The spring sports season has started at some schools across the southeast. Next weekend, it will gets underway for the vast majority of colleges. There are many former Orange and Cedar Ridge athletes who will take the field or have already started their college careers.
Lauren Jackson: Jackson immediately made an impact for the Lenoir-Rhyne softball team. In just her second game, Jackson delivered the On Saturday, Jackson delivered the game-winning hit as the Bears defeated Lee University 9-8 in seven innings at Butler Field in Cleveland, TN. With two out in the seventh inning, Jackson stroked a bases-loaded single to centerfield to bring in Abbey Nixon and Julia Mardigian, which proved to be the game-winning runs. On the day, Jackson went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. In the fourth inning, Jackson had an RBI when she grounded out to the pitcher Natalie Pruitt. The Bears swept the doubleheader against the Flames. In the opener, Jackson entered the game as a reserve in the sixth inning. Lenoir-Rhyne won the opening game 8-0.
Tori Dalehite: The UNC Greensboro softball team is picked to finish second in the Southern Conference this spring. Dalehite, the 2019 Big 8 Conference Hitter of the Year, returns for her junior season with the Spartans. Last season, Dalehite hit .162 in 29 games. She had three RBIs. In her freshman year, the Spartans won the Southern Conference championship and reached the NCAA Tournament Regional in Athens, where Dalehite faced her favorite school growing up, Duke. The Spartans start its season in Fort Myers, FL in the Florida Gulf Coast Kickoff Classic. The Spartans will face Long Island on Friday morning, then face Binghamton later that day. UNCG will also face Florida Gulf Coast and Southern Illinois.
Takia Nichols: The all-time leading home run hitter in Cedar Ridge history will start her college career on Friday in the Charleston Southern Kickoff Tournament hosted in Charleston, South Carolina. The Eagles will open with Siena on Friday morning, then face Monmouth. Nichols had 32 home runs and 109 RBIs in her Cedar Ridge career, which included the 2019 Big 8 Conference Championship. Nichols is also the first-ever member of the Hillsboroughsports.com 4-Timers Club, winning Athlete of the Week four times in four years. Since then, she has been joined in the club by Cedar Ridge volleyball outside hitter Cameron Lloyd and wrestler Fernando Martinez.
Mary Moss Wirt: The Elon softball team will kick off its season against Southern Indiana in the Elon Softball Classic on Friday morning. The round-robin event will also include Winthrop and Morgan State. Wirt played third base, second base and shortstop during her time at Orange. She was a starter on the 2021 Big 8 Conference championship squad that went undefeated during a season abbreviated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At Elon, Wirt is penciled in as a catcher, a position she never played at Orange. In 52 games at Orange, Wirt hit .309 with 30 RBIs.
Olivia Aitkin: The Division III Amherst Mammoths will start its season later than most college teams. Amherst begins on March 12 against Bethel University. Aitkin, a former All-Conference performer in softball and golf, played centerfield for Cedar Ridge. In 48 career games, she hit .423 with 53 RBIs and 14 doubles. She was a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2019 Big 8 Conference championship team.
Ava Lowry: The Division III North Carolina Wesleyan softball team starts its season on February 25 with a doubleheader at Mary Washington at Fredricksburgh, VA. In four years at Cedar Ridge, Lowry played shortstop. In 57 games, she hit .455 with four home runs and 50 RBIs. She played alongside Nichols, who was at third base, for much of her middle school and high school career.
Grace Andrews: Andrews will begin her third season at Catawba Valley Community College this week. She was supposed to begin this weekend, but a series against the Belmont Abbey junior varsity team, but the doubleheader was canceled. For the first time in her college career, Andrews will get some reps at catcher. In 45 games last season with the Red Hawks, Andrews has an .301 average.