Month: May 2022

One. There has been only one.

In each of the two seasons where Cedar Ridge men’s tennis junior Josh Mayhew has finished a season, there was one person who has beaten him each year and kept him from winning the 3A State Singles Championship.

In 2021, it was a senior from Chapel Hill. This year, it was a freshman from Terry Sanford High.

On Saturday at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro, Drew Hedgecoe faced Mayhew for the second straight weekend. With the 3A State Championship on the line, Hedgecoe held off Mayhew 6-3, 7-5. It was the second consecutive year where the state championship boiled down to the top two players from the Mideast Region. Last Saturday at the Burlington Tennis Center, Hedgecoe defeated Mayhew 6-2, 6-3 in the Mideast Regional final.

Mayhew became the first player ever from Cedar Ridge to reach the state singles final in back-to-back years.

“We used to play tournament together when I was about ten,” Mayhew said about Hedgecoe. “We used to be around the same skill level. He just got really good.”

In 2021, Chapel Hill senior Dennis Perumov defeated Mayhew, then a sophomore, in both the state championship and Mideast Regional final. He was the only singles player to beat Mayhew last year.

Facing the best in the state, Mayhew wasn’t seriously challenged leading up to the state championship match on Friday. In the opening round, Mayhew defeated J.J. Woerner of First Flight 6-0, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Mayhew rolled past Shiv Patel of South Point 6-0, 6-2.

In the semifinals, Mayhew turned back the challenge of Ajay Swisher of St. Stephens 6-0, 6-1.

Hedgecoe was just as dominant throughout the tournament. He lost only two games in the opening three matches. Last week in the Mideast Regionals, Hedgecoe didn’t lose a game in his three matches leading up to the regional championship dual with Mayhew.

Mayhew concludes what has been the most successful season for Cedar Ridge men’s tennis since they joined the 3A ranks in 2012. The Red Wolves won the Central Carolina Conference Championship. Mayhew went 19-2 this season. His only losses came against Hedgecoe.

Any parent who has dropped their child off to Orange Middle School may have already seen Mayhew working out and just didn’t realize it.

On March 14, after Cedar Ridge had finished a 9-0 win over Western Alamance, just about everyone went home. As the Red Wolves’ softball team played its own game against the Warriors, Mayhew remained on Cedar Ridge’s tennis court, where he had just won a singles match over Samuel Durham (6-0, 6-0), then teamed with teammate Seth Upchurch to win at #1 doubles 8-5.

While everyone else’s attention was turned to the softball game, Mayhew stayed behind and worked out by himself until the lights at the softball field were off.

Mayhew’s insatiable work ethic starts with a daily workout at 6:45 inside the Orange High Tennis Courts, where his father Steve (who is also the head coach of the Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s tennis teams) once played as a member of the Orange Panthers. After classes at Cedar Ridge, he has practice along with fitness sessions five days a week.

“There’s foot speed, sprints, a three-mile run, just to see how fast how I can do it,” Mayhew said. “Some matches against teams just aren’t very good hitting sessions, so I have to do more.”

Mayhew’s dominance throughout the course of this season was reflected through a rigorous schedule. This year, Mayhew faced Chapel Hill’s top player, Ayan Patel, 6-2, 6-2. The Tigers won the championship of the DAC-VII Conference. Mayhew also knocked off Carrboro’s Jonathan Baddour 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 on March 21. It was the only time during the regular season that Mayhew dropped a set. Mayhew defeated Baddour again in the 3A State Dual Team Tournament last month. After winning the Northern Lakes Conference championship, the Jaguars have reached the quarterfinals of the State Team Tournament, where they will host West Carteret later today.

In addition to Mayhew, Orange’s doubles team of senior Justin Conover and freshman Porter Pelphrey reached the state quarterfinals. After finishing fourth in the Mideast Regionals, Conover and Pelphrey defeated Wilson Fike’s Snyder Pearson and Hatten Gore 5-7, 6-3, 7-6. Conover and Pelphrey won the tiebreaker 7-2 to advance to the round of eight.

