By MONTE DUTTON

Clinton (19-6) ran out of outs in its Upstate-final Class 2A softball game at home against Chesnee (20-5) on Friday evening.

The Red Devils had three with the bases loaded.

Clinton trailed, 5-0, entering the bottom of the fourth inning, at which point the Red Devils came alive. Taylor Davis put Clinton on the board, scoring on Alyssa Young’s fielder’s choice.

Sierra Templeton walked with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth, pushing Addie Watkins home to narrow the Eagles’ margin to 5-2.

Watkins launched a two-run homer in the sixth, setting the stage for an agonizing ending.

Davis singled to left field, leading off the seventh. Me-Me Smith was hit by a pitch. Templeton singled to load the bases.

Chesnee’s Tayte Calvert then struck out Lyla Kuykendall, Alyssa Young and Sophie Young in succession to end the game.

“All the chips are on the table, and if we get one hit, we’re coming out of here happy,” said Clinton head coach Joe Terry. “You’ve got to give [Calvert] a lot of credit at that point because she bore down and did what it took to get us out.

“We’ve been hitting really well for the past three weeks, and we needed it tonight. We just came out a little bit short.”

The Red Devils outhit the Eagles, 10-8, but three errors plagued them as Chesnee built a five-run lead.

The Chesnee shortstop, Jada Sellers, doubled twice, scored twice and drove in two runs. Claire Owens, who started in the circle, was 3/4. Bixley Koon was 2/4. The first three slots in the batting order were a combined 7/12.

The Clinton order was balanced. Center fielder Halleigh Luke, batting first, was 2/4. Kuykendall collected a pair of hits from the sixth spot, and Watkins homered and doubled from the bottom of the order.

Smith gutted out a complete game, her second in three days for the Red Devils. She gave up eight hits and two walks, striking out five.

The Red Devils must defeat Ninety Six (14-6) on the road Monday in order to stay alive. Saluda (26-4) blanked the Wildcats, 6-0, on Friday.

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