Month: June 2021

Why does it keep getting denied?

That seemed to be the question that Cedar Ridge senior catcher Tucker Cothran asked himself as he stared at the ground in left field while an assistant coach tried to console him after the most painful loss of his career.

It seemed like Cedar Ridge’s first baseball win over Orange since 2018 was a mere formality. They were the first team to score more than one run against Panther sophomore starter Ryan Hench all season. In fact, they put up six.

Did Cedar Ridge outplay Orange on Tuesday night? To put it mildly, yes. The Red Wolves’ hitting was more timely. Orange barely had any offense at all–until the end. In the resumption of a game suspended due to rain May 28, the Panthers had just one hit before the seventh inning after action resumed Tuesday night. Cedar Ridge rattled Hench to the point where he committed two balks, both directly leading to runs. Junior Will Berger resembled his older brother Phillip, the winningest-pitcher in school history, in delivering a fundamentally strong performance against his crosstown rival. It would have been a classic final Big 8 Conference game for the six Red Wolves seniors to finally beat Orange, and they were one strike away from doing it.

Twice.

With two out in the seventh inning and Cedar Ridge leading 6-3, second baseman Conner Funk was saddled with an 0-2 count when he barely tipped a Berger fastball to the backstop. It seemed like it was delaying the inevitable at the time, but Funk would foul off another pitch before finally drawing a walk.

That started a string of nine consecutive Panthers to reach base.

After Hench drilled a double to left field to score Jackson Berini and Jacob Jones (running for catcher Davis Horton), to put Orange within a run, Orange third baseman Cezar Lozano was hit by a pitch. Then centerfielder Jaren Sikes had a 2-2 count, where the Red Wolves were again a strike away with the bases loaded. Sikes would go on to walk and tie the game.

Orange senior left fielder Tyler Lloyd, who started the seventh inning with a single to right field, hit a 3-2 fastball to left to score Hench and Mason Thompson (running for Lozano). And the floodgates were wide open.

After being shut out the prior four frames, the Panthers would eventually score eleven runs in the 7th to stun the Red Wolves 13-6 at Red Wolves Territory. It was a tense night where tempers flared between former teammates who now find themselves on opposite sides of the rivalry, as well as the coaches.

“That’s a first for me right there,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “These guys can do that. It just took them a while to wake up tonight. We grew up tonight. Our young guys grew up and learned some valuable lessons”

It was the most disappointing result imaginable for the Red Wolves (5-8), who have lost five times this year when they’ve had the lead or the winning run on base during the 7th inning.

“It hurts so much because our guys have put in so much during the year,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Bryson Massey. “To judge come up three outs short against a team like Orange….This rivalry is one of the best baseball rivalries I’ve been a part of. You know it’s going to be a good game. It means a lot to each kid. That’s why it hurts. It does.”

Orange (10-3) has won four in a row. Senior Jordan Underwood replaced Hench on the mound in the fifth inning and earned his third win in 14 days. In two-and-two-thirds shutout innings, Underwood allowed one hit and two walks with four strikeouts.

“We leaned on our seniors,” Knapp said. “Jordan came out and pitched well. Jaren drew a walk late. The bottom of our order found a way to get on base and the hitting became contagious.”

The game resumed with Orange leading 2-1, but the Red Wolves jumped right on the Panthers with four runs in the third inning. Cedar Ridge loaded the bases after walks to Aidan McAllister and Bryce Clark, while B.J. Thornton was hit by a pitch. Centerfielder Garrett Ray sliced a 3-2 fastball to the right side of the infield to score McAllister and tie the game. Massey, who took his chances every chance he could on Tuesday, signaled for Thornton to steal home with Christian Macias at bat. As Thornton dashed for the plate, Hench committed a balk, much to the protest of Knapp, to put Cedar Ridge ahead 3-2. Macias out Cedar Ridge ahead 5-2 after he sent a dribbler into right field to bring in Clark and Ray.

Clark would add another run in similar fashion in the fifth inning. He drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ray. Like Thornton, Clark made a dash down the third base line, which led to Hench being called for another balk and Clark scored.

Berger kept the Orange offense in check most of the night. Until the seventh inning, Hench was the only Panther to reach third base. That came in the fourth after he drew a leadoff walk. The threat ended when Clark fielded a grounder hit by Jackson Berini and dove on second base to retire Lloyd, who had reached on a fielder’s choice. Horton, who went 3-for-4 and increased his hitting streak to 14 games, had Orange’s only hit after the resumption—until the 7th inning.