Shelby Crest’s Sam Thomas and Jonathan Peeler defeated Conover and Pelphrey 7-5, 6-3. In another testament to the power of Mideast Regional tennis, Carrboro’s tandem of Aidan Chung and Jonathan Baddour won the 3A State Championship, beating Costen Holtzman and Griffin Lovern 6-2, 6-4. Chung and Baddour, who also won the Mideast Regional championship, lost only nine game in four matches in the state tournament.

Lacrosse: Orange 18, South Brunswick 5: Following an undefeated run through the Mid-Carolina Conference championship, the Orange lacrosse team comfortably moved into the Round of 16 of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs with an easy victory over South Brunswick on Thursday night at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

Sophomore Connor Kruse score seven goals for the Panthers, who improved to 9-1 at home this season. Kruse leads Orange with 71 goals and 123 points. Junior Joe Cady, who scored six goals against Eastern Alamance on April 26, finished with three goals. It was his fifth hat trick of the season.

Tigh Metheny finished with six assists along with two goals. Metheny is second on the team with 60 points. Jake Wimsatt won all ten of his face-offs as orange never trailed against the Vikings.

Sophomore Katie Wolter earned the win as Orange goalkeeper. She has a 10-2 record in 2022. Freshman Luke Nevius, who was called up from the junior varsity squad, played in the second half.

Orange (15-2) advanced to the Round of 16 in the 3A/2A/1A/ State Playoffs for the second straight year. The Panthers will host Walter Williams on Tuesday night at Auman Stadium. The Bulldogs pulled an upset on Thursday, surprising Northwood 12-10 in Pittsboro. Williams trailed 10-7 late in the third quarter, but shut out the Chargers 5-0 in the fourth quarter for its second win over Northwood this year.

Orange swept the regular season series from Williams. The Panthers held off the Bulldogs 13-11 in Burlington on March 24. On April 22, Orange shutout the Bulldogs in the final 12:07 to win 12-8. Kruse scored five goals in an Orange win that largely secured the Mid-Carolina Conference championship.

Women’s Soccer: Orange 3, Northwood 2

With one game remaining in the regular season, the Orange women’s soccer team is on the verge of making the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2017.

On Wednesday night, junior Sydney Rogers scored the game-winning goal off a free kick from 22 yards away to push Orange past Northwood 3-2 at Orange Soccer Field in Hillsborough. With the win, the Lady Panthers improved to 9-6-1 overall, 8-3 in the Central Carolina Conference. The Lady Panthers are tied with Walter Williams in the loss column for second place.

Last Monday, the Lady Panthers rolled past Person 6-0 at Rocket Field in Roxboro. Junior Abby Montieth, who usually is the Orange goalkeeper, scored two goals. Senior Bella Brown added another goal. Freshman Elliana Sullivan Gaddy and Caroline Cathey added goals for Orange, as did junior Kitcia Castanada.

On April 27, Orange completed a season sweep of Cedar Ridge. The Lady Panthers defeated the Red Wolves 3-0 at Orange Soccer Field. Montieth earned the win in net after she played the opening 65 minutes. Junior Kate Barger played the final 15 minutes.

Destiny Lily Crayton, Sullivan Gaddy and Cathey all scored goals for Orange. Junior Isabel Jones, Allison Torkewitz and Brown added assists.

Orange will travel to Eastern Alamance, who leads the Central Carolina Conference, to wrap up its regular season on Wednesday night. The brackets for the 3A State Tournament will be unveiled on Friday.

On the home side of Red Wolves Stadium, there are two signs that honor each of Cedar Ridge’s lacrosse teams that reached the Final Four of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs.

Every name of the 2015 Eastern Regional Championship squad is printed in the school’s burgundy colors along a white backdrop. Coached by Patrick Kavanaugh, they will forever be the first lacrosse team in Hillsborough history to play in the 3A/2A/1A State Championship game.

Going into Thursday night, they were also the last Cedar Ridge lacrosse team to win a game in the state playoffs. That fact was something that didn’t escape the attention of the 12 Red Wolves seniors on the current Cedar Ridge lacrosse team, all of whom stuck together when their sophomore season ended after just three games due to COVID-19. Last year, playing in stadiums left mostly empty due to COVID-19 protocols, the Red Wolves lost in the opening round of the state playoffs to East Chapel Hill at Dave Thaden Stadium.

