Month: July 2019

Jamar Davis: Over the weekend, Davis represented the United States in the Under-20 Pan-American Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica. Davis finished 8th in the triple jump with a mark of 15.47 meters. Geiner Moreno Chiquillo of Colombia finished first with a leap of 16.40 meters. In addition, Davis was named to the Unites States Track & Field and Cross Country Association All-Academic team. To qualify for USTFCCA All-Academic honors, an athlete must have compiled a cumulative 3.25 GPA. Davis also garnered 2019 All-ACC Academic Outdoor Track & Field honors.

Bryse Wilson: In his return to the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League on Sunday, Wilson pitched his best game of the season. Wilson threw seven scoreless innings as the Stripers defeated Rochester 12-1 at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, GA. Wilson yielded four hits, walked none and struck out four for his first win in Gwinnett since June 22. The win moved Gwinnett one-half game ahead of Durham for first place in the International League’s Southern Division.

Last week, Wilson suffered his first Major League loss with the Atlanta Braves. On July 16, Milwaukee defeated the Braves 13-1 at Miller Park. Wilson gave up four runs (all earned) off six hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out one to fall to 1-1 on the season. On Thursday, the Braves sent Wilson back to Gwinnett and promoted pitcher Kyle Wright. Wilson is now 5-7 with a 4.30 ERA for Gwinnett this season.

Keshawn Thompson: The 2017 Orange High graduate has been placed on full scholarship at Campbell University. Thompson, who was a safety for the 2016 Orange defense that yielded three offensive touchdowns the whole regular season, will start the upcoming season as a redshirt sophomore with the Camels. In 2018, Thompson recorded eight tackles and played in all eleven of Campbell’s games. Campbell travels to Troy on August 31 to start the 2019 season.

Shaquille Bolden: A former defensive back at Orange, Bolden now plays professional football in Mexico. On Sunday, Bolden suited up for Gavilanes in Lexfa Arena Football Mexico. Playing wide receiver and defensive back, Bolden scored three touchdowns and made one interception on Sunday as Gavilanes defeated Tuzos 42-12 in Morlos, Cuernavaca. Bolden also has played professionally in Poland and has received tryouts in the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League in the U.S.

Mia and Montana Davidson: With Mississippi State softball in the midst of change, Mia Davidson spent part of her summer north of the border. Davidson suited up for Texas-based Scrapyard International during the Canada Cup International Fastpitch Championship in South Surry, British Columbia. Canada won the Canada Cup by beating Scapyard with an 8-4 win over Scrapyard in the championship game on July 15. It’s the second straight year that Canada has won the Canada Cup. Prior to 2018, Canada had not won the event since 1996.

The Davidson sisters will start the 2020 season with a brand new head coach. Samantha Ricketts was named the new head coach of the Bulldogs on Monday morning. Ricketts has served as an assistant coach at MSU since 2015. She replaces Vann Stuedeman, whose contract wasn’t renewed after eight seasons. Stuedeman went 276-189 overall, 69-127 in the Southeastern Conference.

Coaching in the East/West All-Star Game doesn’t mean just showing up on the night of the game and shouting instructions from the sidelines. For Orange Coach Van Smith, who served as an assistant for the East, it’s been a full week. It all started last Thursday and continued right until the end of Wednesday night, when the East defeated the West 20-8. Smith was selected last summer by the North Carolina Coaches Association to coach.in the All-Star Game. He’s no stranger to coaching All-Star games. He also coached in the Shrine Bowl in 2016. Now that his All-Star experience is over, Smith heads back to Orange to continue preparations for 2019 next week. A special youth camp is scheduled for Orange High. 

Orange linebacker Colin Guentensberger became the first Panther since Garrett Cloer to play in the East/West All-Star football game at Jamieson Stadium in Greensboro on Wednesday night. Early in the third quarter, Guentensberger recovered a fumble to give East possession. Guentensberger played regularly for the East defense, which held the West offense without a first down in the second half. The East earned a 20-8 win. After winning the final game of his high school career, Guentensberger now will focus on walking on to the Appalachian State football team. He starts classes in Boone next month. 

