up one earned run among them. Starter Wyatt Little fanned four. Ethan Collins collected two hits.

Whitman Craft and Myer McCutcheon each had two hits for Northside Christian (1-19).

Jacob James struck out 11 batters in Thornwell’s 14-3 thumping of Clear Dot (0-6), ironically named the Bats.

Thornwell scored its 14 runs off only three hits. The Saints took greater advantage of 14 walks and six stolen bases. Trumari Kinard Shelton had the game’s only extra-base hit, a double.

In softball, up the hill wasn’t much different in Clinton, where the Red Devils blanked Eau Claire, 15-0, on Friday.

Clinton (16-4, 8-2) needed only three hits – and 11 walks – to overwhelm the Shamrocks, 15-0.

Lyla Kuykendall doubled, and Halleigh Luke and Me-Me Smith singled.

The Shamrocks (1-10, 0-7) didn’t get any hits or put any runners on base. Smith retired all nine batters she faced and struck out seven of them. Twenty-seven of her 33 pitches were strikes.

The Red Devils stole 13 bases, three by Taylor Davis.

Wren (15-6, 8-2) blasted Laurens (9-12, 4-5), 16-6, scoring 10 runs before the Raiders ever tallied.

Shortstop Avarri Collins went 4/4 for the Hurricanes, scoring three runs and driving in four.

Addison Trevino doubled and homered for the Raiders. Myleigh Robertson also had two hits.

Abbeville (11-7, 8-2) shut out Thornwell (7-9, 4-7), 14-0, as Emmi Oggenfuss had the Saints’ only hit in the Region 1-A clash.

Six other Panthers batters had two hits apiece. Eight runs in the fifth inning ended the game.

Miranda Smith had three hits for the Panthers. Carli Smith struck out 14 Thornwell batters.

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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.