That’s when Lloyd started with a single to right. After a Berini walk, David Waitt flew out to left field. But Horton lined a double to left field to score Lloyd and trigger an epic Orange rally.

When the game started May 28, Clark hit a solo homer in the first inning, the first run that Hench allowed in four starts this season. Hench responded with a two-run homer in the second inning, just before the contest was suspended.

The game was also a benefit for Vs. Cancer. Organized by Massey wherever he’s served on a coaching staff, the event raised over $5,000 for the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Afterwards, despite enduring the most painful loss of his young head coaching career, Massey sat down and had his head shaved at home plate for cancer awareness. This happened while the results of a raffle were announced, which included autographed merchandise from current Major League players, as well as gift cards from businesses throughout Hillsborough.

“I think baseball is one of the best sports to teach life lessons,” Massey said. “There are so many ups-and-downs. Tonight, it didn’t go our way. It hadn’t gone our way quite a bit. But you move on to the next day. You can’t dwell on what happened. It’s going to hurt, but it teaches you a life lesson. There are things in life that will be tougher than a baseball game.”

This Retro Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week takes us back to December 7 to honor sophomore volleyball setter Julie Altieri. On December 10, Cedar Ridge defeated Northwood 3-0 in Pittsboro. Altieri finished with 28 assists, six digs and seven kills as the Red Wolves improved to 6-0 in its final match before Christmas. Altieri has a career record of 27-7 at Cedar Ridge. She has started on a Big 8 Conference Championship team, won a state playoff match, has beaten a defending 3A State Champion, has two wins over Chapel Hill, two wins over Orange and had an undefeated regular season. And she just finished her sophomore season. As Julie points out in this interview, volleyball season doesn’t really end for her. Since the season ended with a loss to eventual 3A State Champion D.H. Conley in Greenville, Altieri has alternated between indoor and beach volleyball, going to Florida, Indianapolis,and Texas, to name a few locations. Her older brothers, Eddie and Andrew, both played basketball at Cedar Ridge. Altieri mentioned that Conley will play the Red Wolves again as part of a daunting nonconference scheduled being lined up by Red Wolves Coach Fiona Cunningham. Along with her classmates Cameron Lloyd and Cameron Lanier, Cedar Ridge will start play in the new Central Conference in August.

It was the most memorable comeback in many a moon for Orange baseball. Trailing 6-2 in the 7th inning, the Panthers scored eleven runs in the 7th to beat Cedar Ridge 13-6. The Panthers trailed 6-3 with two out and were down to its last strike when Conner Funk was at bat. Funk fell behind 0-2 and fouled off three pitches to draw a walk. After Jaren Sikes tied the game with a bases-loaded walk, senior Tyler Lloyd put Orange in the lead with a two-run single to left field to bring in Ryan Hench and Mason Thompson. After Jackson Berini was walked, right fielder David Waitt singled to left field to score Thompson and Lloyd, and the Panthers never looked back. Lloyd had two base hits in the 7th inning alone. He led off the 7th with a single to right field and scored two runs. Orange has now won four in a row and will conclude its regular season on Thursday at Northern Durham. Jordan Underwood earned his third win in four games for Orange on the mound.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore wrestler Fernando Martinez. As he enters Cedar Ridge’s final tri-meet of the regular season tonight, Martinez has a 20-1 record. Last week, he pinned Michael Blackwell of Uwharrie Charter School, a team that has won the last two 1A State Dual Championships. On Thursday, in the final home matches of the season, Martinez defeated Levi Dennis of Trinity High 13-6. That improved his career record to 54-14. Martinez has been a star wrestler since his days at Stanback Middle School. In his freshman season, Martinez went 34-13. Next week, Cedar Ridge will compete in the 3A Mideast Regionals, where Martinez is focused on making the state championships for the first time in his career. Martinez has been a reliable fixture on a Cedar Ridge team has already more wins as a team than all of last season. Both the 3A Mideast Regionals and the 3A State Championships will be held at Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville. The regionals will be held next Tuesday, June 15. The state championships will be June 26. This is the second time that Martinez has been honored as Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, an honor designated for athletes to win only once per year. Tonight, Cedar RIdge will travel to Kernersville for a tri-meet against Glenn High and Ledford High.

From the moment the abbreviated season started, the Cedar Ridge baseball team has fought an uphill battle.