Colin Guentensberger will surely look forward to the winters of Boone he’ll eventually endure this week as temperatures creep up in the mid-90s.

While Guentensberger played his final high school football game as an Orange Panther last November against Riverside, he still has one more tilt ahead of him. He will suit up in the East/West All-Star Game at Grimsley High School in Greensboro on Wednesday.

Guentensberger, who graduated last month, was selected for the All-Star game by Wilmington Hoggard head coach Craig Underwood. In 2017 and 2018, Underwood watched Guentensberger from the sidelines as Hoggard faced Orange.

“When Coach Underwood chose Colin to be on the team, he said he wanted Colin on his side, for once,” said Orange coach Van Smith.

Smith, who was chosen as an assistant for the East squad last summer, will spend the week in Greensboro as an assistant for East head coach Sport Sawyer, who has spent the past two years at Manteo High School.

Guentensberger, who was the Orange High Most Valuable Player in 2018, will become the first Orange player to suit up in the East/West All-Star Game for football since Garrett Cloer in 2015. Only three players from Orange have ever played in the East/West game, which dates back to 1949: Larry McDonald in 2008 and B.J. Cameron in 1998. McDonald, who went on to play for Orange’s 2A State Baseball Championship team, is now an administrative assistant for Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M.

The last athlete from Hillsborough selected for the East/West All-Star Game was Cedar Ridge’s Taylin Jean, who was chosen as a goalkeeper for the women’s soccer game.

In 2018, Guetensberger registered 100 tackles, second on the team behind fellow linebacker Jett Satterfield’s 107. Guentensberger was also 2nd on the team with 23 receptions for 327 yards and two touchdowns. Guentensberger caught the opening touchdown pass from Travis Ray against Eastern Guilford on October 26.

He also caught a 26-yard pass as Orange defeated East Chapel Hill 54-0 for its first win of the 2018 season. Guentensberger had a career-high four receptions for 67 yards against Northwood on October 19, a 24-7 Orange victory in Pittsboro.

Guentensberger also played varsity baseball for two seasons. Last season, he hit .292 for an Orange team that finished 2nd in the Big 8 Conference. He opened the season as the cleanup batter and had an RBI single in an 18-1 victory against Ragsdale in Jamestown. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI double as Orange defeated Chapel Hill 10-1 on April 25, its first win at Chapel Hill since 2015.

Smith’s appointment as an assistant coach comes after he completed his second year as Orange’s head coach. Previously, Smith was the defensive coordinator under former Panthers head coach Pat Moser, who retired in 2016. Smith was named as his replacement.

Smith was also an assistant coach at Graham High under Moser. He was also the head baseball coach of the Red Devils before moving over to Orange. This is just the latest All-Star game coaching assignment for Smith. In 2016, he was an assistant for North Carolina’s Shrine Bowl team.

Smith led Orange to the 2017 Big 8 Championship.

I work an insanely stressful job. 

If you read Jeff Hamlin’s piece in the News of Orange about me from January, you read where I work long hours, encounter dangerous criminals, and even have to take medication to help me cope with stress of the job.

When I go to Cedar Ridge to announce games, it’s much needed therapy. It allows me to de-stress and to even return to normalcy. But when you see incidents like the one in Lakewood, Colo. last month, the stress I want to escape from returns with a vengeance. 

In case you missed it, a baseball game being played by seven-year olds, was being officiated by a 13 year old umpire. During the game, coaches and parents of both teams became incensed by the officiating. Tempers flared and before anyone knew, the coaches and parents (not the kids) poured out on to the field, and began a brawl. The police were called as twelvepersons ranging from 24 to 55 years of age were cited for disorderly conduct, two City of Denver workers were placed on administrative leave, and others were injured – one seriously.

Last year, and more closer to home in Kingsport, Tenn., a fracas among parents broke out during a softball game played by 12 year olds. Police were summoned, but no charges were filed as video evidence and eyewitness testimony couldn’t identify the participants in the fray. 

