Cedar Ridge Baseball

With this year’s Big 8 Conference baseball race a sprint instead of a marathon, Orange had a pitcher ready to learn on the job just in time for his first start.

In only his second pitching appearance for the Panthers, sophomore Ryan Hench didn’t surrender a hit over four innings to earn his first win as Orange rolled past Northwood 10-1 on Friday night at Panther Field. Hench, Jaren Sikes, Cesar Lozano and David Waitt combined on a one-hitter.

The Panthers (4-0, 4-0 in the Big 8 Conference) remain tied with Northern Durham for first place in the Big 8.

Orange scored at least ten runs for the third straight game (excluding the forfeit victory over Vance County last Friday). Northwood, coming off a dramatic win over Chapel Hill on Tuesday, started Salvador Delgado as pitcher for the second straight game. Orange’s first six batters had base hits, starting with Jackson Berini’s line drive to right field. Connor Funk lined a first-pitch fastball that rolled all the way to the fence, which allowed Berini to score from first.

It was the start of a five-run first inning. After Will Walker laced a single to left, catcher Davis Horton drilled a line drive down the left field line to bring in Funk. Horton finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. Through three games, Horton leads the team with ten RBIs.

Hench helped his own cause when he legged out an infield single on a cue shot up the third base line. David Waitt poked a fly ball that floated down fair inches from the right field line to score Walker and led to Delgado being replaced by reliever Nick Lovingood.

Jordan Underwood got on board off an error to score courtesy runner Jacob Jones. Sikes hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, which led to Hench coming in for the fifth run.

Berini, who finished 2-for-2, led off the second inning with a walk. After he stole second, Horton got his second RBI when he looped a single to right field that fell between three Chargers converging on the ball.

In the fourth, Berini lead off with a bouncing single over second base. Funk walked, which led to Horton lining a two-run double to the fence in left field.

Northwood didn’t get its first hit until the fifth inning, after Hench, left the game, when Seth Davis sent a soft line drive to centerfield. Davis took second off a wild pitch. Luke Smith and Lovingood walked, and Andrew Johnson brought in Davis with another free pass.

The Panthers responded with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sikes led off with a double. Tyler Lloyd sent a hanging fly ball to second base, which was dropped and allowed Sikes to score. Walker knocked in Lloyd with a sacrifice fly.

Orange will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, its first road game of the season. Panther coach Jason Knapp has also scheduled a nonconfernece game against West Stokes next Friday. The contest against the Wildcats will replace a scheduled contest against Southern Durham, which will be a forfeit win for Orange since the Spartans aren’t fielding a team this year.

NORTHERN DURHAM 10, CEDAR RIDGE 9

For the second week in a row, Cedar Ridge nearly came back from a big deficit late.

Northern Durham led Cedar Ridge 10-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning before the Red Wolves staged another big rally, only to fall short against the undefeated Knights 10-9.

Garrett Ray started the rally with an infield single. B.J. Thornton walked, and Nick Nolan doubled on a line drive. Ray was thrown out at the plate while Thornton advanced to third. Aiden McAllister doubled on a ground ball to centerfield to score Nolan and Thornton.

Cedar Ridge started the seventh inning by loading the bases with no outs. Grady Ray singled to left, while Cristian Macias walked and Tucker Cothran singled to right. Mason Cates’ sacrifice fly to right field brought in Ray.

Marco Velazquez lined a double to centerfield to score Macias and Cothran, but Velasquez was thrown out at third for the second out. Thornton walked. but Norther secured a groundout to second base for the final out.

McAllister finished 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. Garrett Ray also went 2-for-4.

Cedar Ridge will travel to East Chapel Hill on Tuesday.

David Waitt wasn’t sure what he had just done. Neither did his coach, Jason Knapp.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Knapp said as he watched Waitt’s 1st inning fly ball to left field carry…and carry…and carry until it nearly hit Orange trainer Emily Gaddy’s car parked near the football field house beyond the left field wall.

Waitt, who has garnered an early reputation as a singles and doubles hitter, had his first varsity career home run. A three-run job, no less.

By the end of the night, Orange pounded out 19 hits against a weary Cedar Ridge pitching staff as the Panthers defeated the Red Wolves 19-9 in six innings at a windy Orange High Field on Wednesday night. Orange (3-0) is tied with Northern Durham for first place in the Big 8 Conference.

