Month: June 2022

Typically, this is the happiest week for most students across Orange County because its the culmination of a nine-month-long academic year.

There’s summer vacation just around the corner. Time for beach vacations, sleeping late, no studying and days filled with leisure instead of classes.

At Stanback Middle School, there was extra reason for celebration last week for 14 players and three coaches, who delivered the Orange Person Athletic Conference Baseball Championship to the school.

Any championship is precious. It Stanback’s case, it was truly earned.

“We knew we were going to be good this year,” said Stanback Baseball Coach John Capps. “What we didn’t anticipate was how good the rest of the league was going to be this year. It was a super competitive league. We had to fight hard.”

The Bulldogs had to win three games over a span of three days to secure the OPAC Championship. Going into the final week of the season, Stanback was in a dual with Southern Middle School in Roxboro for the OPAC Northern Division crown. Whoever came out on top would face Culbreth, champions the OPAC Southern Division, in the conference championship game.

Southern was the only team to beat the Bulldogs this regular season. Not only that, but the Panthers were undefeated going into its showdown with Stanback on May 10.

The Bulldogs came out on top of the Panthers 7-2 to force a one-game playoff the following day. In what was essentially the OPAC Northern Division title game, Stanback won 6-5 in Hillsborough.

After Southern charged out to a 2-0 lead going into the bottom-of-the-second inning, the Bulldogs scored five runs. Dominic Sena led off the frame after getting hit by a pitch, then stole second. John Grove and Aiden Ryan followed with run-producing hits. Tripp Beasley laid down a gorgeous bunt with two-out that kept the inning alive.

Caden Thompson stole home for what turned out to be the game-winning run.

The win over the Panthers meant the Bulldogs would host the OPAC title game against Culbreth.

In a season where the Bulldogs’ built its pitching depth, 6th grader Jesus Velazquez earned the win in the championship game. Replacing starter Caden Thompson in the fourth inning with the game even 1-1, Velazquez threw four perfect innings, retiring all 12 Cougars he faced, striking out four of them. He even caught the championship-clinching out on a pop-up back to the mound.

For the final week of the season, basically three consecutive elimination games, Velazquez threw nine innings of no-hit ball. He finished 7-0, winning every start and tying the school record for victories in a season.

“We knew Jesus was going to pitch for us,” Capps said. “We had no idea how valuable he would be. He really stepped up in the championship game. Many players come up to middle school knowing how to throw, but not many know how to pitch. Jesus knows how to pitch.”

After Culbreth scored first in the opening inning, Stanback’s Grant Kennedy even the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the frame. Kennedy led Stanback with three home runs this season.

It remained 1-1 until the sixth, when Ian McGuffey led off with a single. Kennedy followed with a ground rule double. With one out, Armando Sanchez grounded a ball to second base, where the Cougars tried to throw out McGuffey at the plate. But McGuffey slid in safely and the Bulldogs had its first lead of the day.

It was McGuffey’s 20th run of the season, tying a school-record. McGuffey comprises one-half of an all-McGuffey middle infield. Ian plays second base and usually leads off. His twin brother, Grant, bats second and is the shortstop.

“They really set the table for us,” Capps said.

The lead would grow from there. John Grove lined a single to left field to bring in Kennedy and increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-1. At this point, Gavin Stone entered the game to pinch-run for Sanchez. Ryan belted a single up the middle to score Stone.

Thompson would end a four-run sixth inning with an infield single. Grove, who stole third earlier, touched the plate for the game’s final run.

“Caden is a competitor,” Capps said. “He came into this year not have thrown many innings at all. He was a work in progress, but he did a great job.”

Stanback finished 13-1, ending the season with ten consecutive wins. They outscored opponents 139-59.

This was a championship team that didn’t exactly subscribe to the Moneyball philosophy of drawing walks and never stealing. The Bulldogs hit .351 and set a school-record with 88 stolen bases.

“When the guys got on base, they just ran,” Capps said. “They were so aggressive. I would give them signs, but they knew exactly when to go. They literally ran away with it.”

Capps was also quick to honor assistants Joe Sharp and Greg Monschein.

