Month: April 2022

Last summer, Josh Mayhew became the first Cedar Ridge men’s tennis player to ever advance to an individual state championship match.

Now, Mayhew has led Cedar Ridge to another unprecedented feat. The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves have won their first-ever conference championship as a 3A team.

The Red Wolves commemorated its Senior Night by sweeping two matches against Walter Williams at Red Wolves Tennis Courts on April 6. Cedar Ridge won each of the dual matches against the Bulldogs by identical 5-2 scores. During the post match celebration, the Red Wolves knew they had clinched a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship. They also knew that Northwood was ahead 5-2 in a match that started the day before in Hillsborough and was stopped due to rain. If the Chargers had completed that victory over Cedar Ridge and then won their subsequent three CCC matches, they would have tied Cedar Ridge for first place (Cedar Ridge won the earlier match against the Chargers 6-1 in Pittsboro). The match was supposed to resume last week.

Those plans were canceled when Williams defeated the Chargers 5-4 on April 8, ensuring that Cedar Ridge had won the outright conference championship.

Under head coach Steve Mayhew, the Red Wolves will take the #1 seed into the 3A State Dual Team Tournament, which begins next week. The field for the tournament will be unveiled on Monday, with the opening round Wednesday.

“I knew we could do this,” said Josh Mayhew after beating Williams. “I believe in my team. Everybody has put in so much work. I have never been more proud of my team. It’s just awesome.”

For the second straight year, Mayhew has advanced to the 3A State individual championships. Last Wednesday in the Central Carolina Conference Championships at the Burlington Tennis Center, Mayhew received the #1 seed after finishing the season 12-0 in singles play. Mayhew defeated Chapel Hill’s Ayan Patel 6-2, 6-2 on March 1. Of Mayhew’s 12 wins, he didn’t lose a game in seven of them.

At the conference championships, Mayhew received a bye into the second round. He defeated Orange’s Nathan Pavalonis to advance to the semifinals and secure a spot in the state tournament.

Sophomore Lev Bearman went 7-2 in singles play for the Red Wolves this season and also qualified for the state championships. Bearman held off Walter Williams’ Alex Brown 7-6, 6-2 in the CCC Tournament quarterfinals.

“Lev has impressed me the most this year,” Josh Mayhew said. “He’s going to be the #1 singles player when I’m gone. He’s going to be the best.”

Cedar Ridge also sent the doubles team of Eli and Holden Rachlin to the state championships. The Rachlins, who received the #4 seed at the CCC Tournament, defeated Northwood’s Tate Clark and Mason Erman 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, winning the third-set tiebreaker 7-2 in the quarterfinals.

“We always have a positive mindset going into each match,” Lev Bearman said. “Josh is like an assistant coach and he’s always cheering people on and supporting us.”

Cedar Ridge opened the season with seven consecutive conference wins, starting with a victory over Person on February 28 in Hillsborough. The Red Wolves, who are 9-4 overall, also faced stiff non conference opposition from Chapel Hill, Durham School of the Arts and Carrboro, who could potentially play Cedar Ridge again in the state team playoffs.

The championship will hold a special place for seniors Eli Rachlin (a co-Captain) and Derrick Stephens.

The individual state championships will take place at the Burlington Tennis Center on May 6th and 7th.

The last tennis team from Cedar Ridge to win a conference championship was the 2016 Red Wolves’ women’s team, which finished undefeated in a Big 8 Conference that included Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves, coached by Lennie Corbett, swept the Tigers and advanced to the state quarterfinals of the 3A State Dual Team Tournament.

After four years together on the Orange women’s basketball team, Aaliyah Harris and Samatha George got to play one final game as teammates.

It was poetic justice after the heartbreaking way Orange’s season ended in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on February 22. The Lady Panthers led 40-23 at Fayetteville 71st at halftime, only for the Falcons to mount an incredible comeback, outscoring Orange 45-13 in the second half to win 68-53.

Harris and George deserved better than a bad goodbye. They got it in, of all places, Ayden.

On March 26, Harris and George teamed up on the 919 Faison squad in the Clash of the Area Codes All-Star Game at Ayden-Grifton High School. Harris scored 14 points to help 919 Faison win over 252 Pittman 62-57.

Harris and George had different roles when they joined the varsity team as freshmen in 2018-2019. When Harris became Orange’s starting point guard at the start of her sophomore season, she looked to pass first. Her main backcourt option was Mary Moss Wirt, an ace shooter who canned a game-winning 3-pointer against Chapel Hill in 2019, which propelled Orange to a second-place finish in the Big 8 Conference. George was the fourth guard off the bench.

Things changed after a December night in 2019 when Wirt was injured in a game at Carrboro. From that point forward, Wirt concentrated on her main sport, softball, which she will play at Elon next winter.