The good news is they were one of six teams in the Big 8 Conference to field a team. Vance County and Southern Durham were the ones who didn’t, leading to automatic forfeit wins for the competing teams.

The bad news is Cedar Ridge had the shortest straw pulled for them in regards to scheduling. During the opening two weeks of the season, each of the other five teams in the Big 8 had forfeit wins over Vance County and Southern Durham, which created an open date on the schedule that allowed starting pitchers to get valuable rest. Cedar Ridge, on the other hand, started against Northwood (road game), Orange (road game), Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill (road game) and Northern Durham before the forfeited games finally came around on their slate.

Not to mention that only the first matchups between conference rivals counted in the Big 8 Conference standings this year, which essentially limited the conference championship race to five games.

With that unique format in place, Cedar Ridge needed its pitching staff healthy from the very beginning in order to contend for a state playoff spot. That led to another dilemma.

Matt Hughes, one of the Red Wolves most experienced pitchers, had an arm injury. He didn’t make his first appearance on the mound until the fourth game against Northern Durham, and only recently started to get into a rhythm. On Friday, Hughes threw four scoreless innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts against East Chapel Hill.

As Cedar Ridge completes its suspended game against Orange this afternoon at Red Wolves Territory, Coach Bryson Massey wants to use this year as a bridge to build something better for the future. Massey’ first season as head coach, in 2020, ended after just three games because of the pandemic.

“It’s been a different year,” Massey said. “I came in last year and we only got three games in. The guys got used to me a little bit. But it’s tough to get acclimated to what my coaching style is in just three games.”

If the first year didn’t give Massey a chance to learn more about his team, the second year hasn’t been much more forgiving. Last week, Cedar Ridge had to cancel a road trip to Northern Durham after two separate dates were each rained out. Then on Friday, Cedar Ridge had to make a second road trip to East Chapel Hill because two-and-a-half inches of rain that fell across Hillsborough left the outfield at Red Wolves Territory practically underwater.

“We’ve battled and had some close games,” Massey said. “We’ve got some guys that are getting a lot of experience in the field. That’s kind of what we hoped for last year. Learning to win has been something we’ve talked about a lot. Winning teams find a way to take close games. This year, we’ve struggled to win those close games.”

Cedar Ridge (4-7, 3-4 in the Big 8 Conference), has had four of its losses either by one-run or with the tying run on base in its last at-bat.

Not that there hasn’t been success. The season started with a stunning 8-2 win at Northwood on April 27, the Red Wolves first win in Pittsboro since 2014. On May 21, the Red Wolves defeated Northwood again, 6-1, behind big games from shortstop Bryce Clark and B.J. Thornton. it was the first-time ever that the Red Wolves swept the Chargers.

After the Orange game, Cedar Ridge will end its season against Kernersville Glenn on Wednesday night at 6.

“I love my guys,” Massey said. “I love how hard we’ve competed. But I’ve also had to remind myself that these guys had pretty much two whole years away from baseball. It’s been two years away from what I teach and how we got about ourselves. It’s been a year full of learning. The future looks bright with the young guys we have.”

On Wednesday, there will be a ceremony inside the J-Wing at Cedar Ridge High where three seniors will sign their letters of intent to play at the next level. Hughes will sign with Brunswick Community College, where he will be teammates with current Northern Durham ace pitcher Matthew Lombard.

“We’ve had to work Matt back slowly,” Massey said. “We started him on a pitch count. We’ve started putting him in situations where we’ve increase his output and he’s done well in those situations. He’s got a bright future.”

In addition, shortstop Bryce Clark will sign with Lenoir Community College in Kinston. Designated hitter Grady Ray will sign with Division III Methodist University in Fayetteville.

Recently, the Red Wolves have received some help from the winningest pitcher in school history. Phillip Berger, a 2019 Cedar Ridge graduate who won a school-record 21 games, tossed some bullpen sessions during practice in between stints with the Division III William Peace Pacers and the Elizabethtown River Riders of the Appalachian League. Last week, Berger earned the first two wins on the mound in the River Riders’ franchise history against the Greenville Flyboys and the Bristol State Liners.

Berger’s younger brother, Will, is a valuable part of Cedar Ridge’s future.

“Will is going to be the leader of this team,” Massey said of the junior. “He stays after practice and does everything right. He’s a guy, as a coach, that you dream of. That’s all you can ask for.”