“Those guys were my rocks,” Capps said. “Greg’s work with our pitchers and Joe’s robotic arm throwing batting practice nearly every day – not to mention their invaluable insight – made our team that much stronger and made my job that much easier.”

Josh Scism, Parker Schultz, Brody Tapper and Elijah Johnson all played vital roles in securing the Bulldogs OPAC Championship.

“Overall it was an incredibly memorable season, and one I won’t forget,” Capps said. “These boys are such great young men and I look forward to following their progress as they move up through the high school ranks. They are fun to teach, too. My job was just not to screw it up.”

It isn’t easy being a defensive player in any All-Star game. Certainly, it’s no different in lacrosse, where Orange senior Jack DiFabio played defenseman for the Blue Squad during the Bull City All-Star Game at Koskinen Stadium  inside Duke University on Wednesday night. DiFabio factored in on several defensive stops as his Blue squad defeated the White team 20-18. It was likely the final lacrosse game for DiFabio, and a fitting place to end his career. DiFabio’s mother, 1991 Orange High graduate Gwen Hall-DIFabio, attended Duke University. During her stint in Durham, the Duke men’s lacrosse team played at Koskinen Stadium and reached the NCAA Tournament four times. DiFabio is part of a senior class that has been the most successful in Orange lacrosse history. During his years as a varsity lacrosse player, DiFabio has been a starter as the Panthers have won consecutive conference championships in consecutive years. It likely would have been three straight conference titles, but the 2020 season was stopped after only six games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Panthers were 6-0 when the season ended, outscoring opposition 92-33, including a win at Roxboro Community School just before the world shut down as we know it. DiFabio will attend UNC-Wilmington after he graduates from Orange High on Friday. 

There’s no such thing as “less is more” in volleyball.

If anything, the decree is “more is more.”

The last time many people from Hillsborough saw Cameron Lloyd in action, she sent a spike that banged off the floor of Kay Yow Court against North Iredell in the fourth set for match point in the 3A State Championship match. It ensured Cedar Ridge’s first state title in volleyball and triggered a roar from the Red Wolves fans in attendance at Reynolds Coliseum that could have been heard in Garner.

It was the first state championship by any female team in Cedar Ridge history. It also set the tone for what has been the Year of the Woman in high school sports locally.

At Cedar Ridge, senior Caroline Fowlkes won the state championship in the pole vault on May 20 at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. In February, Orange’s Katie Belle Sikes won the 3A State Championship in the 50-yard freestyle, becoming the first female swimmer in school history to win a state title. As a whole, the Central Carolina Conference has had a state champion in women’s basketball with Northwood. This weekend, the Eastern Alamance softball and women’s soccer teams will also go for state championships after winning their respective Eastern Regional crowns.

After the celebration in Raleigh last November, some of Lloyd’s teammates took their talents to the basketball court. Under head coach Megan Skouby, an assistant for the volleyball team, juniors Julie Altieri and Grace Young played varsity basketball for the first time in their high school careers. Lloyd was in attendance at many games inside Red Wolves Gymnasium as she prepared for travel volleyball season.

Playing with the Chapel Hill Area Volleyball Club, Lloyd’s 17-Black team recently qualified in the Big South National Tournament in Atlanta. Starting June 30, CHAVC 17-Black will compete for the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship in Indianapolis.

Last weekend, Lloyd played in Richmond just days after receiving her trophy from the American Volleyball Coaches of North Carolina for being the 3A State Player of the Year. Last fall, as Cedar Ridge went 31-2, Lloyd set a school record for kills in a season with 360. On August 31 against Person, she became the first Red Wolf in school history to register 500 career kills. For her career, Lloyd has 817 kills, 564 digs, and 152 aces.

Lost in the midst of Cedar Ridge’s state championship win over North Iredell, Cameron Lanier became the second player in school history to reach 500 kills.

Last month, Lanier announced she would commit to play at Elon, becoming the second Cedar Ridge player to commit to a Division I school. Last fall, Young announced her intentions to play at UNC Asheville. Lloyd has yet to make an announcement regarding her college plans.

