Cedar Ridge Baseball

Any trip to Western Alamance is long enough for a team from Hillsborough.

It’s about a 35 minute trip and baseball games usually start at 7PM. On a decent night, coaches drive the team bus back to the Orange Transportation Garage at around 10.

It wasn’t a decent night on Tuesday. It was nine innings long. Cedar Ridge worked well into the night for what turned out to be a rewarding win in Elon.

Sophomore Nick Aitkin threw three-and-one-thirds innings of relief to earn the victory as the Red Wolves defeated the Warriors 2-1 in nine innings. Caden Thompson, serving as a pinch runner for freshman Hudson Kelly, scored the game-winning run off a passed ball in the top of the ninth. With one out, Kelly got a board off an error by Western shortstop Cooper Marks. After Landon Dalehite drew a walk against Western’s Eli Abbott, Thompson replaced Kelly and immediately stole third.

The Warriors mounted a threat in the bottom of the ninth when Noah Huffine drew a leadoff walk. Following a fly out by Jackson Rippy to Mason Cates in right field, Fred Harrelson walked sending Colton McCoy (replacing Huffine as a pinch runner) to second. Aitkin struck out a Warrior for the second outlet. Ian McGuffey took a grounder at third base and chunked it to first for the final out.

It was a long wait between runs for the Red Wolves, who scored in the first. McGuffey sliced a single to left field, then stole second with John Grove at the plate. Aitkin, who started the game at shortstop, slammed a hard grounder up the middle to bring in McGuffey.

McGuffey started as pitcher and threw five-and-one-thirds innings. He allowed just four hits and struck out six.

The Warriors only run was unearned. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Harrelson started with a single to left field. Bryce Renner laid down a sacrifice bunt to third base. Harrelson went to third off the bunt, then scored off a passed ball with William Patillo at bat.

The Warriors threatened to take the lead in the sixth when Marks hit a leadoff single. Huffine walked with one out, which led to Aitkin replacing McGuffey on the mound. Rippy grounded into a double play with Kelly throwing to Grant McGuffey at second. McGuffey threw to Quinn Finnegan for the double play.

On Wednesday night, the Red Wolves won a pitcher’s dual with a 3-2 win over Chapel Hill at Tiger Stadium. Cedar Ridge junior Quinn Finnegan earned the win by throwing four shutout innings. Mason Cates picked up his first save of the season, blanking the Tigers in the final two-and-two-thirds innings, striking out three.

Finnegan helped his own cause in the third inning with a double that went over the head of right fielder Sam Elston. After Ian McGuffey walked, John Grove stroked a grounder to shortstop that reached shallow left field. McGuffey, who stole second, scored along with Finnegan.

Dalehite walked to open the fifth inning. Ian McGuffey lined a double across the third base line, scoring Dalehite from second base.

Chapel Hill made a threat with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Teagan Coynesmith and Bryan Castevens each drew walks. Then Tyler Oliaro was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Asher Harward, running for Castevens, scored off a passed ball. James Staats grounded out to Grant McGuffey, which scored Conyesmith to trim the Red Wolf lead to 3-2. Mason Cates struck out Austin Campos, while Oliaro was tagged out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch to end the inning.

Cates retired the final six Tigers in order in the sixth and seventh inning.

Cedar Ridge will host Western Alamance tonight for Senior Night in Hillsborough. Seniors Landon Dalehite, Mason Cates, Rayshawn Page, Joel Davis and Kevin Jones will be honored.

Following a disappointing stretch of games, the Cedar Ridge baseball team got its groove back just in time for its third straight win over Eastern Alamance in Mebane.

The Red Wolves scored seven runs in the first inning, headlined by a two-run double by junior Quinn Finnegan, and went on to defeat the Eagles 12-6 at Eagles Field on Friday afternoon. Finnegan finished with a season-high five RBIs as the Red Wolves (7-10, 4-6 in the Central Conference) ended a seven-game losing streak.

Eastern Alamance won the opening game of the series 7-1 in Hillsborough on Tuesday night. Cedar Ridge has beaten the Eagles three straight times in Mebane since the two teams became league rivals in 2022.

Despite a tough start to April, the Red Wolves are still on solid ground to make the state playoffs for the third straight season. They’re currently #21 in the 3A East RPI rankings as of Sunday night going into its final two-game conference series of the season against Western Alamance this week. The Red Wolves will celebrate Senior Night against the Warriors on Friday night in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge had its first seven batters reach against the Eagles. Landon Dalehite, who finished 4-for-5, led off with a ground ball that rolled into left field. Ian McGuffey sent a comebacker to Eagles pitcher Conner Horner that was thrown away. Following a walk to pitcher John Grove, Nick Aitkin reached on an infield single to shortstop Tate Yount, allowing Dalehite to score. McGuffey scored when he brother, Grant McGuffey reached on a fielder’s choice where Aitkin was thrown out at second. David Schoof sent a fly ball to left field that dropped for a single, bringing in Caden Thompson, who was running for Grove. Senior Mason Cates lined a 1-1 fastball to left field to score Grant McGuffey. With two out, Finnegan skied a fly ball over the head of right fielder Jarrett Newell and landed just shy of the fence. Schoof and Cates scored easily. Dalehite, the tenth batter in the inning, lined a single to right field for the seventh run.

