The Orange football team outscored Riverside two touchdowns to nothing in its only scrimmage last week. It was the unofficial varsity debut of quarterback Wynston Brown, who led Orange to the Big 8 Conference junior varsity championship last season with a thrilling victory over Northwood. In his only series of the game, Brown threw to tight end Brendon Worsham. It has been a short summer for Worsham, who finished 2nd in the Mideast Regional wrestling championships at 182 pounds and reached the state tournament. Orange’s run-oriented offense will face a major test in its season-opener on Friday against South Granville, which runs triple option. The two teams last played in 2019 with quarterback Kanhwan Bobbitt starting as a freshman. The Vikings averaged 30 points per game last season under head coach Mike Hobgood, a former UNC offensive line,an under Mack Brown in the 1990s. You can hear the game on HillsboroughSports.com on Friday night at 6:25.
The Orange football team outscored Riverside two touchdowns to nothing in its only scrimmage last week. It was the unofficial varsity debut of quarterback Wynston Brown, who led Orange to the Big 8 Conference junior varsity championship last season with a thrilling victory over Northwood.
The Orange County School Board has scheduled a specially called meeting for Monday that could greatly impact high school sports in Hillsborough for the upcoming academic year.
The board, meeting virtually, will discuss whether to mandate that students, coaches and cheerleaders be vaccinated in order to remain eligible to participate for this season.
It doesn’t just impact athletes and cheerleaders.
In an email sent to parents of Orange County School students on Friday afternoon, Agenda item B6 reads “All students, coaches and employees who directly support athletics, cheerleading, club sports, chorus, marching band, or theater who are eligible for a vaccine must be vaccinated in order to remain eligible to participate effective September 7, 2021 (at least first dose).”
The agenda cites data from the ABC Science Collaborative, coordinated by the Duke School of Medicine and the Duke Clinical Research Institute, that shows COVID transmission is higher for extracurricular activities than standard classroom activities. Studies also show that 50-75% of COVID school transmission occurs during athletics.
The email spread like wildfire across local social media circles on Friday afternoon. Many parents spoke out against the proposal. It was also a hot topic among parents, players, fans and coaches during Orange football’s scrimmage against Riverside at Auman Stadium on Friday night.
It appeared that the pandemic, which heavily altered the 2020-2021 high school sports season in North Carolina, was on its last legs in June. Baseball players and track & field athletes were allowed to compete without masks. Just as practice started last week for fall sports in North Carolina, the Delta variant revived COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations nationwide.
On Friday, the number of new, daily COVID-19 cases in North Carolina surpassed 6,000 for the second time in a week. There were 6,628 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday. The percentage of positive tests in North Carolina is at 11.6%. State health leaders say 5% is adequate.
Last week, Orange County mandated masks to be worn inside all buildings, one day after Durham instituted a similar measure. Wake County is expected to follow suit on Monday, despite pushback from several mayors.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Orange County has the highest-percentage of people vaccinated in the state. 79% of the population has had at least one shot, while 76% is fully vaccinated. Neighboring Alamance County, which has three of the teams in the new Central Carolina Conference (which includes Cedar Ridge and Orange), has 50% of the population with one dose, and 46% fully vaccinated.
The Delta variant has also led to the return of safety guidelines that were prominent during the pandemic. Volleyball players from Cedar Ridge and Orange competed with masks on during scrimmages last week. Orange football wore masks, as well, during the Riverside scrimmage. While Cedar Ridge football isn’t fielding a varsity team this year, players and coaches have worn masks during practices since workouts started on August 2 under new head coach Torrean Hinton in preparation for a junior varsity season.
The coronavirus pandemic ended the 2019-2020 high school sports season on March 12, 2020, barely three weeks into the spring season. After a dormant and desolate summer and fall, high school sports resumed last November with volleyball and cross country. But it was a constant stop-and-start period for virtually every sport through the winter and spring, filled with last-minute schedule changes and cancellations. There were separate COVID-19 outbreaks with two local teams, leading to mandatory quarantines.
As the winter died down, football season started in February and was relatively free of interruption for Orange and Cedar Ridge through an abbreviated six-game schedule.
The meeting will take place on the same day the fall sports season starts for volleyball, men’s soccer and women’s tennis across North Carolina. On Monday, the Orange volleyball team will travel to Jordan, while the Orange women’s tennis team hosts Carrboro. The Panthers men’s soccer team faces Chapel Hill, while the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team travels to Northern Durham.
