Clinton’s Zane McLendon hit a grand slam in the fifth inning as the Red Devils defeated host Hanahan 17-3 in the opening game of the Class 3A State Championship Series Saturday night. (file photo)
Clinton hit three home runs and opened the Class 3A State championship series with a 17-3 rout of host Hanahan Saturday night.
The game ended after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule. The 17 runs scored marked the third time this season the Red Devils had scored at least 17 runs in a game. They scored 18 in a win over Chester and 17 in a victory over Emerald during the regular season.
The best-of-three state championship series will shift to Clinton for Game 2 at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Clinton (25-3) roughed up five Hanahan pitchers, who gave up a collective eight hits as the Red Devils took advantage of five hit batters, eight walks and four Hanahan errors. Five of Clinton’s 12 runs were unearned.
The Hawks (26-8) survived an elimination game Friday night to win the Class 3A Upper State Championship with a 3-1 win over Brookland-Cayce in Game 2 of a doubleheader after the Lower State bracket’s final two games were delayed by rain twice.
A well-rested Clinton team – unbeaten in the playoffs – jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first inning and led 6-3 after the second thanks to Caleb Taylor’s three-run double in the first and a two-run single from Wil Stewart in the second.
Taylor went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and closed out the game on the mound, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Starter Carson Glenn pitched 2 1/3 innings and picked up his fourth win of the playoffs. Glenn and Taylor limited the Hawks to two hits, combining to walk seven and strike out eight.
Hanahan starter Hunter Gomes took the loss after lasting 1 2/3 innings and giving up six runs, three earned.
Wilson Wages hit the first of Clinton’s three home runs in the fourth, a two-run shot to left field that scored Zach Fortman, who had reached on an error. Wages went 2-for-3 with two RBI and four runs scored.
Zane McLendon and Fortman hit added back-to-back homers in the eight-run fifth. McLendon hit a grand slam over the center field fence, and Fortman followed with a solo shot to to left for the final margin. Fortman went 1-for-3 and scored five runs.
The Red Devils are now one win away from capturing the school’s first baseball state championship since 1961.