By MONTE DUTTON Tommy Spangler (Furman photo) Click here. At about the same time I arrived in the baseball valley on Tuesday, a familiar figure in a red shirt and a purple cap yelled my name. He brought someone with him. Was it a Clinton fan with Saluda roots? The only such person I know …
Tag: Laurens Raiders
Raiders rampage in playoff opener
Bennett Edwards (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Well, here we go. The playoffs are underway. It doesn’t mean that all the games are fraught with tension, but the tension is going to rise as the process that determines state championships runs its course. In baseball, both Laurens and Clinton closed their regular seasons with an …
Raiders, Red Devils run wild
Zay Pulley (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Laurens crossed the lake as if it was Washington crossing the Delaware on Wednesday night, defeating Greenwood, 8-6, behind three hits from third baseman Coleman Coker and a leadoff homer from second sacker Zay Pulley. Pulley’s blast and Avery Madden’s double staked the Raiders to a 4-0 lead, …
County opponents laying baseball eggs
By MONTE DUTTON Isaac Cane (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Visiting teams laid lots of goose eggs in Laurens County on Monday evening. Laurens blanked Southside, 17-0. Thornwell quieted Calhoun Falls, 16-0 and 12-0. Clinton erased Fairfield Central, 12-0. Be they Raiders, Saints or Red Devils, they all laid goose eggs, a mere day after …
Raiders, Red Devils position themselves for playoffs
By MONTE DUTTON Bennett Edwards (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. A few weeks ago, before a Laurens High baseball game, I commiserated with the Raiders’ head coach, Tori Patterson, about how bad a Clinton region opponent, Columbia, was. Patterson offered one word: “Southside.” The Tigers, Laurens’ final Region 1-4A opponent, are 0-17. Southside, 0-9 in …
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Blue Hose struggle in Virginia
(PC photo) Click here. Presbyterian College, which for a day (April 5) was atop the Big South standings, lost the first two of a three-game baseball series in Radford, Va. The Blue Hose have dropped four games in a row. Entering Saturday’s games, PC now trails High Point (27-12, 11-3) by three games and USC …
Different diamonds, same story
Jireh Brown bunts his way on (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. Tuesday’s Laurens-Clinton baseball game was about the same speed as Monday’s. The Raiders’ center fielder, Jireh Brown, was the speediest in a 7-1 victory, one day after a 5-0 triumph in Laurens. Brown singled four times, one on a bunt, in as many at-bats. …
Ledford, Coker lead Laurens past Clinton
By MONTE DUTTON Coleman Coker (17) homered to put the Raiders ahead (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. How many times do you see a team with five straight shutouts … itself get shut out? About as many times as you see a team turn a triple play … and lose. The latter happened to Laurens …
Tanner Finley tosses a no-no at Fairfield
Tanner Finley (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Wednesday was a vintage night for baseball in Laurens County. It wasn’t all successful, but the Red Devils and Raiders played exciting games in vastly different ways. Clinton (11-4, 5-2 Region 3-2A) hasn’t allowed a run since March 24 and a hit since March 25. Righthander Tanner Finley …
Clinton’s Richardson to howl with the Wolves
By MONTE DUTTON Tushawan Richardson (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. I am of the belief that Tushawan Richardson is going to be something special at Newberry College. I am not objective, but neither am I ignorant nor naive. Richardson, the mixologist of Red Devil offense and quarterback of the Class 2A state champions, signed up …
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Nightrider's Lament 