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 …
Tag: softball
Baseball hopes rise for county’s best
By MONTE DUTTON Owen Glenn (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Both Laurens and Clinton highs experienced early disappointments in baseball region play. The Raiders lost three straight to Fountain Inn (21-5, 13-2), and the Red Devils fell twice to Mid-Carolina (18-7, 10-0). Neither has lost in region play since, and as such, optimism rises as …
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, …
Red Devils close with a flourish at Saluda
Brett Young (2) (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. As the baseball playoffs near, Clinton High (14-6, 6-2 Region 3-2A) continued to roll and displayed a particular killer instinct in Monday night’s 14-3 victory at Saluda. The Red Devils have won seven of their last nine games. The score in Saluda was a bit misleading as …
Two ex-Paladins drafted by NFL teams
(Furman graphic) Click here. The Paladins showed up in the NFL Draft. Micah Robinson and long snapper Julian Ashby were selected in the seventh round. Both played four years for the Paladins, graduated from Furman and played their final years elsewhere. Robinson was selected by the Green Bay Packers as the 21st pick of the …
Rams are Belton’s choice
Bryanna Belton (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. From the time she first stepped on a District 56 gym floor, it has been obvious that Bryanna Belton was going to find herself a place to play college basketball. That place is Columbia International University, which while international, is still in the capital city of South Carolina. …
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 …
Continue reading Raiders, Red Devils position themselves for playoffs
Furman winding up spring nicely
(Furman photo) Click here. For a school that doesn’t field a baseball team around which to anchor its spring, the weekend’s sporting contests were rather exciting. The Paladins were shotmaking in golf, exuberant in tennis, dominating lacrosse, and so on and so forth. With the score tied at 3-all, senior Marissa Pennings defeated Alessandra Caceres, …
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. …
Nightrider's Lament 