Jeff Hamlin

After leading the Cedar Ridge baseball team to its first winning season since 2012, Coach Jamie Athas has been appropriately honored.

Athas was named the Big 8 Coach of the Year on Wednesday night. The Red Wolves finished 17-7 and hosted a state playoff game for the first time since 2007, defeating Nash Central 4-1. Cedar Ridge also defeated crosstown rival Orange 6-0 on May 3, its first win over the Panthers since 2012.

In addition, three Red Wolves were named to the All-Big 8 Team.

* Senior centerfielder and pitcher Brandon Andrews, who was usually the leadoff batter, hit .420 with a team-leading six doubles. He also led the squad with 3 home runs and 20 RBIs. As a pitcher, Andrews went 5-3 with a 3.50 ERA, striking out 56, another team-high.

* Sophomore pitcher Phil Berger finished with an 8-2 record, recording wins in his last six starts. He earned the win in a 6-0 win over Orange on May 3rd, throwing a one-hit shutout. That one hit was an infield single in the sixth inning that was debatable. Berger also defeated Nash Central on May 10th, the Red Wolves 1st playoff win since 2007, when they were a 2-A team. Berger also hit .262 with 12 RBI.

* Sophomore shortstop Dante DeFranco led Cedar Ridge with 30 hits. He had a 13-game hitting streak from March 21st against Chapel Hill through April 28 against Carrboro. In the Hilltop Invitational Tournament, he went 4-for-8 with four runs scored. DeFranco also had an RBI in the playoff victory over Nash Central.

The Orange Panthers, who advanced to the third round of the 3A State Playoffs and finished 14-13, placed four players on the All-Big 8 Team.

* Centerfielder and leadoff batter Jaydin Poteat led the Panthers in six different categories: batting average, hits, runs, stolen bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Poteat, a junior,  hit .381 with 32 hits and 28 runs scored. He stole 19 bases on 20 attempts.

* Pitcher and designated hitter Derek Lindaman ended his tenure at Orange with a 7-3 victory. He earned his 1st playoff victory in a 4-2 win at South Johnston on May 9. Lindaman saved his best outings for his final few starts, notching a 2-1 win over Big 8 champion Northwood, a 6-0 shutout of Webb that helped Orange get into the playoffs; a 9-1 victory over archrival Cedar Ridge. In his final game, he took a 1-hitter into the 7th inning against West Brunswick and was two outs away from another playoff win before the Trojans’ Garrison Gause hit a solo homer to tie it. West Brunswick eventually won in 9 innings. Lindaman also hit .300 in 25 plate appearances.

* Freshman shortstop Joey Berini hit safely in all three of Orange’s playoff games, which was no small feat since they were all pitcher’s duels. Berini drove in a run in the 4-2 win over South Johnston, and scored Orange’s only run at West Brunswick. In his first year on the varsity team, Berini hit .274 with 11 runs scored and 8 RBIs. He only made one error all season.

* Left fielder and pitcher Dalton Brown hit .325. Among the best contact hitters on the team, he struck out only three times. In 24 games, Brown had 13 hits and scored eight runs. His biggest game of the Eason was the 4-3 victory over Northern Vance, where he had three hits in a game that went 14 innings and took over six weeks to complete. It started on March 24th, was suspended after 13 innings because of darkness, then resumed on May 1st with Orange driving 90 minutes up to Henderson to play one inning.

After playing soccer for ten years, Orange centerback Natalie Chandler has earned her highest honor: Big 8 Player of the Year.

Chandler, who committed to play for Richmond last month, earned the honor in an announcement from the Orange County Athletic Office on Wednesday night. Chandler, who will graduate next week, plays with Triangle United during the summer.

Chandler’s leadership on the backline helped Orange to an 11-8-1 season, including an 8-3-1 record in the Big 8, 2nd to Chapel Hill. Though her leadership can’t be measured in statistics, Chandler finished the season with three assists. Orange posted nine clean sheets this season.

