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Hillsborough Sports | Hillsborough Sports’s live audio
We cover Hillsborough Sports. Play-by-play for Orange and Cedar Ridge baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, softball and lacrosse!
It was ironic after a difficult week, Orange would find a way to win in Wilson.
For years, Historic Fleming Stadium was a place where Orange had a terrible time winning. For a good portion of the day on Saturday afternoon, it appeared Orange’s trip to Wilson would be another trip to nowhere.
Until Garrett Sawyer came up with the swing of his life.
With Orange trailing Pine Forest 4-1 in the fourth inning, Sawyer hit the first grand slam of his career over the left field fence inside a park that has hosted minor league games. It propelled Orange into a 8-4 lead.
The Panthers would use timely hitting and another save from freshman Mason Bullard to hold off the Trojans 9-8.
Sawyer grand slam was his second home run of the season. He was also Orange’s starting pitcher, throwing two innings.
Orange junior Henry Hoffman, who is tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs, slashed a double that landed at the wall in right field to score Cam Brown and Wren Hash. Mason Bullard, who walked earlier in the inning, scored the tying run off a wild pitch with Hunter Albert at the plate.
Sawyer expanded Orange’s lead in the sixth inning with an infield hit that turned into a two-base error after an errant throw to first base. D.J. Woods, a sophomore starting his first varsity game, knocked in Sawyer with a groundout to Pine Forest shortstop Kaydyn Thomas to put Orange ahead 9-5.
The Trojans nearly got it all back in the seventh inning. Three runs crossed the plate starting with a leadoff double from Chase Mims. Ryan Geske knocked in Mims with an RBI single. Jayhlen Brown, who reached on a walk, scored off a wild pitch to cut the Orange lead to 9-7.
Bullard came in as pitcher as Geske scored off a groundout by Pine Forest’s Wade McLamb to third baseman Dominic O’Keefe. With Landon Thompson representing the tying run at third and one out, Bullard induced Rylan Ditmore into a groundout back to the mound. Thomas grounded out to shortstop Kayden Bradsher to end the game.
Person swept Orange in a two-game Central Conference series last week. It was the first time the Rockets won a regular season game against Orange since they became conference rivals again in 2022.
Cedar Ridge 11, Chatham Central 3:
Ian McGuffey drove in four runs as Cedar Ridge scored eight unanswered runs to defeat Chatham Central in Bear Creek in a nonconference game on Tuesday night.
Aidan Ryan struck out six over four innings in middle relief to earn the win for the Red Wolves. Ryan allowed only two hits and two runs, just one of which was earned.
With the game tied 2-2 going into the fourth inning, Ryan led off the inning with a single to left field. With Walker Holmes at the plate, Ryan stole second, then swiped third. After Holmes walked, Ryan would score on a passed ball with Jesus Velazques at the plate. Holmes advanced to third on the same passed ball and would score when Velazquez grounded out to first base.
McGuffey drove a double to right field. Quinn Finnegan drew a walk. John Grove sent a grounder to first that was misplayed, allowing McGuffey to score and expanded Cedar Ridge’s lead to 6-3 just before Finnegan was tagged out at third base.
In the fifth inning, Heckman line a single to left field. Heckman stole second and would score off a double by Ryan to left field. Following another single by Dominic Sena, Velasquez drilled a RBI single to left field to score Ryan
John Grove finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Ian McGuffey finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. He went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple.
Cedar Ridge will face New Hanover on Wednesday afternoon in Hillsborough at 5PM.
Mia Davidson: The Diablos Rojos won the championship of the Mexican Softball League last month. Davidson, playing her first season in Mexico, helped Diablos defeat Sultanes de Monterrey 3-0 in the best-of-five Serie de la Reina (The Queen’s Series). The third and deciding game, played in front of 12,424 fans at Estadio Alfredo Harp Help, was captured by Diablos 5-0. The series broke the league record for attendance. Davidson started at first base in all three games of the series. In game one, which the Diablos won 7-6, Davidson hit the game-winning three-run home run in the sixth inning to vault the Diablos ahead 7-5. She finished game one 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The Diablos finished first in the regular season with a 23-5 record, three games ahead of Bravas de Leon.
