Month: April 2023

There are stories that the Orange softball class of 2023 will tell teenagers in 30 years that may seem like something from the planet Mars.

For Carson Bradsher, Serenity McPherson, Kelsey Tackett, Savannah Wynne, Brianne Foster, and Apryl Terrell, they lost almost all of their freshman season because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Bradsher, McPherson, Wynn and Tackett won a conference championship together during a 2021 season that was greatly scaled down, limited to only 13 games. Yet the Lady Panthers became the first team in school history to go undefeated during the regular season.

While that season ended in a disappointing playoff loss to Southwestern Randolph, Wynne will forever have the tale of finishing the game despite suffering a broken nose in the 1st inning when a ball hit her in the face in left field. Afterwards, Wynne walked into the emergency room at a nearby hospital with her uniform on, then walked out and went back to class the next day because–well, because she’s a softball player.

Last spring, the seniors joined a new conference together that increased the competition level to an incredibly high level, one that Orange is still working to meet night in and night out.

The Lady Panthers went into spring break after a 4-2 road win over Person, who reached the State Quarterfinals last year. After a week off, Orange struggled to find the same form in a home loss to Falls Lake and a flat performance in a 10-3 defeat at the hands of defending 3A State Champion Eastern Alamance in Mebane.

On Thursday night, the six Orange seniors were honored against their crosstown rival, Cedar Ridge. Even after the Lady Panthers won 4-1 to improve to 7-4 overall, first-year coach Rachel Peel still desired more with the second half of the season here and now.

“As long as our bats are coming through, our defense has been great this season,” Peel said. “We just have to make sure we’re hitting line drives and we’re making solid contact. Right now, we’re just hitting a lot of pop-ups. We run-ruled Cedar Ridge the last time we played them. It was way too close for comfort tonight.”

Junior Caden Robinson had a career-high 16 strikeouts to improve to 5-1 with a 1.86 ERA.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Charlotte Lowry had a strong overall performance. She limited Orange to four hits in the final six innings and finished with three strikeouts.

McPherson put Orange at ease early with a solo homer in the first inning that sailed over the left field wall. It was her second dinger of the year.

Bradsher, who finished 3-for-3, stroked a single to centerfield in the next at-bat. Robinson sprayed a 0-1 fastball opposite field to the left field corner, Bradsher raced around the bases with blinding speed to score, then Robinson followed after the Cedar Ridge outfielder missed the cutoff lady on the relay.

Cedar Ridge opened with back-to-back hits from Mia Best and Reagan Simmons. Then Robinson settled in and retired 16 consecutive Red Wolves, strikeout out 12 of them. She struck out the side in the fourth.

Simmons, a sophomore, struck back in the sixth with a solo homer that went a long way over the right field wall. It was Simmons third home run.

Once again, Bradsher was responsible for an insurance run in the third. With two out, Bradsher beat out a throw on an infield single, went to second on a passed ball. Robinson reached on a hard grounder to Simmons and shortstop. As the Red Wolves tried to throw out Robinson, Bradsher never stopped moving around the bases and slid in feet-first into home plate to put Orange ahead 4-0.

Orange will have a rematch with Person on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Peel hopes that the lessons from two weeks ago will come in handy in a crucial rematch against the Rockets.

“I learned last week that we need to make Spring Break practices mandatory,” Peel said. “We just came off a long break sort of cold. We went into back-to-back games without practicing. A bunch of girls enjoyed themselves on Spring Break and weren’t ready to play. It hurt us bad.”

Women’s soccer: Cedar Ridge 1, North Carolina School of Science and Math 0: With Cedar Ridge fighting for a playoff spot, the Red Wolves broke open a scoreless tie against the North Carolina School of Science and Math off a gorgeous finish from a sophomore.

Sophia Feken scored her first goal of the season with a gorgeous shot over Unicorns goalkeeper Savannah Sullivan with 19:39 remaining in the second half as the Red Wolves defeated NCSSM 1-0 in Durham. The sequence started when senior Ianna Pfeifer took a throw-in and lifted a diagonal pass across the box. Sophomore Fleury Nicholson chased it down and passed it back to Feken, who floated a shot from 20 yards away that went over the head of Sullivan into the roof of the net.

Cedar Ridge struggled to get a shot off in the first half, but junior goalkeeper Addie Reid made five saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless at halftime. Science and Math’s best chance came with 21:50 remaining when Unicorn’s co-Captain Ariel Mercurio took a great pass from classmate Clara Smith. Mercurio was one-on-one with Reid, who made the save on a shot from 12 yards away.