Eastern’s Christian Vieau singled in Rett Page in the bottom of the first to narrow the Red Wolf lead to 7-1.

Cates reached on an error to start the third inning. Hudson Kelly bunted Cates over to second base on a sacrifice. With Finnegan at the plate, Cates stole third. Finnegan knocked in Cates with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to increase the Red Wolf lead to 8-1. Dalehite lined a double to right field to send Finnegan to third, but Eastern’s Zack Merchel got a strike out to end the inning.

The Eagles whittled the Red Wolf lead down to 8-5 going into the fifth inning, but Kelly led off with a single to left field. Kelly stole seconda and went to third after a groundout by Finnegan to third base. Dalehite laced an RBI single to centerfield to score Kelly.

Eastern’s Jarrett Newel homered to right field to cut Cedar Ridge’s lead to 9-6. Once again, Finnegan came up with a key hit, this time in the sixth. After Schoof lined a single to right field, Cates reached on an error at shorstop. With two out, Finnegan doubled to centerfield to bring in Schoof and Cates.

Ian McGuffey was credited with the win, throwing 2-and-one-thirds innings. It was McGuffey’s second win of the season. Cates closed out the game throwing the final three-plus innings for his first save of the year. Cates allowed only four hits and one run, striking out two.

Last week, the Red Wolves were supposed to face Eastern Guilford, but the Wildcats canceled at the 11th hour. Chapel Hill agreed to come in as a late replacement. The Tigers, who lead the 4A DAC-VII Conference, won 9-6. Aitkin went 2-for-2 with two RBIs for the Red Wolves. Finnegan finished 1-for-2.

While the Cedar Ridge baseball team took a sojourn from Central Conference play during spring break, they suddenly went from being in second place to vaulting up to first.

As they return to standard life this week, it is suddenly game on in a wide open league race for the championship.

The Red Wolves took its blend of experience and youth to the Pitt County Easter Tournament at Farmville Central High School last week and got the best of both worlds in the opening game of a doubleheader against Southwest Edgecombe.

Despite a dry start offensively, Red Wolves senior pitcher Joel Davis and sophomore Aidan Ryan  held the Cougars without a hit in the final three innings as Cedar Ridge put up four runs in the fifth inning to win 5-2.

Davis earned his second win in as many weeks, striking out seven over five-and-two-thirds innings. He limited the Cougars to four hits as Cedar Ridge improved to 6-4.

Cedar Ridge went into spring break trailing Southern Alamance by one game for first place in the Central Conference. Person, who Cedar Ridge swept in a two-game series the week prior, bounced back to sweep the Patriots last week, including a 2-1 pitcher’s dual in Roxboro where the Rockets won despite registering just two hits.

The Red Wolves are now atop the Central Conference with a 3-1 league mark with a two-game series against crosstown rival Orange starting on Tuesday at Red Wolves Field. Cedar Ridge is scheduled to travel to Orange on Friday. Orange is 1-1 in league play.

The Cougars put runners in motion to jump ahead in the first inning. After leadoff batter Trent Nichols drew a walk, he stole second and third base. Right fielder Logan Webb knocked in Nichols after a Red Wolf error. After Red Wolf first baseman Mason Cates retired Parker Gay with a groundout, Webb advanced to second, then stole third. Tyler Mears hit a sacrifice fly to Quinn Finnegan to score Mears.

Cedar Ridge struggled offensively in the early going. While they did draw five walks in the opening four innings against Gay and Blayde Hinton, who came on in the second inning on the mound, the Red Wolves failed to get a hit.

Despite early hiccups, Davis contained the Cougars to just four hits over the next four innings. Cedar Ridge broke through in the fifth when sophomore Nick Aitkin drew a leadoff walk. Cates drilled a double down the left field line. Ian McGuffey sent a bouncing ball to Gay at third base, who threw it wide of first base, allowing Aitkin to score. Freshman John Grove sent an RBI single to left field to bring in Cates and tie the game. With one out, designated hitter Kevin Jones lined a single to left field to score McGuffey and Grove.

After Tyson Ayers drew a two-out walk in the sixth inning, Ryan replaced Davis on the mound and induced a pop-up from Hinton to escape the inning with Cedar Ridge maintaining a 4-2 lead.

