Laurens 10-11 Stars force final showdown

The Laurens 10-11 All-Star baseball team will play a winner-take-all contest Wednesday night for a state championship after rolling to an 11-0, four-inning victory over host Northwood Tuesday night in Taylors.

The victory came in a rematch of Sunday’s battle that saw Northwood win 8-3, and forces a rubber match Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Laurens put the game away on offense with a six-run third inning that saw 11 batters come to the plate. E.J. Grant socked an inside-the-park homer to lead off the third inning, and Jonah Hogge later added a two-run double in support of Ben Willis, who went the distance on the mound.

Willis allowed two walks and walked two, striking out six, in the complete-game victory.

Look for full details on this game, and the Wednesday final, in this weekend’s edition of The Laurens County Advertiser Extra.