The virtual school board meeting will begin at 5:30PM on Monday afternoon.
Orange football finally got a chance to scrimmage on Friday night at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. The Panthers varsity team scrimmaged for 30 plays. Orange’s defense shutout the Pirates, limiting them to three first downs while forcing three turnovers. Senior linebacker Elijah Danley had two interceptions, both on Riverside’s second possession. Senior nose tackle Nate Hecht had three tackles for loss, including one on the second play of the scrimmage. Orange will start the season next week against the triple-option attack of South Granville in Creedmoor. Hecht, Danley, Jackson Wood and Brendon Worsham all return for the Panthers on defense as they hope to start with a victory in the season-opener, something Orange hasn’t had since 2017. Both Hecht and Danley were busy after the spring football season ended. Danley competed as a long jumper and triple jumper in track and field, while Hecht wrestled for Coach Spenser Poteat.
Orange football finally got a chance to scrimmage on Friday night at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. The Panthers varsity team scrimmaged for 30 plays. Orange’s defense shutout the Pirates, limiting them to three first downs while forcing three turnovers. Senior linebacker Elijah Danley had two interceptions, both on Riverside’s second possession.
As they enter their third year together on Cedar Ridge’s volleyball team, juniors Cameron Lloyd, Julie Altieri and Cameron Lanier have built more than just a successful program after winning the 2020 Big 8 Championship during an undefeated (if pandemic shortened) regular season.
There’s a quiet, but apparent, confidence surrounding the team that was absent in previous years. Through years of playing middle school and summer travel ball, the players are intricately familiar with each other, their strengths, weaknesses and who to go for the kill when a big point is needed.
It’s clear even during scrimmages like the one held at a sultry Chapel Hill High School on Wednesday night. Cedar Ridge rolled past Middle Creek in two sets, the last ending with a 15-11 Red Wolf victory. That was nothing more than an appetizer to the main meal of seeing Chapel Hill and Cedar Ridge square off once again.
The Red Wolves have beaten the Tigers each of the past two seasons, though the Tigers won the 2019 3A State Championship.
Yes, it was a scrimmage between two teams who are no longer in the same league (Chapel Hill has returned to 4A, while Cedar Ridge remains in 3A as a member of the Central Carolina Conference.) But the intensity between two proud programs was crystal clear to anyone with functioning brain cells.
The Red Wolves and the Tigers battled through three sets, which Cedar Ridge winning the first 25-16 and the second 25-17. The third set, which was supposed to be limited to 15 points, wound up in Chapel Hill’s favor 24-22. Not that anyone was supposed to notice, since it was a scrimmage and all, but Cedar Ridge had five match points to complete would would have been a clean sweep, only to have the Tigers offset all of them to eventually salvage the final set.
On a sweltering night where it was still in the high-80s by 9:00PM, players wiped up slick spots on the court after almost every point.
“It’s hard to match game-level competition in your own gym,” said Cedar Ridge’s Fiona Cunningham, the 2020 Big 8 Coach of the Year. “Getting that tonight was undeniably helpful and allowed us to push ourselves a little more than we’ve been able to.”
The fact that a race to 15 turned into a race to 24, (in, you know, a scrimmage) says all you need to know about the competitive nature of this Cedar Ridge team, as well as what they expect from themselves as they embark into a new league.
The Red Wolves lost libero Marlee Rakouskas and setters Layne Foster, Haylee Cothran, ShiLi Quade and Nicol Anderson due to graduation. Essentially, the entire right side of its court.
In her second season, Cunningham has built a nonconfernece schedule that’s as lofty as her team’s hopes for 2021. They open at East Chapel Hill (another school that’s move up to 4A) on Tuesday. After its home opener against Riverside on Thursday in Red Wolves Gymnasium, Cedar Ridge will travel to Greenville to face defending 3A State Champion D.H. Conley on Friday. Last year, the Vikings defeated the Red Wolves 3-1 in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs.
Lloyd, Altieri, and Lanier were All-Big 8 Conference selections last season. For the second year in a row in 2020, Lloyd led the team in kills. She was second on the team with 19 aces and 88 digs.
One thing Cedar Ridge took away from the playoff loss to Conley was the need to develop more finishers. Cunningham hopes to spread the kills in 2021.