McGuffey stroked a double to start the seventh inning. Grove sent a bouncing ball to Turner Cooke at second, allowing McGuffey to advance to third. Finnegan sent a sacrifice fly to right field to score McGuffey and extend the Red Wolf lead.

Ryan earned his first career save when Gay lined out to second baseman Grant McGuffey, who easily doubled up Logan Webb at first.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Farmville Central jumped out to a 5-1 lead and wound up winning 6-2. It ended Cedar Ridge’s four-game winning streak. Grove finished 2-for-4, including an RBI single in the third inning. Finnegan scored the opening run after a double steal from senior Landon Dalehite.

Since he started playing baseball at Cedar Ridge, senior centerfielder Landon Dalehite has wanted to do the worm move as a runner at first base. Sure enough, Dalehite finally got the opportunity when the Red Wolves played Jordan-Matthews on March 13. With Grant McGuffey at third base, Dalehite fell down face-first to the ground at first in an attempt to draw a throw from pitcher Payton White in order to get McGuffey home. It worked, McGuffey scored as the Red Wolves went on to win 15-5 in six innings. Ian McGuffey went 2-for-3 with three runs scored against the Jets. He also finished the game on the mound, throwing two innings of shutout baseball, striking out four. It was his second hold of the season. Dalehite scored the Red Wolves first run. Cedar Ridge scored eight runs in the sixth inning to secure its first run-rule victory of the year. Cedar Ridge is 6-4 and is tied for first place in the Central Conference after sweeping a two-game series with Person last week. Freshman Joel Davis earned his first win against Jordan-Matthews, striking out five over four innings. Cedar Ridge will return to action against crosstown rival Orange at Red Wolves Stadium on Tuesday night. The series will continue at Orange High Field next Friday. 

Cedar Ridge baseball’s Landon Dalehite & Ian McGuffey discuss win over Jordan-Matthews

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The Cedar Ridge baseball team doesn’t mind bad weather when it travels to Roxboro.

Last year, the Red Wolves ventured into Person County and fell behind 10-6 amid frigid temperatures that Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey called “the coldest he has ever been in.”

The Red Wolves fought back to win after Ian McGuffey laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to score B.J. Thornton and escape with an 11-10 win to rush back to the team bus and get the heater turned on for a joyous trip back to Hillsborough.

Last Friday, the Red Wolves didn’t deal with cold as much as it was rain. Scattered showers throughout the day left the conditions damp, but Cedar Ridge didn’t need a dramatic finish to emerge from Person with a series sweep.

Cedar Ridge bolted ahead with three runs in each of the first two innings behind a 3-for-3 day from senior first baseman Mason Cates and rolled 13-5 at Rockets Field. Junior Quinn Finnegan earned his first win on the mound this season, allowing three unearned runs.

It was a badly needed win as the Red Wolves try to chase down Southern Alamance, which has immediately established itself as the team to beat in the Central Conference. The Patriots, in its first year in the league, are 4-0 after sweeping two-games series from Eastern Alamance and Walter Williams.

Cedar Ridge ended last week 5-3 overall, 3-1 in the Central Conference.

The Red Wolves nearly had a run-rule victory over Person. The Rockets trailed 11-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Rockets were able to extend the game after scoring three runs in the fourth inning.

Cates started the game with a single to right field. Ian McGuffey laid down a sacrifice bunt and was able to reach after Person pitcher Ian Downey threw the ball away, leading Cates to score. Freshman John Grove lined a double to left field to bring in McGuffey. After designated hitter Kevin Jones reached on an error, Grove scored on a passed ball with Grant McGuffey at bat.

Finnegan set the Rockets down in order in the first inning.

Sophomore Aidan Ryan, starting in left field, reached after an error by Person second baseman Brady Holmes to start the second inning. Nick Aitkin sent a pop fly to shallow right field that dropped between three Rockets that converged on it. Cates sent a grounder to right field for a single that loaded the bases. Ian McGuffery drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Red Wolves ahead 4-0. With two outs, Jones drew another bases-loaded walk to plate Aitkin. Grant McGuffey got a run battered in when he was hit by a pitch, plating Cates.

Cedar Ridge added three more runs in the fourth inning when Jones doubled down the right field line, scoring Finnegan, who got beaned to start the frame. Caden Thompson, running for Jones, scored off a wild pitch with Landon Dalehite at bat, putting the Red Wolves lead at 8-0. With runners at the corners, Dalehite drew a throw from pitcher Jackson Riggan as he tried to steal second, allowing Grant McGuffey to steal home. Dalehite would wind up scoring after stealing third base, and then stealing home to put the Red Wolves ahead 10-0.

After Cates was hit by a pitch, Ian McGuffey sent a line drive to centerfield to score Cates from first base.

