By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. BATESBURG-LEESVILE – Following the destruction of the reigning Class 2A baseball champions on Saturday evening, Clinton (28-3) is one win away, on Wednesday back in the Red Devils’ home valley, with three days’ rest, against one of two teams it has defeated, by a combined score of …
Chesnee stops Clinton softball, 5-4
By MONTE DUTTON Halleigh Luke (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. 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 …
Clinton gets out of the gate … fast
By MONTE DUTTON Jaydon Glenn (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Let’s not get carried away by Clinton’s 10-1 victory over Chesnee in the first game of the Upstate baseball bracket on Thursday evening. Sure, the Red Devils are 27-3. They have won four straight playoff games and six in a row overall. They have scored …
The best kind of road to ruin
By MONTE DUTTON Mike Hembree (left) and Larry Woody at the Franklin battlefield (Monte Dutton photos). I hope I’m going to get a bit more profound when I take stock of my three-day trip to Nashville, Tenn., which I cheerfully refer to as Music City USA, but not Nashvegas, because I like Nashville better. I …
Clinton softball advances, 4-1
By MONTE DUTTON Me-Me Smith Click here. Clinton (18-4) picked up a clutch, tense, 4-1, victory in its second Class 2A softball playoff game, basically making the most of about everything in Lancaster against Buford (14-9) on Friday. Me-Me Smith pitched a tenacious masterpiece after spotting the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead in the bottom …
Scores are not always what they seem
By MONTE DUTTON Camden Finley breezed against the Eagles (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. In Pageland on Thursday night, Clinton was two outs away from a 14-1 victory over Central in the Red Devils’ second game of the Class 2A baseball playoffs. Instead, because a lively storm hit the Eagles’ cozy home diamond, the game …
Red Devils advance to state finals
By MONTE DUTTON Matthew King won at No. 1, 6-4, 6-2 (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. It is admirable for a coach to eschew excuses with a stiff upper lip, and that’s what Clovis Simmons did after Clinton’s victory 4-2 over Saint Joseph’s Catholic in the Class 2A/3A Upstate boys’ tennis championship. The non-denominational Red …
Clinton wins playoff opener, 6-1
By MONTE DUTTON Isaac Cain answered the call (Monte Dutton photos). Click here Clinton needed someone to lean on in its 6-1 victory over Liberty in opening game of the Class 2A baseball playoffs on Tuesday. That someone was Isaac Cain, who held the line on the mound for six innings. The righthander – the …
On with the show, this is it!
By MONTE DUTTON Luke Young (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. It’s … playoff time. It costs $8 to get in for baseball, softball and soccer. What does it cost to get in Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play the Sixers? Oh, $450 to $5,000. Eight dollars might be what it costs to watch …
How I’m changing to how I’m changing
By MONTE DUTTON A man reacts in shock to soaring inflation and rising prices of everyday items. Click here. On Sunday morning, I got up, drove to a drive-through and bought the same thing as the week before. I can’t remember the restaurant. I just remember it had golden arches. Usually, I get something that …
Nightrider's Lament 