His was the last name called at the 10 a.m. Clinton High Commencement, and the previously calm, quiet and respectful audience in the main gym roared their appreciation for the Class of 2026.
And, his was the last name called about 6 hours later as the first batter in the bottom of the 8th, just a few yards away from the Commencement venue, at the Red Devil Baseball Complex.
There, Michael Luke Young delivered his 14th – and most dramatic – bomb of the 2026 baseball season. It was a walk-off homerun to beat Atlantic Collegiate, 5-4, to win Clinton’s 2nd Baseball State Championship in the last 4 seasons.
And, again, Red Devil Nation roared its appreciation as the Clinton players dog-piled their conquering hero.
The two teams, with a combined record of 60-8 on the season, played small ball for 7 ½ innings, until Young gave the ball a power charge, out of the ballpark, more than 380 feet.
Not that the slugger likely would have taken his coach’s advice, Young didn’t settle for a hit – he super-charged the first pitch thrown to him by Armada reliever, Logan Newcomb.
Red Devil Head Coach Peyton Spangler said, post-game, “I almost told him not to get too big and just try to get a base hit up the middle, but I kept my mouth shut, and it’s a good thing that I did. When I saw their left fielder get to the fence, I said, ‘Oh my God, we just did it.'”
Young said, “It’s unbelievable. I know the guys on my team have my back, and it’s unbelievable what this team has accomplished. I give God all the glory because I know that without Him there is no way I would be where I am today.”
Clinton also won the 2023 Baseball State Championship (that one was AAA, this one was AA) on this same field, over Hanahan. Young was a freshman on that team, under Sean McCarthy; and he book-ended a record-setting career, as a senior playing catcher, with this in-the-most-dramatic-of-ways win. Clinton was undefeated through the 2026 playoffs run, winning 5-1 last Tuesday at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach over Atlantic Collegiate out of Conway (best two out of three series). In that game, Camden Finley threw a 2-hitter and cracked a homerun; Owen Glenn contributed an inside-the-park home run as two Armada defenders collided in the outfield; and William Addison went 3-for-3 at the plate.
Young’s championship game homerun was his 14th of this season and the 17th of his Red Devil career, both Clinton records; he was 1-for-2 at the plate with 2 RBIs. And, unlike other records in the Red Devils’ long and storied baseball history, this one is chronicled on videos from various angles playing all over Facebook.
Called to the on-field microphone by Voice of the Red Devils Buddy Bridges to speak for the team, Spangler said, “I don’t know why I’m holding the mic. I didn’t get a single hit this year. I didn’t throw a single pitch. It’s these kids. It’s these parents. It’s the community. It’s the standard that our superintendent holds every single day, the standard that our principal holds our kids to every single day. That’s what ultimately lets us push these kids in the best way possible. I can’t thank y’all enough. Let’s party.”
Bridges then introduced Red Devil Baseball’s 6 seniors to the fans and family gathered on the diamond following the official trophy presentation, with medals going to each player and coach. “Each and every one of these young men contributed in some way, shape or form,” Bridges said. “Coach Spangler talks about it all the time, The Senior Leadership.”
If Clinton had not won – and Atlantic Collegiate’s score-tying, small ball runs in the 6th seemed to be making that less and less likely – the teams would have had to play Saturday at a mid-point between the two, Lugoff-Elgin High School in Kershaw County. And, given the fact that it had rained 5 consecutive days in the Upstate before Game 1, that could have been pushed to Monday. Adding to that weather-uncertainty was the fact that Friday’s game-time temperature, for “spring baseball” in Clinton, was a wilting 84 degrees.
In this game, Clinton tallied 4 hits, 6 walks, a hit batter, 2 sac flies, and 1 stolen base. Atlantic Collegiate got a 2-out, 2-run single to tie the score at 4 in the 6th inning.
Isaac Cain became the beneficiary of Young’s HR, winning the game in relief of Tanner Finley, who surrendered 3 runs off 4 hits in 5 innings with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts. For the visitors, Gaven Street went 2-for-3 with the 2- run single that tied the game at 4 and Eli Chowning went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored.
Tanner Finley overcame a scary moment in the 6th when he was hit near the temple by a line drive off the bat of AC’s Cam Craft, a ball that Jaydon Glenn caught for an infield out. Camden Finley slid under a tag at home as he led off the 5th with a walk, stole second, and came home on two AC throwing errors; he also drove in a run with a sac fly.
For Spangler – himself a standout player for the Red Devils before his Newberry College playing days - it was another grind-it-out win for his Red Devils, and he knew there were very few margins for error. “To beat good teams, you obviously have got to be good in every area – you can’t have weak links. We walked a few guys and they scored, and we hadn’t really done that all year, but we just hung in there.
“We always believe we can win the game, no matter what, so that was just another example of a Clinton type of win where we just grind it out and do whatever we’ve got to do.”
Just for the record, for you baseball purists, Young hit a slider out of the park on May 29, 2026. Asked if he was prepared for the fast ball, Young said, “It was actually a slider. I was going be on time with the heater and adjust to the off speed, and when he threw me the slider, I was, like, I put my best swing to it.”
To bookend his high school baseball career with State Championships, the Clinton senior said, “It’s unbelievable. We’ve got a great community and an amazing group of guys, and an amazing coach.”
