Month: March 2022

It was typical early season baseball at Chapel Hill Field on Wednesday night. Fans were bundled up in blankets as Cedar Ridge and Chapel Hill battled into extra innings. The Red Wolves fought until the end and came away with a 9-8 win in eight innings over the Tigers. In his first game, freshman Quinn Finnegan threw four-and-two-thirds innings of relief and came away with the win. Finnegan struck out four and conceded only three hits and two runs, one of them earned. Sophomore catcher Efrain Morales scored the game-winning run when Garrett Ray drew a walk in the eighth inning with the bases loaded. Morales, in his first Cedar Ridge start, led off the eighth inning with a single to centerfield, setting up two runs in the lone extra inning. Morales went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Cedar Ridge earned another narrow win on Thursday night when they defeated Bartlett-Yancey 2-1. Cristian Macias scores the game-winning run off a throwing error, then picked up the save when he threw a scoreless seventh inning. Cedar Ridge will start play in the Central Carolina Conference against Williams on Tuesday in Burlington.

A year after Orange and East Chapel Hill met in the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Semifinals, the Panthers and the Wildcats met again on Wednesday night. This time, the Panthers convincingly defeated the Wildcats 14-11 at Dave Thaden Stadium. It was the first-time ever that the Panthers defeated the Wildcats in lacrosse. Orange sophomore Connor Kruse scored five goals and four assists as the Panthers improved to 2-0. Junior Jake Wimsatt had seven faceoff wins and added three goals and an assist. Orange Coach Chandler Zirkle, who played football and lacrosse at East Chapel Hill, savored the victory for his team. Josh Crabtree added three goals for Orange. The Panthers won’t get much of a break. On Friday night, they face Pinecrest at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough at 7 PM. Orange starts its Central/Mid Carolina Conference schedule on Tuesday against Western Alamance in Hillsborough.

When asked for a prediction for his rematch with Rocky Balboa in Rocky III, Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T, gave the classic response: “Pain.”

Judging from opening day of softball season, if Takia Nichols had asked for a prediction for her senior year, it would have been “Power.”

And she would have been right.

Nichols opened her senior year with two home runs and a school-record seven RBIs as Cedar Ridge piled up 13 hits in a 20-2 victory over East Chapel Hill on Tuesday afternoon at Wildcats Softball Stadium. Nichols, the all-time leading home run hitter in Cedar Ridge history, now has 28 career dingers.

She hit a grand slam in the first inning, then added a three-run blast in the third and final inning.

Nichols has made it a habit to have huge games against East Chapel Hill throughout her career. In her freshman season, she had six RBIs in a 15-0 win over the Wildcats in chapel Hill. Last March, she had another six RBI game against the Wildcats as the Red Wolves rolled 18-5, a game where Red Wolves shortstop Ava Lowry had two home runs.

Anaya Carter, who was a regular rotation player for the 3A State Champion volleyball team last fall, went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two stolen bases in her return to the softball diamond. Junior Tori Carden finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs.

Following the graduation of six seniors at the end of the abbreviated 2021 season, Cedar Ridge coach Allen Byrd also showed glimpses of a youth movement against the Wildcats. Freshmen Kimber Shambley (first base), Charlotte Lowry (pitcher), and Reagan Simmons (catcher) all started for the Red Wolves.

Shambley, the daughter of former Orange High right fielder Kevin Shambley, scored three times. She was walked three times and had an RBI single in the first.

Lowry, who faced nine batters, struck out three. After some hiccups in the first inning, Lowry set East down in order in the second before junior Hayley King closed out things in the third.

Cedar Ridge will host Cardinal Gibbons on Thursday night in Hillsborough.

ORANGE 8, ROXBORO COMMUNITY SCHOOL 0

After going undefeated in the Big 8 Conference last season, the Orange softball team opened a tough nonconfernce slate with more of what distinguished themselves from the pack in 2021.

Defense.

Gracie Walker, the 2021 Big 8 Conference Pitcher of the Year, threw a three-hit shutout to push the Lady Panthers past Roxboro Community School 8-0 on Tuesday night. Walker struck out five with only two walks. Of her 72 pitches, 55 went for strikes.

Carson Bradsher, who committed to USC-Upstate last month, opened her junior season by going 3-for-4 as Orange scored two runs in the opening inning. Bradsher, who hit .700 during an All-Conference season in 2021, had two triples.

