Month: April 2023

The Orange baseball team has the inside track on its second consecutive Central Carolina Conference championship. Last week, the Panthers defeated Person 4-3 at Rocket Field in Roxboro. Once again, the youth of the Panther pitching staff came through with a clutch performance. After junior Josiah Gibbs threw four-plus innings, junior Coltin Hedrick came in and perserved the lead to earn his second save of the season. Hedrick, who threw two-and-two-thirds innings, retired the final seven Rockets he faced, striking out four of them. Gibbs earned his fourth win of the season, a team-high. Junior Ryan Honeycutt, who was the designated hitter, scored a crucial run in the third inning off a double by Cameron Guentensberger. Honeycutt scored from first base. With senior Ryan Hench out due to injury, Honeycutt has filled in at the cleanup position. With four conference games remaining, Orange now leads Person and Northwood by two games in the loss column. This week, Orange will be away from conference action to face formidable opposition in the Hilltop Invitational. The Panthes will start tonight against Union Pines. On Wednesday, Orange will have a showdown against Lee County, which will be a matchup between two teams ranked in the top five of the MaxPreps RPI East Regional rankings. As of Tuesday morning, Ornage is #3 in the region, while the Yellow Jackets are #4. On Friday, Orange will face Wakefield for Senior Night. Seniors Ryan Hench, Jackson Berini, Connor Nordan, Joey Pounds, Neo Best, David Waitt, Kent Melvin, Ty Walker, and Ryan Doherty will be honored.

Orange’s Coltin Hedrick and Ryan Honeycutt discuss baseball win over Person

The Orange baseball team has the inside track on its second consecutive Central Carolina Conference championship. Last week, the Panthers defeated Person 4-3 at Rocket Field in Roxboro. Once again, the youth of the Panther pitching staff came through with a clutch performance.

While spring break was several weeks ago for Orange County Schools students, this week is a chance for Cedar Ridge baseball players to deviate from the norm.

It’s no holiday. It’s just a break from the rigors of Central Carolina Conference action.

The Hilltop Invitational provides a sort of midterm exam for players to test themselves against non conference teams to see how they’ve improve from the start of the season six weeks ago, and what needs shored up for a late season playoff push.

On Monday night, Cedar Ridge relied on some familiar power and pitching experience to get them over the first hurdle.

Senior B.J. Thornton’s RBI triple during a decisive four-run fourth inning, followed by a game-winning single from Landon Dalehite led the Red Wolves past Union Pines 9-5 at Red Wolves Stadium.

In a game that was tied twice, Cedar Ridge pulled away with three runs in the sixth inning. Isaac Anderson lined a single to left field to score Will Tippin. Mason Cates, who earned the save on the mound, sent a one-run single to left field to bring in Anderson.

The Red Wolves (9-6) have won three in a row as they prepare Lee County on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Field.

“What we want from this invitational is we want good, quality teams to come in,” said Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey. “That’s what we did this year. Union Pines is a high quality team with a great tradition. Lee County is one of the top teams in the state every year. So getting our guys to compete against teams they don’t compete against is what we want.”

Quinn Finnegan threw five innings to earn the win. He struck out two with no walks and withstood an early Vikings run in the second inning. Union Pines’ Jacob Williams knocked in Hunter Meeds on a hard grounder to right field in the second inning.

Tippin and Anderson drew consecutive walks to open the third inning. After Vikings’ sophomore starter Ryan Wallace got a strikeout for the second out, Finnegan sent a grounder to the hole in the right side of the infield, bringing in Tippin to tie the game. Thornton walked to load the bases. With Dalehite at the plate, Anderson scored on a wild pitch that bounced off the brink lining behind home plate to give the Red Wolves a 2-1 lead.

Union Pines jumped back in front in the top of the fourth. Junior Austin Mooring reached on an infield hit on a grounder to third base. Mooring stole second, went to third after a groundout by Grey Booker, then scored off a single by Ben Finkelstein. Meeds, who reached on a fielder’s choice, also scored from second base to put the Vikings ahead.

The lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the 5th, Anderson got aboard on a hard grounder to the shortstop. Cates also reached on a single. With two out, Thornton smoked a laser that rolled all the way to the centerfield wall, scoring Cates to tie the game. Dalehite sent a grounder to the left field hole, scoring Cates and putting the Red Wolves ahead for good.