Speaking of defense, Cedar Ridge’s Taylin Jean was named Big 8 Goalkeeper of the Year. Jean had ten shutouts as the Red Wolves finished 9-7-3. The Red Wolves made the 3A state playoffs, losing to West Brunswick 2-1 in the opening round.

Four other Orange players earned All-Big 8 honors. Senior Becca Shinnick was honored after scoring nine goals and two assists. Shinnick scored a penalty against Cedar Ridge’s in the Panthers 1-0 victory over their crosstown rivals on April 28. Junior Kayla Hodges led Orange with 13 goals and 30 points. She also tied for the team lead with four assists. Hodges had two hat tricks during the season. She scored four goals against Northern Vance on April 19. She also tallied four goals against J.F. Webb on May 3.

Orange junior forward Arianna DeBona also made All-Big 8. She had seven goals during the season. Also making the All-Conference team was junior Jordan Rogers, who logged over 300 minutes as a centerback.

In addition to Jean, Cedar Ridge had two other players named to the All-Big 8 team. Sophomore Alana Lutz and Senior Brittany Daley. The two were co-captains of the team.

Southern Durham’s Foster Kyei was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. Northern Vance earned the Sportsmanship Award.

Just one week after being named Cedar Ridge’s Male Athlete of the Year, Senior Trent Gill was among three Red Wolves who earned All-Big 8 honors in Boys Tennis on Wednesday night.

Joining Gill from Cear Ridge were fellow senior Bryce Phares and freshman Ivo Gardner. Gill, who will be a placekicker for N.C. State next season, finished 11-1 this season playing #4 singles. Gill, who also played soccer during the fall, had an overall record of 14-5.

Phares was the top singles player for the Red Wolves. He and Gardner also comprised the top double squad. Cedar Ridge finished 10-3 overall, 7-3 in the Big 8 Conference, good enough for 2nd place behind only Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves made the 3A state playoffs, where they lost to West Carteret in the opening round 6-3.

Orange’s Justin Webb was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. In addition, Ewan McCallum and Noah Miller were named to the All-Big 8 team.

Chapel Hill captured the Big 8 conference championship. David Mirzoyan was named Big 8 Player of the Year. Chapel Hill also won the sportsmanship award.

Photo by Dave Lindaman 

As the final week of the academic year starts, Orange softball players will have an extra spring in their step on their way to class Monday after winning the 3A state championship over the weekend.

While every state championship is noteworthy, regardless of sport, Orange’s softball title has several milestones.

* It was the 1st softball state championship in school history.

* It was the 1st state championship by a female team in Orange High history.

* It was the eighth team state championship in school history. Orange Wrestling has captured five state titles. There was also the 2008 Baseball team and the 1969 Boys Basketball squad.

* It was the first time a school from Orange, Durham or Wake Counties have won a fast-pitch state championship. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association started recognizing fast-pitch softball as a sport in 1994, when Wilmington Laney defeated Enka 2-games-to-nothing in a best-of-three series. Southern Durham did capture consecutive 3A slow-pitch softball championships  in 1987 and 1988. Slow-pitch softball was officially dissolved in North Carolina in 1998. The fast-pitch state championship has been held annually since 1996.

* Orange was the first Eastern Regional team to win the 3A state championship since 2013, when D.H. Conley defeated Jay Robinson in three games. Enka had won the last two 3A state titles.

*It was the fourth straight year where the state champion swept the title series. The NCHSAA went to a best-of-three format in 2012.

* Orange was NOT the first team from Orange County to play for a fast-pitch state championship. In 2007, Chapel Hill, coached by Blake Norris, made the 4A State Semifinals. In those days, the field would be reduced to four teams and a double elimination tournament would ensue over the course of two days. Chapel Hill defeated Pine Forest and North Davidson, but lost to Charlotte Butler 3-2 in the championship game. The previous day, Butler defeated CHHS 7-1 in 14 innings.

