The painful moments endured by Cedar Ridge baseball at Orange High Field are too numerous to mention and come to mind easily for anyone who has witnessed them in recent years.
That’s why the irony of Tuesday night’s game is rich, unforgettable and for Cedar Ridge, oh so sweet.
Trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning, the Red Wolves were down to its last strike against Orange’s Ryan Sawyer, who was working on his first career complete game shutout. He was poised to get it as he worked against Cedar Ridge’s Dominic Sena, who had become the first Red Wolf to face a full count the entire game. Sawyer’s payoff pitch was outside. Sena joined Grant McGuffey, who lofted a soft liner to shallow left field to lead off the 7th inning, on base.
On a 3-1 count, Hudson Kelly sent a grounder to shortstop that appeared to be routine.
For once, fortune favored the Red Wolves on the northern side of town.
The throw went over the head of first baseman Wren Hash, allowing McGuffey to score the game-tying run. Almost as importantly, Sena took third off the error.
At that point, Sawyer was at 93 pitches and was replaced by left fielder Mason Grooms. Cedar Ridge freshman Jesus Velazquez, who had flown out to right fielder Dominic O’Keefe twice on the night, sent a searing line drive that landed on the lip of the outfield grass.
Sena and Kelly scored easily to give the Red Wolves its first lead of the game as the visitors grandstand, located down the third base line, shook in joyous cheering.
Orange’s defense, which had played an errorless game leading up to the seventh, was plagued by problems that proved to be fatal. Carter Warren reached on a dropped infield pop-up, which led to the sweetest moment of all for Cedar Ridge.
Senior Quinn Finnegan, who had firsthand experience with two painful state playoff losses at Orange in his freshman and junior years, delivered a blast to left field that cleared the fence by plenty. It was a three-run blast that put the Red Wolves ahead 6-1.
In past years, there may have been a lingering doubt if the Red Wolves could even hold on to that lead inside Panther Field. But not on Tuesday.
Finnegan finished the complete game in the seventh with no turbulence.
Cedar Ridge (7-10, 4-4 in the Central Conference) defeated Orange 6-1, its first victory at Panther Field since 2012. The Red Wolves had not beaten Orange period since 2018.
Orange could fill a book with all the dramatic wins they’ve had against Cedar Ridge and it appeared they would add another page on Tuesday night.
Going into the sixth, Finnegan had tossed a clinic. He needed only 41 pitches to get through the first five shutout innings.
With one out in the sixth, Kayden Bradsher poked a low line drive to centerfield that Ian McGuffey dove for and missed. The ball bounced over McGuffey’s outstretched body. Warren raced in from right field to back him up, but Bradsher reached second base. Oliver Van Tiem broke the scoreless tie with a line drive up the middle. Bradsher, the fastest man on Orange’s team, easily beat McGuffey’s throw to the plate.
The startling rally provided hope for a Cedar Ridge team that drove up Orange High Road having dropped three straight conference games, including a disappointing loss to Western Alamance in Hillsborough last week.
“We had one mindset and that was to finish,” Massey said. “This season hasn’t gone the way we want it to in the first half. We had a reset and a week off. Our guys really bought into finishing and trusting each other. We talked before the seventh inning and I told them they had to believe in each other and that they could do this. And they did.”
Finnegan struck out eight in a complete game victory, allowing only six hits and one walk. His three-run homer in the seventh was his third dinger of the year.
“That was the best game I’ve seen Quinn throw,” Massey said. “There wasn’t a doubt in my mind how he was going to pitch here. There was a reason why he switched him in the rotation to throw on Tuesdays. It was so he could come here to throw on this field where, to be honest, he’s dominated every time. The Quinn that we saw tonight was the Quinn that has worked his tail off.”
Oddly enough, the same Orange defense that collapsed in the seventh inning came up with big plays throughout the game to keep it scoreless. Cedar Ridge’s John Grove was thrown out at the plate by Sawyer when Sena tried to bunt him across in the second inning.
Aidan Ryan doubled to leadoff the fourth inning. After Sawyer was called for a balk, Ryan moved to third. Grove flew out to Van Tiem, who delivered a laser to catcher D.J. Woods to nab Ryan at the plate and end the inning.
Last May in the opening round of the state playoffs, Cedar Ridge led Orange 4-0 going into the seventh inning. Finnegan retired the first two batters before the Panthers made an improbable rally with seven straight players reaching base. Orange was down to its last strike twice before Kayden Bradsher delivered a two-run, game-tying single to centerfield. Then Ryan Honeycutt jolted a walkoff three-run homer, the first ball to go over Orange’s right field fence all season.
“I can tell you that all offseason, you have a bad taste in your mouth after the playoff game,” Massey said. “This is a big rivalry and our guys wanted this one bad. But we still have a lot of goals left for this season. This is just a little bit of a taste that they can have the rest of the year.”
