Month: August 2019

Bryse Wilson: After four consecutive wins with the Gwinnett Stripers of the AAA International League, Wilson was recalled by the Atlanta Braves on Friday. Then on Monday afternoon, the Braves claimed outfielder Billy Hamilton off waivers from Kansas City. Wilson was optioned back to Gwinnett. He didn’t make a game appearance for Atlanta during his latest stint. This season, Wilson has had four stints in Atlanta. His return to Gwinnett could lead to another appearance at Durham Bulls Athletic Park this weekend. On May 5, Wilson threw four innings against the Bulls in a 6-2 Durham win. As of Monday night, Gwinnett is two-and-a-half games ahead of Charlotte for 1st place in the International League’s Southern Division. Durham is three-and-a-half games behind Gwinnett. In 19 starts this season with Gwinnett, Wilson is 8-7 with a 3.58 ERA. He has 106 strikeouts and 25 walks

Adam Chnupa: The former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf is set to start play for Elon University later this month. Last year, Chnupa redshirted. On Monday, the first Football Championship Subdivision top 25 poll was released. Elon, which has made the FCS playoffs the past two years, is ranked #21. Chnupa was All-Big 8 Conference in football and baseball with the Red Wolves.

The fall sports season gets underway this week. There are many names from Orange and Cedar Ridge High Schools participating in soccer and volleyball once again this year.

Chandler Compton: Now a redshirt unior on the Wofford men’s soccer team, Compton played basketball and baseball at Orange until his graduation in 2016. He appeared in two games in his freshman season with the Terriers. In 2018, Compton appeared in 12 games, including five starts. He scored his first college goal against VMI on October 23. Compton played over 90 minutes in five games.

Taylin Jean: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate and former Big 8 Goalkeeper of the Year is now a sophomore at Division II Limestone, which has won the Carolinas Conference four consecutive years. The Saints are picked to win the league again. Jean, who played in the East/West All-Star Game in 2018, didn’t play last season.

Brittany Daley: A sophomore for the Greensboro College women’s soccer team, Daley was a regular starter as the Pride compiled an 17-1 record in 2018. Daley played all 18 games last season, starting 15. She assisted on one goal. Daley, who was a center back for Cedar Ridge before graduating in 2018, helped Greensboro win 17 consecutive games before losing to Piedmont College in the USA South Atlantic Conference tournament on November 2.

Jordan Rogers: A sophomore for William Peace University, Rogers played 13 games for the Pacers last year. She scored one goal and two assists. Rogers graduated from Orange in 2018.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: Now at Division III Dickinson College, Reid-Shaw enters his senior year in Carlisle, PA. Reid-Shaw played in 19 games for the Red Devils in 2018 as a center back. Dickinson went 11-6-2 overall in 2018, 5-3-1 in the Centennial Conference.

Lili Henry: Now a junior at Division III Methodist College volleyball team, Henry played in all 27 matches last season, starting 25. She tied for the team lead with 98 sets played and led the team with 843 assists. She was third on the team with 253 digs. Methodist finished 17-10 in 2018, 9-7 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Jordan Lloyd: A rising junior for the Division III Brevard College volleyball team, Lloyd started all 25 matches for the Tornadoes last season. She was third on the team with 152 kills. Lloyd, whose younger sister Cameron played her first varsity match at Cedar Ridge on Monday night, had three double-digit kill games.

Bailey Lucas: A 2018 Orange graduate, Lucas enters her sophomore season with the Division III Meredith volleyball team in Raleigh. Lucas played 14 matches in her freshman season and recorded 68 assists and 42 digs.

Lauren Brooks: A junior at Western Carolina, Brooks is entering her third season as a cheerleader with the Catamounts.

Special thanks to Jon Franklin for shooting this video and conducting this interview with Cedar Ridge head volleyball coach Anna Seethaler, Shili Quade and Cameron Lanier.