The bottom line for seniors Roman Oguntoyinbo, Alex Castro, James Clayton, Josh Taylor, Holden Neal, Erickson Thole, Harrison Neal, Robert Gross, Aidan Dumain and Kellan Hepditch was that their careers wouldn’t be complete without a state playoff win.

It was that purpose that produced Cedar Ridge’s most complete performance of the season on Thursday night.

Roman Oguntoyinbo had a career-high nine goals as the Red Wolves crushed Western Alamance 18-5 at Red Wolves Stadium in the 2nd round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Castro added five goals as Cedar Ridge, seeded 7th, advanced to face First Flight in Kill Devil Hills on Tuesday. The Nighthawks, seeded #2, rolled past J.H. Rose 11-3 on Thursday night.

Knowing it was likely their final game at Red Wolves Stadium, all of the Cedar Ridge seniors got in on the act. Taylor started as goalkeeper in the first half before being replaced by freshman Leo Oguntoyinbo in the second half, as is the usual routine established by first-year head coach Cole Churchill. Clayton assisted on five goals, including the opener by Castro 2:21 into the game. Trost scored the final goal of the night, which just happened to be the first of his career, sending the Cedar Ridge bench into a total frenzy. Trost mimicked the celebration by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in the end zone

“I didn’t want to have it end today,” Castro said. “I wasn’t going to let my career end today. I love these boys. I would really be down if this was the last game.”

For the second straight game, Oguntoyinbo re-established his career-high for goals. Last Thursday, he scored seven in a 8-2 win over Carrboro at Jaguars Stadium to conclude the regular season. Oguntoyinbo has 76 goals and 49 assists this season.

“Coming into this game, I knew that even though we had beaten Western twice, that the playoffs are a completely different animal,” Oguntoyinbo said. “We saw it last year when we got knocked out in the first round. For days leading up to this game, that’s all I’ve been thinking about. We knew we couldn’t let this team get an edge at all. So we came in and finished the job early.”

After Western Alamance’s Joey Leupold evened the game with a sidearm shot to force a 1-1 tie with 8:27 remaining int the first quarter, the Red Wolves reeled off ten consecutive goals. Castro notched the game-winning goal off a feed from Trost with 7:03 remaining in the first quarter. In the 10-0 run, Oguntoyinbo scored five goals, two of which were assisted by Clayton. Billy Power also scored and assisted on another Oguntoyinbo marker. To wrap up the first half, Oguntoyinbo sent a centering pass behind the night to Castro, who tucked the ball into the upper-left hand corner give Cedar Ridge an 13-2 halftime lead. Castro scored all five of his goals in the first half.

Mason Lynde also scored in the third quarter for the Red Wolves, which triggered a running clock for the remainder of the second half.

Leupold had a hat trick for the Warriors, who end the season 7-10. Sophomore Evan Kuehnel added the other two Western Alamance goals. Junior Tanner Stout had two assists.

This Week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior pitcher Joey Pounds. Joey earned this award after several strong performances out of the bullpen during the Hilltop Invitational at the beginning of spring. On March 30, Pounds faced New Hanover, currently ranked #2 in the 4A East Region by MaxPreps, and threw a shutout in the 7th inning with one strikeout to keep the Panthers down 2-1 going into the bottom of the frame. Two days later, the Panthers made a long trip to Wilmington to face Ashley, currently ranked #9 in 4A East. Pounds came into the game in relief of starter Cross Clayton and threw a perfect 6th inning with two strikeouts. It allowed Orange to go into the 7th down 4-3. On April 12, Pounds earned his first win of the season against Northwood in Hillsborough. In the eighth inning with the game tied 2-2, Pounds struck out two Chargers. Cross Clayton delivered the game-winning hit in the eighth inning. This season, Pounds came out of the bullpen to throw four-and-two-thirds consecutive scoreless innings. He continues to be a reliable presence for Coach Jason Knapp and has been a valuable presence for an Orange team that captured its first outright regular season championship since 2018. Pounds uncle, Larry Pounds, was a 1991 Orange High graduate and the greatest kickball player in Cameron Park Elementary School history, Orange will return to action in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday. 