Earlier in the half, Reid knocked.away a cross shot attempt by Callie Stoke that buzzed through the six-years box.

Cedar Ridge (6-6) is currently ranked #33 in the 3A East Region. On April 5, the Red Wolves faced Eno River Academy for the first-ever matchup between the two Hillsborough schools in soccer. Cedar Ridge came away with a 3-1 win at Red Wolves Stadium.

Nicholson scored the game-winning goal in the first half, which was assisted by Pfeiefer. Sophomore Celina Galla added another goal, while Pfeiefer scored a goal and added two assists. Reid earned another win in net making four saves.

Cedar Ridge will return to action tonight to face Person on their Senior Night. Pfeiefer, Sarah Carson, Lily Dyslin, Sarah Fenwick, Alexia Gomez, and Stella Fadden will be honored.

Orange 7, Person 0: Junior Ella Wimsatt scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the 15th minute as Orange defeated Person at Orange Soccer Field on April 4. Wimsatt’s opening tally was assisted by Teresa Rodriguez.

Elliana Sullivan-Gaddy finished with a goal and three assists on the night. Sullivan-Gaddy finished with the second goal off an assist from Channing Mahaney in the 22nd minute. Two minutes later, Wimsatt added her second goal off an assist from Gaddy.

In the opening minute of the second half, Orange goalkeeper Abby Monteith scored her first goal of her career on an assist from Caroline Cathey to increase the Lady Panthers’ lead to 4-0.

In the 61st minute, sophomore Cora Bailey scored the first of her two goals. Bailey would add another in the 70th minute, assisted from Sullivan-Gaddy

Hannah Hummel scored the final goal of the game in the 70th minutes, once again assisted by Sullivan-Gaddy.

Monteith played the first 30 minutes in net and earned the win. She went into the outfield late in the first half and was replaced in net by freshman Alexis Stephens.

Orange reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs last season, but is playing this year without attacking midfielder Sydney Rogers, who was injured last fall during training.

Orange (5-4-2, 3-3 in the Central Carolina Conference) defeated Walter Williams 3-2 in Burlington on March 20. Isabel Jones, Caroline Cathey and Molly Kruse all scored for the Lady Panthers, which had to bring feeling of revenge for Orange. Last May, Williams defeated Orange in the 3A State Playoffs in a game where Monteith suffered a torn ACL in the second half and had to be replaced with the game tied.

Orange will travel to Western Alamance tonight. On Wednesday, they will face Walter Williams again, this time in Hillsborough. On Thursday, the Lady Panthers will travel to Seaforth.

It was a classic Orange High home run.

The infamous porch in left field at Orange High has been a hindrance for right-handed pitchers for years. The fences were moved in during the late-1990s to take the light poles out of play for outfielders who had enough to worry about chasing down fly balls without crashing into something, which actually happened a few times.

That created an environment where no lead in safe regardless of how good the pitching is.

Orange’s Connor Nordan faced Lee County’s Walker McDuffie, who has committed to North Carolina, in the first inning. After Nordan missed badly on McDuffie’s initial offering, he made contact on a slider hit to left field.

At first, Nordan thought it would be blooper that may hug the third base line. But the wind was blowing out of the park and the ball carried and carried. It wound up right at the foul pole, naturally colored Orange, where it disappeared over the shallowest area of the ballpark. A true wall scraper.

“I thought it was going to go foul,” Nordan said.

Afterwards, the showdown between the Panthers and the Yellow Jackets became the defensive struggle everyone thought it would be. Yet Nordan’s dinger stood the rest of the way and led Orange to its biggest non-conference win of the year.

Clayton struck out eight and allowed just five hits in his first complete game of the season in Orange’s 3-1 win over Lee County. Clayton, in his fourth start of the season, earned his 12th win since the start of last year.

It was a victory that could pay off handsomely for the Panthers in the 3A East RPI rankings. Orange entered the game ranked #3 while Lee County was #4. Earlier this week, Person upset #1 South Brunswick. Last week, #2 J.H. Rose lost consecutive home games to D.H. Conley and Rolesville.

Orange is 15-2, its best start since the 2013 squad that roared out of the gates 16-1.

The only run Orange conceded came from Lee County’s B.J. Brown, who sent a high fly over the, you guessed it, left field fence. The wind pushed the ball beyond the reach of outfielder Elijah Santos to give the Yellow Jackets an early lead.

Lee County didn’t have another runner in scoring position until the fifth inning.