But it didn’t end there. After freshman Caden Thomson reached on a bunt single, sophomore Nick Aitkin lined a double to right field. Dalehite and Thompson came home and Cedar Ridge led 6-3.

The Vikings drew within a run in the top of the sixth. Meeds and Grey Booker each scored on a throwing error with two out to trim the Cedar Ridge lead to 6-5.

Once again, Tippin led off the inning by getting on base, this time with a single to left field. Anderson also reached on a base hit to left field, and Tippin scored off an error by Booker. Cates drove in Anderson with a single.

Cedar Ridge will face Lee County on Tuesday night at 6PM. On Thursday, the Red Wolves take on Chapel Hill at Red Wolves Field, also at 6PM.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior softball pitcher Caden Robinson. This season, Robinson has been the top pitcher and has averaged seven strikeouts a game. In addition, she leads the team with 18 RBIs, five doubles and four home runs. She has a 4-1 record with a 1.97 earned run average in ten pitching appearances. On March 6, Robinson struck out eleven and had an RBI double as Orange defeated Roxboro Community School 8-1 in Hillsborough. Two nights later in a rematch in Roxboro, Robinson had a two-run single as Orange defeated the Bulldogs 6-4. On March 24, Robinson had her most complete performance against Person in Roxboro. She struck out eleven with no walks as Orange won 4-2 over the Rockets. Robinson added a solo home run in the seventh inning. Robinson has played on the varsity since her freshman season. She has committed to play at Lees-McRae for college, but still has another season with the Panthers before she moves on. Orange will continue its season on Thursday against Northern Durham at Orange Softball Field. On Friday, they will face Cedar Ridge on Senior Night. Seniors Carson Bradsher, Serenity McPherson, Kelsey Tackett, Savannah Wynn, April Terrell and Brianne Foster will be honored in a pregame ceremony. First pitch will be at 6:30.

Orange Panther of the Week: Caden Robinson

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior softball pitcher Caden Robinson. This season, Robinson has been the top pitcher and has averaged seven strikeouts a game. In addition, she leads the team with 18 RBIs, five doubles and four home runs.

It’s taken five years, but Derryl Britt has made in imprint on the Orange men’s basketball program.

For starters, his younger players have developer an impression of him. Over the course of 27 games this past season which saw the Panthers journey from Franklinton to Morehead City, sophomore Freddy Sneed created a impersonation of Britt whenever the Panthers turn the ball over that ends with him yelling stomping down the sidelines and yelling “Come on, killer!”

This winter was the one that Britt had waited four years for his team to achieve. The best news, from an Orange perspective, is that the best may still be ahead.

While Britt waits for the academic year to end and summer workouts to start, he has received the highest honor from his peers.

Britt was named the Central Carolina Coach of the Year in a poll by the league’s coaches last month.

This year, Orange went from a 8-17 season in 2021-2022 to a 17-10 season, its first winning campaign since 2016-2017, when the Panthers reached the quarterfinals of the 3A State Playoffs.

That squad six years ago was led by seniors Connor Crabtree and Logan Vosburg. This year’s team was diametrically the opposite in terms of experience.

In the first game of the season against East Chapel Hill, Britt started three freshmen: Coleman Cloer, Kai Wade and Mason Robinson. Sophomore guard Xandrell Pennix and junior center Ryan Honeycutt rounded out the starting five. None of those players were on the varsity roster for the start of the 21-22 season.

Right away, Orange served notice that this season would be different with a win over East Chapel Hill. On November 29, Cloer knocked down two free throws with :7.2 remaining to push Orange past Franklinton 67-66. The Panthers were the only team in the first half of the season to beat the Rams, who went on to a 25-5 record.

Orange scored 103 points against the North Carolina School of Science and Math on December 1, the most points for a Panther team since Britt became head coach. Later that week, the Panthers defeated Riverside for the first time since 2013.

Orange defeated East Wake in the opening round of the South Granville Holiday Invitational on December 28. The Warriors would go on to win the Quad County Conference Championship. The tournament in South Granville was two shots away from being extra special for the Panthers. Orange led South Granville 64-58 with 1:33 remaining before the Vikings roared back with K.J. Green scoring on a lay-up at the buzzer to give the Vikings the win to advance to the championship game.