* Mia Davidson was named tournament MVP. Her game-winning, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday night was the 52nd of her career, a state record.  She hit .375 in the tournament with two home runs and 6 RBI.

* Abby Hamlett finished with a .407 average in the state playoffs, the highest on the team. Her final swing as a Panther scored two runs, her 3rd RBI of the tournament.

* Freshman Jaydin Hurdle had six RBIs in the tournament, tying Davidson for the team lead.

* In the two games of the state series, Orange scored all of their runs either in their first at-bat or their last. In game one, Jaydin Hurdle singled home Hamlett for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. In the sixth, Orange trailed 2-1 before Davidson’s two-run homer, which scored Hayley Funk. In the first inning of game 2, Orange loaded the bases for the only time all series. Hurdle had another RBI single to score Davidson, while Alysann Lloyd scored Hamlett on a sacrifice fly. In the seventh inning with Orange lead 2-1, Hamlett had the single that scored Funk and Davidson.

* Orange ends the year with a 25-3 record, naturally the most wins in school history.

The path to Orange’s 1st Regional softball championship was one where logic didn’t apply.

On May 26th, West Brunswick wheeled into Hillsborough riding an 18-game wining streak, fresh off an 8-5 win over Orange in Shalotte in the opening game of the best-of-3 Eastern Regional Series. Torrential rain throughout the week and North Carolina High School Athletic Association guidelines forced the series to end on May 26th, which meant Orange had to beat WBHS twice in one night.

How could a team lose twice in one night when they hadn’t lost once in two months?

Because logic didn’t apply here.

Logic would dictate that the player most responsible for Orange’s success, Mia Davidson, would play the largest role in overcoming the daunting task of winning twice in one night against the Mideastern Conference champions.

Yet Davidson labored through the worst slump of her high school career, going 0-for-6 with two walks. She was hit by pitches three times.

The most important at-bat of the series came in game 2 from sophomore Olivia Ruff, who launched a grand slam to cap a five-run 1st inning.

It was the first home run of her career. Not just in a high school game, in ANY game.

Because logic didn’t apply here.

When West Brunswick fought back to narrow the Orange lead to 5-4, sophomore Alisha Pettiford pounded a two-run homer to left, ensuring a third and deciding game.

It was Pettiford’s second career home run. Because you know how that goes.

Logic would imply that, in the third game, an Orange senior would step up in a crucial role, which proved true.

Except Enzyah Holt didn’t start. She was a courtesy runner who came in whenever pitcher Kristina Givens got on base.

In two separate instances, Holt drew throws from West Brunswick’s catcher that wound up in the outfield, and scored each time. That, and Givens’ arm which logged 230 pitches on the night, was enough to carry Orange to a 5-1 win.

That’s only a partial list of the dramatic, quirky, strange and downright funny events that comprised Orange’s run to its first 3A State Championship, which ended with a 4-1 victory over Piedmont on Saturday at Dail Softball Stadium at N.C. State in Raleigh.

If the heroes of the regional series against West Brunswick were underclassmen, the state title series was carried by Orange’s three senior captains.

Piedmont outplayed Orange in game 1 on Friday night. They had nine hits, while Orange had half of its six hits in the sixth inning. After freshman Jaydin Hurdle knocked in senor Abby Hamlett in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, the Panthers were limited to one baserunner in the next four innings.

By the time the sixth inning rolled around, Piedmont led 2-1 off an RBI groundout by Gracie Rape which scored Avery Bellai.

Sophomore Hayley Funk lined the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth into left field. After Grace Andrews moved Funk to 2nd with a sacrifice bunt, Davidson came to bat.

Piedmont coach Jason Phelix had no intention to pitch to the most prolific home run hitter in state history with a state championship on the line. He instructed Rape to pitch around Davidson, who still took a cut on a 1-0 fastball.

Then Rape made the mistake of coming too close to the plate with a 2-1 fastball. Davidson placed it almost 300 feet over the centerfield wall, nearly hitting a shed that stores a tractor for the N.C. State ground crew.