This edition of The Franklin Mint is a reminder to those watching young athletes in athletic competition to not just come to the games and be passionate for your team, but remember your place as spectators. When I say “spectators”, I mean parents, relatives, fans, and anyone that fills the seats for an athletic contest.

I. Spectators should follow the Code of Conduct

As a part of my announcing scripts, there is one universal statement that PA announcers are required to recite – The Code of Conduct. It says:

“The North Carolina High School Athletic Association welcomes you to tonight’s game and

reminds you of the NCHSAA’s initiative – “Sportsmanship … Together we make the right call”. 

The score of any athletic event is generally forgotten over time, but the actions of the players, coaches and spectators can result in lifelong memories. The next time you attend a high school game, think of how history will remember you. 

Integrity, Respect, and Responsibility are values that are important in our daily lives. On the playing surface, these values are translated into the word Sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is one of the strongest educational lessons and lifetime values taught by high school athletics. The NCHSAA views athletic participation as an extension of the classroom where valuable life lessons are taught and learned by student-athletes.

Cedar Ridge High School, The Big Eight Conference, and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association encourages and promotes sportsmanship by student athletes, coaches, and spectators. Profanity, ethnic, racial, sexist, or other kinds of derogatory comments; and all intimidating actions directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches, team representatives, or other fans will not be tolerated. If any kind of unsportsmanlike conduct is witnessed, you will be asked to leave the premises of Cedar Ridge High School forthwith. 

After all, Cedar Ridge and (visiting team) have many traditions, but bad sportsmanship isn’t one of them. 

Sportsmanship … Together we make the right call – A message brought to you by the NCHSAA.”

In addition to this, I also give a separate announcement that only authorized persons (coaches, officials, players, and support personnel) are the only people designated to be on the playing surface at all times. 

I bring these things up to communicate with spectators that, a) Spectators should be mindful of others with their words and actions.b) Spectators have no business being on the playing surface at any time.c) Spectators are warned of the consequences of expulsion from a game should they violate the code of conduct.

It’s a shame that I have to even bring these things up. But when situations like the recent ones in Colorado and Tennessee occur, I wonder if they might have not happened if a series announcements were made? I also wonder that if these games had monitors or a presence of security, would these situations still have occurred? Maybe. But with proper warnings, fans would definitely know of what would happen if these incidents should occur.

II. Spectators need to realize that the majority of participants WILL NOT become a collegiate or professional athlete.

In over 25 years of announcing sporting events, the vast majority has been spent on the high school level. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a parent get giddy over the concept that their child is the next (name your big-time pro athlete), I could retire from my job. Many of them delude themselves into thinking that their child will make it to the major leagues.

The unrelenting fact is that the majority of student-athletes will not play beyond high school. A good number of them will not get an offer to play collegiately.

According to a 2016 study from Online Casino, approximately one million student-athletes per year will play in some form of high school athletics. Yet, only 256 of them will make it to the NFL Draft – which makes the odds at 4,233 to 1. The NBA picks 60 players per year, which means the odds skyrocket to 11,271 to 1. The WNBA is much worse at 13,015 to 1. If you’re wanting to make into Major League Baseball, your chances improve as 1,217 youngsters are selected – making the odds at 821 to 1. But the best chance at going pro is to get into the National Hockey League. Their odds? A modest 598 to 1.

Even to be a collegiate athlete, your chances are still slim. According to the NCAA, if you wishto play college football, the chances you get on a roster is at 7.1%. To be a collegian in basketball, your chances are at 3.4% and 4% for men and women, respectively. To play baseball, the chances increase 7.3%, and to play collegiate softball, 5.5%

I bring up these stats to say this, not everyone is going pro or even to play collegiately. If they did, the odds of them being the next household name is much higher than your chances of winning the lottery. So why is there pressure brought to bear on these kids? 

Many will say they want a better future for their children. Some see it as a way to get into college. Others dream big and think their children will resolve a financial issue. While I understand a parent’s wish for their children to become a greater success, parents also need to be realistic. 

