The Orange baseball team may be too young to know The Rolling Stones’ song “You Can’t Always Get Want You Want,” since it was released in 1969 and all.
Coming out of the Hilltopper Invitational over Spring Break, Orange didn’t get want they wanted, which was three wins. Instead, the Panthers emerged 1-2, with losses to New Hanover and Ashely. Yet Orange Coach Jason Knapp suspected his team got what they needed, which was confidence after standing toe-to-toe in one-run losses to New Hanover (ranked #2 by MaxPreps in the 4A East Region) and Ashely (ranked #6).
So the big question on Knapp’s mind going into its two-game series against Person was what did his team learn over spring break?
The answer was a lot. It led to, by far and away, Orange’s most dominant showing of the season which paved many dividends.
Junior Cross Clayton, the younger brother of former Orange pitcher Caige Clayton, threw a one-hit shutout with ten strikeouts as the Panthers rolled to a 10-0 victory over the Rockets on Friday in Roxboro. It was Orange’s first run-rule victory in conference play this season.
Clayton, in his first year at varsity, leads Orange with four victories. His ten strikeouts are a career-high.
After Cedar Ridge swept Eastern Alamance in a doubleheader on Friday night in Mebane, Orange suddenly has a two-game lead in the Central Carolina Conference with a 5-1 record. Cedar Ridge and Eastern Alamance are tied for 2nd at 5-3.
The Panthers (9-6 overall) haven’t won a conference championship since 2016, which was Bryse Wilson’s senior year.
In addition to Clayton surfacing as the Panthers’ second starter behind Ryan Hench, Orange’s offense finally came out of neutral after several disappointing games in the first half of the season. After registering 12 hits in the series opener against the Rockets last Wednesday, Orange posted a season-best 15 hits on Friday night.
Right fielder David Waitt went 4-for-4 and is now tied with shortstop Jackson Berini for the team-lead with 18 hits. It was Waitt’s fifth multi-hit game of the season. Connor Funk finished 3-for-4.
Ryan Hench, who captured the victory on Tuesday in Orange’s 9-1 win over the Rockets, led off the second inning with a double that hugged the third base line. After Connor Nordan moved Hench over to third with a fly ball to left field, Cameron Guentensberger scored Nordan with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Nordan and Guentensberger started the fourth inning off with consecutive singles. Funk grounded to Person second baseman Bryce Thaxton, who threw out Guentensberger at second. The relay on the double play attempt wound up behind first base, leading to Nordan scoring. After Cesar Lozano grounded into a fielder’s choice, leading to Funk being thrown out. Codey Snipes reached on a grounder that rolled into right field for a single. Berini, who hit a grand slam against Person on Tuesday, lined a single to left field to bring in Lozano and Snipes, who scored when the throw from the outfield missed the cutoff man. Waitt followed with a line drive to left field to score Berini and increase Orange’s lead to 5-0.
Person’s only baserunner in the opening four innings was Cayden Goodwin, who had a two-out single in the first inning. After that, Clayton set eleven consecutive Rockets down. The only other Rocket get aboard in the game was Dylan England, who walked in the sixth.
Orange racked up five in the sixth inning to draw things to a close. Berini drew a one-out walk, while Waitt singled to right field. Catcher Davis Horton belted a hard grounder up the middle to score Waitt. Nordan followed with his first career home run, a three-run dinger to left field to score Neo Best (running for Horton) and Hench.
The Panthers will start a two-game series against Northwood tonight. The Panthers will host the opening game tonight at 6 PM. Orange will also travel to Carrboro on Wednesday afternoon at 5PM.