After Wirt left basketball behind, George replaced her in the starting lineup. Harris became more aggressive shooting and looked to score first, while George became more reliable as a 3-point threat.

Together, they led the push as Orange returned to the 3A State Playoffs last winter. They also helped Head Coach B.J. Condron win his 100th career game on December 29 against Northeastern Guilford at the Eastern Guilford Holiday Hoops Showcase in Gibsonville.

Harris and George each earned postseason honors. They both were named to the All-Central Carolina Conference first-team. In addition, they were also named to the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association All-District 3 team.

Harris was named to the All-District 3 First-Team, while George made Third-Team.

Harris was Orange’s leading scorer at 13.7 points per game in 2021-2022. Coming into the season, Harris’ career-high was 22 points set against Vance County in the 2019-2020. This year, she surpassed that mark three times. Harris scored 24 points in a win over Cedar Ridge on February 9 at Orange High. She also registered 23 points in a 73-47 win over Western Alamance on February 5 in Elon. In the opening game of the Eastern Guilford Holiday Showcase, Harris had 22 points in a 71-45 victory for the Lady Panthers over Reidsville.

In 24 games, Harris scored in double-figures 16 times in her senior season. She finished with at least ten points in every December game, starting with 17 points in a win over the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham on December 2. Against Person on January 27, she scored a career-high 23 points as Orange won 74-61 in Hillsborough.

In March, Harris signed with Randolph-Macon College in Virginia during a ceremony at Orange High Gymnasium.

George averaged a career-best eleven points per game in her senior season. After scoring twice in double figures in her first three seasons, George had 16 games with at least ten points as a senior. She also had three double-doubles, including one in her final game when she racked up eleven points and eleven rebounds against 71st in the state playoffs.

George put up 19 points against NCSSM, which was her career-high at that point. A week later, George reestablished her career-best with 23 points against Carrboro in a 68-36 win in Hillsborough. George had a string of nine consecutive games in double-figures starting on December 14, when she scored 12 points in a 54-46 win over Western Alamance in Hillsborough. She had 14 points against Person on January 27.

George’s scoring presence was needed more than ever after starting center Erin Jordan-Cornell missed three-quarters of the campaign with a knee injury, taking away the Lady Panthers’ most valuable low-post presence. Orange still finished 15-9 overall, 6-6 in the Central Carolina Conference, which included 3A State Champion Northwood.

George will attend Duke University starting in August.

See ball. Hit ball.

If that sounds like a caveman’s approach to baseball, well, it is. At least when it comes to Connor Nordan, Orange’s designated hitter who has earned the moniker “caveman” from assistant coach Matt Roberts.

And for good reason. In his first season with the Orange varsity, Nordan leads the team in RBIs and has 20 hits, tied with two teammates for team-high honors.

Orange has vaulted to the top of the Central Carolina Conference despite lacking consistency in one area or another from game to game during this season. On Tuesday night, the Panthers finally put all the pieces of offense, defense, pitching and fundamentals together against its crosstown rival. Now, the Panthers are one win away from its first outright conference championship since 2016.

Behind Nordan’s career-best five RBIs, Orange pulled away from crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 13-5 in front of a standing room only crowd at Red Wolves Territory. Orange (13-6 overall, 8-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) simply needs to win one of its final three conference games to take the CCC regular season championship. The Panthers face Cedar Ridge on Thursday at Orange High Field, then face Eastern Alamance next week for a two-game series, starting Tuesday in Hillsborough.

“I thought we had a chance to be better,” Orange coach Jason Knapp said. “We weren’t as sharp as I would have liked in a few facets in the game. But at the end of the day, we traveled to a rival at their place and we found a win. We swung the bat well and pitched well enough.”

Cedar Ridge (12-7, 7-4) had its six-game winning streak snapped. The Red Wolves, who would have gained a share of the CCC regular season championship with a sweep of Orange, are now eliminated from finishing first in the league. Cedar Ridge can still gain an automatic spot to the 3A State Playoff by finishing second. For now, the Red Wolves are tied for 2nd in the loss column with Eastern Alamance, but control the tiebreaker over the Eagles.

Orange pitcher Ryan Hench struck out 12 batters to earn his third win of the season. Hench struck out the side three times and surpassed 100 career strikeouts in the fifth inning, all the more impressive considering he didn’t have a freshman season to speak of (one brief relief appearance against Eastern Alamance, only a week before the season ended due to the pandemic).