The next day against Sanderson was even more heartbreaking. The Panthers mounted a comeback before the Spartans hit another shot at the buzzer to beat the Panthers 55-54.

Orange swept the season series from Walter Williams, including its first win in Burlington since the 1980s. Orange reached the state playoffs, where they mounted another comeback that ended with senior Thomas Loch draining a 3-pointer, following by a steal by Wade to give Orange a one-point lead with 28 seconds remaining. The Patriots’ Worth Stack scored on a tip-in for the game-winning basket.

Britt is already making plans for another summertime tournament at Orange in June. While there weren’t many people around to see it, Britt learned last summer that the 2022-23 team would be different. Cloer, Wade and Malachi Poole, among others, played for an Orange team that won the Black Session championship.

As he prepares for his sixth season next November, Britt suddenly finds himself among the longest tenured coaches at Orange. After B.J. Condron’s resignation last month as Orange women’s basketball coach to become the new Athletic Director at Southeast Alamance High School, the only coaches who have been at Orange continuously since Britt’s arrival in 2018 are men’s soccer coach Palmer Bowman, baseball coach Jason Knapp, men’s tennis coach Justin Webb and wrestling coach Spenser Poteat, who replaced Bobby Shriner in 2017.

Editor’s Note: Britt is a color analyst for Orange football broadcasts on Hillsboroughsports.com. 

Photo courtesy of ECUpirates.com

Joey Berini: The East Carolina baseball team, ranked #12 in the country, swe a series over UCF at Clark-LeClaire Stadium in Greenville last week. On Friday, the Pirates endured a rain delay to win 3-2 in 12 innings. Berini, who started at shortstop, went 1-for-6. On Thursday, the Pirates won the second game of a doubleheader from the Knights 11-5. Berini had his third home run of the season, a two-run blast down the right field line in the 1st inning. Berini also had a triple in the second inning that led to a run scoring. Berini finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. ECU won the first game of the doubleheader 17-7 in seven innings. Berini went 1-for-2 with an RBI single in the 3rd inning. Last Tuesday, the Pirates defeated N.C. State 13-9. Berini sent a three-run homer over the right field wall in the 4th inning. Berini finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The Pirates are 24-8, 4-2 in the American Athletic Conference. Berini is hitting .330, which is third on the team. He has four home runs with 16 RBIs.

Bryse Wilson: The Milwaukee Brewers have opened the Major League Baseball season 7-2. Wilson earned his first save in a Brewers uniform on April 3 in Milwaukee’s 10-0 win over the New York Mets at Miller Park. Wilson threw three shutout innings and allowed only one hit. He had three walks and two strikeouts. On April 7, the Brewers shut out St. Louis 4-0. Wilson threw a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Dante DeFranco: As the Charlotte 49ers continue its final season in Conference USA, DeFranco has become a regular starter for the 49ers at second base. On April 4, DeFranco had two doubles as the 49ers defeated Radford 10-0 at Hayes Stadium in Charlotte. DeFranco went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. On Friday, DeFranco went 0-for-2 as UTSA defeated the 49ers 5-3. Against UAB on April 2, DeFranco finished 1-f0r-3 with a walk as the 49ers defeated the Blazers 5-0 at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham, AL. Charlotte is 15-15, 6-5 in CUSA.

Phillip Berger: On April 6, the Division III William Peace University baseball team suffered a 13-9 loss to North Carolina Wesleyan. Berger suffered the loss starting for the Pacers. In four-and-two-thirds innings, Berger conceded four runs off five hits. He walked five and struck out eight. On March 31, Greensboro College defeated Peace 10-4. Berger gave up seven runs off ten hits in four-and-two-thirds innings. He struck out five and walked two. This season, Berger is 3-3 with a 4.93 ERA. He has 39 strikeouts and 20 walks.

