By this point, it shouldn’t be shocking when Orange baseball rallies past Cedar Ridge.
Except on Tuesday night, it was shocking. Because Cedar Ridge had played so well, by the time the seventh inning had rolled around, it felt like their night, finally.
They had not beaten Orange at Panther Field since 2012. They hadn’t beaten its crosstown rivals at all since 2018, a span of ten games.
But the Red Wolves’ performance on Tuesday night had been so crisp, flawless and balanced, even a few of Orange’s coaches were ready to admit its season was over in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.
It was baseball, after all, the sport where the better team doesn’t always win. But on this night, Cedar Ridge was clearly the better team.
Throughout the course of winning nine conference championships in everything from volleyball to women’s track & field this year, Orange baseball coach Jason Knapp has received several congratulatory phone calls from his counterpart at Cedar Ridge, Andy Simmons.
On Tuesday night, Knapp stood helplessly in his third base coach’s box as Cedar Ridge second baseman Grant McGuffey easily handled a soft pop-up lofted by Oliver Van Tiem. That made it two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning with Cedar Ridge leading 4-0. The bases were empty.
With Simmons standing and watching in the Cedar Ridge dugout as the Red Wolves were one out away from its first playoff win in six years, Knapp figured it was only appropriate that he walk over and congratulate him on his team’s upcoming playoff win.
And Knapp would do that after Cedar Ridge got one more out.
History has shown that the last out is always the hardest for Cedar Ridge against Orange, but even on this night it didn’t feel like the light at the end of the tunnel would be a freight train.
On April 2 against Orange, Cedar Ridge starter Quinn Finnegan had been perfect through four innings. Through six innings on Tuesday night, he wasn’t perfect, just more efficient. He had allowed only three singles and one walk. Not one Panther touched third base in the first six innings.
Following Van Tiem’s pop-out, Wyatt Hedrick rolled a grounder over to McGuffey, who bobbled the ball into right field. Designated hitter Garrett Sawyer became the first Panther to come down to his final strike when he grounded a 1-2 pitch to shortstop Nick Aitkin, who ran down the ball before it could reach left field and threw a dart across his body to second.
It appeared to be a perfect throw to end a perfect Cedar Ridge night.
Except the throw was dropped and Hedrick slid in safely.
That was the spark that ignited an inferno.
Finnegan had a 3-2 count to senior Cross Clayton, who was hitting to keep his career going. With the Red Wolves again one strike away, Clayton unleashed a laser to the left field gap, Orange’s first extra base hit of the game. Hedrick scored and Sawyer advanced to third.
At the time, all Orange had accomplished was simply avoiding getting shutout for the first time this year. Cedar Ridge head coach Bryson Massey replaced Finnegan, who had thrown 96 pitches (pitchers are allowed 105 pitches by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association). It appeared that Finnegan tried to talk his coach into letting him finish out the game. Instead, Massey went with Ian McGuffey.
For the third time, Orange was down to its last strike when Elijah Santos fouled off a 3-1 fastball. McGuffey went with a breaking ball that barely dipped below the strike zone. Santos loaded the bases with a walk.
Cameron Guentensberger sent a bouncer over to Hudson Kelly at third base. Playing two steps in front of the bag, Kelly looked back as Clayton ran across from second. Instead of backtracking, Kelly opted for first base. The throw one-hopped Mason Cates. Guentensberger beat it out to score Sawyer and cut the Red Wolf lead to 4-2.
By this point, the Cedar Ridge fans were two-thirds of the way through a movie they had seen before—and hated.
Freshman Kayden Bradsher, who was Orange’s player of the game, grounded a single dead up the middle. Santos and Guentensbergber each scored without a throw to the plate to tie the game at 4-4 in front of an exhilarated group of Orange fans whose season had new life.
Bradsher, who had shown up to school before first period on Tuesday to help Knapp prepare the field, finished 3-for-4, the only Panther with multiple hits.