The first game of the new academic year in Hillsborough prep sports was a successful one for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team. The Red Wolves defeated Eastern Alamance 3-0 on Monday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium on scores of 25-8, 25-14 and 25-14. The Red Wolves received strong performances from junior Shili Quade and freshman Cameron Lanier. The Red Wolves have won three straight season openers. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves will try to go 2-0 when they face Durham School of the Arts at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The game will start at 6:15. 

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team plays two games in two days to start its season. On Monday, they host Eastern Alamance. Then on Tuesday, the Red Wolves host the Durham School of the Arts. On Saturday, Cedar Ridge had a strong start to the season. They won all four of its scrimmage matches at Fairchild Community Center in Burlington, beating Southern Alamance, Greensboro Page, Riverside and the Alamance Acers. Freshman Cameron Lloyd, the younger sister of former All- is 8 Conference player Jordan Lloyd, looks to start her varsity career strong. Marlee Rakouskas is one of the top returning players for 2nd-year head coach Anna Seethaler.

Orange’s offense opened the scrimmage with a 8:31 opening drive, concluding with quarterback Wyatt Jones throwing to wingback Machai Holt for this touchdown.

Orange’s Elliott Woods scored two touchdowns, including this one late in the first half.

Orange’s Eli Spruill had an interception in the 2nd half, which led to Woods’ second touchdown. Spruill’s pick was set up by two tackles for loss. Y Kalen Moore.

Orange finished the game strong, including Woods’ second touchdown and a strong pass rush from Khaleb Smith.

Orange and Eastern Alamance is only a football scrimmage about as much as the Grand Canyon is only a hole in the ground.

It’s become a tradition for the two teams, separated by only 13 miles, to face each other on the Friday night before the regular season begins. This year, Orange traveled to Mebane for the second straight year on Friday night. Inevitably, a large crowd hungry for football season gathers, despite the hazy summer sun lingering well past kickoff.

On Friday night, each team finished with four touchdowns, all scored by the offense. Elliott Woods scored two rushing touchdowns for Orange, while wingback J.J. Torres added another.

Panther senior quarterback Wyatt Jones hit classmate Machai Holt, in his first scrimmage of the summer, with a 5-yard out pattern for a touchdown on Orange’s first possession of the game, an opening drive that lasted over eight minutes.

After Orange played spread the past two seasons, new Orange offensive coordinator Marty Scotten has re-installed a variation of the double wing offense. Though it isn’t a duplicate of the double wing run by former head coach Pat Moser, it does put added weight on the running game with wingbacks Torres and Woods receiving plenty of touches on Friday night.

The games doesn’t count in the standings, but if anyone tells you they aren’t concerned with the score, they’re lying. On Friday night, the scoreboard simply kept track of time, unlike last year when Orange won 54-14.

In retrospect, that was the high point of Orange’s season in 2018. They were never healthy again after losing senior wide receiver Freddy Francis for the season only six minutes into the season opener against Northern Nash with a broken foot. Minutes later, wide receiver and defensive end Khaleb Smith suffered a knee injury, sidelining him for five weeks.

A week after a disappointing scrimmage against Person where the varsity offense didn’t score, Orange Coach Van Smith came away from Mebane cautiously optimistic.

“I liked the opening eight-minute drive,” Smith said. “I like three running touchdowns. I like how our passing game got better and better once we able to establish the run. A defensive player’s best friend is a running game on offense. The best defense is to sit on the sideline and drink water and watch the offense get the ball up the field.”

Torres, who played junior varsity last season, came away as one of the main players on offense. He ripped off a 46-yard run midway through the final quarter, leading to a 3-yard touchdown run by Woods. Senior wide receiver Zyon Pettiford had two catches, including one in the 2nd quarter that crossed midfield.

“J.J. and Elliott are just gritty and tough,” Smith said. “They just really lead by example and they’re guys you can depend on.”

Now, Smith wants to make sure that the Eastern Alamance scrimmage isn’t the shining light of the season again.

“We’ve been talking about that all week.” Smith said. “We had high expectations and sort of went downhill from there, and (Eastern) went uphill from there. We want to build on this and not sit back on our laurels. Hopefully, we’ll learn from last year. We performed well, but we still have to get in shape and cut down on mistakes.”