What means more to a student-athlete is to play in front of family and friends who are givingthem their unconditional support, while giving their absolute all for their team. I don’t know of one student-athlete that is thinking about playing on a professional level. Most are thinking about the next play, homework when the game’s over, or planning time to spend with friends during the weekend. 

Most players are playing for the fun of the game, and not thinking of the future.

III. Spectators need to realize that Coaches, Officials, and Game Personnel are human, and are capable of fault.

In the years spent behind the mic, I have had countless scores of spectators that will storm into the press box (or to the scoring table), pull the mic from my hand (or take my headset off), and proceed to give me six shades of Hades over the fact I mispronounced their child’s name. Folks, it’s not personal if I mess up. I do my best to get it right the first time, but sometimes I do make mistakes. 

In fact, I have apologized to athletes for messing up on their name, all to be given forgiveness. Last year, when announcing wrestling for UNC, I encountered one of the toughest names I’ve ever announced in Yianni Diakomihalis (Yee-ahn-ee Dee-ahk-o-mi-hall-is) of Cornell. I went over his name repeatedly in pre-game, all for me to screw it up when the defending 141 lb. national champ made his way to the mat for his bout. Following the match, I gave my profoundest apologies. Diakomihalis accepted, and gave me his forgiveness. 

I can’t imagine Yianni’s parents being there. If so, I might have acquired Dante’s Inferno.

Spectators need to face the facts. Those that do their best to help student-athletes are not perfect. Then again, the spectators, are not perfect either. Spectators need to calm down when those assisting in the games make mistakes.

Coaches work persistently to try to get student-athletes to buy into what they are trying to do with a program. Whether it’s in the plays in games, the drills in practice, or even as much as offering positive or constructive criticism to motivate their players. But things happen, whether it’s a missed fundamental in a drill or a missed assignment in a game. Does this mean coaches are inept? Quite the contrary. 

Case in point? Coach Anna Seethaler of Cedar Ridge Volleyball. Anna did a wonderful job in her rookie season despite running into a buzzsaw of five great teams in the Big Eight Conference. I truly believe that Anna is poised to lead her team to better success in 2019. But sometimes things like this happen not because they’re not perfect, but that other teams are just that good. A city can’t be built in a day, but can be built over time with the help of everyone.

The same is true of officials. No one can’t expect a referee or umpire to get every call right at every time an infraction occurs. Officials, like coaches, are taking classes, officiating games in the summer, and undergoing examinations to be better officials. But they too, will make mistakes. As retired referee Jack Huss used to tell me, “If I could call every foul, I wouldn’t be a referee – I’d be God. That ain’t happening.”

IV. Participants & Spectators should to be prepared to lose.

My dad always told me that losing games was good for building character. Dad, you’re absolutely right.

After a disastrous 1-23 season, Cedar Ridge Men’s Basketball will hopefully rise from the ashes and become a better team in 2019-2020. After 23 losses, one can only hope there is an improvement. No matter the team or the results, everyone starts at the bottom and workstheir way up.

If participants and spectators can’t handle losing, then both certainly can’t accept victories.

If a team is suffering through the slough of futility, it’s very easy to get caught up in heated emotions about where a team is going wrong. Spectators are quick to blame coaches or officials, but seldom seem to cast blame on participants. The truth is, sure, there is blame to go around on officials for bad calls. But there is also blame on the part of coaches and participants for their response from in and from a loss.

In terms – You win as a team, you lose as a team. While every coach, parent, and player should strive to their best in order to win every game, in turn, they all should be prepared to lose in case the worst happens. 

V. Spectators need to realize that Games are meant to be FUN.

As I’ve often recounted games from my past in my hometown, there was one that stood out for this point.

In the 2003-2004 Northwestern 4A Conference season, the second-ranked McDowell Lady Titans were facing off against the Watauga Lady Pioneers. At the time, Watauga wasn’t having its best season, while McDowell was en route to a state finals appearance. 