Mia Davidson: As her career at Mississippi State winds down, Mia Davidson earned another honor on Wednesday. Davidson was selected in the Athletes Unlimited College Draft. She was one of 13 athletes invited to the league. Players with Athletes Unlimited are not sent to an individual team. They play as individuals on new teams that are drafted each week and collect points for themselves. Davidson will play her final home series starting Friday against LSU. She is two starts shy of the Mississippi State record. Currently, she’s hitting .411, which is sixth in the Southeastern Conference.

Tori Dalehite: The Charlotte 49ers softball team defeated UNC Greensboro 10-5 at UNCG Softball Stadium on Wednesday. Dalehite entered the game as a pinch-runner in the seventh inning. The Spartans are 35-15 and will look to remain in first place in the Southern Conference this weekend when they travel to Birmingham, AL to face Samford for a three-game series.

Marvin Jones: Last week, Jones won the high jump competition at the Penn Relays. Competing for North Carolina Central University, Jones leaped to a personal-best 2.12 meters to win the high jump in the 126th Penn Relays in Philadelphia. Jones was the only competitor to leap over 2.10 meters. It was his sixth victory since the start of 2022. Jones is now in the top-20 in the East Region and the top-50 in the entire NCAA.

Cy Horner: The Division III Methodist University men’s lacrosse team ended the season with a 16-10 win over Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL on Saturday. Horner, a freshman who played for Orange last season, finished with one goal and four assists. For the season, Horner had 28 goals and 22 assists for the Monarchs, who ended the year 9-8 overall, 4-5 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Chase Finley: The Division II Shorter University men’s lacrosse team ended its season in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Tuesday night. Montevallo defeated the Hawks 24-5. Finley, the goalkeeper for the Hawks, made 13 saves in 48 minutes before he was replaced by Jacob Sutley. Finley faced 43 shots. Shorter ends the season 3-14.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team dominated Averett University 24-7 to win on Senior Day at Lefko Field in Misenheimer on Saturday. Jones assisted on three goals for the Falcons, including Pfeiffer’s first goal of the night scored by Quinn Becraft. Jones also had two ground balls. Pfeiffer improves to 11-3 overall, 7-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference. The Falcons will face Piedmont in the semifinals of the USA South Conference Tournament starting Friday in Buena Vista, VA.

Aidan Poole: The Greensboro College men’s lacrosse team ended its regular season with a 16-4 win over LaGrange College at Panther Field in LaGrange, GA on Saturday. Poole started for the Pride on defense and created one turnover. He also scooped up one ground ball. On Tuesday, Greensboro defeated William Peace University 14-10 in the opening round of the USA South Tournament at Pride Field in Greensboro. Poole came off the bench and fired one shot for the Pride. He also had a ground ball. Greensboro will face Southern Virginia in the tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon.

More than any other sport, baseball is the game where the best team doesn’t always win.

Combine that fact and place it within the confines of a single-elimination tournament and its easy to see why there are some unpredictable results this time of year.

After the Orange baseball team ended the regular season with ten straight Central Carolina Conference wins, they faced Person in the conference tournament semifinals. The Panthers probably greeted that news like a puppy getting a new bag of Pupporoni sticks from his owner.

On paper, it was the best matchup possible for Orange. The Panthers routed Person 9-1 in Hillsborough on April 6. Two days later, Orange piled up a season-high 16 hits in a 10-0 rout of the Rockets in Roxboro, the Panthers first run-rule win of the conference season.

Really, Person didn’t have much better fortune hitting the ball in the conference semifinals on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. They also didn’t make big mistakes.

A emotionally charged Rockets team, despite not getting its first batter on base until the fifth inning, stunned the Panthers 4-0 to advance to the CCC Tournament Championship game. Person (11-13), just 24 hours removed from a 10-inning marathon against Eastern Alamance, will travel to Northwood on Thursday night for the tournament title.

