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Hillsborough Sports | Hillsborough Sports’s live audio

We cover Hillsborough Sports. Play-by-play for Orange and Cedar Ridge baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, softball and lacrosse!

For the first time since 2019, the Cedar Ridge softball team will host a game in the state playoffs. On Thursday night, the Red Wolves defeated Southeast Alamance 5-3 to finish the regular season 14-6. It’s the most regular season wins for Cedar Ridge since they finished 21-3 in 2019, when they last won a conference championship. The Red Wolves finished the regular season 9-3 in the Central Conference, good enough for 2nd place. Senior pitcher Charlotte Lowry threw a complete game to earn the win. She struck out four and improved to 10-2 with a 3.11 ERA. With the game against the Stallions tied in the bottom of the fifth inning, Mia Best stroked a double with one out. Best would go on to score the game-winning run off a passed ball. After she reached on a single earlier in the inning, Raegan Remaly put the Red Wolves ahead 3-1 off a single from Lowry. In the sixth inning, Remaly drove in Madeline Galindo-Woodring with an RBI single. On the same play, Qiaura Rogers would score off an error. Remaly went 3-for-4 against the Stallions. Best finished 2-for-3 with two doubles. Rogers added a triple. Cedar Ridge will start play in the Central Conference Tournament against Walter Williams on Monday.

Cedar Ridge softball’s Rylee Capps discusses win over Southeast Alamance with Curran Campbelll

For the first time since 2019, the Cedar Ridge softball team will host a game in the state playoffs. On Thursday night, the Red Wolves defeated Southeast Alamance 5-3 to finish the regular season 14-6. It’s the most regular season wins for Cedar Ridge since they finished 21-3 in 2019, when they last won a conference championship.

The unpredictable softball race in the Central Conference had one wild, final turn before the regular season ended on Thursday night. Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 6-4 at Panther Softball Field. Eastern Alamance, who had already clinched the Central Conference championship, suffered just its second league loss of the year. Hayleigh Hammond cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fourth inning to pout Orange ahead 3-1. Addison Guentensberger came on in relief of Malynne Roemmich in the fifth inning and delivered the save for Orange. Guentensberger, who started in left field, also drove in a run in the fifth inning with a fly ball that dropped between the second baseman and right fielder, allowing Katie Carden to score. Hammond led off the sixth inning with a double and scored off a single by Katie Carden that dropped fair along the left field line by 18 inches. Allie Carden roped an RBI single to score Sadie Cecil. It was the third game in fourth days for an Orange team that has played in one of the best conference in the state. Senior Rhiley Crabtree went 3-for-3. Hammond finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Orange will start play in the Central Conference Tournament with a home game against Southern Alamance on Monday.

Orange softball’s Crabtree, George, Cecil, Carden and Neighbours discuss win over Eastern Alamance

The unpredictable softball race in the Central Conference had one wild, final turn before the regular season ended on Thursday night. Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 6-4 at Panther Softball Field. Eastern Alamance, who had already clinched the Central Conference championship, suffered just its second league loss of the year.

Just in time for the end of the regular season, Cedar Ridge turned the baseball championship race completely on its head. The Red Wolves swept a two-game series from Southern Alamance, who came into the week with a 8-0 conference record. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves defeated the Patriots 7-1. In his final home conference game, Quinn Finnegan threw a complete game and didn’t allow a run until the seventh inning. Finnegan, the only senior on the team, also triggered a five-run third inning with a leadoff single. Grant McGuffey stroked a double to left field to score Finnegan, pushing the Red Wolves lead to 2-0. McGuffey finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs. McGuffey put Cedar Ridge ahead 7-0 in the fourth inning with a RBI single to score Hudson Kelly. Ian McGuffey went 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Ian lifted a double down the left field line in the third to score Aidan Ryan. Finnegan took part in the annual Cedar Ridge ceremony in postgame where he rounded the bases one final time. Finnegan, who has been a co-Captain of the team three times, put dirt from home plate inside a small bottle where he will keep it as he journeys to Staten Island, New York next year to pitch for Division I Wagner College. Cedar Ridge will face D.H. Conley on Tuesday in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge baseball’s Quinn Finnegan, Grant McGuffey and Ian McGuffey discuss win over S. Alamance

Just in time for the end of the regular season, Cedar Ridge turned the baseball championship race completely on its head. The Red Wolves swept a two-game series from Southern Alamance, who came into the week with a 8-0 conference record. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves defeated the Patriots 7-1.

