Mia Davidson-Smith: For the first time since turning professional in 2022, Davidson-Smith returned to North Carolina with Athletes Unlimited. It was also the first time that Davidson-Smith was the Captain of her own team, a spot reserved for one of the top four point-getters in Athletes Unlimited. In a three-game series last week, Team Davidson went 2-1. Davidson-Smith played her first game in North Carolina since 2018 at ECU Softball Stadium in Greenville last Wednesday. Team Davidson edged Team Romero 4-3. Davidson-Smith, starting at catcher, went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch. Davidson-Smith finished the game with 98 individual points. On Saturday, Team Alexander shutout Team Davidson 4-0 at Parkway Bank Stadium in Rosemont, IL. Davidson-Smith went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch. She finished with eight points. On Sunday, Team Davidson defeated Team Faraimo 3-1. Davidson-Smith went 0-for-3 with a walk. Davidson had 108 points on the day. Despite going hitless for the weekend, Davidson-Smith is still in fourth place among 60 players in Athletes Unlimited with 1,052 points. She’s the highest-ranked catcher in Athletes Unlimited. Once again, she will serve as a Captain on her own team this weekend. On Friday night, Team Davidson will face Team Alexander.
Bryse Wilson: The Milwaukee Brewers rallied in the ninth inning last week to defeat the Colorado Rockies 7-6 in ten innings at Miller Park. Wilson earned the win to improve to 4-0. In one inning of work, Wilson surrendered one unearned run off one hit. On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Brewers 6-2 at Dodger Stadium. Wilson threw two-and-one-thirds innings of shutout baseball. He surrendered two hits and struck out two. Wilson currently has a 3.30 ERA. The Brewers are in first place in the National League Central with a 65-56 record. They lead the Cincinnati Reds by two-and-a-half games at the end of Wednesday night’s action.
Payton Wilson: The senior N.C. State linebacker was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list this week. The Bednarik Award is presented to the top defensive player in college football. Last week, Wilson was named to the Dick Butkus Preseason Watch List. The Butkus Award honors the nation’s best linebacker.
Trenton Gill: The Chicago Bears played its first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Solider Field last weekend. The Bears won the game 23-17. Gill handled all of the punting duties, which says all you need to know about his job security. Of his four punts, Gill had an average of 50-yards per boot. One was downed inside the 20-yard line.
The fall sports season is set to begin in less than two weeks. The amount of former Orange and Cedar Ridge High School athletes playing sports in college has likely never been more voluminous. Here’s the list of athletes who will be suiting up for professional and college sports team this fall.
Football:
Trenton Gill–punter for the Chicago Bears
Payton Wilson–redshirt senior linebacker at N.C. State
Darius Satterfield–sophomore punter at Elizabeth City State University
Braxton Mergenthal–senior defensive lineman for Hampden-Sydney
Volleyball:
Lottie Scully–Sophomore setter for the Binghamton Bearcats. Last season, Scully was third in the American East Conference with 788 assists. She had a season-high 64 assists in a 5-set victory over UMBC, which ended UMBC’s 23-match conference winning streak.
Avery Miller: Sophomore at Pitt Community College
Cameron Lloyd: Freshman at Bucknell University. Lloyd is the all-time kills leader in Cedar Ridge history.
Grace Young: Freshman at UNC Asheville. Young was the libero in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for Cedar Ridge, all conference championship teams.
Cameron Lanier: Freshman at Elon. Only the second Cedar Ridge player in history with 500 kills.
Julie Altieri: Freshman at Salisbury University in Maryland. Altieri is the all-time assist leader in Cedar Ridge history.
Melissa Benkowitz: Freshman at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.
Anaya Carter: Freshman at UNC Pembroke.
Allie Wilkerson: Freshman at Averett University.
Women’s Tennis:
Jera Hargrove: Sophomore at Tuskegee University
Women’s Soccer:
Ivy Garner: Sophomore at Liberty University. Garner played at Cedar Ridge her freshman year before she transferred to Eno River Academy. Garner started regularly as a freshman and helped the Flames win the Atlantic Sun regular season championship. This season, they will play in Conference USA.
Emerson Talley: Junior at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The all-time leading goal scorer in Cedar Ridge history.
Sydney Rogers: Freshman at Catawba College. The first female to score a point for the Orange football team. Also a member of the first Orange women’s tennis team to win a conference championship.