Will Walker: Walker continues to play for the Pitt Community College baseball team in his sophomore season. Over the weekend, Brunswick Community College took two games from the Bulldogs in a three-game series. On Friday, Brunswick defeated Pitt 6-5 in eight innings in the second game of a doubleheader. Walker went 1-for-3 with a run scored. In the opening game of the doubleheader, Pitt won 9-2. Walker finished 0-for-5. On Wednesday, Lenoir Community College outscored Pitt 13-12 at Lancer Field.Walker finished 2-for-4 with two RBI singles. On the season, Walker is hitting .305 with two home runs and 21 RBIs. The .305 average is third on the team. Pitt Community College is 21-9 overall, 15-6 in Region X in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Davis Horton: On Monday, the Rockingham Community College baseball team swept a doubleheader from the Montreat junior varsity team. In the opening game of the doubleheader, which the Eagles won 6-5, Horton went 0-for-4. In the second game, Horton went 1-for-3 as the Eagles won 6-2. On March 26, Rockingham edged Surry Community College 4-3. Horton finished 2-for-4 with an RBI double. In the opening game of a doubleheader against Surry, the Eagles won 9-8. Horton finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs. He had two doubles. Rockingham is 11-20.

Jamar Davis: Davis won the triple jump in the Raleigh Relays on March 25 at the Paul Deer Track Facility in Raleigh. Davis won with a leap of 15.66 meters, a season-best. Elliott Barner of Tennessee finished second. Also in the Raleigh Relays, Davis finished second in the long jump. His best leap was 7.44 meters. Maxwell Forte of Duke finished first.

Cy Horner: Former Orange lacrosse player Cy Horner continues his sophomore season for the Division III Methodist University Monarchs. On Saturday, La Grange defeated Methodist 21-20 at Callaway Stadium in LaGrange, GA. Horner finished with four assists. On April 1, Southern Virginia defeated Methodist 17-6. Horner had a goal and an assist with two shots on net. Horner is the second-leading scorer on the Monarchs. He has eleven goals and 15 assists. Methodist 3-8 overall, 1-3 in the USA South Conference.

Chase Finley: Former Cedar Ridge lacrosse goalkeeper Chase Finley continues to play for the Division II Shorter University Hawks. On April 8, Finley made 24 saves as Flagler College defeated the Hawks 24-6 in St. Augustine, FL. On April 3, Shorter defeated Warren Wilson 23-8 in Rome, GA. Finley played 17 minutes in net and made two saves. The University of Alabama-Huntsville defeated Shorter 23-9 at Ben Brady Field. Finley made eight saves after he received the start. Shorter is 3-9, 0-3 in the Peach Belt Conference.

Jaylin Jones: Jones continues his graduate season at Division III Pfeiffer University. On April 1, the Falcons defeated Huntingdon 19-5 in Montgomery, AL. Jones, a midfielder, had one shot. On March 29, Pfeiffer defeated William Peace 19-11. Jones had three shots and two ground balls. Jones scored the opening goal for Pfeiffer in their 14-13 win over Centre on March 23. In ten games this season, Jones had two goals.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore pitcher and right fielder Quinn Finnegan. From the very beginning of this season on February 27, Finnegan has had a strong season at the plate. In the season-opener at Knightdale, Finnegan earned the win on the mound. He went 2-for-4 with three RBIs with a double as the Red Wolves defeated the Knights 19-8 in five innings. Finnegan has also had several displays of power at the plate. In an 18-2 win over Northern Durham, Finnegan hit a homer and finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Against Northwood, Finnegan hit a home run at Red Wolves Field, possibly the deepest park in the Central Carolina Conference, as the Red Wolves defeated the Chargers 7-1. In addition to playing baseball, Finnegan is relentless in his fitness regimen. He’s constantly working out as his mother is a Fitness Instructor at Duke University. This video was shot with Finnegan’s curly locks still intact. After Cedar Ridge’s win over Eastern Alamance on Wednesday night, Finnegan had his hair shaved in a show of support for cancer survivors during Cedar Ridge’s Vs. Cancer benefit for Duke Hospital, which raised over $2,800. Finnegan and the Cedar Ridge baseball team will return to action on Monday in the Hilltop Invitational against Union Pines. First pitch at Red Wolves Field will be at 6PM.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Quinn Finnegan

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore pitcher and right fielder Quinn Finnegan. From the very beginning of this season on February 27, Finnegan has had a strong season at the plate. In the season-opener at Knightdale, Finnegan earned the win on the mound.