Orange led 3-2. They never trailed again in the series.

“I had been in a slump,” said Davidson. “I told myself to relax and do what I gotta do. I finally did.”

Game 2 on Saturday was your typical early summer playoff game. It was 88 degrees, about three degrees above normal in Raleigh. On the field, the heat index was 95.

Heat was the latest obstacle for an Orange team that has dealt with adversity through a variety of settings, but it was something that anyone with summer softball experience deals with regularly. Many of the Orange players, along with Piedmont, journey throughout the southeast playing on travel teams.

The players know in advance that heat of the day playoff games means more than just suburns and excess sweat.

After four innings, Orange led 2-1.

And Givens got lightheaded in the dugout.

“She felt like she was going to throw up,” said Davidson.”

Fortunately, the Orange training staff found the right ingredients to push Givens through the final three innings: cold towels, carbonated beverages and…breath mints.

“You have to remember you aren’t playing for yourself, but everybody else,” said Givens, who will focus on a medical career in college. “When you state think about that, you stop thinking about how you feel.”

“She’s the best pitcher in 3A softball,” said Davidson. “That’s more heart than any kid I got. Pitching isn’t about throwing the right pitches and throwing hard. It’s about enduring, overcoming and persevering.”

Givens led the defense. On offense, Hamlett went 4-for-7 in the series, scoring twice. In the top of the seventh, she lined a single to left, scoring Funk and Davidson, putting Orange ahead 4-1 and starting a raucous celebration for the Orange fans along the 1st base line.

It was the final time Hamlett would swing the bat in an Orange uniform, a fact that wasn’t lost on her afterwards.

“I’m glad this was how I was able to go out,” said Hamlett with tears in her eyes. “It’s sad, honestly. I’ll never step foot on a softball field again.”

“She was really the key who brought it all together this year,” said Davidson. “She came to me before practice one day and said she would move to shortstop so she could cover Mia’s throws. I said ‘Let’s do it.’ She’s been clutch.”

“Our three captains all did something for us to win this weekend,” said Davidson.

Davidson’s biggest chore for next year is the unenviable task of replacing his daughter, possibly the greatest female athlete in Orange history. He’ll also need a new pitcher, a role that Hurdle may assume.

Those are problems for tomorrow. For now, he can look back on his team’s incredible run through the state tournament, and a state championship that will last forever.

In a career that’s spanned two sports, three conference championships, two sections titles, and a regional crown, Saturday brought a fitting end to Mia Davidson’s Orange High career. Possibly the greatest female athlete in Orange history, Davidson won the 3A State Championship in softball after the Panthers defeated Piedmont 4-1. Davidson was named tournament MVP.

State Tournament MVP Mia Davidson Discusses Winning the State Title & her Senior Year

No Description

In his 2nd year at the helm, Orange Coach Eddie Davidson has led the Panthers to a state championship. On Saturday, Orange defeated Piedmont 4-1 to sweep the best-of-three series. And he cut a mean spin-o-roonie afterwards. It was a bittersweet day for Davidson, as it was the last time he will coach his daughter, catcher Mia Davidson. Next season, Mia will play for Mississippi State.

Orange Softball Coach Eddie Davidson on Winning it All

No Description

Kristina Givens 52nd win in the circle for Orange earned the Panthers a state championship on Saturday. In her final game for the Panthers, Givens surrendered just four hits against Piedmont in game 2 of the 3A State Championship Series. She discussed playing her final game with battery-mate Mia Davidson, and what’s ahead for her.

Pitcher Kristina Givens Battles Piedmont and the Sun for a State Championship

No Description

Abby Hamlett final games inside an Orange uniform were ones to remember. She went 4-for-7 in the 3A State Championship series against Piedmont. Her final swing as a Panther ensured the state championship, driving in Hayley Funk and Mia Davidson in the top of the 7th as the Panthers defeated Piedmont 4-1 to sweep the best-of-3 series.

Orange Shortstop Abby Hamlett Discusses Winning the State Championship

No Description