Month: May 2024

It’s finally Cedar Ridge’s off week from Central Conference play. The Red Wolves played its penultimate game of the regular season by dominating the best 3A team from the Northern Lakes Conference.

And they did it on the road.

Ian McGuffey continued to murder the ball, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double while Hudson Kelly slammed a triple in the late innings as the Red Wolves defeated Carrboro 13-5 at Jaguars Field on Wednesday afternoon. Junior Quinn Finnegan earned his third win of the season, striking out three over four innings.

It was a strong all-around game for senior Mason Cates. He threw two shutout innings in relief of Finnegan, allowing only two hits. Starting the game at first base, Cates had an RBI double during a three-run second inning that put the Red Wolves ahead for good.

Cedar Ridge took advantage of four Jaguars errors. The Red Wolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Landon Dalehite drew a leadoff walk. Ian McGuffey lined the first pitch he saw to left field. Dalehite moved to third after Carrboro was called for a balk. Nick Aitkin lined a ball to Carrboro’s shortstop, who tried to double up McGuffey at first. But the ball was thrown away and Dalehite scored. Grant McGuffey followed when he dropped a single into right field, scoring his twin brother.

After the Jaguars tied the game with two runs in the first inning, David Schoof opened the second with a line drive to center field. Hudson Kelly walked. After Schoof was thrown out trying to steal third, Finnegan walked. Carrboro was called for another balk, sending Kelly to third. Kelly would score off a groundout to the shortstop by Dalehite. Ian McGuffey drilled a double to centerfield to bring in Finnegan. Cates delivered the big blow of the game, a double that reached the right field fence, plating McGuffey.

Carrboro reduced its deficit to 5-3, but the Red Wolves immediately responded with two more runs in the fourth inning. Finnegan reached second base on a two-base error to start the inning, then went to third after yet another Carrboro balk. Dalehite drove in Finnegan off an error by the Jaguars third baseman. Dalehite generated a run with his legs, stealing third and eventually scoring off a sacrifice fly by Ian McGuffey.

In the sixth inning, Kevin Jones hit an RBI single to left field, bringing in Aitkin. Earlier in the frame, Cates knocked in Kelly with a sacrifice fly.

Cedar Ridge will play its final home game of the season against Knightdale on Thursday night at 6.

Kimber Shambley hit her first walk-off home run for Cedar Ridge softball on Wednesday night, and it didn’t just win the Red Wolves a game.

That walkoff home run gave an elusive victory for Cedar Ridge over an Alamance County team. The Red Wolves had lost seven straight to Western and Eastern Alamance, dating back to 2019.

It was also a win for the seniors. It was the last home game in the long legacy of Cierra and Cameron Copeland, two seniors who have been with Cedar Ridge athletics from August to May every academic year since they were freshmen. When Cierra and Cameron started playing basketball in 2021, it couldn’t have been less glamorous. They were suiting up while wearing masks during a pandemic inside empty gyms while a combination of injuries and graduation led to the Red Wolves only having five players.

Alice Ann Koehler and Kaitlyn Nieves also celebrated their senior nights as their numbers were spray painted along the third-base lines. It was Kohler who would come up with a big catch that ultimately led to the winning run from Shambley.

Much of the night felt like one big celebration for Cedar Ridge. They went into the seventh inning with a 6-0 lead as pitcher Charlotte Lowry threw six shutout innings, scattering only four hits.

Suddenly, it ended when the Warriors found the form that took them within one win of the 3A State Championship last year.

Camryn Rodrigues and Ryan Justice singled while Kayde Moore walked to load the bases, but it didn’t seem to be any big deal. Bayleigh Burris grounded to Lowry at the circle, who flipped it to catcher Rylee Capps for a force out. Lela Kate Baker sent a one-hopper to Laci Sykes at third, who threw out Moore at the plate.

With two out, Kara Alday lined a hard grounder to the left field gap to score Burris and Justice. To make the Red Wolves even more uneasy, Addison Beal skied a fly ball to the left field fence, easily plating Baker and Alday to cut the Red Wolf lead to 6-4.

Kyndal Wilborn skied a fly ball that bounced away with right fielder Victoria Matthews. Skylar Martin, running for Beal, scored from first base.

Briles Overton then sent a fly ball to right field that landed in front of Matthews for the game-tying hit. After Rodrigues was intentionally walked, Moore sent a dangerous fly to left field, but Kohler backtracked to the corner to make the catch and finally end the inning.

If there was any feeling of dread in the Red Wolf dugout, Shambley erased it instantly. The very first pitch she saw was a no-doubter, skied so far to centerfield, it even cleared the old Cedar Ridge fence, which was around 225 feet from home plate. It easily cleared the new fence, which is higher but about 25 feet shorter.

It was Shambley’s eighth home run of the season. Shambley, who has committed to play at Western Carolina, also leads the team with 34 RBIs.

Up to the seventh inning, the Red Wolves had played its most balanced game of the year. K0hler  led off the third inning with a walk, the first of six straight Red Wolves to reach against Beal, who started in the circle for the Warriors. Following a single by Matthews, Kohler scored off a single that rolled into left field by Mia Best. After Madeline Galindo-Woodring singled down the left field line, Shambley dropped a fly ball into right field to increase the Red Wolf lead to 3-0. With Brittani Goodard at the plate, Galindo-Woodring scored on a wild pitch, sending Shambley to third.

With Laci Sykes at the plate, Shambley scored the fifth run of the inning off another wild pitch.

In the fourth, Matthews walked, then stole second and advanced to third following a single by Best. Matthews scored off a groundout to second by Galindo-Woodring.

Cedar Ridge ends the regular season 12-7-1, winning its third game in three days. They started the week with a 7-7 tie against Falls Lake in Creedmoor in a game that reached the eleventh inning and had to be shut down because the Firebirds park doesn’t have lights.

Cedar Ridge defeated Walter Williams 10-0 in Hillsborough on Tuesday. Lowry went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Red Wolves against the Bulldogs. Sykes finished 2-for-2 with a triple.

Following its first win over one of the best teams in Alamance County, Cedar Ridge coach Allen Byrd will prepare for the state playoffs starting on Thursday afternoon.

With a smile on his face on Wednesday night, he was asked what he will tell his team as they prepare for a first-round road game.

“Why not us?” he replied.