Any trip to Western Alamance is long enough for a team from Hillsborough.

It’s about a 35 minute trip and baseball games usually start at 7PM. On a decent night, coaches drive the team bus back to the Orange Transportation Garage at around 10.

It wasn’t a decent night on Tuesday. It was nine innings long. Cedar Ridge worked well into the night for what turned out to be a rewarding win in Elon.

Sophomore Nick Aitkin threw three-and-one-thirds innings of relief to earn the victory as the Red Wolves defeated the Warriors 2-1 in nine innings. Caden Thompson, serving as a pinch runner for freshman Hudson Kelly, scored the game-winning run off a passed ball in the top of the ninth. With one out, Kelly got a board off an error by Western shortstop Cooper Marks. After Landon Dalehite drew a walk against Western’s Eli Abbott, Thompson replaced Kelly and immediately stole third.

The Warriors mounted a threat in the bottom of the ninth when Noah Huffine drew a leadoff walk. Following a fly out by Jackson Rippy to Mason Cates in right field, Fred Harrelson walked sending Colton McCoy (replacing Huffine as a pinch runner) to second. Aitkin struck out a Warrior for the second outlet. Ian McGuffey took a grounder at third base and chunked it to first for the final out.

It was a long wait between runs for the Red Wolves, who scored in the first. McGuffey sliced a single to left field, then stole second with John Grove at the plate. Aitkin, who started the game at shortstop, slammed a hard grounder up the middle to bring in McGuffey.

McGuffey started as pitcher and threw five-and-one-thirds innings. He allowed just four hits and struck out six.

The Warriors only run was unearned. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Harrelson started with a single to left field. Bryce Renner laid down a sacrifice bunt to third base. Harrelson went to third off the bunt, then scored off a passed ball with William Patillo at bat.

The Warriors threatened to take the lead in the sixth when Marks hit a leadoff single. Huffine walked with one out, which led to Aitkin replacing McGuffey on the mound. Rippy grounded into a double play with Kelly throwing to Grant McGuffey at second. McGuffey threw to Quinn Finnegan for the double play.

On Wednesday night, the Red Wolves won a pitcher’s dual with a 3-2 win over Chapel Hill at Tiger Stadium. Cedar Ridge junior Quinn Finnegan earned the win by throwing four shutout innings. Mason Cates picked up his first save of the season, blanking the Tigers in the final two-and-two-thirds innings, striking out three.

Finnegan helped his own cause in the third inning with a double that went over the head of right fielder Sam Elston. After Ian McGuffey walked, John Grove stroked a grounder to shortstop that reached shallow left field. McGuffey, who stole second, scored along with Finnegan.

Dalehite walked to open the fifth inning. Ian McGuffey lined a double across the third base line, scoring Dalehite from second base.

Chapel Hill made a threat with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Teagan Coynesmith and Bryan Castevens each drew walks. Then Tyler Oliaro was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Asher Harward, running for Castevens, scored off a passed ball. James Staats grounded out to Grant McGuffey, which scored Conyesmith to trim the Red Wolf lead to 3-2. Mason Cates struck out Austin Campos, while Oliaro was tagged out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch to end the inning.

Cates retired the final six Tigers in order in the sixth and seventh inning.

Cedar Ridge will host Western Alamance tonight for Senior Night in Hillsborough. Seniors Landon Dalehite, Mason Cates, Rayshawn Page, Joel Davis and Kevin Jones will be honored.

Photo by Bradly Nicholson 

Matchups between Orange and Cedar Ridge come and go. Some are competitive. Some aren’t.

On a  like Wednesday at Orange soccer field, it serves as a reminder that having the crosstown rivals in the same league can be a wonderful thing.

In what may have been the best matchup in women’s soccer in the history of the rivalry, the two teams combined for four goals in two, 10-minute overtime sessions.

With Orange trailing 5-4, junior Caroline Cathey took a short return pass off a corner kick from Lily Crayton and lofted it up from 25 yards. The ball bent under the crossbar and over the outstretched hands of Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Ellamarie Perel into the nylon. It was the final equalizer in a game full of them.

The game would end in a 5-5 tie, but it was fiercely contested down to the very last second in front of two grandstands full of fans that lived and died with every loose ball at Orange Soccer Field.

In the final seconds, Orange senior Ella Wimsatt sent a long ball that led to a chase between Cathey and Cedar Ridge wingback Rachel Alverson. The two players collided as the buzzer sounded. Cathey was shaken up and was checked on my Alverson and several teammates as the long battle ended.

Orange has now gone unbeaten in its last eight games against the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge’s last victory over the Lady Panthers came on April 17, 2019.

Cedar Ridge junior Fleury Nicholson finished with two goals. Cathey finished with two goals for Orange (7-4-1, 4-3-1 in the Central Conference).