Orange junior pitcher Ryan Sawyer earned his fifth win of the season with a victory over Walter Williams in Burlington on Tuesday. Sawyer allowed just four hits in a complete game as the Panthers won 2-1. It was Orange’s first victory in Burlington since 2022. Sawyer threw five shutout innings against Southern Alamance on April 8. Last Tuesday, he threw six shutout innings against Cedar Ridge. Since February 26, when Orange defeated Chapel Hill, Sawyer has been Orange’s Tuesday starter and made rapid improvement. He leads the Panthers with five wins and 67 strikeouts this season. He has a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also has a 173 earned run average. Sawyer has also played left field the past two weeks as the Panthers continue to battle injuries and illness up and down its starting lineup. The win over Williams was Orange’s third straight Central Conference victory. Though Orange is out of the hunt for a fifth straight conference championship, they are battling to earn a home game in the state playoffs. On Friday, the Panthers will close out the two-game series with Williams for Senior Night in Hillsborough. Orange’ seniors Dominic O’Keefe, Garrett Sawyer and Eli Horton will be honored during a pregame ceremony that will take place at 5:45. First pitch will be at 6PM.

Orange pitcher Garrett Sawyer discusses win over Walter Williams

Orange junior pitcher Ryan Sawyer earned his fifth win of the season with a victory over Walter Williams in Burlington on Tuesday. Sawyer allowed just four hits in a complete game as the Panthers won 2-1. It was Orange’s first victory in Burlington since 2022.

Hillsborough Sports | Hillsborough Sports’s live audio

We cover Hillsborough Sports. Play-by-play for Orange and Cedar Ridge baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, softball and lacrosse!

Since having its 47-game conference winning streak end against Seaforth last month, the Orange lacrosse team had its rematch against the Hawks circled in on its calendar.

Yet it was an older, more familiar Chatham County rival who nearly ruined the Panthers’ hopes of winning a fifth consecutive conference championship.

The Northwood Chargers led Orange 4-2 at halftime at Chargers Stadium on Thursday night. Holden Ray delivered a hat trick as the Panthers finished the game on a 6-1 run and defeated the Chargers 9-5. After being limited to three goals in the first three periods, the Panthers scored six in the fourth quarter to maintain its tie with Seaforth for first place in the Mid-Carolina Conference.

Owen Wimsatt also had a hat trick and scored the opening tally of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 4-4. It started a string of four goals in a span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Junior Matthew Macneir scored the go-ahead goal with 9:45 remaining. Wimsatt would complete his hat trick with an overhand shot 33 seconds later. Luke Nevius added his first goal of the night.

Brett Clark and Ray finished out the scoring as the Panthers improved to 13-3 overall, 11-1 in the Mid-Carolina Conference.

The showdown with Seaforth lived up to the Panthers brand of lacrosse that head coach Chandler Zirkle has installed since he arrived as head coach in 2017. Orange went on a 5-2 run in the second quarter and didn’t trail in the second half in a 10-8 victory at Hawks Stadium.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jackson Runkle finished with ten saves in a huge game.

Brett Clark scored three goals and four points. MacNeil finished with two goals and two assists against the Hawks. After the Panthers were stymied by the Hawks in their first game in March, scoring just one goal in the second half, Orange found consistency on offense scoring five goals in the second quarter.

Jay Parker, Aidan Monteith and Wimsatt all scored in the second quarter. MacNeil and Wimsatt added goals in the third quarter.

Sophomore Jackson Eackes had six ground balls while Grant Cardone added three ground balls

Orange will return home to face Eastern Alamance on Friday night at Auman Stadium.

On his Senior Night, Quinn Finnegan couldn’t leave Red Wolves Field wouldn’t taking something with him.

The park has been a big part of his young life. On Tuesday, he made sure it always will be.

After he became the first pitcher from the Central Conference to beat Southern Alamance this year, Finnegan got to take a final trot around the bases, a tradition at Cedar Ridge for seniors following their final home conference game.

Finnegan took the trip alone because he’s Cedar Ridge only senior this year. His teammates wouldn’t have it any other way.

