The Columbus Blue Devils used clutch pitching and clutch hitting to sweep their Class AAA baseball semifinals series with South Effingham on Monday, taking the opener 5-3 and the nightcap 6-1 to advance to the state championship.

Zach Bush was 2-for-5 with four RBis in the series for Columbus (28-7). Jacob Fox won the first game, going 5 1/3 innings, striking out three. Zach Laughlin went 1 2/3 innings for the save in the first game, fanning John Roberts with two on to end the game.

Laughlin also closed out the nightcap, striking out three of the four batters he faced. He struck out Chris Zittrouer with the bases loaded in the sixth to preserve a 4-1 lead.

Paul Cheeks was 3-for-4 in the first game for the Mustangs, who ended the season at 21-12. 

See Thursday's Herald for more details on the Mustangs-Blue Devils series.