Obviously, it was a night of offense. Orange’s win couldn’t overshadow the most impressive performance in the career of Cedar Ridge leadoff batter Aidan McAllister, who launched two home runs, each to dead centerfield, in the opening two innings. McAllister scored three times and finished with three RBIs.

Waitt, a sophomore in his first year at the varsity level, finished 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs and three runs scored. His classmate, shortstop Jackson Berini, went 3-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored. Conner Funk went 2-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs.

“1-through-9, we’re solid,” Knapp said. “It’s as solid as a hitting lineup as I’ve ever had. We have the potential to get the ball over the fence and bust one open.”

Cedar Ridge (1-2), coming off a narrow loss to Chapel Hill on Friday, has drawn the short straw in terms of Big 8 Conference scheduling. Among the six teams in the league that are fielding teams week in and week out (Orange, Cedar, Northern Durham, Northwood, East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill), the Red Wolves are the only one that haven’t had a forfeit win yet (Southern Durham and Vance County have forfeited all of its games thus far due to a lack of players). After a season-opening triumph at Northwood on April 27, Cedar Ridge has played three games in eight days, the most strenuous stretch for any Big 8 team. Coach Bryson Massey has used pitchers Will Berger and Cristian Macias in all three games.

Not that he wants to hear that.

“We don’t make excuses,” Massey said. “I tell our guys we don’t make excuses. Whether its the rain, the forfeits, whether we face everybody’s ace every time we roll out. We don’t make excuses for ourselves. We’re going to walk out and expect to compete every pitch of every game. We want to be the team that competes the hardest every night.

McAllister opened the night of offense with a solo blast to centerfield on the second pitch thrown by Orange starter Pierson Kenney (who improved to 2-0). After Bryce Clark walked and Garrett Ray was hit by a pitch, Macias reached on a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases. Catcher Tucker Cothran grounded a ball back to Kenney, who threw to catcher Davis Horton at the plate to retire Clark. Third baseman Marco Velazquez knocked in Ray with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to put Cedar Ridge ahead 2-0.

Orange responded with four runs in the 1st inning. Before Waitt’s three-run homer Berini reached on an error and scored off a single by Horton. That lead was short-lived, as well.

After B.J. Thornton reached on a one-out infield single in the top of the second, McAllister belted a 1-1 fastball over the centerfield wall to tie the game.

Orange sent 12 batters to plate in an 8-run 2nd inning. Berini led off with a single to right field, followed by Funk getting aboard on an infield error. Senior Will Walker lined a double down the left field line to bring in Berini. After Horton was intentionally walked, Waitt went opposite way with a soft liner to right field. Walked scored, and Horton slid in safely after the ball popped out of the glove of the catcher in a close play at the plate.

Jaren Sikes lined a RBI single to bring in Waitt. Tyler Lloyd walked, Berini singled and Funk reached on an error, which led to Lloyd and Berini coming in.

The only semblance of consistent defense came when Orange sophomore Joey Pounds entered the game to relieve Kenney in the fourth inning. At one point, Pounds retired seven consecutive Red Wolves, including striking out the side in the fifth inning. It was Pounds’ first varsity save as he riddled Cedar Ridge batters with his unique fastball that looks like a curve but really isn’t.

“It’s all over the place,” Knapp said. “It cuts, it tails. He’s got great movement. I’m awfully proud of him. I put him in a tough spot. He battled through some adversity with a few balks that were called. He pulled himself together and absolutely started dealing for a few innings.”

In the sixth, Clark doubled to left field. Centerfielder Garrett Ray knocked him in with a single.

Orange will host Northwood on Friday night. Cedar Ridge will return home to host Northern Durham on Friday.

“These guys compete,” Knapp said. “They work hard in practice. They’re always pushing each other and I was really proud of these guys tonight. They rang the bell and they answered some questions. People in the back were asking some questions about these guys, and they really came out and showed some things.”

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is pitcher/designated hitter Cristian Macias. Last Tuesday, Macias went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs at the plate as the Red Wolves defeated Northwood 8-3. It was Cedar Ridge’s first win at Northwood since 2014. In addition to knocking in two runs, Macias earned the save on the mound. He threw three-and-one-third innings and surrendered just one run on three hits. He struck out three and walked just one to win the game for starter Will Berger. Macias drove in the first run of the night with a single to score Aiden McAllister. He knocked in Cedar Ridge’s final run with an RBI groundout to bring in Grady Ray. On Friday night, Macias was inserted as a pitcher with runners at second and third with no one out in the fifth inning. After loading the bases with a walk, Macias pitched the Red Wolves out of the inning without giving up a run. At the plate, Macias started as a designated hitter and went 1-for-2. Cristian is a big Los Angeles Dodgers fan and is pleased with how the defending World Champions have started its season. Tonight, Cedar Ridge travels to Orange, then will host Northern Durham on Friday. You can hear both games on Hillsboroughsports.com.