After he rounded the bases and touched home plate, he pulled out a small bottle, where he put in some dirt from home plate and sealed it with a wooden cap. Finnegan had already placed a label on it reading “Dirt from Home Plate.” He’s taking that bottle with him to Staten Island, New York, where he will pitch at Wagner College next year.

“Wherever I go, I want to take Cedar Ridge with me,” Finnegan said. “This is my home. I’ll keep it on my nightstand in college. It’s going to be with me wherever I go. I have to have a piece of home with me everywhere.”

Though Cedar Ridge is out of the Central Conference championship race, Finnegan has truly saved his best for last.

A week after delivering a complete game and hitting a three-run homer in his first-ever win against Orange, Finnegan made his final conference home game one to remember. He went the distance and allowed just one run as Cedar Ridge surprisingly dominated Southern Alamance 7-1 at Red Wolves Field on Tuesday night.

Southern Alamance, #3 in the latest 3A East Region RPI rankings, suffered its first conference loss and fell to 15-4 overall. It was the least amount of runs for the Patriots in a game this year. Finnegan nearly earned his second straight shutout. Kaden Parker’s RBI single with two out in seventh inning to score Johnny Rojas brought in Southern’s only tally of the night.

“Quinn does things the right way,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Bryson Massey. “He’s done things the right way his whole career here. There’s no better way to go out that finish out your senior year being the best you can be. Who cares about being good at the beginning? Be good at the end. Last week, he dominated at Orange. This week, he dominated here at his last outing.”

He also got run support. Cedar Ridge scored seven unanswered runs against Southern starter Mark King, beginning with John Grove’s line drive to centerfield to score Aidan Ryan, who reached on a one-out walk in the first inning.

Finnegan helped his own cause with a leadoff single in the third. Grant McGuffey roped a double on a liner to left field to bring in Finnegan. After Grove walked, Ian McGuffey sliced another liner to left field to bring in Grant McGuffey and Ryan, pushing Cedar Ridge’s lead to 4-0.

Grove scored after a wild pitch. Walker Holmes scored Ian McGuffey on an RBI groundout to increase Cedar Ridge’s lead to 6-0.

Grant McGuffey, who finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, drove in the final Red Wolf run with an RBI single to bring in Hudson Kelly in the fourth inning.

Southern Alamance had several threats early, but Cedar Ridge delivered possibly its best defensive game of the year. Southern’s Cooper Martin sent a double that rolled to the centerfield fence. King, who singled on the first pitch of the game, held up at third. Noah Madren sent a fly ball to right field, where Carter Warren made the catch. Warren doubled up Partin at second base to end the inning.

The upset postponed Southern Alamance’s coronation as Central Conference champions. The Patriots now lead Person by two games for first place with three league games remaining. Person, who defeated Eastern Alamance on Monday, return to conference action against Williams next Tuesday in Burlington.

“I have a lot of respect for Southern Alamance,” Massey said. “I also believe in my guys wholeheartedly. We’ve played some really good baseball the last two weeks. We’re not going nowhere. We’re here to stay. Cedar Ridge baseball is on the rise. That’s what we expect.”

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The Cedar Ridge lacrosse team took a big step towards making the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs on Monday night with a 8-5 win over Walter Williams at Red Wolves Stadium. The game was tied 3-3 at halftime, but Red Wolves goalkeeper Michael O’Melia held the Bulldogs to two goals in the second half. O’Melia made 12 saves as Cedar Ridge improved to 6-7. Sophomore Jackson Burrows had his fourth hat trick of the year with three goals. He now has 16 goals on the season. Senior Joshua Hart added two goals. Hart now leads Cedar Ridge with 25 goals and 33 points this season. Junior Grant Thole added a goal, bringing his total to 15. Freshman Christopher Wilkins started the second half with his second goal of the season. Cedar Ridge avenged a tough overtime loss to Williams on March 14 in Burlington. The Red Wolves have now won five of its last six games and is looking to close the season strong as they go into the state playoffs. Last year, the Red Wolves hosted an opening round game in the playoffs. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge will look to continue the momentum when they face Southeast Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium. On May 2, they will play its Senior Night game against Western Alamance in Hillsborough.

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The Cedar Ridge lacrosse team took a big step towards making the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs on Monday night with a 8-5 win over Walter Williams at Red Wolves Stadium. The game was tied 3-3 at halftime, but Red Wolves goalkeeper Michael O’Melia held the Bulldogs to two goals in the second half.