The theme “more is more” may not be the official motto for Cedar Ridge volleyball when it convenes in eight weeks to start its 2022 season, but it might as well be. The Red Wolves will return all of its rotation players, including Lloyd, Lanier, Altieri, Melissa Benkowitz (an addition from East Chapel Hill that truly made Cedar Ridge nearly impossible to defend last year), Young, Addie Reid (who played goalkeeper with the women’s soccer team this spring) and Anaya Carter (who was back in left field for Cedar Ridge softball).

More is more also describes Coach Fiona Cunningham’s nonconference scheduling philosophy. To prepare for Central Carolina Conference powerhouses Northwood, Person and Orange last year, Cunningham played D.H. Conley, the defending 3A State Champions twice, along with traditional tough neighboring foes Carrboro, Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill.

On August 23, Cedar Ridge will face D.H. Conley again. That will be the tip of the iceberg as Cedar Ridge goes for a third straight conference championship.

It will also be the final journey together for Cedar Ridge’s Class of 2023, which may go down as the most dominant group in any sport in school history. Lloyd, Altieri, Lanier, and Carter started as freshmen (Young joined the varsity as a sophomore) when the Red Wolves were coming off a 7-15 season in 2018. Together, they have a cumulative record of 58-9. They’ve won 26 consecutive conference games, made three trips to the state playoffs, won two conference titles, a postseason conference tournament, plus the state championship.

And the goal for next fall?

Not one wants to say it out loud yet, at least publicly.

But one could assume that, well, more is more.

In mid-February, there were several first-year varsity players that Orange Baseball coach Jason Knapp thought could rise to the level of being an everyday starter.

Cross Clayton became that player. And more.

After a 13-0, 5 inning loss to eventual 1A Eastern Regional champion Perquimans in Wilson on March 19, Orange limped home with a 3-4 overall record. On the bus ride back, Knapp and his assistants decided to put Clayton into the starting rotation permanently.

From that point forward, Orange went 15-5. They finished with its first outright conference championship since 2016, when Bryse Wilson was a senior.

Clayton, a sophomore, has been named the Central Carolina Conference Pitcher of the Year. The awards are based on a vote of the seven head coaches in the CCC.

Clayton finished 8-3 with a 2.59 earned run average. It was the most wins by a first-year Orange varsity pitcher since Wilson’s freshman year, when he went 11-0 with a 1.05 ERA.

Clayton led the team in wins. He immediately set the pace with a victory in relief during the season opener against Northern Durham on February 28 in Hillsborough. He tossed a clean sixth inning with two strikeouts, while Jackson Berini drove in the game-winning run off a bases-loaded walk. The Panthers went on to win 4-1.

In Orange’s CCC opener against Western Alamance on March 15, Clayton came on in relief of Ryan Hench in the fifth inning of a scoreless game. Facing ten Warriors, he walked just one and struck out five. Berini would steal home in the top-of-the-seventh inning for the game’s lone run, while Clayton retired the Warriors in order in the other half of the frame to take the win.

That was the last time Clayton came on in relief in a conference game. From that point forward, he became the starter in Friday games while Hench remained the top man in the rotation. It was a combination that carried Orange to a conference title.

After the Hilltop Invitational, Clayton started a string of 23 consecutive shutout innings. It started April 8 when Clayton threw a one-hit shutout against Person. Clayton struck out ten Rockets over six innings.

The following week, Clayton had a huge night at the plate in a 3-2 win over Northwood in eight innings. He blasted a solo homer in the second inning. With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth, Clayton belted a walkoff double that hit the centerfield fence to score Neo Best. The following Friday, Orange traveled to the Ronald Horton Baseball Complex, a hitters park that can be a nightmare for fielders. This time, Clayton threw a two-hit, complete game shutout with six strikeouts as Orange came away with a 5-0 win.

Clayton’s biggest gem of the season came against Cedar Ridge on April 21. He delivered a five-inning perfect game, the first perfect game for Orange since Wilson defeated Eastern Wayne in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on May 10, 2016. Clayton struck out four Red Wolves as Orange ensured the CCC regular season championship.