“I think we’re a little more balanced than last year,” Cunningham said. “There’s no doubt that Cameron Lloyd is a great outside hitter, but we’ve been working with our setter to get more ball distribution and get more hitters involved.”
A new addition is East Chapel Hill transfer Melissa Benkowitz, who led the Wildcats with 174 digs last season.
“She’s a solid ball control hitter whose really able to get some good swings from the outside that we didn’t have last year,” Cunningham said. “I think we have more confidence in our hitters to distribute the ball. Our setters have to have more confidence in our swingers to take swings.”
Sophomore Addie Reid received a promotion from the junior varsity squad and played extensively on Wednesday.
Cedar Ridge’s opening Central Carolina Conference game will be against Person on August 31 in Hillsborough.
This week’s Retro Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior middle hitter Cameron Lanier. In 2020-2021, Lanier was a starter for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team’s Big 8 Conference Championship team. For the week starting November 30, Lanier had 13 kills and three blocks in a 3-1 win over East Chapel Hill in Hillsborough. Lanier had a strong season that helped ascend Cedar Ridge to the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. She was second on the team with 68 kills and led the squad with 19 total blocks. In the Red Wolves’ 3-0 win over Union Pines in the opening round of the state playoffs, Lanier had seven kills, two aces, five blocks, and two digs. Cedar Ridge will start the season with three games next week. They will open at East Chapel Hill on Tuesday before hosting Riverside in a long-awaited home opener on Thursday. On Friday, the Red Wolves will travel to defending 3A State Champion D.H. Conley, who handed Cedar Ridge its only loss last season in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Cedar Ridge will host Person in its Central Carolina Conference opener on August 31.
Over the past 18 months, the world has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing political unrest, and the unrelenting tensions of both. Despite the political and physical ramifications of all the unrest, it’s brought to light of something that needs to be addressed: Everyone and everything, including sports, are overwhelmed.
When watching sports, people are normally been a place where they can come together, cheer for their teams collectively, and return to their lives. But when you’re the athlete, what do you do to take care of yourself despite the pressures of performance?
During the Tokyo Olympics, the world of sport focused its attention on American gymnast, Simone Biles. The talented gymnast that blazed through the 2016 Rio Olympics by winning four gold medals (All-around, floor exercise, team competition, vault) and a bronze in the balance beam, withdrew from previous gold medal winning events citing a case of “the twisties”. It’s best described a mental disconnect causing a gymnast to lose situational awareness while performing aerial elements and the ability to safely land on their feet. Biles did recover to claim her second bronze medal in the balance beam.
Other American athletes that have spoken out for Mental Health awareness from their own experiences include former WWE superstar and Hollywood actor, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis champion Serena Williams, and former Olympic judoka & UFC legend Ronda Rousey.
I read countless online comments citing that Simone Biles ‘quit’ on her teammates. I’ll admit, I at first thought she did. But after discovering what “the twisties” were and reading the story of the late Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina, my mind was changed.
Mukhina, the 1978 world champion in the all-around competition, floor exercise event, and team competition, was set to defend her titles when she broke her leg in training in 1979. While healing, pressure was brought to bear upon the Soviet coaches to speed up Mukhina’s recovery in time for the 1980 Summer Olympics to be held in Moscow. Two weeks before the opening ceremony while training on vault, Mukhina broke her neck while attempting the Thomas Salto – a maneuver that was banned in gymnastics because of this incident. She was projected to win gold in the all-around and team events, along with some individual events, but her injuries resulted in Mukhina becoming a quadriplegic until she passed away in 2006.
Because of her issues and concerns, Simone Biles made the right decision. Medals be damned.
Imagine that Simone Biles suffered a catastrophic injury while in training or competition despite experiencing her mental issues. This could have caused a domino effect of not only Biles, but of her family, coaches, teammates, and other USA Gymnastics or International Olympic Committee officials to suffer emotional, financial, or even legal repercussions because they all could have prevented a tragedy.
In a previous edition of The Franklin Mint, I brought up the need for student-athletes to insulate themselves by utilizing the COVID-mandated break from sports to reset themselves mentally and physically. But what if the mental issues remain despite returning to the sport?
My answer is simple, continue the break. An athlete will not be at their best until they have resolved their issues. If this break involves therapy, medication, spending time with family and friends, or whatever it is that brings them peace, do it. In the long run, sports will be around when an athlete decides when they want to participate. If you’re a parent, coach, or even a fan that puts pressure upon an athlete to return to play when they’re not ready – shame on you. Their mental health issues are far more important than your desires.
