Baseball will bring to Clinton its next Class AAA State Championship sign, joining the 2009 Football sign that hangs on the fence surrounding the football practice field and track on the high school campus (the “new” high school, as many still call it). It is something of an unexpected state title, although those close to the team said they felt the potential was there last season, also, but some bad breaks at the end ended that hope. This team - the 2023 Baseball Red Devils - benefits from that unique combination of great senior leadership and talented underclassmen.
The stage is set for a repeat - or phrased another way, “the trophy’s ours, you ain’t getting it back.”
“At the end of the day, the ‘W’ was here, and we’re bringing home a state title because of young men who worked really hard and believed in a simple thing (execution-style baseball). I can’t say enough about these young men. You’ve got to accept that style, and a lot of people won’t. It’s almost surreal. It’s a big thing. This community needed this,” McCarthy said, in an article by Laurens County Advertiser Editor John Clayton
Yes, our community did need this shot in the arm. Thank you, young men, for giving it to us; and thank you, Clinton High School Athletics for what surely must be an unprecedented run of success in 2022-23, now that Covid has eased off and we can gather and compete again. We didn’t even know we needed to be around each other so much. Isolation, su..., well, it’s not good for our humanity.
And, what a rare thing to have a State Championship Game WON on your own home field. We venture to say Red Devil Nation would have turned out wherever the deciding game was going to be played, but travel just gives some people reasons to stay away, and bandwagon fans are probably the worst anyway. We know that for our part, we wish we could do much more for our Spring athletes, that’s A LOT of sports to keep up with and provide with equal coverage. Modern economics does not allow us to have a sports editor - and we feel the sting of that loss (we owe a debt to Mike Hughes at WLBG radio in Laurens as we have “repurposed” his excellent coverage, a lot).
Back to a State Championship Game on your home field - it can happen in baseball and softball because of the double-elimination format, but think about other sports. Football has played in Williams-Brice and now at Benedict College. For basketball it’s the Colonial Life Arena. Tennis has played at Cayce and now in Florence. The State Track Meet has been at Spring Valley and Fort Jackson. All those are great experiences for players, the chance to be in super modern facilities on the state’s biggest stages. But to bring the Championship home, at home, that was one special night.
District 56, we feel, has done a super-great job with very limited resources in stepping up our athletic facilities. New lights in the football stadium are a blessing for photographers. A baseball-softball complex on campus, taking advantage of a wide-open back parking lot, is a gem. Track & Field just got a revamping -- basketball - volleyball - wrestling gyms are well-maintained. There are few tennis venues better than the red courts. Aside from the parking lot adjacent to Wilder Stadium at Clinton Middle School, the “old” high school (top priority), we suppose soccer should be the next upgrading to be considered, although the stadium can manage it, and strength and conditioning have needs, also.
We would be remiss here if we did not mention also The Clinton Family YMCA. Our State Champion Baseball players have a history there, together, bringing home championships. In June, there will be a full course of summer camps offering top-notch instruction. Start them early, nuture their passions, let them pause if they need a mental health break, be there for them when they come back to a sport or move on from a sport, let them know that college is not for everybody but it is just right for somebody, why not us - That should be the legacy that we should hope to leave in Clinton.
Chronicle Photo, above, l-r: CHS Athletics Director Louie Alexander, Principal Dr. Martha Brothers, SCHSL Assistant Administrator Amy Boozer, and Superintendent Dr. David O’Shields.