It was another big surprise in a tournament that has been filled with them. On Monday, 7th-seeded Walter Williams upset 2nd-seeded Cedar Ridge 6-1 in Hillsborough.

The Rockets got a tremendous performance from sophomore Dylan England, who came into the tournament without a win on the season. On Tuesday, he earned his second victory in two nights. England closed out the Eastern Alamance win by throwing two-and-a-thirds inning of relief.

On Tuesday, England replaced starter Keegan Holmes in the third inning and threw five shutout innings, allowing only one hit.

Orange (16-8)suffered its first loss against a Central Carolina Conference team since March 18, when they felt to Western Alamance.

“That’s baseball,” Orange coach Jason Knapp, looking dejected, said afterwards. “Person was more emotionally ready than we were. They’re playing for the #2 seed and a spot in the (state) playoffs. They definitely had more motivation and more energy than we did tonight. That falls squarely on me. I have to have us ready to go and more prepared. I didn’t do a good job of that tonight.”

Going into the fifth inning, the big question in some Orange fan’s minds wasn’t “Will we win?” It was “Can Ryan Hench throw a perfect game?”

Hench, in his 11th start of the year, retired the first 12 Rockets he faced, none of whom were particularly close to getting on base. In the fifth, Hench stretched that streak to 14 straight after a gorgeous diving stop by shortstop Jackson Berini, who threw out Person Tyler White.

With two out in the inning, Berini made another diving stop on a grounder hit by Person’s Bryce Thaxton and appeared set to end the inning. The throw pulled Orange first baseman Codey Snipes slightly off the bag. Snipes appeared to have got his foot back on to retire Thaxton, but dropped the ball in the process.

That set off a firestorm. After Holmes and Drew Mangum each drew walks, Jamie Martinez sent a pop-up to shallow left field that fell down amidst three Panther fielders. Thaxton and Mangum scored and Person, who had one run in 17 innings against Orange in the regular season, led 2-0.

A.J. Terrell replaced Martinez as a pinch-runner at first base, leading to Person executing a gorgeous double steal where Holmes slid under the tag of catcher Davis Horton at home plate. England lined a single to left field to bring in Terrell.

Hench went from being seven outs away from a perfect game to suffering his second loss of the season.

Orange’s offense, which was limited to three hits in a 2-1 win in eight innings over Eastern Alamance on Friday night, was held to two hits against the Rockets. The Panthers had some threats early. In the first inning, David Waitt reached on a fielder’s choice and Hench got onboard off an error. Bradley turned a 1-6-3 double play to wrap up the inning.

In the third, Jackson Berini drew a leadoff walk and Waitt lined a single to left field, which led to England being installed as pitcher by head coach Kyle Boyette. Hench was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but England got out of the jam after a strikeout, followed by a 4-6-3 double play triggered by Thaxton.

Orange left seven men on base.

The Panthers, which will still be the #1 seed from the Central Carolina Conference going into the 3A State Tournament, will resume play on Tuesday in the opening round of the state playoffs. The Panthers haven’t won a postseason game since 2018, when they upset Jacksonville.

For the second year in a row, Cedar Ridge’s Josh Mayhew has qualified for the 3A State Singles Men’s Tennis Tournament. On Saturday, Mayhew reached the finals of the 3A Mideast Regionals at the Burlington Tennis Center. In the semifinals, Mayhew defeated Jacob Womble of Lee County in the semifinals to reach the regional championship match against Terry Sanford’s Drew Hedgecoe, a freshman who eventually won the championship. This year has brought plenty of success for Mayhew and the entire Cedar Ridge men’s tennis team. The Red Wolves captured the Central Carolina Conference championship. Mayhew went undefeated during the regular season. He became the first Cedar Ridge player in school history to reach a regional final in back-to-back years. On Friday, Mayhew started the regional round by beating Luke O’Donnell of Franklinton 6-1, 6-0. Mayhew qualified for the state championships after beating Jayden Pham of Terry Sanford 6-2, 6-2. Mayhew was the only person in the tournament to win a game against Hedgecoe. Mayhew will start play in the 3A State Championships on Friday in Burlington.