Playoff update: Red Devils’ hot start grounds Eagles
Clinton pitcher Isaac Cain shut down Chesnee in the Red Devils’ 10-1 Upper State win Thursday.
See below, Raiders’ Simpson wins 400m hurdle at state
Clinton opened the Class 2A Upper State round of the playoffs Thursday with a 10-1 victory over visiting Chesnee.
With the win, the Red Devils (27-3), ranked No. 2 in Class 2A by the S.C. Baseball Coaches Association, advance in the winner’s bracket and will face No. 6 Batesburg-Leesville Saturday. Batesburg-Leesville defeated Landrum 4-1 Thursday to advance in the winners’ bracket. Landrum and Chesnee fall into the elimination bracket.
Against Chesnee, the Red Devils put up nine runs in the first inning and never looked back. Clinton scored its 10 runs without an extra-base hit.
Starter Isaac Cain scattered seven hits over four scoreless innings and benefited from the early offensive outburst to get the win.
In the first inning, the Red Devils scored on a walk, a ground out and four singles.
After the Eagles managed a run in the top of the sixth, Clinton answered with a its 10th run of the game when Angel Vargas scored on a passed ball.
The Red Devils left the bases loaded in the fifth and two runners on base in the sixth when on the brink of the 10-run mercy rule.
William Addison went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs on a bases-clearing single in the first inning. Camden Finley went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Laurens junior Zee Simpson won the 400m hurdles state championship Thursday. (LDHS Athletics/Katie Black photo)
Raiders’ Zee Simpson wins state championship
Laurens track standout Zakarion “Zee” Simpson won the 400m hurdles state title Thursday at the Class 4A State Championships at Richland Northeast in Columbia.
Simpson, a junior, finished with a winning time of 53.06 seconds, dominating the field and runner-up Armahd Key of Emerald (54.65 seconds) by more than 1.5 seconds.
Kaleb Hester of Midland Valley was third on the podium in 54.86 seconds.
Simpson also qualified for the state meet in the high jump and the 110m hurdles.
He earned a podium in the 100m hurdles with a third-place finish in 14.70 seconds, just 4/100s second behind Hester (14.70 seconds) in second place. Caleb Rayson or Gray Collegiate won the championship in 14.48 seconds.
Simpson also earned all-state honors in basketball and was among the top rebounders in the state.