While the home runs may have been surprising, Orange coach Jason Knapp noticed the wind was blowing out as he watered the infield a few hours before first pitch.

“I wasn’t completely surprised that the ball jumped out a little bit,” Knapp said. “Especially early because it felt like both teams were trying to feel each other out at the very beginning. It’s not surprising, but it’s also not surprising with my squad that they didn’t blink.”

Following Nordan’s two-run wall scraper, Clayton and McDuffie went along business as usual. McDuffie finished with eleven strikeouts, his sixth double-digit strikeout game in seven starts. After Nordan’s home run, McDuffie set down ten in a row.

Clayton, coming off a 12-strikeout performance over Person last Wednesday, improved to 4-0 this season.

By the end of the fourth inning, only one run separated the two teams. Just about everything else was remarkably similar. They each had two hits. McDuffie had 51 pitches. Clayton had thrown 50.

The Yellow Jackets’ biggest threat came in the fifth inning when Blake Carlyle lofted a double down the left field line with one out. Cameron Cabe, batting ninth, sent a soft liner to right field, where David Waitt got the ball in before Carlyle could score. McDuffie flew out to Waitt for the second out in shallow right, leaving Carlyle unable to tag up. Brown was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dylan Kelly worked the count up to 3-1, only the third Yellow Jacket to get three balls against Clayton all day. With Lee County one ball away from tying the game, Kelly sent a grounder to third baseman Neo Best, who stepped on third to end the inning.

Orange took advantage of its chances in its side of the fifth. Junior catcher Ryan Honeycutt laced a leadoff double down the third base line. Wyatt Hedrick looped an 0-2 fastball to left field for a base hit to send Ty Walker, a courtesy runner for Honeycutt, to third. After a sacrifice bunt by Best sent Hedrick to second, Berini pulled a 1-1 fastball down the right field line that landed fair. Walker and Hedrick both scored standing up in what proved to be the kill shot.

Lee’s Carson Beal led off the seventh with a single, but Hedrick turned a 4-6-3 double play in the next at-bat. Clayton struck out Cabe to end the game.

Orange is 8-0 against non-conference teams and has won eleven in a row at home.

“Lee County is traditionally strong,” Knapp said. “I was proud of the way we represented our school and our community today. It’s a big win. We’ve still got work to do over the next two weeks.”

The Orange baseball team is off to its best start since the 2013 season. In a battle of two teams in the top five of the 3A East Region RPI rankings, Orange defeated Lee County 4-1. The Panthers surrendered a home run in the first inning, but recovered quickly. Senior Connor Nordan sent a two-run homer that went under the fair pole down the left field line to put the Panthers ahead. Lee County pitcher Walker McDuffie, who has committed to play at UNC, held Orange without a hit for four innings. In the fifth, senior Jackson Berini lined a double down the right field line to score Ryan Honeycutt and Wyatt Hedrick. Orange is now 15-2. The last time Orange had 15 wins before their third loss, it was the 2013 team that started 16-2. Nordan and Berini are the top two RBI leaders on the team. Nordan’s two-run homer put him at 25 RBIs on the year. Berini’s two-run double gives him 16 RBIs, even though he’s the leadoff hitter. Orange’s win could vault them to either the #1 or #2 spot in the 3A East RPI rankings. The Panthers are slated to play Wakefield on Friday night to wrap up the Hilltop Invitational. Orange will return to conference action against Northwood on Tuesday in Hillsborough.

Orange baseball’s Jackson Berini & Connor Nordan discuss win over Lee County

The Orange baseball team is off to its best start since the 2013 season. In a battle of two teams in the top five of the 3A East Region RPI rankings, Orange defeated Lee County 4-1. The Panthers surrendered a home run in the first inning, but recovered quickly.

Even on nights when they aren’t clicking on all cylinders early, the Orange baseball team has enough arms to simply overpower the opposition.

That was the case once again Tuesday night in the Panthers’ opening game of the Hilltop Invitational, concluding a day where the stakes of the event rose dramatically.

Trailing 4-2, the Panthers scored five runs off five hits in the fifth inning with senior David Waitt knocking in the go-ahead run on an infield single. Junior Coltin Hedrick, coming on in relief of starter Josiah Gibbs, threw three shutout innings as Orange won 9-4 to improve to 14-2.

The Panthers are 8-0 against non conference opponents. The win set up a showdown between Lee County and Orange for Wednesday night at Panther Field in a meeting between two teams in the top five of the 3A East RPI rankings. The Panthers entered Tuesday night #3, while the Yellow Jackets are #4.