Early in the fourth quarter with the Lady Titans dominating by 50 points, Watauga’s coach made a substitution pulling its best players for the reserves. At this point a deranged Pioneer parent, who had been giving grief to the officials and Watauga’s coaches throughout the game, stormed down the bleachers to the bench area. As soon as he made it to the floor, he angrily grabbed his daughter’s arm and attempted to pull her away from the bench – presumably to leave the gym and return to Boone. She resisted, and returned to the bench. Thankfully, adult members of the McDowell fan section surrounded this man and told him to leave. He left The Silver Dome without incident (or before the Sheriff’s Department could order him out).

I was told a few years later that this student-athlete didn’t compete in spring sports following basketball, and didn’t return to athletics the next year, her senior campaign. What. A. SHAME. A promising student-athlete lost interest in what she enjoyed doing all because of the actions of her overbearing father. But sadly, this story is repeated in similar ways, whether they be emotional, physical, and/or verbal.

When participants see a situation like this or the one in Colorado, it gives kids less motivation to want to play or even want to quit altogether. I can’t blame them for this. Participants want to play sports because they’re games and games are meant to be fun. Sports become a pain when they encounter things such as this and athletes don’t want to be distracted or embarrassed. 

Time and time again, I’ve talked to kids who didn’t return to a team all because of their parents. They told me that due to the relentless pressure they received over the years, that the sport they once loved, didn’t become fun anymore. The players believed their parents saw them as a meal ticket or a path to success, instead of them being a son or daughter.     

Just a few weeks ago, I watched the 80’s classic, The Breakfast Club. I’m always moved to emotions when Andrew Clarke (a state champion wrestler portrayed by Emilio Estevez), wishes for his knee to tear so that he could be seen his father’s son and to be loved by him, instead of an athlete vying for his next championship and future college scholarship. Never mind he was serving a weekend detention sentence, but I could tell that wrestling wasn’t fun anymore, and that his quest for athletic excellence became a chore.

Athletics is a wonderful opportunity for young people to learn about competition, hard work, fair play, rules, and strategy. But sometimes the spectators are the ones that drives our youth away from them. If spectators are not careful, there won’t be many sports left to watch. Let’s all be mindful to watch our conduct at games while giving our future our full support.

Next month, Jospeh Kiger will start his senior season at Orange. Last year was his first year as a varsity player and he wasn’t used to losing. He played two years of junior varsity football without ever losing a game. In 2018, Orange finished 3-8, its worst mark since 2010. On Wednesday, Kiger played wide receiver, linebacker and even got some snaps at quarterback during a 7-on-7 scrimmage at Cummings High School in Burlington. The Panthers came out ahead against Williams and Eastern Guilford, while the younger players handled the majority of snaps against Cummings. Orange will take the field again next month for a scrimmage against Person. 

On Wednesday, the Orange football team competed in its final 7-on-7 scrimmage of July at Cummings High School. The Panthers spent two hours in workouts against Cummings, Eastern Guilford and Williams. Quarterbacks Wyatt Jones and Nigel Slanker each threw touchdown passes in the opening segment against the Wildcats. Joesph Kiger caught one of the touchdown passes, and also worked out at quarterback. After a dead period next week, Orange will resume morning workouts during the week of July 15. Smith also will serve as an assistant during the East-West All-Star football game in Greensboro later this month. 

Scott Satterfield’s junior season should have been longer.

His first game of the 1989 season progressed nicely for Orange under new head coach Greg Gentry. He led Orange to an early lead thanks to some gun runs by Larry Pounds and throws to wide receiver Greg Leimone. In the third quarter, Scott ran toward the Eastern sidelined under pressure and was called for intentional grounding when he threw the ball out of bounds well shy of any eligible receiver.

But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened on that play.

Satterfield tore his ACL, ending his season after only two quarters. Eastern came back with a late touchdown in the fourth quarter to beat Orange.

The following season, Orange got revenge. Damon Scott, who would later join Satterfield in the backfield at Appalachian State, rushed for 101 yards as Orange won a turnover-filled game against the Eagles, the first of seven wins in 1990.