After the Rockets scored three in the fourth inning to cut the Red Wolves lead to 11-3, Finnegan started the fifth inning by getting hit by a pitch, then stole second and third bases. Grant McGuffey would knock in Finnegan with a grounder to the shortstop, which was misplayed by Holmes and increased the Cedar Ridge lead to 12-3.

Finnegan struck out five batters over four innings. Ian McGuffey finished out the game with two innings of relief.

On a blustery night when fans showed up wearing sweatshirts and blankets to bear the cold weather, the Cedar Ridge bats got hot at the right time.

Going into the seventh inning trailing 4-1, the Red Wolves stunned Person with four runs in its final at-bat to beat the Rockets 5-4 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Sophomore Ian McGuffey laced the game-winning hit to the right field gap to score Caden Thompson, sending the jubilant Cedar Ridge reserves pouring out of the dugout for an on-field celebration.

Going into the last of the seventh, the Red Wolves trailed 4-1 and had only one hit. Junior Quinn Finnegan served notice that something special was on tap in the 7th when he drilled the first pitch from Dylan England over the left field power alley wall, which takes extra power because Red Wolves Stadium in probably the largest in the Central Conference. It was Finnegan’s second home run in as many games.

England retired Kevin Jones for the first out, but Landon Dalehite drew a walk. Grant McGuffey got hit by a pitch, which led to David Schoof got drilled on the front leg by a fastball to load the bases, which led to Person coach Kyle Boyette choosing Brennen Kiser to replace England on the mound. Thompson replaced Schoof as a courtesy runner as Nick Aitkin stepped up to the plate.

Facing a 1-1 count, Aitkin turned on a fastball and sprayed it down the left field line. Dalehite and McGuffey scored to tie the game, sending Dalehite jumping up and down behind home plate as McGuffey rounded the bases. With Mason Cates at the plate, Kiser was called for a balk, advancing Thompson to third.

Cates was then intentionally walked, which brought up McGuffey. On a 1-1 pitch, McGuffey skied a fly ball that landed just shy of the fence in right centerfield. Thompson nearly bumped into several fired up reserves who rushed the field as he jumped up and down to plate the game-winning run.

It was the first loss of the season for the Rockets (5-1, 2-1 in the Central Conference), who swept a two-game set from Western Alamance to open the league slate last week.

Cedar Ridge (3-3, 2-1) started the game on a promising note. Freshman John Grove drew a walk with two-out against Person starter Keeghan Holmes. With Finnegan at bat, Grove stole second, then advanced to third off a throwing error. Finnegan was hit by a pitch. That led to the Red Wolves scoring off a double steal when Finnegan attempted to steal second, allowing Grove to race for home and cross the plate before Finnegan was tagged out by first baseman Casey Oakes.

Person tied the game in the top of the second with a double from Brady Holmes to score Holmes.

England replaced Holmes on the mound in the second inning and largely shut down Cedar Ridge’s offense. In his first four innings of work, he allowed only a single by Schoof in the fifth inning. Even that was canceled out when Aitkin grounded into a double play turned by second baseman Brady Holmes.

Person vaulted ahead 4-1 behind a three-run fourth inning. Brady and Keegan Holmes each drew a walk to lead off the inning against Cates, who started for the Red Wolves. After Camden Shaw laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Holmes and Holmes over, Nick Young reached on an error when he lined to first, scoring two runs. England then singled to centerfield, scoring Young.

Ian McGuffey’s walk off single led to him earning his win on the mound. He threw two innings of shutout baseball, striking out four. Cates threw five innings with five strikeouts and seven walks.

Cedar Ridge will host Seaforth on Wednesday night (tonight) in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge showed its experience in beating Walter Williams to win its Central Conference opener on Tuesday night. Senior Mason Cates earned the win, throwing four innings and surrendering one run as the Red Wolves held on to beat the Bulldogs 7-6 in Burlington. Cates drove in two runs, starting with a triple in the first inning that plated Ian McGuffey. As Cates pulled into third, he wound up scoring off an error. Junior Quinn Finnegan, starting his third season on the varsity, started the game in right field. After the Bulldogs climbed to a 7-5 lead, Finnegan was called into a closer role by head coach Bryson Massey and got the final two outs. It was the first career save for Finnegan. Cates also drove in a run in the fourth, knocking in Landon Dalehite with a single to left field. It was the Red Wolves first win of the year after previously scheduled games against Northern Guilford and Carrboro were rained out. Cedar Ridge has one of the most experienced teams in the Central Conference returning from a squad that finished 2nd in the league last year. The Red Wolves will host Jordan-Matthews in Hillsborough tonight (Wednesday), then face Williams in the second game of a two-game series on Friday in Hillsborough. 

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