But upon the return to play, I must ask these questions to the student-athlete (in no order):
1. Are you mentally prepared to contribute to the success of the team?
2. Are you able to set aside any conflicts so you can give your absolute best in competition?
3. Are you playing for your personal enjoyment and not sufficing someone else’s pleasure in your participation?
If any of these answers are no or a reluctance to say yes, it’s in your best interest to take more time off. You must have a full commitment to yourself and to your team before returning to play. To rush back into competition after a hiatus can be detrimental to yourself and might even cause a rift in team chemistry.
Thankfully, the world of sport has been an active participant in the fight for mental health awareness.
All major sports organizations (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, & NCAA) have started mental health resource campaigns to encourage dialogue about mental health issues. In events like the NHL’s Hockey Talks and NBA Mind Health, contacts to mental health counselors are constantly broadcast throughout the games and spotlights are often placed on players through their own battles with mental health issues.
The North Carolina High School Athletics Association does have information about mental health awareness as given by the Centers for Disease Control with referrals to outside providers.
In 2019, NHL goaltender Robin Lehner (then of the New York Islanders), became very open with his own struggles with mental illness along with drug and alcohol addiction. With his willingness to seek counseling and enter rehabilitation, Lehner improved his status as an individual and as a player. For his efforts, he was awarded the Bill Masterson Trophy, an award player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
To any student-athlete at Orange or Cedar Ridge who may be experiencing mental health issues, I know your pain so very much. I have dealt with mental trauma since I was five years old. I could tell you so much regarding mental and physical bullying during my school days, the pressure to succeed in the classroom while juggling countless issues within my family and the perils of working the job of a corrections officer. I’ve been on seven different kinds of medication to treat anxiety and depression and have seen at least a dozen counselors.
I’ve been there and I will stand with you. You are not alone, and I will help in any way possible. If I can’t, I’m quite certain your teachers, coaches, administrators, parents, pastors, etc. – WILL help you.
But the only way that a mental health assistance program can truly help, you must admit that you need help and are open to reaching out to someone for that help. The journey of a thousand miles does begin with a single step.
Case in point? On July 31, 2021 – With 17.5 years of combined service, I resigned my commission as a corrections officer because of the above personal issues compiled with an ultra-toxic work environment. If I can leave a toxic environment because it affected my mental health, you can step aside from sports so you can improve your well-being.
To the parents, coaches, administrators, and parents, the conversation of improving the mental health for students and athletes needs to take place. The signs should never be ignored or brushed off as “growing pains” or the student-athlete is “having a bad day”. While this could be true, it could be the unraveling of stress in their young lives. There’s no telling what they’re going through and to ignore it will keep building the pressure until they suffer a mental breakdown or God forbid, engage in self-injurious behavior to including suicide. The time to act is NOW.
As a society, if we continue to kick the can of mental health awareness down the road of life, then the road of life will be lined with the souls we failed to reach.
Our Retro Orange Panther of the Week takes us back to February 7. Freshman Katie Belle Sikes had a memorable year at Orange in more ways than one. She won two regional championships in swimming. At the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Belle won the regional titles in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle. A week later at the 3A State Championships in Raleigh, Belle finished 2nd in the 50 yard freestyle. She came in 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle. Belle also finished 5th in the regional championships in the 200 yard medley relay with Riley White, Brooke Walker and Melissa Campbell. After the winter ended, Belle continued to practice with her club team at the Orange County Sportsplex. Like many other swimmers across the country, Belle spent the past two weeks watching the Summer Olympics in Tokyo closely, and dreaming of reaching that level someday. For now, Belle is preparing for her sophomore year at Orange and preparing for next November when the next swim season begins. This year, Belle will compete in a more traditional setting instead of the pandemic conditions of 2021, where she largely raced against the clock.
Our Retro Orange Panther of the Week takes us back to February 7. Freshman Katie Belle Sikes had a memorable year at Orange in more ways than one. She won two regional championships in swimming. At the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Belle won the regional titles in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle.
It may surprise some that the success of the UNC women’s soccer program is comprised almost as much by Calvin & Hobbes as it was by Mia Hamm and Crystal Dunn.
During her four years with the Tar Heels, 2017 Orange High graduate Natalie Chandler joined her teammates in memorizing quotes and reading books assigned by head coach Anson Dorrance. Her favorite came from a Calvin & Hobbes strip.