Now this was worth waiting over a pandemic for.

Entering Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge had lost in six consecutive trips to Northwood. Even the most accomplished Cedar Ridge baseball teams had faltered in Pittsboro in recent years. In 2020, the Chargers pounded the young Red Wolves 15-0. The 2018 Cedar Ridge team, which finished 2nd in the Big 8 Conference, started the league slate with a 19-7 loss at Northwood in five innings.

A year removed from playing just three games because of COVID-19, the Red Wolves didn’t let a lack of game experience bother them in Pittsboro this time.

Cedar Ridge charged out to a 2-0 lead and never trailed, beating the Chargers 8-2 at the Ronald Horton Baseball Complex. It was the first time Cedar Ridge won at Northwood since 2014. It was also the first Big 8 Conference win for Cedar Ridge Coach Bryson Massey, who had a lone league game against Northwood last year before the pandemic hit.

“We remember that game last year,” Massey said. “The guys talked about that. I prepared them and I felt like they were prepared to come out tonight and show who they really are. I challenge these guys to get 1% better every day. If you do that, you’ll get to where you want to be at the end of the season.”

Junior Will Berger earned the win on opening night. He gave up only one hit in two-and-two-thirds shutout innings, with five strikeouts and four walks. Among several revelations on the night was junior Christian Macias, who drove in the game’s opening run with a line drive to centerfield to score Aidan McAllister. Macias would replace Berger with two out in the third inning. Macias threw three-and-one-thirds innings and yielded just three hits and one walk. He struck out three.

B.J. Thornton closed out the game in the seventh inning.

After Macias’ single in the first inning, he advanced to third on a throwing error. Tucker Cothren sent a line drive to center field to knock in Macias.

Senior Grady Ray opened the second inning with a bunt single. After Thornton, who started in right field, walked, Braedyn Jacobson looped a single to right field to score Ray. Northwood Coach David Miller put Zach Barnes in to pitch, but Bryce Clark knocked in Thornton with a sacrifice fly to left field to increase Cedar Ridge’s advantage to 4-0.

The Red Wolves added another run in the fifth inning when Thornton hit a one-out single to right. Jacobson advanced Thornton to second base on a fielder’s choice. Clark then got aboard off an infield error, sending Jacobson to the plate.

Luke Smith scored Northwood’s opening run in the fourth inning off a groundout by Nate Ortiz. Smith started he inning with a line drive single to left.

Cothran reached on an error to start the sixth inning, followed by another error that allowed Ray to reach first. With runners at second and third, Thornton squared to bunt for a squeeze play attempt, but Cothan scored anyway off another Northwood miscue for an insurance run. Ray added another tally off a sacrifice fly by Jacobson.

The Chargers, which lost eleven seniors on a 19-player roster last season because of the pandemic, doesn’t have a senior on its current roster. They have nine sophomores with eight juniors and one freshman. The youth was painfully apparent as the Chargers committed seven errors.

Nonetheless, Cedar Ridge has waited years for a breakthrough victory. With the Big 8 Conference counting only the first meetings between conference opponents in the league standings, this was a vital Cedar Ridge win on several levels.

Now, Cedar Ridge will prepare for its home opener against Chapel Hill on Friday night. The Tigers earned a forfeit win over Vance County on Tuesday when the Vipers had COVID precautions.

“It’s always awesome when you come to Northwood,” Massey said. “You know what you’re going to get. I hope on Friday, we can have the same type of intensity. We want our fans to support Cedar Ridge. Our guys deserve that. They’ve really brought in here. We have a great group of seniors here and they took their lumps from Northwood over the years. They knew what they wanted to do when they came out here tonight and I feel like they succeeded in that.”

Everything ends where it began.

Tonight, Cedar Ridge baseball will return to the spot where last season abruptly ended. When the team bus pulled out of Pittsboro onto 15-501 on March 10, 2020, Red Wolves Coach Bryson Massey was focused on the challenge of getting his team to move forward after losing to the Northwood Chargers.