Another power pitching performance by Cross Clayton led the Orange baseball team to a two-game sweep of Person on Wednesday night. Clayton struck out a career-high 12 batters over five innings to earn his third win of the season in Orange’s 3-0 victory over the Rockets. Clayton helped his own cause when he ended a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo homer to left field. It was his second homer of the season. Junior Ryan Horton had a solid series against Person. On Wednesday, he went 2-for-3 and drove in an insurance run in the sixth inning with a single to right field, bringing in Ty Walker. On Tuesday night, Orange defeated Person 4-3 in Roxboro. Horton went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Horton’s single in the fifth inning scored Cameron Guentensberger in what proved to be the game-winning run. Orange is in first place in the Central Carolina Conference with a 5-2 record with four league games remaining. They will start play in the Hilltop Invitational on Monday night when they face Lee County in Hillsborough.

Orange baseball’s Cross Clayton and Ryan Horton discuss win over Person

Another power pitching performance by Cross Clayton led the Orange baseball team to a two-game sweep of Person on Wednesday night. Clayton struck out a career-high 12 batters over five innings to earn his third win of the season in Orange’s 3-0 victory over the Rockets.

The Vs. Cancer game isn’t a game as much as an event for Cedar Ridge baseball.

In the past, the event has featured giveaways for various souvenirs in a benefit for Duke Children’s Hospital. It usually ends with coach Bryson Massey getting his head shaved.

This year, it was no different. With a chair pulled up to home plate, Massey had his red mane shaved at home plate by pitcher Mason Cates after the Red Wolves defeated Eastern Alamance to complete a two-game series sweep. And he wasn’t alone.

Other Cedar Ridge players lined up to have their heads shaved in a show of solidarity for cancer survivors, including right fielder Quinn Finnegan. This year, the fundraiser raised over $2,800.

As for the game, the Red Wolves had another impressive game from senior B.J. Thornton. After Thornton drove in five runs and earned the win on the mound in the Red Wolves’ 11-5 win in Mebane on Tuesday, the senior went 3-for-4 with four RBIs against the Eagles. In the series, Thornton went 6-for-11 with nine RBIs and three doubles.

For the seconds straight week, junior Mason Cates had a strong pitching performance. After making his first start of the season against Orange last week, Cates struck out eight over five innings against the Eagles. He allowed only one run on five hits to earn his first win of the season. Of Cates 95 pitches, 55 were strikes.

Cedar Ridge (8-6, 5-5 in the Central Carolina Conference) wasted no time in taking the lead, scoring three runs in the first inning. Issac Anderson started the frame with a leadoff infield single. Finnegan drove a sharp grounder to the left side of the infield to bring Anderson to third. Thornton looped a two-run double, plating Finnegan and Anderson. With two out, Thornton induced a pickoff throw to second base that wound up in centerfield, leading to him scoring.

It remained 3-0 Cedar Ridge until the fifth inning. After the Eagles brought across a run in the fifth, catcher Will Tippin singled to right field. Cates drew a one-out walk. Thornton lined a single to centerfield to score Cates. Landon Dalehite drew a walk. With Grant McGuffey at the plate, Thornton went to third on a passed ball and scored on another passed ball. Dalehite would come in off an error by the catcher.

Cedar Ridge earned the run-rule win by scoring five more runs in the fifth inning. Ian McGuffey drew a leadoff walk. Tippin, who finished 2-for-3 on the night, lined a single to centerfield. Cates sent a double to left field that brought in McGuffey and Tippin and increase Cedar Ridge’s lead to 9-2. Finnegan followed with an RBI single to left field.

Thornton drove his second double of the night down the left field line, bringing in Finnegan. Dalehite ended the game with a single to left field to score Thornton.

Cedar Ridge will get next week off from CCC play to focus on the Hilltop Invitational. The Red Wolves will start with a game against Union Pines on Monday night at 6PM in Hillsborough. On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will host Lee County. On Thursday, they will play Chapel Hill, a former Big 8 Conference rival.

Since he emerged as Orange’s #2 starting pitcher last season, Cross Clayton has had a flair for huge performances in big games.