It was yet another battle in a Central Conference that has turned incredibly competitive over the final weeks of the regular season. Both Cedar Ridge and Orange had wins over defending 3A State Champion Eastern Alamance last week. Orange is currently ranked #10 in the 3A East Region, with Cedar Ridge at #11.

Cedar Ridge appeared set to end Orange’s dominance in the rivalry when they bolted out to a 3-1 lead. Rose Garysmith, a Red Wolf centerback, completed the opening goal when she took a corner kick from freshman Kate Finnegan and kneed the ball into the lower right corner past Orange netminder Makayla Davis in the 16th minute.

Orange’s leading scorer, Elliana Sullivan Gaddy, tied it up after she took a throw-in from Wimsatt and chipped it past Perel from the right corner of the box from 17 yards.

The two teams traded opportunities throughout the first half. Cedar Ridge had six corner kicks in the opening half. After Wimsatt disposed of a corner by Finnegan, Cedar Ridge’s Katie Paulakonis was grabbed by Orange’s Channing Mahaney in the penalty area, leading to a foul. Nicholson’s first goal came off the subsequent penalty kick, putting the Red Wolves back ahead 2-1.

Orange took the kickoff to the second half and Sullivan Gaddy’s attempt was blocked by Alverson. That sparked a quick Cedar Ridge counter where Paulakonis fed Nicholson, who switched to her right foot for a better angle and fired it past Davis from 19 yards with 38:29 remaining in regulation.

Orange controlled possession for the next few minutes until Cora Bailey scored to put Orange within a goal. Sullivan Gaddy’s corner led to a failed clearance by the Red Wolves. Bailey pounced on the loose ball and sent it down the heart of the net.

Orange evened the game in dramatic, if somewhat controversial, fashion. The referee’s assistant ruled Orange got the ball on a throw-in with 1:48 remaining. Sullivan Gaddy launched down the right flank and fired in a shot from 20 yards with 1:10 remaining in regulation to tie it up at 3-3.

Cathey gave Orange its only lead of the night when she was fouled by Adelynn Nasseri in the box just 16 seconds into overtime. Cathey scored the penalty kick to put Orange ahead and she fired it into the upper left corner.

Finnegan, who had two assists in the game, took a throw-in and scored in the upper left corner with 3:49 remaining in the first overtime to even it up at 4-4.

Finnegan wasn’t down. With 1:32 remaining in the opening overtime, Finnegan took a loose ball and fed Paulakonis inside the nine-yard box. Paulakonis tucked it in with ease to put the Red Wolves back ahead 5-4.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior men’s tennis player Fionn Kuo. On Wednesday, Kuo reached the Mideast Regionals in doubles play along with partner Lev Bearman. They were voted the #1 doubles team from the Central Conference during the league’s tennis championships at the Burlington Tennis Center on Wednesday. This is Kuo’s first season at Cedar Ridge. He earned the #1 singles spot that Josh Mayhew left behind. This season, Kuo went 10-2 in singles play for a Red Wolf team that is 11-2. Kuo also teamed with Bearman to go 4-0 in doubles play. On Friday, Cedar Ridge will travel to Western Alamance. With a win, the Red Wolves will tie the Warriors and earn a share of the Central Conference championship. Among Kuo’s highlights for the season was a three-set win over Nathan Bermeo of Eno River Academy on April 4. He defeated Zac Blizzard of Durham School of the Arts 6-0, 6-0 on March 7. In his first match with the Red Wolves, Kuo defeated Yisak Turney of Southern Alamance 6-1, 6-0. Cedar Ridge has earned an automatic trip to the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs. Part of the reason for their continued strong play under new head coach Mike Rodgers is the play of Kuo, who will venture into the regionals at the Burlington Tennis Center next month.

Nate and Jaylan Sorrells were raised together. They attended school together. They played football together. So it was only natural that they signed together to play football at Mars Hill College. Their father, who was raised in Georgia, played football at Mars Hill. Nate Sorrells was a four-year varsity player for the Panthers. He endured the difficult pandemic year, where the Panthers played games during the spring. Nate scored his first touchdown against Cedar Ridge. He went on to score eight touchdowns in his career. This week, Nate secured a conference championship with the Orange lacrosse team, where he is playing his first season. Jaylan barely had a play off for Orange the past two seasons. He played on the offensive and defensive lines. Last year, Jaylan finished with 45 tackles in his senior year. In addition, Jaylan has finished first in several outdoor track and field meets this year. He competes in the shot put and the discuss for the Panthers and is trying to qualify for regionals, which will be held in Pembroke next month. Jaylan and Nate were instrumental in helping Orange football coach DeVante Pettiford get his program established after he took over for Van Smith in 2022. A signing ceremony was held for Jaylan and Nate inside Orange High Gymnasium on April 12.