“That was a huge at-bat for a freshman,” Knapp said. “Stepping up in that moment to tie that ballgame speaks volumes. It was a huge at-bat. I’m glad he’s going to be around for the next three years.”
There was still a chance for Cedar Ridge to reach extra innings. Ryan Honeycutt had fouled off two pitches. Then McGuffey went with a fastball where Honeycutt launched it to deep right field. Carter Warren backed up to the fence and tried to reach over it. But the ball cleared his glove and fell just short the scoreboard.
It was the first home run this year at Orange High Field that went over the right field wall.
Bedlam ensued in the Orange dugout. When the inning started, Honeycutt felt like his career was about to end. Not only had he just extended it, but he would get another playoff home game this Friday night. Across the county line in Graham, Eastern Alamance had stunned 5th-seeded Southern Alamance 13-8.
But in a crosstown rivalry game that ends so dramatically, the natural question is how did the other team feel?
Cedar Ridge seniors Landon Dalehite, Mason Cates, Kevin Jones, Joel Davis and Rayshawn Page held a group hug down the left field line. Obviously, there were tears in player’s eyes, a unwanted but familiar feeling. Several Cedar Ridge coaches stared at the ground in dejection. What could be said?
The Red Wolves spent the entire night dominating their archrival–and it all came apart in five batters.
Cates, in particular, was a man on a mission in his final game against Orange. In the second inning, after Nick Aitkin reached on a throwing error, Cates blasted a fastball from Cross Clayton over the centerfield fence. Cedar Ridge led 2-0 and stayed ahead for almost the entire night.
Finnegan cut through the Orange lineup without putting many miles on his odometer. He allowed just one hit through the first three innings on 29 pitches. When Bradsher became the first Orange leadoff man to reach off a line drive to centerfield in the fourth, Finnegan promptly shut down the threat when Horton grounded into a 1-6-3 double play.
Freshman John Grove led off the fourth with a walk. After Caden Thompson replaced him on the base paths, Cates blooped a single that fell between Honeycutt, Santos and Henry Hoffman, sending Thompson to third. After Cates stole second, Grant McGuffey stroked a line drive to left that buzzed over Bradsher’s outstretched glove and rolled to the fence. Thompson and Cates scored easily to give Cedar Ridge a 4-0 lead.
Cates, who has committed to play at Catawba Valley Community College, finished 3-for-3 in his final game.
Even the plays that Cedar Ridge would ordinarily have a hard time making against Orange were handled with ease. Van Tiem became the first Panther to reach second base in the fifth inning after he drew a walk and advanced on a groundout to Finnegan by Hedrick. Sawyer lofted a dangerous floater to McGuffey, who made an over-the-shoulder catch before it could reach centerfield. Finnegan struck out Clayton to end the frame and keep Orange fans in stunned silence.
In hindsight, what turned out to be a crucial call came back to haunt the Red Wolves in the seventh. Finnegan was hit by a pitch from Sawyer, who had relieved Clayton. Finnegan was so pumped with joy, he gave a double thumbs up to his teammates before trotting to first. Landon Dalehite reached on an error at first base, Orange’s third error. Finnegan stole third before he was replaced by Dominic Sena. After Grove walked with one out, Aitkin sent a ground ball to Van Tiem, who threw to Clayton to retire Thompson (on as a courtesy runner again) at second. Sena appeared to have scored to put the Red Wolves ahead 5-0, but after an appeal by Knapp, it was ruled that Thompson slid past second base and interfered with Clayton’s attempt for a double play, thus Aitkin was out and the inning was over. It nullified a precious insurance run.
Orange (18-5) won a state playoff game for the third straight year. They will host Eastern Alamance, the 28th seed, on Friday night. Last week, the Panthers swept a two-games series from the Eagles.
Cedar Ridge (12-10), seeded 21st, suffered a new level of heartbreak that has extended well beyond the point of cruelty for the seniors for several years now. They can take pride in the fact that a Cedar Ridge team down the line will have their time of triumph come at some point. And when it does, it will make the sweet times sweeter.