Clayton nearly had another shutout in the regular season finale at Eastern Alamance. He went into the seventh inning with Orange leading 1-0. In the seventh inning, the Eagles’ Gage Parsons lined a single up the middle to score Cole McGinnis and even the game 1-1. Clayton would regroup to send the game into extra innings and eventually earn the win after Hench scored off a double play in the top-of-the-eighth inning.

In the 3A State Playoffs, Clayton started against Terry Sanford and had a no-decision. He shut the Bulldogs out through the first two innings on just nine pitches.

Next season, Clayton and Hench are expected to return for an Orange team that finished 18-9 overall, 11-1 in the Central Carolina Conference.

Roman Oguntoyinbo wound up with one more win before his days as a Cedar Ridge Red Wolf are done. On Wednesday night, Oguntoyinbo played in the Bull City All-Star Lacrosse Game at Koskinen Stadium at Duke University. Not only is Roman a lacrosse player, but he is an avid college lacrosse fan and has watched Duke play many times at Kosikinen. Oguntoyinbo played for the Blue team, which defeated the White squad 20-18. After spending this season with a Cedar Ridge team that finished third in the Mid-Carolina Conference, Oguntoyinbo was teammates with several of his league rivals on the Blue Team. That included Sam Havertstrom of Walter Williams, Jack DiFabio of Orange High and Pierce Cook of Northwood. This season, Oguntoyinbo led Cedar Ridge to its first win in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs since 2017. When Roman graduates in two weeks, he will continue his lacrosse career at Northfield Mount Herman Prep in Massachusetts. His brother, Leo, watched the Bull City All-Star Game on Wednesday night. Leo Oguntoyinbo will remain in Hillsborough at Cedar Ridge, where he played goalkeeper for the lacrosse team and was a wrestler. 

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior lacrosse midfielder Jake Wimsatt. For the second year in a row, the Orange lacrosse team won the conference championship. Once again, Wimsatt was the face-off ace for the Panthers. He won 85% of his faceoffs as Orange finished 11-0 in the Mid-Carolina Conference. Wimsatt was tied for second on the team with 45 goals in 2022. In the second round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs, Wimsatt scored five goals as Orange defeated Walter Williams 17-10 at Auman Stadium. He had a season-high nine points against the Bulldogs. Wimsatt finished this season with nine hat tricks. He three goals on March 2 as Orange defeated East Chapel Hill 14-11 at Dave Thaden Stadium. It was the first-time ever that the Panthers defeated the Wildcats in lacrosse. The night before, Wimsatt scored four goals in a 19-5 over Vance Charter in the season-opener. Last fall, Wimsatt also played tight end on the Orange football team. He had a long touchdown catch against Western Alamance. Since Wimsatt has been a member of the Orange lacrosse team, the Panthers have been successful, winning five state playoff games. After Orange hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game this year, the Panthers will aim higher for 2023. 

Photo courtesy of Hailstate.com

June 13, 2013.

The date just rolled off Mia Davidson’s tongue during her final postgame press conference as a Mississippi State softball player. That was the date she committed to play softball in Starkville.

That brief moment exemplified Mia and Montana Davidson’s approach to softball, and life in general, that they learned from their father Eddie Davidson when he coached them during tee ball games in Hillsborough and eventually at Orange High.

You did things right or your didn’t do them at all.

On Saturday, Mia and Montana ended their careers at Mississippi State after Arizona defeated the Bulldogs 7-1 to sweep its best-of-three Super Regional Series at Nusz Park in Starkville.

For two players who spent their softball careers taking teams they played on to new heights, a trip to the Women’s College World Series would have been the perfect way to end their careers. Mississippi State has never been to Oklahoma City in the 40-year history of the program.

While they fell short of Oklahoma City, the Davidsons still took Mississippi State softball to another level in their final days with the program.

On Saturday, Arizona defeated the Bulldogs in front of 2,299 fans at Nusz Park, a school-record. The previous record of 2,209 was set the day before in the opening game of the series, one where Mia Davidson game the home crowd one last thrill.