Last year, he threw a five-inning perfect game against Cedar Ridge to clinch the Central Carolina Conference regular season championship. At one point in 2022, Clayton threw 23 consecutive scoreless innings.

On Wednesday night, Clayton came through with possibly his best all-around game in his Panther career, and it put Orange on the brink of a second consecutive regular season championship.

Locked in a scoreless stalemate with Person pitcher Dylan England, Clayton launched a 3-2 fastball over the porch in left field for the go-ahead run in the fifth inning. Clayton would go on to strike out a career-high 13 batters as conceded just three hits over six innings with zero walks as Orange defeated Person 3-0 to sweep a two-game series.

Orange (13-2, 6-2 in the CCC) now leads Walter Williams by two games in the loss column for first place in the CCC. The Panthers have four conference games remaining, two each against Northwood and Eastern Alamance.

Clayton overpowered Person throughout the night and didn’t show any signs of wilting in the late innings. He retired the final seven Rockets he faced, six of them via strikeout, before yielding to junior Cameron Guentensberger for the seventh inning.

Of Clayton’s 77 pitches, 59 were for strikes. Not one Person batter touched third base. Of the 21 batters Clayton faced, he threw the first pitch for a strike on 16 of them. Three Rockets either struck the first pitch or was hit by it. Only two Person batters the whole game had a first pitch that was called a ball. One of those was catcher Tyler White, the final batter Clayton faced.

White struck out anyway.

“If you Google efficiency, you’re probably going to see a picture of Cross Clayton,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “He’s very efficient. I don’t know how many first pitch strikes he had tonight, but I’m sure it’s a ton. He just pounds the zone and moves around and is a very good pitcher.”

For the second straight game, Orange played without David Waitt, the senior right field who leads the team in hits. This time, Orange wasn’t alone in facing injury adversity. Person third baseman Levi Strader left the game in the first inning after a hard grounder by Jackson Berini caught his bare right hand. Peyton Smith replaced Strader.

England was able to match Clayton’s power on the mound through the first four innings. Berini was stranded at second after the leadoff infield single when England set down Elijah Santos, Connor Nordan and Ryan Honeycutt on strikes.

In the second inning, Orange’s Ryan Horton sent a one-out dribbler up the middle for a single. Wyatt Hedrick walked with two out, but England struck out Neo Best to quell the threat.

Person’s biggest opportunity of the night came after a base hit from Smith, who had played in only one game prior to Wednesday. After Tyler White sent a single over second base to leadoff the fourth inning, Clayton struck out Brennan Kiser. Smith, who hadn’t had a base hit this season,  lined a single to right field. Joey Pounds came up with the ball and threw to Berini, who managed to catch a Person courtesy runner in a rundown. Hedrick tagged out the runner at second, which was the closest anyone from a Person uniform would get to home plate. Clayton set down William Ragan to end the inning.

Clayton faced England to lead off the fifth and chased several pitches. With the count 3-2, Clayton launched a fastball that barely cleared the left field fence. Shaw, the left fielder, got his glove over the fence but couldn’t pull it back into the ballpark. It was Clayton’s second home run of the season.

In the next at-bat, Hedrick struck a double that rolled to the right field fence. Best lined out to Regan in right field, which allowed Hedrick to advance to third. Berini swung at a high fastball and pulled it to Ragan, who argued to the field umpire that he made a shoe top catch to no avail. The single was Berini’s eleventh RBI of the season and it put Orange ahead 2-0.

In the sixth, Honeycutt snuck a pop fly to shallow right in between three Rockets for a double. Walker replaced Honeycutt as a courtesy runner. With two out, Ryan Horton looped a 1-2 fastball into right field to bring in Walker.

Guentensberger walked Kiser to open the seventh, but Best turned a 5-4-3 double play to immediately quell any Person hopes of a comeback. Guentensberger wound up with his second save of the year.

Orange will take a respite from CCC play nest week and start play in the Hilltopper Invitational. On Monday, the Panthers host Lee County in a matchup that could heavy implications for state playoff seeding. Orange is currently #3 in the RPI rankings for 3A East Region schools, while the Yellow Jackets are #7.

Orange will also face Union Pines on Tuesday at 6PM, then host Wakefield for Senior Night festivities next Friday.