Usually, Orange would be in preparations for the season opener next week. But this year, for the first time in recent memory, Orange has a bye week during opening week. They will start their season on August 31st against R.J. Reynolds at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

This week won’t be an off week, however. There just isn’t a football game.

“We have to get in shape,” Smith said. “We have another week to do that. We’re going to work on mistakes. We’re going to add a few more wrinkles to the offense and a few more wrinkles to our defense. When the schedule got made, I wasn’t real happy about having a week one bye. I’ve never had that in my career. In hindsight, it’s going to be a blessing. Maybe getting it out of the way early will help us build momentum and it can continue into the season.”

The scrimmages between Orange and Eastern Alamance are so emotionally heated, they may as well be regular season games. On Friday night in Mebane, the two teams had another fierce battle where each side had four touchdowns. Eli Spruill scores one touchdown, while Elliott Woods added two more on the ground. Orange wide receiver Machiavelli Holt scores the opening touchdown off a pass from quarterback Wyatt Jones. Spruill had a late interception, setting up a long run by wingback J.J. Torres. While most teams across the state will start their season next Friday, Orange will have their bye week on week one. The Panthers will face R.J. Reynolds on August 30 in Hillsborough in the season opener. 

The Cedar Ridge football team will go into next week’s season opener against Carrboro with only one scrimmage under its belt. The Red Wolves were supposed to face Sanderson this week, but it got rained out twice. Red Wolves senior Braxton Mergenthal got plenty of snaps last Saturday in Cedar Ridge’s scrimmage at South Garner. He played on the offensive and defensive line against Apex and South Garner. Mergenthal will be one of the leaders for a Cedar Ridge team making its return to varsity football after not fielding a varsity team in 2018. Mergenthal was among the top performers last season on Cedar Ridge’s JV squad. Hillsboroughsports.com will air Carrboro at Cedar Ridge next Friday starting at 6:45. 

On Saturday, the Orange football team showed off its new offense under new coordinator Marty Scotten. It’s a throwback to their double wing days under Pat Moser, with a few modifications. Regardless, the duty of offensive lineman Robert Bray remains the same—block and get downfield. After struggling in 2018, Orange returns all of its offensive lineman this season. On Saturday, the Panthers varsity team didn’t find the end zone against a much bigger Person squad. The Panthers will face Eastern Alamance in Mebane on Friday night for their final scrimmage. Orange won’t play in the opening week of the season because that’s their bye week. Instead, the Panthers will start their campaign August 29 against Winston Salem Reynolds in Hillsborough. 

*This interview was taped before the resignation of Antonio King as Cedar Ridge football coach*

August 23rd marks the return of varsity football at Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves will face Carrboro at Red Wolves Stadium in their season opener. Despite not fielding a varsity team in 2018, wide receiver K.J. Barnes proved to be a standout during the Red Wolves’ junior varsity season. Barnes started at wide receiver and safety. During Saturday’s scrimmage at South Garner, Barnes intercepted a pass against Apex. On the subsequent drive, Barnes caught the only touchdown of the scrimmage from Cedar Ridge sophomore quarterback William Berger. Barnes will join the rest of the Red Wolves for their final scrimmage at Sanderson on Thursday night at 7 before their long-awaited return against Carrboro next week. 

The past two weeks have been a hectic time for Torrean Hinton. When Cedar Ridge football started workouts on July 29, Antonio King was still the head coach. By the following morning, it was announced that King had taken an assistant coach’s job at North Carolina Central. Hinton was appointed King’s replacement. He is Cedar Ridge’s five head coach in six seasons. He inherits a program that didn’t field a varsity squad in 2018. However, Cedar Ridge did have a junior varsity team that had a winning record. On Saturday, Hinton braved a humid day at South Garner High School as the Red Wolves scrimmaged Apex and South Garner. In the opening game, the Red Wolves played a standard game situation against Apex and scored the game’s only touchdown. Elijah Whitaker crossed the goal line. Cedar Ridge will scrimmage Sanderson in Raleigh on Tuesday night at 7.