Mia broke open a scoreless game in the bottom-of-the-fifth inning with a solo homer to dead centerfield that banged off a motorized scaffold, sending an ESPN cameraman ducking for cover. It was the 92nd and final home run of her Mississippi State career, leaving her tied for third in NCAA history. It was her school-record fifth home run in the NCAA Tournament and her last hit as a Bulldog.

She could have easily had another home run earlier. In the first inning, Davidson sent a deep drive to centerfield, where Arizona’s Janelle Meono reached over the wall and brought the ball back into the park.

Mississippi State led 2-1 going into the seventh inning before Arizona rallied and evened the game in the top-of-the-seventh. The Wildcats took the lead in the eighth inning off a home run by Izzo Pacho.

In game two on Saturday, Arizona dominated behind pitcher Devyn Netz, who limited the Bulldogs to five hits in a 7-1 Wildcats win. Arizona scored five unearned runs.

Afterwards, an emotional Mia Davidson delivered remarks that went viral almost immediately.

“From the get-go, this is what I set out to do,” Mia said. “I wanted to come to a program and make something off it and leave it better than I found it. I wanted to make sure we had a team that was we over me and make sure that everybody knew that role and had their part. I just know that I gave my all, my heart and my soul since June 13, 2013 when I committed. And I just know that Mississippi State will always have my heart and will always be a home, no matter what. Thank you Coach (Samantha) Ricketts for the opportunity to live out my dream. As a little girl from Hillsborough, North Carolina, I couldn’t ask for anything else from this program, from the school. From John Cohen (Mississippi State Athletic Director), from everybody. All the time, effort, and everything you did to put Mississippi State on the map. I appreciate every single person in this room.”

After Saturday’s game, before they left the field together, Mia and Montana placed their cleats at home plate at Nusz Park and waved goodbye to the fans.

Montana Davidson took to Facebook over the weekend to share her final thoughts.

“Softball was my first love and this sport has given me so much,” Montana said. “That’s why saying goodbye to it is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I can step away knowing that I gave my full heart to this game.”

Montana Davidson graduated from Orange in 2016. She was a career .438 hitter for the Lady Panthers with 26 home runs. In her freshman season, Orange went undefeated in the Carolina 6 Conference.

Mia Davidson graduated in 2017 and led Orange to the 3A State Championship her senior year. Before starting softball season, Mia was a starting center for B.J. Condron’s women’s basketball team, which opened the year with a school-record 21 straight wins. Orange would go on to win the Big 8 Conference regular season and tournament championships.

In a memorable softball season, the Lady Panthers became the first female team in the history of Hillsborough high school athletics to win a state championship.

Davidson set a North Carolina High School Athletic Association career record with 53 career home runs. She was limited to 12 her senior year, mainly because her reputation as a power hitter carried on from coast-to-coast to near comical proportions. In the second round of the 3A State Playoffs, Orange trailed Topsail 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Davidson stepped up to plate with the bases loaded, where Topsail’s head coach intentionally walked her, willfully surrounding the lead. Kristina Givens drove in Alysann Lloyd for the game-winning run in the next at-bat as Orange won 3-2.

The Pirates didn’t win, but at least Davidson didn’t beat them. Two weeks later, the Piedmont Panthers wouldn’t be as fortunate. In the opening game of the 3A State Championship series at N.C. State, Orange trailed 2-1. With Abby Hamlett at first, Piedmont’s pitcher was instructed not to give Mia anything close to the plate. It didn’t work. Davidson took a fastball and parked it over the centerfield wall to put Orange ahead for good on that night. The following morning, Orange didn’t trail and defeated Piedmont 4-1 to sweep the series.

Mia leaves Mississippi State having set 12 school records. She is the most prolific home run hitter in Southeastern Conference history with 92. She also is the all-time Mississippi State leader in games played, games started, slugging percentage (.775), runs scored (219), RBIs (220), total bases (610), hit-by-pitches (57), runners picked off (13), defensive chances (1753), putouts (1555), and runners thrown out (47).

In the end, the most rewarding thing for Mia was that she got to play with, and leave her cleats at home plate, alongside her best friend.