Remarkably, Orange and Eastern Alamance haven’t competed continuously in football since then. Even though the two schools are only 13 miles apart.

Unlike so many schools in the Sandhills, by the coast or in the mountains, Orange doesn’t have a traditional nonconference rival. In recent years, Orange coaches have futility tried to resume the series against Person, who curiously joined the Triad-based Mid-Piedmont Conference when they dropped down to 3A instead of joining the Big 8 (supposedly, the reason why was because the NCHSAA didn’t want nine team conferences.)

The closest thing to a nonconference rivalry for Orange is now Riverside, which doesn’t really focus on the Panthers as its main rival. That’s Northern Durham.

There’s a linkage between Hillsborough and Mebane that extends to the youth level of football. Simply put, Hillsborough doesn’t have youth football because the interest just isn’t there.

When players like Payton Wilson, Bryse Wilson, Stone Edwards and others wanted to develop their abilities during middle school, they traveled across the country line to Mebane. Other players still do, where some go to Durham.

Eastern is fertile ground for football players, but in Hillsborough the game is in somewhat of an existential crisis with fewer players playing than ever before. Numbers at Stanford Middle School fell by 20-30 players last season. The situations at Cedar Ridge and Chapel Hill High from last year are well known, and it still isn’t clear if the Tigers will return with a varsity squad in August.

In college football, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson understood to liven up pigskin interest at his small, private school, he would need to start facing nearby opponents. That’s why Wake traveled to Appalachian State in 2017, and will welcome the Mountaineers to Groves Stadium in 2020. It will be Appalachian’s first trip down to Winston-Salem in 19 years. Wake is even scheduling a nonconference game against UNC this year (Wake isn’t supposed to play UNC again as a conference opponent until 2021)

Why? Because it’s a game people want to see.

Orange and Eastern should be no different.

Apparently, the reason why Eastern can’t schedule Orange is because the Alamance County School System requires the Eagles to play other Alamance County schools in its nonconference schedule. But nowadays, how much muster does a game against Graham and Cummings really carry?

Not as much as a potential matchup against Orange would.

And another thing. This isn’t limited to football. Last year, Eastern played two Hillsborough teams in the state playoffs. The Eagles defeated Orange in the opening round of the 3A Women’s Basketball playoffs. Of course, Eastern defeated Cedar Ridge en route to the 3A State Softball Championship.

Both of the atmospheres for those games were the best in their respective sports all season. Of course, the playoffs added something to it.

But it’s time for Orange and Eastern to meet regularly on the gridiron to give the people what they want.

After three years of manning the left side of Orange’s infield, Joey Berini’s hard work has paid off.

Berini has committed to East Carolina. he made the official announcement on Twitter last month. Since his freshman season, Berini had also been recruited by UNC Asheville, Western Carolina and North Carolina Central.

“I’ve always wanted to play baseball at East Carolina,” Berini said. “It is just a great school to go to.”

Berini was the 2019 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year. He led the team in five offensive categories, including a .541 batting average. Berini also led the team in hits (33), runs scored (35), doubles (12) and triples (4).

Berini reached the decision to attend East Carolina following a face-to-face meeting with Pirates head coach Cliff Godwin in Greenville.

“We had a great time on their campus tour,” Berini said. “I also talked with North Carolina last week. I talked to East Carolina a couple of times last fall and started talking to them again after the State Games.”

Berini has started at shortstop since his freshman year in 2017, a year of transition for the Orange baseball program. Bryse Wilson, now with the Atlanta Braves, had graduated the previous spring after setting the school record with 33 career wins. Wilson’s longtime catcher, Brad Debo, had also graduated and left for N.C. State.

Together, the two led Orange to four consecutive Big 8 Conference Championships.

In 2017, Berini hit .274. Orange, which was 9-11 on April 22, finished the season with a surprising run in the playoffs with road wins at West Johnston and South Johnston. They were two outs away from the state quarterfinals before West Brunswick’s Garrison Gause hit a game-tying homer in the 7th inning, the second home run hit inside the Trojans ballpark that season. Gause’s father died the previous week from cancer. West Brunswick went on to win 2-1 in nine innings. Berini hit safely in four of the last five games in 2017.