It was a senior night for the Orange women’s soccer team they will never forget. And Cedar Ridge won’t forget it either. The Red Wolves and the Lady Panthers played to a wild 5-5 tie at Orange Soccer Field on Wednesday night. It appeared that Red Wolf junior Katie Paulakonis would notch the game-winner when she knocked in a corner kick off a feed from freshman Kate Finnegan with 1:32 remaining in the first overtime. But Orange’s Caroline Cathey scored the game’s final goal when she launched a 22-yard shot off a corner kick where Lily Crayton took a short pass and returned it to Cathey. Cedar Ridge’s Fleury Nicholson scored two goals for the Red Wolves, including a beautiful switch to her right foot and fired a ball from 21 yards to give Cedar Ridge a 3-1 lead with 38:29 remaining in regulation. Nicholson also scored off a penalty kick when Paulakonis was fouled with 6:09 remaining in the first half. Kate Finnegan also scored for Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves will venture to Eastern Alamance on Monday. Last week, the Red Wolves scored a 3-2 win over the Eagles, the defending 3A State Champions. Cathey tied the game for Orange with 1:10 remaining in regulation and finished with two goals. 

The Cedar Ridge men’s tennis team will reach the state playoffs under first-year head coach Mike Rogers. The Red Wolves have gone 11-2, 10-1 in the Central Conference. On Friday, the Red Wolves will face Western Alamance with a chance to tie for the Central Conference championship. This season, the Red Wolves have been led by Fionn Kuo, a junior who is in his first year at Cedar Ridge. Kuo has replaced Josh Mayhew, the first player in the history of Hillsborough to reach the state singles final four times, as the Red Wolves #1 singles player. There have also been singles players like Lev Bearman, Joe Garbee, Griffin Thomas, Jackson Baker and Charles Dean. Bearman, who played for the 2022 Cedar Ridge team that won the Central Conference championship, went 10-1 this year for the Red Wolves in singles play. Garbee went 9-2. On Wednesday at the Central Conference Men’s Tennis championships at the Burlington Tennis Center, Kuo and Bearman qualified for the Mideast Regionals as a doubles team, receiving the #1 seed. Cedar Ridge will end the regular season against Western Alamance in Elon on Friday, then prepare for the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs. The Mideast Regionals and the 3A State Championships will be held at the Burlington Tennis Center. 

Photo by Carly Williams 

The standards around Orange lacrosse have changed. Dramatically.

In 2016, it was a cause for major celebration when the Panthers beat a nearby rival, like Eastern Alamance. Before that, one person close to Orange athletics recently reminisced “Orange may have lost often, but it was a good night when they stayed in a game long enough to avoid a running clock.”

That was before Chandler Zirkle became the Panthers head coach. His father, Franklin, was at the forefront of lacrosse locally from the sport’s beginnings in North Carolina at this level, leading East Chapel Hill to two state championships before the sport was even sanctioned by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. In the 2000s, when Chandler suited up as a Wildcat, the sport was operated by a group of local coaches.

Like his father, Chandler isn’t coaching a team as much as he’s built a program. It isn’t limited to Orange High School, where Chandler’s father now serves as an assistant. It extends to Orange Middle, where Chandler teaches and creates a breeding ground.

On Tuesday night, Orange lacrosse claimed its fourth consecutive Mid-Piedmont Conference championship in fashion about as dramatic as the Road Runner escaping the Coyote. The Panthers romped past Western Alamance 21-5, improving to 15-0 in conference play.

Orange, 19-1 overall, outscored conference opposition 284-51 this season. It was the third straight game that Orange scored 20 goals in a game and the sixth time overall.

The conference title is the latest achievement for a senior class that helped make Zirkle’s aspirations of turning a team into his program a reality. There’s been Katie Wolter, the goalkeeper who faced the obligatory taunts from opposing fans and players simply for being a female competing against men two-to-three times a week. Last month, she made her 300th career save in a 10-8 win over Jordan in Durham. Her brother Tyson, who played at Orange under former head coach David O’Neil, is now an assistant coach.

And, of course, there’s Connor Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in school history. Last week, Kruse broke several school single-season records. He became the first player in school history to surpass 100 assists in a season when he racked up ten assists in a 25-2 win over Eastern Alamance. He also broke his own single-season record with 156 points. Last year, he had 143.

On Tuesday night, Josh Crabtree scored four goals, pushing his senior total to 27, a new career-high. Josh Cowan has 19 goals this year. On defense, long stick midfielder Alden Cathey and Sascha Van Praag continue to be a force. Van Praag will join Kruse in playing for Lenoir-Rhyne, the reigning Division II national champions. Cathey will play at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania.