“Live your life in a never-ending ascension.”
From the time she moved with her family to Hillsborough from Bedford, New Hampshire, Chandler has had a relentless drive to explore and achieve. Last spring, she ended her UNC soccer career with a third straight trip to the Final Four. She had a 4.0 grade point average every semester. At Orange, Chandler led the most successful teams in the 33-year history of the program.
The Big 8 Conference Player of the Year in 2017, Chandler spearheaded Orange to consecutive appearances in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs in her junior and senior seasons. She was named All-State and All-Region. As a sophomore, Chandler was part of the only team in Orange history to sweep a regular season series from Chapel Hill in 2015.
She was even a state champion gymnast.
Chandler graduated from Orange as the valedictorian, then stepped off the stage at the Smith Center and walked onto the UNC women’s soccer team. It was a natural transition. Her sister, Madison, graduated from UNC in 2017 and recently completed her Ph.D at Michigan State. Chandler’s father, Brian, played baseball at UNC and embarked on a brief minor league career that took him to the San Jose Bees of the old California League.
So how did she accomplish all of that in such a short amount of time without approaching sleep as the enemy?
It started with a good foundation. Her mother, Sandra, and her father didn’t pressure her to learn. Instead, they created an environment conducive for learning.
“Madison enjoyed reading and we would go to museums together,” Natalie said. “I have a perfectionist gene in me. The pressure I put on myself wasn’t coming from outside forces. It was me wanting to do the best I could do.”
Her father, a business developer, moved his family from New England to Hillsborough because he loved the area from his college years.
Through the mists of time, Chandler will forever be linked to a group of athletes that will be remembered as Orange’s golden age. In her class was Mia Davidson, the all-time leading home run hitter in North Carolina softball history who led Orange to the 2017 3A State Softball Championship. Davidson has set school records at Mississippi State.
The underclassmen at that time included Bryse Wilson, now a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates; Jamar Davis, an All-Atlantic Coast Conference track and field jumper with N.C. State; Connor Crabtree, possibly the best men’s basketball player in school history; and Payton Wilson, currently an All-ACC linebacker with N.C. State.
Chandler carved out her own legacy. She started her sophomore season by beating Chapel Hill in penalty kicks. The following month, the Lady Panthers edged Chapel Hill 3-2 on the road. Chandler assisted on the game-winning goal, scored by Rachel Shinnick.
“I played travel in Chapel Hill, so I knew most of their players,” Chandler said. “That definitely felt good. I was very proud of that team because Orange hasn’t had a great history in women’s soccer. That team got along so well.”
The 2015 Orange team was the most successful squad in school history with a record of 15-4-2. Chandler scored a goal in Orange 4-0 win over Cleveland in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough.
Somehow in the midst of soccer and finishing at the top of her class, Chandler also found time to became a state champion gymnast. Training at Bull City Gymnastics, she excelled in the floor exercise.
“I had a lot of energy as a kid,” Chandler said. “My mother put me in gymnastics when I was a child. I always had fun doing it. It’s a challenging sport but I always had a blast. I love soccer, but gymnastics may be my favorite sport to watch.”
Her favorite part of gymnastics was the vault. Part of the reason why?
“Because it feels like you’re flying.”
Which largely sums up Chandler’s approach of ascending and never standing still.
On a fifth grade field trip to Washington, D.C., Chandler saw Dorothy’s ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” at the Smithsonian Museum. Though she remains unfamiliar with the classic film, Chandler seems to fit the tone of its title song, “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”
In 2015, Chandler went to India as a Goals for Girls ambassador. She ventured into the heart of India in Nagpur before spending a week in a very crowded New Delhi.
“Driving in the middle of the day was insane,” Chandler said. “There were no traffic lights and people were blaring their horns everywhere. There were people everywhere, riding their mopeds. Just walking in the middle of the road. Cars driving right at you. They have their own rhythm, but it’s very different from what it is here.”
Last week, Chandler embarked on another journey–St. Andrews, Scotland. She will play with the university’s soccer team while taking a one-year Master’s program in Sustainable Development. Heather O’Reilly, a Tar Heel assistant coach who led UNC to two national championships before a 16-year professional career, connected Chandler with the program.
“I’ve always wanted to study abroad,” said Chandler, who will play in BUCS 1A, the top college league in Scotland. “I’ve love studying different cultures.”