Catcher Lauren Jackson had a two-run homer. Last season, Jackson led the Lady Panthers with five home runs.

In right field, sophomore Caden Robinson had several big catches to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. She finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

In addition to getting her 14th career win in the circle, Walker had an RBI single.

Orange will face a full slate before starting Central Carolina Conference play next week at Northwood in Pittsboro. On Friday, the Lady Panthers will face Southern Alamance, the defending 3A State Champions, in Graham.

On Monday, Orange will journey to Chatham Central. Last season, the Bears finished 2nd in the 1A Yadkin Valley Conference and defeated Union Academy in the opening round of the state playoffs.

Orange has now won 13 consecutive regular season games after a perfect, though pandemic-shortened, regular season in 2021.

In a Big 8 Conference race narrowed down to a precious six games due to the pandemic in 2021, the margin of error for timely hitting was unfairly small.

Faced with a winner-takes-all battle against Northern Durham for the Big 8 Championship last May in Hillsborough, the Panthers didn’t have many opportunities against Knights ace Matthew Lombard, who threw a three-hit shutout in a 4-0 Northern win. That victory was enough for Northern to earn the #1 seed for the 3A State Playoffs out of the Big 8 Conference.

Nine months later, Orange found itself in another pitcher’s dual against the Knights, this time as a non conference opponent. This time, the familiar names of a year ago came through.

Jackson Berini drew a bases-loaded walk with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning, followed by a two-run single by right fielder David Waitt to push Orange past Northern Durham 4-1 at Orange Baseball Field on Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams. The Panthers (1-0) defeated Northern for the fifth time in its last seven meetings.

The Panthers used five pitchers over seven innings, including starter Ryan Hench. Orange limited the Knights to two hits. Northern still had various opportunities throughout the night courtesy of eight walks, but sophomore Cross Clayton threw a scoreless sixth inning in his first varsity appearance to earn the win. Connor Funk, starting his third varsity season, came in for his first career save with a scoreless seventh inning, striking out two.

“Connor had an outstanding summer with us,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “He had regular starts with us during the summer and the fall. He works hard and is a bulldog on the mound. Right now, we feel like he’s our second starter and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Hench, who went 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA last season, struck out seven over two-and-two-thirds innings as opening night starter.

Northern pieced together its only run off of Hench in the third inning. Knights’ catcher Seth Lumpkin lined a single to centerfield. After Charles McDowell went down on strikes for the second out, Hench left the game after walking Jackson Bishop. Joey Pounds relieved Hench. Northern’s Aidan Rice drew a walk to load the bases. Freddie Oliver was hit by a pitch to score Lumpkin and even the game.

Orange grabbed the lead in the opening inning when catcher Davis Horton, who had a base hit in every regular season game last season, doubled to centerfield to score Berini, who drew a walk to start the game.

Northern had a chance to break the tie in the fifth inning when McDowell reached on an error. McDowell advanced to second off a groundout by Bishop, then went to third as Berini retired Rice. After Oliver was intentionally walked by Orange reliever Cezar Lozano, Kyle Thomas drew a free pass to load the bases. Northern’s Noah Guerrette grounded a 2-0 fastball to Hench at third base, who threw to Codey Snipes at first to escape the jam.

Clayton drew a leadoff walk to start the sixth inning. With Nev Best at bat, Clayton stole second and then rushed to third when the subsequent throw wound up in centerfield. After 6-foot-6 pinch hitter Ryan Honeycutt, replacing Snipes, drew a walk, it placed runners at the corners. Funk walked against Northern reliever Thomas, leading to Berini’s walk to give Orange the lead. Waitt’s single in the next at-bat brought in pinch runner Ty Walker, who replaced Honeycutt, as well as Funk.

Northern made some noise in the 7th inning. McDowell singled between the 5-6 hole in left field to lead off the frame, then stole second. After Bishop grounded out to Berini, McDowell went to third. Funk struck out Oliver and Stormey Swearingen to end the game.

It was the third time in four years that Orange won its season opener. The Panthers will be right back in action on Wednesday afternoon against East Chapel Hill, another former Big 8 Conference rival. Orange travels to Middle Creek on Friday afternoon.