It’s hard to narrow down the clutch plays that Conner Funk made for the Orange baseball team on Thursday night. Suffice it to say, if Thursday’s win over Terry Sanford was Funk’s final game at Orange High Field, he truly saved his best for last. On the mound, Funk replaced starter Cross Clayton in the sixth inning with the Panthers tied 5-5 against the Bulldogs. Funk entered the game just moments after Terry Sanford’s Adam Pittinger tied the game with a double down the right field line, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd base with only one out. Funk forced an infield pop-up for the second out, then struck out Alex Smith to keep the game tied 5-5. In the bottom of the sixth, Funk chopped a fastball over the third baseman’s head into left field to score Jackson Berini, which turned out to be the game-winning run. For good measure, Funk scored the game’s final run on a sacrifice fly to right field hit by Connor Nordan. Funk earned his first win of the season in the seventh inning, closing the game with a strikeout of Terry Sanford’s Brady Gore. Orange will travel to Greenville to face J.H. Rose, the defending 3A State Champions, for the third round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday. It will be Orange’s first trip to the Round of 16 in the state playoffs since 2017.
