For the first time since 2016, the Orange baseball team is in first place in its conference with two weeks to go in the regular season.
That 2016 team was led by Bryse Wilson, who finished 10-2 with a 0.75 ERA. If you’re unfamiliar with him, Wilson will pitch for the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon against Washington at PNC Park.
The current Orange Panthers don’t have as dominant a starter as Wilson, but who really does? Yet not even the 2016 Panthers had two reliable starters. In fact, Wilson had to start Orange’s first three state playoff games before they lost to Topsail in the state quarterfinals.
Despite several flat performances in March, the 2022 Panthers have emerged atop the Central Carolina Conference with a 7-1 league record led by two quality staters and a bullpen that, through trial-and-error, has molded into a reliable unit.
For the second straight Friday night, Orange sophomore Cross Clayton tossed a complete game on the road, this time in Pittsboro. This time, Clayton threw a two-hit shutout. Unlike last week against Person, Clayton found himself in a pitcher’s dual with Northwood junior Zach Barnes, who held Orange scoreless through five innings.
Barnes, who also threw four innings in Tuesday’s game against the Panthers, left after the fifth inning when the Panthers loaded the bases with one out but couldn’t score. Orange finally broke through in the seventh inning when Ryan Hench drove in Jackson Berini, leading to a five-run frame and the Panthers grinding out a 5-0 win.
It was the first time in six years that Orange won a two-game series against Northwood. Last year, the Panthers swept the Chargers, but the games weren’t in a series format.
Clayton showed pinpoint control in earning his season-best fifth win of the season. He retired the Chargers in order in the sixth inning, at which point he had thrown just 60 pitches, 46 of which were strikes. Clayton has thrown 13 consecutive scoreless innings.
Berini led off the seventh with a walk and advanced to second following a sacrifice bunt by David Waitt. After catcher Davis Horton walked, Hench sent a fly ball towards the downward slope along the left field line to send in Berini and end the stalemate. Horton also scored on the throw. Designated hitter Connor Nordan singled through the left side of the infield to score Hench. After Cameron Guentensberger singled on a fly ball to centerfield, senior Connor Funk launched a double to the centerfield wall to score Neo Best, who was running for Nordan and increase Orange’s lead to 4-0. Cesar Lozano hit a RBI groundout to Northwood second baseman Mason Bae, bringing across Guentensberger for the final run.
It capped a dramatic week for Clayton, who had the game-winning hit in the opening game of the series against Northwood in Hillsborough. In the eighth inning, Clayton belted a fastball to dead centerfield that went off the fence, then off the arm of Northwood’s Andrew Johnson. Neo Best, pinch-hitting for Codey Snipes, scored from first base for the game-winning run as Orange won 3-2. In the second inning, Clayton blasted a solo homer to put Orange ahead 2-0.
Orange scored the game’s opening run when Davis Horton reached on an infield single. After Hench was hit by a pitch, Connor Nordan lined a single to left field. Ty Walker, a courtesy runner for Horton, scored.
The Chargers’ only true threat of the game came in the fifth inning against Hench, Orange’s top stater. Yet they still scored two runs. Nate Ortiz reached on an error at third base, which was followed by a single off a bouncing ball by Luke Smith. After a sacrifice bunt by Shaner advanced each runner 90 feet, Kaleb Howell knocked in Ortiz with a groundout to Berini at shortstop. Jake Leighton, running for Smith, scored off a passed ball while Johnson was at the plate.
Hench nearly won the game in regulation after a two-out single to centerfield. Nordan sent a sharp grounder that went through the third baseman’s legs and wound up going into left field. Orange head coach Jason Knapp, coaching third, waved in Hench in an attempt for the game-winning run, but a great throw by Northwood’s Nate Davis found the cutoff man Ortiz, who relayed to catcher Luke Smith, who tagged out Hench at the plate to force extra innings.
Joey Pounds earned the win for Orange.
Orange’s trip to Carrboro was much less tense on Wednesday. The Panthers cruised 10-0 in five innings. Sophomore Josiah Gibbs threw three-and-one-thirds shutout innings for his third win of the season. He gave up just four hits. Lozano and Funk completed the shutout on the mound.
Funk scored the first run of the game in the second inning after Clayton drew a bases-loaded walk. Best added another run off another bases-loaded walk by Berini.
The Panthers scored eight runs in the fourth inning against the Jaguars. After Funk hit a leadoff single on a bunt, he advanced to second on a steal, then went to third on a passed ball. Best hit an RBI single to left field.
Davis Horton finished 2-for-3 with a double against Carrboro. Funk went 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Nordan had an RBI double.
Orange is 12-6 overall, 7-1 in the CCC.