For the sixth straight year, the Orange baseball team defended its home field against their crosstown rivals, and they have their senior pitcher to thank for it.
The Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 8-0 on Wednesday night in front of over 300 fans at Panther Field behind a three-hit shutout from Will White, who earned his third straight win. White has now thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings.
Orange pounded out ten hits, including Mark Willms going 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Sophomore shortstop Joey Berini also went 2-for-3 with a double, while first baseman Dalton Brown went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.
Every player in the Orange lineup got on base. Catcher Caige Clayton, who slugged a two-run homer against East Chapel Hill two weeks ago, had a sacrifice fly RBI.
Cooper Porter, Colin Guentensberger and Cooper Hench also had doubles as Orange remained tied with Chapel Hill for first place in the Big 8 with a 4-1 record.
Cedar Ridge (4-3, 2-3) dropped its second straight. The Red Wolves were held to a season-low in hits and shut out for the first time this season. Cedar Ridge is now in sixth place in the Big 8 with a 2-3 record, which makes Thursday’s rematch with the Panthers all the more urgent.
Phil Berger took the loss for the Red Wolves.
Hillsborough Sports.com will broadcast the Orange-Cedar Ridge game live starting at 6.