In 2018, Berini led Orange with a .369 batting average as Orange finished 13-11. He tied Jaydin Poteat and Jason Slaughter for the team-lead with 24 hits. Berini also had a team-high nine doubles as Orange defeated Jacksonville 6-2 in the opening round of the 3A state playoffs.

Berini is the 2nd player from Orange’s Class of 2020 to commit to play at a four-year college. In 2017, Cooper Porter announced he would attend N.C. State, which may lead to several head-to-head matchups with Berini in the future.

After the Wolfpack and the Pirates faced each other in the Greenville Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament last month, there was considerable discussion within the college baseball community about why the two rivals don’t play each other during the regular season. Perhaps in response, Godwin tweeted that N.C. State coach Elliott Avent had reached out about scheduling the Pirates.

Godwin said the two school would do their best to play in 2020, but if it didn’t happen next year, it would happen in 2021.

Berini is the son of Joe and Kim Berini, who live in Rougemont. His younger brother, Jackson, fittingly played shortstop for the Stanford Middle School Chargers last spring.

After being saddled with a no-decision in his return to Atlanta last week, there was no demotion to Gwinnett of the International League for Bryse Wilson this time.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker kept him around for another trip in the rotation for Wednesday night’s game against Philadelphia, and Wilson responded with his best Major League outing yet.

Atlanta defeated Philadelphia 9-2 to extend its lead to five-and-a-half games in the National League East. Wilson earned his 2nd career Major League win, throwing a career-high six innings. He gave up two runs, both earned, on five hits and two walks. Wilson struck out five in his third Major League start of 2019.

Wilson is 1-0 with a 6.14 ERA for the Braves this season.

“Just to come out and be able to trust my stuff and throw a lot of strikes. Trust my defense behind me and trust the bats to get that lead. That was huge,” Wilson said.

In his previous three appearances with Atlanta this season, Wilson only saw the fifth inning once. That came in his first outing of 2019 against Philadelphia, where he surrendered six runs and six hits in four-and-one-thirds innings.

Wilson also had his first Major League hit with a two-out single to centerfield in the bottom of the third, which sent the Atlanta bench into hysteria. Wilson could have easily had his first hit in his Major League debut at Pittsburgh on August 21, but was thrown out by Gregory Polanco at first base from right field.

Wilson surrendered walks in the first and second inning, but the Phillies never threatened. Bryce Harper grounded into a 6-5-3 double play where Jean Segura was tagged out at second in a rundown. After catcher J.T. Realmuto drew a one-out walk in the 3rd, Wilson set down Jay Bruce and Cesar Hernandez to end the third scoreless.

Realmuto lined a two-out single to right for Philadelphia’s first base hit in the fourth, but Bruce flew out to right to end the inning. Atlanta struck for three runs in the bottom of the fourth, starting with Josh Donaldson’s three-run blast to centerfield.

Wilson surrendered two runs in the sixth, including a solo homer by Harper to left field. After Rhys Harper’s two-out double, Realmuto slammed an RBI single to left to reduce Atlanta’s lead to 3-2.

The Braves responded with six runs in the sixth inning. Austin Riley, who was a teammate of Wilson’s with the Gwinnett Stripers of the AAA International League, starting the frame with a three-run homer to center.

“I got to watch him (Riley) when he was on his run down in Triple-A,” Wilson said. “It was incredible. He had something like 12 homers in 20 games. I think everybody expected him to do well up here. I don’t know if everyone expected him to do this well, but all of his teammates did.”

After Atlanta took a 9-2 lead into the seventh inning, he left the game.

Wilson was promoted from Gwinnett last week to make a start against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field. He threw four-and-one-thirds innings against Chicago. Wilson surrendered six runs off four hits as the Cubs defeated Atlanta 9-7 in the final regular season meeting between the two teams. Atlanta went 6-2 against the Cubs this season.