No one on board had any idea they had just played its final game as a team together. Certainly not seniors Cameron Hartley, Francisco Martinez, Grant Fox, and Chris Pearce, who tried to move on to their next game against Northern Durham, which would never see the light of day.

The following night, Rudy Govert of the Utah Jazz would give an infamous press conference where he mocked the coronavirus. Within hours, the NBA suspended its season and the dominoes across the sports world, from metropolitians to small communities, all collapsed with warp speed.

Massey had just started his head coaching career. After spending two years as an assistant at A.L. Brown High in Kannapolis, Massey hadn’t even started to form the shape of his new team’s foundation before it all ended. Without any games, Massey found himself just like many other baseball coaches across the state. He spent the subsequent weeks traveling down sparse roads to take care of his field, usually in complete solitude.

There were just no players to play on it. Massey’s Zoom sessions with his team were better than nothing, but they were no substitute for infield drills.

A year later, as Massey stands outside the batting cage as his young Red Wolves prepare for the most unusual season opener in school history, he reflects on last spring, a surreal memory that he would just as well forget.

“We talked about it a lot,” Massey said. “It’s not just about baseball. It’s about life. When you come out on this field, you never know what could be your last moment. Last year taught these kids a big lesson in life. You’ve got to take every moment like it’s your last.”

Massey will spend the next month trying to create stability, something Cedar Ridge baseball has lacked since the departure of Jamie Athas as head coach in 2018. Before he left for Walter Williams, Athas led Cedar Ridge to a combined 35-13 record in 2017 and 2018. The heart of the pitching staff was Phillip Berger, who won a school-record 21 games in his Red Wolf career. Berger is now a starting rotation pitcher for Division III William Peace University.

Now, Berger’s younger brother Will is the leader of the Cedar Ridge staff. Will Berger, who was a varsity starting quarterback for the football team in the fall of 2019, skipped the gridiron this winter to focus on baseball.

“Will has worked very hard this offseason,” Massey said. “He’s brought in trying to get his arm stronger and just develop into a better baseball player. That’s what he focuses on this offseason. He continued to work while we were shut down.”

Because of the pandemic, many of the teams across the Big 8 Conference lost a chance to field experienced teams last year. Of Chapel Hill’s 18 players, 12 were seniors. Orange lost the 2019 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year Joey Berini, now at East Carolina, along with six other seniors, including starting left fielder Tucker Miller, first baseman Dayne Watkins and pitcher Cooper Hench.

In that regard, Cedar Ridge has a step ahead of the rest of the league. They lost only four seniors. On the other hand, the returning players missed out on a year’s worth of playing experience.

“We didn’t lose 12 players and we have a lot coming back,” Massey said. “But we don’t have varsity experience. We have JV experience and there’s a big difference between JV games and varsity games. And just trying to get these guys used to the speed of the varsity game. We’re trying to get them as many games as they can.”

Another player that Massey will rely on is Matt Hughes, who has committed to Brunswick Community College. Hughes, a senior, started four games as a freshman. Marco Velasquez will also see time on the mound.

“We have a lot of guys that are going to go out there and compete on the mound and give us innings,” Massey said.

Cedar Ridge starts with a tough stretch. They open with Northwood tonight, who reached the 2019 3A State Playoffs. Its home opener is against Chapel Hill on Friday, then they travel to Orange.

Win or lose, the point is Cedar Ridge is competing again. And Massey’s message to his team, after a dormant and empty ten weeks last spring, is to treasure every moment.

“On the first day back to practice, our guys had some butterflies because they hadn’t practiced together as a team. for a year,” Massey said. “We had everybody out here on that first day. You take it for granted sometimes. I looked up and was thankful just to be on a field again.”

Jaylin Jones: Former Orange lacrosse, football and track & field star Jaylin Jones had a special moment on a rainy day for the Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team on Saturday. Jones scored a goal for the Falcons, who defeated William Peace University 24-11 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer. Jones, on his senior day, scored an unassisted goal during a 12-0 Falcon run in the second quarter. It was Jones’ first goal of the season. He also scooped up two ground balls. Pfeiffer set a school record with its ninth consecutive win. The Falcons finished the regular season 10-1, 8-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference. Next Saturday, Pfeiffer will host Greensboro College for the USA South Athletic Conference Eastern Division Championship.

Wyatt Jones: Jones, the first Orange player to suit up for a Division I lacrosse team, returned to action for Mercer on Saturday. #14 Richmond defeated the Bears 21-8 at Five Star Stadium in Macon, GA. Jones entered the game and fired one shot on net. Mercer is 5-7 overall, 2-3 in the Southern Conference.