Jace and Kale Womble have supplied the Panthers with defensive depth. Newcomers like Nate Sorrells, in his first year playing varsity lacrosse after four years as a running back in football, have provided a valuable presence. Bryce Nelson has scored seven goals.

Of course, there’s another generation ready to carry Orange forward. Sophomore Brett Clark finished with a hat trick against the Warriors, along with junior Grey Crabtree. This season, Crabtree has a career-high 25 goals and 26 assists.

The Panthers will likely be seeded #1 in the East Region when the state playoffs brackets are released on Monday. For the third year in a row, the road to the State Championship game will probably run through Auman Stadium.

The overriding question for Orange is will the third time be the charm? Each of the last two years, the Panthers have hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship game. In 2022, First Flight put on a defensive clinic to beat the Panthers 13-7. Last year, Orange faced a Northwood team they had beaten twice before in the regular season, but the Chargers came through with a 10-8 win.

Zirkle has kept the focus on playing one game at a time this year. A looming battle in the playoffs against Croatan, who has been ranked #2 in the 3A/2A/1A East rankings all year, has been a possibility that the coaching staff has prepared for since winter.

Regardless, Tuesday night was not another championship for the Orange lacrosse team.

It was a championship for the Orange lacrosse program.

GRAHAM–There’s a difference between hitting and timely hitting.

On Tuesday night, that was the difference between Orange and Southern Alamance. And, hence, it’s the difference in the race for the Central Conference baseball championship right now.

Each team had five hits. The Panthers largely hit for singles. The Patriots hit for power, albeit from unlikely sources.

Southern’s Janden Evans hit the very first pitch delivered by Cross Clayton over the left field fence, aided somewhat by a southwest wind, to put the Patriots ahead in the opening inning. It was Evans first home run of the season.

Southern would go on to beat Orange 3-1 at the Carroll Shoffner Baseball Complex. The Patriots now lead Orange by one game for first place in the Central Conference at 7-2. The Panthers will host the second game of the two-game series in Hillsborough on Friday. With only three league games remaining, it is likely Orange’s last hope to gain a share of the conference title.

The Panthers had plenty of opportunities on Tuesday. The Patriots committed five errors, but the Panthers didn’t make them hurt. Orange’s leadoff batter, Cameron Guentensberger, lined a single to centerfield and advanced to second when the ball was bobbled by Bradley Capps. Southern starter Braxton Cain struck out Kayden Bradsher and Ryan Honeycutt. With two out, Ryan Horton grounded a ball to shortstop to Mark King, whose throw to first baseman Cooper Partin was low. After Horton legged it out, Guentensberger attempted to score from first, but Partin immediately threw to catcher Eli Holland, who tagged out the centerfielder at the plate to close out the inning.

Clayton suffered his first-ever loss to a conference opponent, ironically in one of his best career outings. Of his 72 pitchers, he threw 58 strikes with nine strikeouts. Of the 26 batters he faced, Clayton threw a first-pitch strike to 24 of them. Clayton was going for his 20th career win, the first Orange pitcher to reach that plateau since Bryse Wilson in 2016.

After Evans stomped his foot on home plate to complete his first dinger, Holland sent a hopper that popped off third base into the left field corner for a double. It was the first in a series of failed scoring opportunities by both teams. Holland moved to third after Partin grounded out to Wyatt Hedrick for the first out. Clayton ended the inning striking out Ethan Mann and Noah Madren.

Orange designated hitter Garrett Sawyer was hit by a pitch in the second inning, then raced over to second when Cain’s pickup throw got away from Partin. King caught a soft liner by Clayton to end the frame.

Ryan Honeycutt opened the fourth with a cue shot down the third base line that Evans threw away, sending the senior to second. That’s as far as Honeycutt would go after Horton, Oliver Van Tiem and Wyatt Hedrick were retired in order.

In the sixth, Southern senior Bradley Capps sent a 1-1 fastball over the left field fence, a wall scraper that went out the most shallow part of the park. It was Capps’ first home run of the year, his seventh RBI.

With one out, Evans doubled to the right field gap. After Holland flew out to Elijah Santos in right, Evans moved over to third. Mann lined a single to centerfield to bring in Capps and make it 3-0 Patriots.

Orange’s only run came when Horton sent a diving liner to centerfield. Capps dove for the ball but missed and it rolled all the way to the fence. Horton wound up with a triple. Dominic O’Keefe replaced him as a courtesy runner. With Van Tiem at bat, Cain uncorked a wild pitch to the spacious backstop. O’Keefe scored off the wild pitch.

Cain surpassed 105 pitches when Garrett Sawyer rode out a ten-pitch at-bat that ended with a fly out to Mann in left field. Eli Gilley replaced Cain and earned the save by striking out Clayton and Santos.