Cedar Ridge Baseball

In the midst of a howling wins and plunging temperatures, the Cedar Ridge baseball team won its home opener on Tuesday night. Senior B.J. Thornton earned the win as the Red Wolves defeated Walter Williams 6-2 in its Central Carolina Conference opener. The Red Wolves got a two-run single from Mason Cates in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Landon Dalehite led off the inning with a double down the right field line. Quinn Finnegan followed with a double to knock in Dalehite. In the third inning, the Bulldogs got a runner at second base with one out. Dalehite made a sliding catch down the left field line that kept the Bulldogs scoreless. Thornton earned the win after he gave up only four hits in five-and-two-thirds innings. He struck put five. Dalehite went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. It was the start of three games over three days for the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge will travel to Siler City this afternoonto face Jordan-Matthews. On Thursday, the Red Wolves will go to Burlington to finish its two-game series against Walter Williams. Cedar Ridge won its conference opener for the second time in three years.

Cedar Ridge’s B.J. Thornton and Landon Dalehite discuss baseball win over Williams

In the midst of a howling wins and plunging temperatures, the Cedar Ridge baseball team won its home opener on Tuesday night. Senior B.J. Thornton earned the win as the Red Wolves defeated Walter Williams 6-2 in its Central Carolina Conference opener.

It finally felt like a baseball conference opener.

Cedar Ridge baseball coach Bryson Massey played tennis on Wednesday afternoon with highs reaching the lower-70s. It was several hours before his Red Wolves were set to face Walter Williams in both teams’ Central Carolina Conference opener.

He also knew by the time first pitch rolled around, the early spring conditions would yield to more familiar weather that’s typical for early March. Sure enough, temperatures dipped to 55 degrees by game time and wind gusts were at 35 miles-per-hour by the time the sixth inning rolled around.

Fortunately, senior pitcher B.J. Thornton had enough blood flowing through his body that the cold weather didn’t seem to matter.

In his first start of the season, Thornton allowed only four hits in five-plus innings. Another senior, Mason Cates, had a two-run single in the third inning to propel the Red Wolves past Walter Williams 6-2 on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Stadium.

Cedar Ridge (2-0, 1-0 in the Central Carolina Conference) avenged a bitter loss to the Bulldogs last season when Williams came back from an 8-5 deficit with an inside the park grand slam in the seventh inning.

It’s the first time the Red Wolves won won its conference opener since 2021 when they defeated Northwood in Pittsboro.

Thornton got the starting nod to start a busy week for the Red Wolves.

“Going into the conference, we knew we wanted to hand the ball to a senior,” Massey said. “B.J.’s been through this. He’s played with me for four years and he knows what my expectations are. He told me before the game ‘Coach, I got you.’ I knew he was locked in and ready to go.”

Cedar Ridge stormed out to a 6-0 lead starting with a run in the first inning. Isaac Anderson reached on an infield hit, Thornton was hit by a pitch and Cates walked to load the bases. Junior Kevin Jones was hit by a pitch to bring in Anderson.

With one out in the second inning, Landon Dalehite launched a double to the gap. Quinn Finnegan, who hit a fastball deep into the teeth of a brisk wind that was caught in the first inning, sent an 0-1 curveball over the right fielder’s head to the wall. Dalehite scored easily to make it 2-0. After Thornton was beaned again, Cates lined a single to right centerfield to score Finnegan and Thornton.

Williams, led by former Cedar Ridge coach Jamie Athas, had early chances to score but failed. Tate Jones was stranded at third base in the first inning after Ethan George flew out to Anderson in centerfield. Jones singled and stole second in the third inning. With one out, Dan Mahan sent a flair down the left field line where Dalehite made a sprawling catch to save a run. That started a string of Thornton setting down eight consecutive Bulldogs.

The Red Wolves tacked on two more in the fifth. Jones was hit by a pitch and moved over to second after a sacrifice bunt by Nicholas Aitkin. Grant McGuffey sent a fly ball down the right field line that fell in front of a Bulldog. Jones came home and McGuffey advanced to third base after a throwing error. Dalehite stroked a single up the middle to plate McGuffey.