It was a strong night for first-year varsity players on both sides. Cedar Ridge freshman starting pitcher Quinn Finnegan was impressive in defeat. In the second inning, Orange loaded the bases with one out, but Finnegan escaped the jam without any runs crossing the plate. Catcher Efrain Morales threw out Codey Snipes after a wild pitch rebounded strong off the padding along the backstop. Finnegan got out of the frame after Cross Clayton flew out to left field.

Morales, a sophomore for the Red Wolves, finished 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in the sixth inning on a ball that disappeared under the Cedar Ridge scoreboard in left field.

Orange’s 15 hits tied its season-high, originally set against Person on April 8. The Panthers broke through with two runs in the third inning. Jackson Berini drew a one out walk. David Waitt lined a single to right centerfield. After Finnegan struck out Hench, Nordan lined his first RBI single of the night to centerfield to score Berini. Catcher Davis Horton sent a fly ball to shallow centerfield that dropped in front of the two fielders to bring in Waitt.

Cedar Ridge evened the game in the bottom of the frame, and by any right, should have taken the lead. B.J. Thornton and Aidan McAllister each walked. Cristian Macias lined a double over the first base bag to score Thornton. Waitt made a strong throw from right field to keep McAllister from tying the game. Moments later, McAllister scored anyway after a wild pitch that ricocheted high off the netting along the backstop, which moved Macias to third. Morales sent a fly ball to Waitt that, at first glance, appeared deep enough to bring in Macias on a sacrifice fly. Yet Waitt made the catch and unleashed a dart to Horton, who tagged out Macias at the plate. It was the closest the Red Wolves would come to going ahead.

“That was definitely a momentum shift for us,” Knapp said. “David has made plays like that for the last two years. When I saw him get behind the ball on the catch, I knew he was going to deliver a strike to the plate. That’s just typical David Waitt right there.”

Orange’s Codey Snipes, who finished 3-for-5, stated the third inning with a single to left field. Following a sacrifice bunt by Cross Clayton, Snipes moved to second. Berini took a 2-2 fastball and lined it to right centerfield to put runners at the corners. Waitt delivered another RBI single on a line drive through the 5-6 hole into left field to score Snipes. Nordan sent a grounder off the pitcher’s mound and over second base, scoring Waitt.

Cedar Ridge’s relief pitching, which was so instrumental over the past two weeks during two-game sweeps of Eastern Alamance and Western Alamance, struggled in the late innings. Orange scored four runs in the sixth and five in the seventh inning. Once again, Nordan had the biggest hits. He had an RBI single in the sixth, and added a two-run single in the seventh.

“I’m really not surprised about Connor,” Knapp said. “He just has a great approach. He has a simple hitting philosophy: ‘See Ball. Hit Ball.’ That’s exactly what he says. He just gets his hands back and lets it roll. He makes it works for us.”

Horton, in his best game of the year, went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Cedar Ridge did score the game’s final run. Jake Mergenthal, as a pinch-hitter, drew a leadoff walk, went to second after an errant pickoff throw. took third on a groundout and scored off an error on a ball hit by Aidan McCallister.

The Orange baseball team is one win away from its first outright conference championship since 2016. On Tuesday night, Orange racked up 15 hits and pulled away from Cedar Ridge 13-5 at Red Wolves Territory. Junior designated hitter Connor Nordan finished with a career-high five RBIs after going 4-for-5. Nordan, in his first year at the varsity level, now leads Orange with 24 hits. Orange junior David Waitt came through with the biggest defensive play of the game. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning, Cedar Ridge’s Efrain Morales sent a fly ball to right field with Cristian Macias at third base with one out. Waitt made the catch in right field, then threw out Macias at the plate to end the inning. The following inning, Waitt sent an RBI single to left field to score Codey Snipes, putting Orange ahead for good. Waitt finished 2-for-3 with four runs scored and an RBI single. Orange will take the Central Carolina Conference championship outright with a win over Cedar Ridge on Thursday night at Orange High Field. The Panthers are 13-6 overall, 8-1 in the CCC. They have won six in a row. 

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior tennis player Seth Upchurch. This season. Upchurch has been one of the vital players on the Red Wolves team to ever win a conference championship at the 3A level. Upchurch has been a regular singles player under head coach Steve Mayhew. On April 6, Upchurch won his match at #6 singles 8-2 as the Red Wolves officially clinched the Central Carolina Conference championship after sweeping a doubleheader over Walter Williams. The Red Wolves won the opening match 5-2. Also this season, Upchurch won his singles match against Orange 6-2, 6-1 as the Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 7-2 at Red Wolves Tennis Courts. Upchurch is also a member of the Cedar Ridge Theatre Company and has a role in the upcoming production of Talia on the Path of Shadows. The opening round of the 3A State Dual Team Tennis Playoffs will be April 27 and the Red Wolves will host a match in the opening round for the first time ever as a 3A team.