Bryse Wilson: In his first games for the Chicago White Sox, Wilson threw two innings of middle relief. He tossed a scoreless seventh inning with one strikeout agains the Los Angeles Angels at Rate Field on March 30. Los Angeles won 3-2. On March 29, Wilson threw another scoreless seventh inning, giving up two hits and a strikeout. The Angels won 1-0. The White Sox are 2-3 after losing to Minnesota on Tuesday.
Katie Belle Sikes: The greatest swimmer in Orange High history finished her freshman season at Georgia in the NCAA National Championships in Federal Way, Washington. In the 400 yard freestyle relay, Sikes, Helena Jones, liane Reinstein Bri Robertson finished as second-team All-Americans. They finished 16th in the nation with a time of 3:13.20. Sikes swam the anchor leg at 48.27 seconds. Georgia finished 16h in the country with 58 points. Virginia won its fifth-consecutive national championship with 544 points.
Mary Moss Wirt: Delaware took two-out-of-three games against Elon in a softball weekend series in Newark, DE over the weekend. Wirt scored Elon’s only run in the Blue Hens’ 9-1 win over the Phoenix last Friday. Wirt, starting at catcher, went 1-for-2. On Sunday, Delaware edged the Phoenix 3-2. Wirt went 1-for-3. Against Monmouth on March 23, Wirt finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored as the Phoenix defeated the Hawks 11-0 in five innings. Elon swept the three-game series from Monmouth. In the opening game of the series, Wirt scored a run as a pinch-runner. Currently, Wirt is hitting .242 in 18 games. Elon is 17-14 overall, 9-3 in the Coastal Athletic Association.
Takia Nichols: The North Carolina Central Eagles took the series from Coppin State at CSU Softball Complex in Baltimore over the weekend. Nichols drove in a run off a sacrifice fly in the second inning of Sunday’s series-finale, which the Eagles won 10-0 in five innings. In Central’s 6-2 win over Coppin State on Friday, Nichols drove in the opening run off another sacrifice fly. Nichols went 1-for-2 in the opener. She started all three games at first base. The Eagles are 4-5 in the MEAC. They will host Morgan State at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary starting with a doubleheader on Saturday.
Carson Bradsher: The Division III Averett University softball team dropped a doubleheader to #5 Virginia Wesleyan at Cougar Field in Danville, VA on Sunday. Bradsher, hitting leadoff for the Cougars, went 2-for-7 with an RBI against the Marlins. #14 Randolph-Macon swept a doubleheader from Averett on March 29. Bradsher went 2-for-7 in the doubleheader. Averett is 11-14 overall, 2-6 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Bradsher is leading the team with a .439 batting average. She also leads the team in hits (43), runs (23), and total bases (46).
Ava Lowry: Against Guilford, Lowry went 2-for-5 with a double as North Carolina Wesleyan split a doubleheader against the Quakers on March 25. Lowry had an RBI single as the Battling Bishops improved to 2-2 in the USA South Conference. Over the weekend, Lowry started both games at shortstop as Wesleyan swept a doubleheader from Southern Virginia on scores of 4-0 and 9-1.
Olivia Aitkin: The former Cedar Ridge utility player started in centerfield for Division III Amherst on Sunday. Tufts University swept a doubleheader from the Mammoths. Aitkin also started in centerfield as Amherst split a doubleheader from Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT. In a 6-5 loss to Middlebury, Aitkin drove in a run off a sacrifice fly.
Brianne Foster: Foster started at catcher for Wake Tech and went 1-for-3 on March 26 against Louisburg at Buffaloe Road Athletic Park in Raleigh. Foster finished 1-for-3. Louisburg won 16-1 in six innings. Wake Tech is 14-15 overall, 8-8 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Foster has played in 18 games this season and is hitting .205 with six RBIs.