The winner of Orange-Lee County could find themselves ranked even higher next week.

Earlier on Tuesday, Person stunned South Brunswick, the #1 team in 3A East, 9-8 in the semifinals of the Battle for the Big Rock Tournament in Morehead City. The Rockets will face New Hanover for the tournament championship on Wednesday afternoon.

Last week, J.H. Rose, ranked #2, lost consecutive home games to D.H. Conley and Rolesville.

For much of Tuesday night, it appeared the upset bug may bite Orange. The Vikings erased an early 2-0 deficit with two runs in the second, a go-ahead tally in the third and insurance in the fourth.

The Vikings’ Hunter Meeds led the comeback. He scored off a single by Grey Booker to right field in the second. Chandler Ring, who started the game at shortstop, scored off a bunt by Malcolm Vann to tie the game.

In the third, Meeds laced an RBI single to right centerfield, the deepest part of Orange’s park, bringing in Mayson Dear to put the Vikings ahead 3-2. In the fourth, Dear sent a deep liner to right center to score Ryan Wallace from first base.

Orange chipped away at the Union Pines lead 90 feet at a time in the fifth inning. Ryan Honeycutt lead off with a walk. Catcher Ryan Horton looped a single to right field. Cross Clayton loaded the bases with a soft liner to centerfield for another hit. Neo Best lined a ball under the glove of Ring being second base and into centerfield to score Honeycutt. After Elijah Santos reached on a fielder’s choice where pitcher Austin Mooring threw out courtesy runner Joey Pounds at third on a bunt attempt, Jackson Berini drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, scoring Clayton.

After Ring replaced Mooring as pitcher, Waitt poked a soft pop-up behind the mound. Dear, who went from catcher to shortstop, couldn’t throw out Waitt, leading to Best scoring. Connor Nordan lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, which was caught by Grey Booker in the left field bullpen, allowing Santos to tag up and score. Cameron Guentensberger sent a 3-0 fastball to right field for an RBI single, scoring Berini and putting Orange ahead 7-4.

Hedrick replaced Gibbs to open the fifth inning and allowed only one baserunner in the final three innings. Over the past month, Hedrick is 2-0 with two saves. In 12-plus innings over his last four appearances, Hedrick has 13 strikeouts with four walks, one run and five hits surrendered.

Berini opened the scoring in the first when he lined a single to right field. With Waitt at the plate, Union Pines starting pitcher Grey Withrow was called for a balk. With Connor Nordan at bat, Berini advanced to third on a wild pitch, then came home after the corresponding throw to third bounced off the fielder’s leg and rolled into the outfield.

After Nordan, Guentensberger and Honeycutt all drew walks, Horton lifted a fly ball to the left field that may have stayed in the park solely because of the wind. The left fielder dropped it at the warning track, which allowed Nordan to score.

Orange put the game away in the sixth when Berini lined a two-run single up the middle, scoring Best and Clayton. Nordan nearly added another double, but he was robbed on a gorgeous diving catch by Meeds in centerfield for the third out.

Lee County 7, Cedar Ridge 1: The Yellow Jackets scored two runs in the first inning against Cedar Ridge, then scored four runs in the final two innings to secure their 13th win of the season.

B.J. Thornton struck out six for the Red Wolves. Thornton also drove in the Red Wolves’ only run in the fourth inning. After Mason Cates drew a leadoff walk, he went to second after a balk. Thornton lined a double to left field.

Nick Pope earned the win for the Yellow Jackets, allowing only two hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked four.

Cedar Ridge, who defeated Union Pines 9-5 on Monday night, will face Chapel Hill on Thursday in their final game of the Hilltopper Invitational.

Ava Lowry: The Division III North Carolina Wesleyan softball team swept a doubleheader from Methodist on Tuesday. In the Battling Bishops’ 7-0 win in the nightcap, Lowry went 2-for-4 with a double. Wesleyan won the opening game 5-3, where Lowry, starting at shortstop, went 1-for-3. On April 5, Wesleyan swept a doubleheader from William Peace in Rocky Mount. In the opening game, Lowry went 1-for-2 with an RBI single as the Bishops won 8-0 in five innings. Through 32 games, Lowry is hitting .307 with two home runs and 13 RBIs. Wesleyan is 21-10 overall, 6-4 in the USA South Conference.