Chandler walked on to UNC’s program, where they won two ACC Championships and three regional titles. In 2019, they reached the national championship game, losing to Stanford 5-4 in penalties at Avaya Stadium in San Diego. The team not only practiced and played together, but often read books together.
They ranged from “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, chronicling his imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps during World War II to “When No One was Watching” by Carli Lloyd, a member of the United States’ 2015 World Cup championship team.
“Coach Dorrance wants you to be a good soccer player,” Chandler said. “But he wants you to be a good person above all else. That stuck with me. There’s always room to get better and room to grow. That’s an exciting way to think about life.”
A Public Health major, Chandler envisions a career in environmental sustainability. Last month, when Orange County received a Code Orange ozone alert from the wildfires along the west coast, it left Chandler concerned. But not surprised.
“It sound hokey, but I want to leave the world in a better place than I found it,” Chandler said. “I want to help save the world from climate change. In the past year, there have been lots of natural disasters with wildfires in Australia and California. We’ve had the most extreme weather in various part of the world. It’s real and it’s happening. I get some backlash for that. I think it’s natural to make it less important than it actually is because you don’t want to think about it.”
In the midst of a new era for Cedar Ridge athletics, the school’s football program now finds itself back at square one.
Cedar Ridge Athletic Director Andy Simmons and new football coach Torrean Hinton have confirmed that the Red Wolves won’t field a varsity football team in 2021. Instead, Cedar Ridge will have a junior varsity squad.
A formal schedule, including Homecoming and Senior Night activities, will be released as soon as other team’s junior varsity availability is known.
The Red Wolves went 0-6 last spring. With students returning to class and Cedar Ridge going into the new Central Carolina Conference, there was hope within the football program that better times were ahead. Instead, Cory Lea left as head coach on July 5 after only 16 months on the job. Hinton, who was the interim coach of the Red Wolves in 2019 after Antonio King gave notice on the first day of practice to become an assistant at North Carolina Central, accepted the offer to return as Cedar Ridge’s permanent head coach two weeks ago.
Before Hinton returned, Cedar Ridge athletic officials started notifying other Central Carolina Conference schools that the team was lacking in numbers. Several players who started during the shortened season in March have transferred to other schools across the area this summer, including the starting quarterback from last spring’s opener. Officials and administrators reached out to other Cedar Ridge athletes from various sports about interest in playing football. When around 15-to-20 players showed up to the first day of practice on Monday, Hinton realized he had to cut bait for this year.
Before he accepted the offer to return to Cedar Ridge last month, Hinton says he understood not playing a varsity schedule was a possibility.
“The hope was there that we would have enough players,” Hinton said. “I kept my ear close to what was going on. I knew that they had only about 12 kids in the weight room. So I knew what I was walking into as far as numbers go. It’s an uphill battle, but it’s one that I welcome.”
It’s a problem that has become more prevalent across Orange and Durham Counties in recent years. Last spring, Hinton saw it firsthand at Riverside, a school with an average daily membership of 1,852, according to figures from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association during the 2019-2020 academic year. Yet the Pirates had to forfeit its first three games of the 2021 spring season due to a lack of players.
This marks the second time in four years that Cedar Ridge hasn’t fielded a varsity football team. As is the case now, a lack of participation was the reason. Following spring practice workouts in 2018, then-Cedar Ridge Head Coach Scott Loosemoore updated the school’s administration that player turnout had sunk and was ill-prepared to face a varsity schedule that included two 4A teams. The final decision to not field a varsity team came from the Orange County School District via a statement released on Twitter. It led to an angry town hall meeting with coaches, players, parents and staff at the Cedar Ridge school cafeteria a week later, which was curiously scheduled at the same time the Orange County School Board met at Gravelly Hill Middle School.
By the time the saga ended, Loosemore, who had not served in a full-time position at Cedar Ridge despite leading the school to its last winning season in 2016, had left for an assistant’s job at Scotland County.
In addition to Cedar Ridge, Chapel Hill didn’t have enough players to field a squad in 2018. East Chapel Hill didn’t have a varsity team in 2017 or last spring. This year, they plan on playing independently against 2A and 1A teams.
When Cedar Ridge went through its first year without varsity football, five players were granted permission by the Orange County School Board to transfer from Cedar Ridge to Orange in order to continue playing football. Now, most of the seniors who wanted to leave already have.