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is catcher Davis Horton. A transfer from Riverside, Horton has provided a reliable presence behind the plate for Orange in his first season with the team. He has hit safely in all ten games this Panthers have completed this year. Extending all the way back to his freshman year at Riverside, Horton is on a 13-game hitting streak. Currently, he leads Orange in six offensive categories, including a .541 batting average, 20 hits, 14 RBIs, five doubles, a .571 on-base percentage and a .756 slugging percentage. Last week in a 3-2 win over Chapel Hill, Porter lined a single to left field. Jackson Berini scored off a errant throw, and Horton rounded the bases after another throwing error. Horton also doubled in the fifth inning. Orange is 9-3, 6-1 in the Big 8 Conference with a trip to the 3A State Playoffs already in the bag. The Panthers will complete a suspended game against Cedar Ridge on Tuesday, then wrap up the regular season on Thursday at Northern Durham.

Phillip Berger: After completing the season with Division III William Peace University, Berger has started play for the Elizabethton River Riders of the Appalachian League. Following the reshaping of minor league baseball over the winter, the Appalachian League has rebranded from Rookie-level professional baseball into a collegiate wooden bat league. Berger has already collected two wins, including the first win in franchise history. On opening night for Elizabethton on Thursday, June 3, Berger earned the victory in a 5-2 decision over the Greenville Flyboys at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark in Elizabethton, TN. Berger came out of the bullpen to throw one-and-one-thirds innings. He surrendered one run on two hits with two strikeouts. On Saturday, Elizabethton defeated the Bristol State Liners 4-0 at DeVault Memorial Stadium in Bristol, VA. Once again, Berger pitched in relief and took the win after he threw two shutout innings. He surrendered one hit with one strikeout. Elizabethton is 2-2 and will host the Kingsport Axmen on Tuesday. Berger, the winningest pitcher in Cedar Ridge history, will almost visit his old hometown when the River Riders face the Burlington Sock Puppets (finally get to type that nickname) on June 22 and June 23 for a two-game series at Burlington Athletic Stadium.

Joey Berini: The East Carolina Pirates swept its regional series this weekend to open the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Early Monday morning, East Carolina defeated third-seeded Maryland 9-6 to advance to the Super Regional. It is East Carolina’s sixth regional championship since the current format was introduced in 2001. On Saturday, the Pirates defeated Charlotte 7-5 at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville. In the 7th inning, Berini hit a pinch-hit single to left field to score Lane Hoover. It was Berini’s first RBI of the season. Berini was immediately replaced by pinch runner Ryley Johnson. On Friday, the Pirates came from behind to defeat Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion Norfolk State 8-5. Berini entered the game as a pinch-hitter to lead off the seventh inning and grounded out to the pitcher. It was ECU’s 11th comeback win of the season. Berini, the 2019 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year for Orange, has played in 13 games this season. East Carolina will travel to Nashville this weekend to face #4 Vanderbilt in a best-of-three Super Regional starting Friday.

Landon Riley: The Liberty Flames baseball team competed in the Knoxville Regional of the NCAA Tournament over the weekend. The Flames avenged two losses to Duke by beating the Blue Devils twice. On Friday, Liberty defeated the Blue Devils, who came into the tournament ranked #19, 11-6. On Sunday, in an elimination game, the Flames scored eight runs in the first inning to prevail 15-4. #2 Tennessee defeated Liberty 9-3 on Saturday, and 3-1 on Sunday at Lindsay Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, TN to advance to the Super Regional round. Riley played in Saturday’s loss to the Volunteers. He pitched to one batter, which led to a groundout. Liberty, the regular season champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference, finished with a record of 41-16. It was the second regional final in program history. The Flames finish the year with over 40 wins for the seventh time. Riley concludes the year with 19 pitching appearances, all in relief. He had a 2-0 record with a 4.00 ERA and five saves. Riley had 19 strikeouts and nine walks in 18 innings. He will be a senior next season.

Dante DeFranco: Two former Orange High teammates were on opposing sides on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament. As East Carolina faced off against second-seeded Charlotte, Berini suited up for the Pirates and Dante DeFranco was in uniform for the 49ers. DeFranco didn’t play in any games this weekend. The 49ers, ranked #20, opened with a 13-10 win over Maryland on Friday, but it was its final victory of the season. After the loss to ECU, Maryland edged Charlotte 2-1 on Sunday in an elimination game. Charlotte, the regular season champions of Conference USA, end the year 41-20. It hasn’t been publicly announced whether DeFranco, a freshman, will redshirt this year.