Mason Hamby leads the Raiders in batting average and ERA. (Monte Dutton photos) It’s not every spring one local baseball team, let alone two from Laurens County, gets to play for a state championship, and both the Laurens Raiders and the Clinton Red Devils aren’t there yet. They’re so close they can taste it. They …
Tag: baseball
Raiders take care of business with Greenwood
Head coach Tori Patterson devises a plan for Laurens success. (Monte Dutton photos) Josh Hughes handcuffed Greenwood on four hits in a complete game. Right fielder Jaedon Goodwin crashed a home run. First baseman Jackson Martin yanked a triple. Center fielder Zay Pulley made two spectacular catches. Heroes were prevalent in Laurens’ 5-1 victory on …
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Glenn, Stewart fuel Devils’ fire
Will Stewart drives in three. (Monte Dutton photos) By MONTE DUTTON Clinton High School has yet to lose in the Class 3A baseball playoffs. Come to think of it, neither of the public schools in Laurens County has. The fourth playoff win in a row – 6-3 over Seneca on Saturday – puts the Red …
Red Devils slide out of Union with streak intact
Union County's Tanner Hardin steals second ahead of Zach Fortman's tag. (Monte Dutton photos) By MONTE DUTTON UNION – It was hard for Clinton to defeat Union County three times. Obviously. That’s what “they say.” “They” were right. The Red Devils, who won the Region 4-3A baseball championship at the Yellow Jackets' expense, opened the …
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Raiders storm back in late innings
Owen Pridgen (Monte Dutton file photo) NORTH AUGUSTA – Comebacks are in style. Owen Pridgen’s two-run single in the top of the seventh inning gave Laurens an 8-6 Class 4A baseball playoff victory Friday night over North Augusta after the Raiders trailed by five runs after an inning. A night earlier, Clinton came from six …
Clinton comes off the deck like a prizefighter
Brett Young ripped the game-winner (Monte Dutton photos). That moon rising above left-center field wasn’t a bad one at Clinton High School. The Red Devils rose with it in a 7-6 Class 3A playoff baseball victory over Wren on Thursday evening. The ecstatic final moment occurred with two out in the bottom of the seventh …
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Raiders knock off Greenwood, 11-9
Owen Pridgen had a slam. (Monte Dutton file photo) GREENWOOD – Though not in the same Class 4A region, Laurens and Greenwood played for the third time on Wednesday night in the baseball playoffs. The kill shot in the 11-9 upset was a fourth-inning, two-out grand slam by Laurens first baseman Owen Pridgen. Also significant …
McLendon leads way past Broome
Zane McLendon was 4-4 with three extra-base hits. (Monte Dutton photos) Zane McLendon’s smooth batting stroke played particular dividends in Clinton’s 11-3 first-round playoff victory over Broome on Tuesday night. How smooth? Smooth as butterscotch pudding. A first-inning triple, a double in the second, a single in the fifth and another double in the sixth. …
What it was … was baseball
Preparing to pose for photos are, from left, Caleb Taylor, Justin Copeland, Wilson Wages, Jalen Barnhill and Zach Fortman (Monte Dutton photo). The plan was to watch a baseball game Friday night, but the rains on Thursday, throughout Laurens County, were too severe for play, and I drifted into the Clinton High School cafeteria in …
Red Devils wrap up region crown
UNION – Clinton put an emphatic claim on the Region 4-3A baseball title with a 6-1 victory over Union County, the only remaining obstacle in its path. Wil Stewart gave up a single and a walk to the Yellow Jackets in the bottom of the 1st but struck out Andrew Latham to end the inning …
Nightrider's Lament 