There are two Cedar Ridge seniors, however, who are staying, providing the ultimate example of staying true to a program during its nadir. But they also can’t play this season because seniors aren’t allowed to play junior varsity.
So Jake Mergenthal and Travis Delph will remain on the team as de facto assistant coaches. In lieu of playing their senior seasons, they will serve as “mentors” (the official title).
“They were captains of this football team,” Hinton said. “They have chosen to stay and coach. That’s very fortunate for us because we still have senior leadership on this football team. They’ve come to practice every day. They’re moving (tackling) dummies. They’re enthused about it.”
Hinton hopes to be a steady and reliable presence that can bring glory back to a team that was one win away from playing for the 2-AA State Championship in 2011. He will be the Red Wolves sixth head coach since 2018, including his own interim stint in 2019. In fact, Hinton was the last coach to lead Cedar Ridge to a win on the varsity level.
On Wednesday afternoon, Orange announced it had replaced Cedar Ridge on its slate by scheduling a second game against new conference rival Walter Williams. The Panthers will travel to Burlington to play the Bulldogs in a non conference game on October 22, in addition to their regularly scheduled Central Carolina Conference matchup on September 24 in Hillsborough.
Bryse Wilson started the next chapter of his Major League career with the very team he defeated in his first big league outing.
On Monday night, Wilson made his Pittsburgh Pirates debut only three days after being traded by the Atlanta Braves. Pitching in American Family Field, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated Pittsburgh 6-2. Despite surrendering only one run, Wilson suffered the loss.
Wilson conceded only two hits and two walks over five innings. He retired the Brewers in order in the first frame. Wilson walked Eduardo Escobar to leadoff the second inning, but set down Avisail Garcia, Rowdy Tellez and Tyrone Taylor to retire the side.
Milwaukee’s only run off Wilson came in the third inning when Lorenzo Cain scored off a sacrifice fly by Kolten Wong. Cain reached on an infield single to third to leadoff the inning, then stole second. Milwaukee pitcher Eric Lauer moved Cain over to third on a bunt single.
In the fourth, Wilson walked Escobar, but Garcia grounded into a double play. Wilson set the Brewers down in order in the fifth to end his stint.
“Team obviously wants you, so you want to come out and make a good first impression,” Wilson said afterwards. “There were a little bit of butterflies there. End of the day I wanted to come out and throw the way I can. Will now get some consistency.”
On Friday, Wilson and Ricky DeVito were sent to Pittsburgh in exchange for first baseman Richard Rodriguez.
Shortly after the trade, the Pirates activated Wilson.
“I thought the fastball played better,” said Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton. “Sometimes you see it on video & you don’t know what the action is going to be. Watching it from the side & talking to Stallings. The two-seamer really played & was very effective. Definitely a positive impression.”
The trade ended Wilson’s five-year stint with Atlanta that started when he was selected in fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, 109th overall, and received a $1.2 million signing bonus just days after graduating from Orange High School.
Only a month ago, Wilson was named the Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week with the Gwinnett Stripers. Against Durham on June 30, Wilson had a seven-inning scoreless stint, where he gave up just three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in a no decision.
Dating back to July 21, 2019, Wilson was 11-2 with Gwinnett.
In his final appearance with the Braves, Wilson threw the opening game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Over three shutout innings, he held New York to four hits. He walked one and struck out two.
In 2018, Wilson had a dramatic rise through the Braves system, where he went from the Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League all the way up to Atlanta in a span of four months. In 23 minor league games with Florida, the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League and the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League, Wilson went 8-5 with a 3.23 ERA.
He made his Major League debut against Pittsburgh at PNC Field on August 20, 2018. Wilson threw five innings and earned the win in a 1-0 Braves victory. At 20 years old, he became the youngest pitcher in National League history to win his debut by that score.
Over the past two years, Wilson has been dominant with Gwinnett in Triple-A East only to have occasional starts with Atlanta. Last October was the zenith of his career when he defeated Clayton Kershaw in game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Wilson, technically still a rookie making just the eighth start of his Major League career, surrendered just one hit over six innings as Atlanta won 10-2 to take a 3-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series.
In his Atlanta career, Wilson was 5-4 with a 5.35 ERA.
After Monday’s loss to Milwaukee, Pittsburgh is 40-66, 23.5 games behind Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central. The Brewers are currently the hottest team in baseball having won eight of its last ten.