Takia Nichols: For the second time this season, Nichols was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week. Last weekend, the North Carolina Central Eagles clinched a series against Howard to maintain first place in the MEAC. Playing at the national Youth Academy in Washington, D.C., Nichols went 3-for-3 with a solo homer as the Eagles defeated the Bison 11-3 on Saturday. Nichols knocked in the opening Eagles run with an RBI single in the first inning. In the fourth, Nichols drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Eagles ahead 5-2. On Friday, the Eagles won the opening game of a doubleheader 11-3 in six innings. Nichols went 2-for-4 with an RBI. In the third, Nichols drove in a run off an error by the shortstop. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Bison won 11-7. Nichols finished 1-for-2 with an RBI single in the first inning. Through 31 games, Nichols leads the Eagles with six home runs. She is second on the squad with a .337 batting average and 26 RBIs. She also leads the team with 51 total bases.

Grace Andrews: The Catawba Valley Community College softball team is ranked #15 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II. The Red Hawks swept a doubleheader from Southwest Virginia in Honaker, VA last weekend. It was the 100th career win for head coach Josh Bumgarner. In the second game of the doubleheader, which the Red Hawks won 7-1, Andrews went 1-for-3 with an RBI single. On April 3, the Red Hawks swept a doubleheader from Pitt Community College at Highland Recreation Center in Hickory. Andrews went 2-for-3 in the opening game, which the Red Hawks captured 10-1 in five innings. Andrews went 1-for-3 in the opening game, which CVCC won 6-0. On Tuesday, Catawba Valley swept another doubleheader from Bryant & Stratton College. The Red Hawks won the opener 6-1, then captured the nightcap 9-0 in five innings. Catawba Valley is 32-6 overall, 19-6 in Region X of the NJCAA.

Lauren Jackson: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne softball team is now up to #22 in the country. The Bears swept a doubleheader from UVA-Wise at Bears Field in Hickory on April 2. The Bears won the opening game 9-2. Jackson, who started as catcher, went 1-for-2. Jackson appeared as a pinch-hitter in the Bears 6-2 win in the nightcap. Jackson faced her former Orange High teammate, Jaden Hurdle, when the Bears faced Catawba on March 29. The two teams split the doubleheader. Jackson had a single as a pinch-hitter in the Indians’ 7-5 victory over the Bears.

Mary Moss Wirt: A former Orange High player faced off against a former Cedar Ridge player when Elon dueled with North Carolina Central at Hunt Softball Park on Wednesday. Elon defeated Central 8-0 in five innings. Wirt played as a pinch hitter and entered the game as a catcher in the seventh inning. Nichols started at first base for the Eagles. Elon improved to 15-20. Wirt also played as a catcher against Duke on Tuesday at Duke Softball Stadium. The Blue Devils, ranked #11 in the country, defeated the Phoenix 4-0. On April 2, the Phoenix split a doubleheader against Hampton. In the Phoenix’s 9-0 win, Wirt played as a catcher in the seventh inning. Elon will host UNC Wilmington in a three-game series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday.

Tori Dalehite: The UNC Greensboro softball team lost both games against Furman University at Pepsi Stadium in Greenville, SC last weekend. Dalehite scored a run as a pinch-runner in Sunday’s 9-8 loss to the Paladins. Furman edged the Spartans 5-4 in nine innings on Thursday in the opening game of the doubleheader. Dalehite played as a pinch-hitter.

Jaden Hurdle: Hurdle entered games as a reserve for Division II Catawba in a series against Newberry last week at Whitley Field in Salisbury.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior pitcher/first baseman Mason Cates. Last week, Cates earned the win as the Red Wolves defeated Eastern Alamance 12-2 at Red Wolves Stadium. Cates struck out eight over five innings. It was just the fourth start of his career. At the plate, Cates went 1-for-3 with an two-run double as the Red Wolves swept the two-game series from the Eagles. Last Tuedsay, Cates went 2-for-3 with two runs scored as Cedar Ridge defeated the Eagles 11-5. On March 30, Cates limited Orange to only four hits. He struck out seven Panthers. Of the three runs he surrendered, only one was earned. At the plate, Cates went 1-for-3 against Orange. Against the North Carolina School of Science and Math on March 23, Cates finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double. Cates, a junior, has been instrumental in helping the Red Wolves win three in a row going into tonight’s game against Lee County. Cedar Ridge will face Chapel Hill on Thursday night to wrap up its stint in the Hilltop Invitational. The Red Wolves will also honor seniors B.J. Thornton, Will Tippin and Issac Anderson against the Tigers. First pitch will be at 6 PM.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Mason Cates

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