Bryse Wilson: In his second start with the Atlanta Braves this season, Wilson suffered a loss on Sunday. The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated Atlanta 5-0 in seven innings in the opening game of a doubleheader at Truist Park in Cumberland, GA. Wilson surrendered three runs and four hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked two. Wilson is 1-1. The Braves didn’t score a run in the doubleheader. They were no-hit in the second game by Arizona’s Madison Bumgarner in a 7-0 loss.

Landon Riley: The Liberty Flames defeated Coastal Carolina 6-4 on Sunday to clinch the series at Worthington Field in Lynchburg, VA. Riley worked the ninth inning for his fifth save of the season. Against five batters, Riley allowed two hits, but also struck out the side. The Flames are now 27-10 after taking two-out-of-three against the Chanticleers. They are 16-2 at home.

Joey Berini: In a weekend series against UCF, Berini entered two games for #9 East Carolina as a pinch hitter. In a 10-5 loss to the Knights on Friday, Berini picked up his second hit as a Pirate with a leadoff single the sixth inning. On Sunday, UCF defeated the Pirates 6-1. Berini struck out to end the game. East Carolina is 28-7, 10-2 in the American Athletic Conference.

Phillip Berger: The Division III William Peace baseball team had its season come to an end after losing to Greensboro College on Sunday. Berger started for the Pacers and suffered the loss. The Pride defeated the Pacers 5-4 at Ted Leonard Park in Greensboro. Berger started and threw four innings. He surrendered seven runs off eleven hits. Berger struck out three with zero walks. On Friday, Greensboro edged Peace 5-4 in the opening game of a doubleheader. Berger threw one inning of relief and surrendered two runs off two hits and two walks. He ends the year 5-4 with a 4.85 ERA. Berger recorded 39 strikeouts and 25 walks in his sophomore season.

Cooper Porter: Porter threw one-thirds of an inning for Pensacola State in its 12-3 win over Gulf Coast State College on Sunday in the opening game of a doubleheader. He struck out the only batter he faced. Pensacola State is 24-16. Porter has played 15 games for the Pirates this season. He is hitting .265 with one home run and six RBIs. He has two pitching appearances this year.

Mia Davidson: On Friday night, Davidson tweeted that she had been accepted to Graduate School. On Saturday, Davidson’s Mississippi State softball team won its first game against an Southeastern Conference opponent this year when they defeated Texas A&M 8-1 at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS. Davidson hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, her 14th of the year. Davidson is now one home run shy of the all-time baseball and softball home run record in Mississippi State history, set by Rafael Palmeiro. Davidson has 66 career homers. On Saturday, she went 1-for-2 with 4 RBIs and a run scored. She also threw a runner out at third to end the fifth inning. Texas A&M defeated Mississippi State 7-5 on Friday. Davidson went 0-for-3. On Sunday, the Aggies clinched the series over the Bulldogs with an 8-1 win. Davidson finished 1-for-3 with the first single of the game.

Montana Davidson: On Sunday, Montana started at third base for Mississippi State and finished 1-for-2 with a walk. In Friday loss, Montana went 0-for-2. On Saturday, she finished 0-for-3. Mississippi State is 25-21 overall, 1-14 in the SEC. The Bulldogs travel to South Carolina next weekend.

Tori Dalehite: The UNC Greensboro softball team swept Samford in a three-game series this weekend at UNCG Softball Stadium. Dalehite entered the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, a 1-0 Spartan victory, as a pinch runner for designated player Kayleigh Willis. UNCG is 25-14 overall.

Jaden Hurdle: The Patrick Henry Community College softball team swept a doubleheader from Florence-Darlington Technical College on Friday. The Patriots have won six of its last seven. In the nightcap, Hurdle earned the win in the pitching circle as PHCC prevailed 8-5. Hurdle replaced starter Brianna Taylor in the fifth inning. Hurdle tossed three innings of shutout ball. She conceded two hits and one walk with one strikeout. At the plate, Hurdle went 1-for-4. Patrick Henry won the opener 4-3 in ten innings. Hurdle finished 1-for-3 with two walks. Through 30 games, Hurdle is 3rd on the team in batting average (.369), RBIs (22), home runs (6) and hits (31). She’s second on the squad with 15 extra base hits.

In terms of pitching, Hurdle is now 4-1 with a 5.12 ERA. She has 26 strikeouts and ten walks.