Jones scored the Bulldogs first run when he led off the sixth with a dribbler up the middle for a single. Ethan George reached on an error. Vince Coker singled in Jones. Coleman Mahan knocked in George with a single to left field.

Joe Garbee replaced Thornton with two out in the sixth inning and finished the game on the hill to secure the win.

Williams (2-2, 0-1) was coming off a victory over Southern Alamance in Burlington, its first win over the Patriots in ten years.

It was the first of three games in three days for the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge will travel to Jordan-Matthews on Wednesday, then go to Burlington to face Williams to complete the two-game conference series on Thursday.

“We’re a young team and this is a challenge,” Massey said. “Three games in a row is a challenge and we’ll find out what we’re made of against two good teams. We’ll be ready tomorrow and go down to Siler City and see what team shows up.”

Photo by Maria Finnegan 

Following its first playoff appearance in four years, Cedar Ridge baseball coach Bryson Massey knew there would be some rebuilding within his program when 2022 ended.

He didn’t know the extent would be deeper than he first thought.

Aidan McAllister (now playing at Hofstra University), Garrett Ray, Nick Nolan, Bryan Flores, Cristian Maces, Braedyn Jacobson, and Carlo Garay all graduated last June. Catcher Efrain Morales, who had just finished a sophomore season where he was named All-Conference, transferred to the P27 Baseball Academy in South Carolina during the summer.

That took away the Red Wolves’ leading batter from last season. Morales hit .417 last season and led the team in home runs.

Massey is focused on who is remaining for the Red Wolves and their start to the 2023 season was a successful one.

Junior Nick Atkin went 4-for-4 with a walk while Quinn Finnegan earned the win on opening day as Cedar Ridge rolled past Knightdale 19-8 on Monday afternoon in Wake County. In his first game, freshman Issac Anderson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the Red Wolves jolted the Knights for 12 hits.

Landon Dalehite, a sophomore, hit leadoff and reached base five times, including four walks in his varsity debut.

It’s the third year in a row that Cedar Ridge has won its season opener.

“The strength of our team is on the bump,” Massey said, referring to Finnegan. “We have Quinn back. We have B.J. Thornton back. We have Mason Cates back. We have three horses back and I believe in all three of them. They’ve put their work in. They’ve brought in this offseason and they’re leaders.”

Finnegan, who started the state playoff game against Orange last year, earned the victory after he threw two innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out four.

Joe Garbee and Armando Sanchez each threw two innings in relief. Mason Cates tossed a perfect seventh to complete the win, striking out two.

Cedar Ridge struck for two runs in the first inning. Cates, who drew a one-out walk in the first inning, also scored the opening run off an error off a ball hit by Finnegan. Caden Thompson, a freshman who was a member of Stanback Middle School’s Orange Person Athletic Conference championship team last spring, scored as a courtesy runner for Finnegan after Atkin lined a single to centerfield.

After Knightdale got an unearned run in the first, Cedar Ridge struck for two more in the second. With two out, Issac Anderson was hit by a pitch, while Dalehite reached on an infield single. Anderson scored on a passed ball. Mason Cates sent a grounder to left field to bring in Dalehite and increase the Red Wolves lead to 4-1.

Atkin grounded a single up the middle to start a third inning where the Red Wolves added three more runs. Atkin scored off a sacrifice fly by David Shoof to right field. Anderson knocked in Grant McGuffey with another single. Anderson added another run when he stole second base, stole third and came in to score off a throwing error.

Shoof, who was behind the plate, replaced Morales in the starting lineup.

“He’s put some work in this offseason,” Massey said. “He knew that was going to be a spot that was open. I challenged him this summer to put the work in. He’s taken that role. He’s matured a lot and he’s a different guy this year. He was a freshman last year and he’s got a higher maturity level now.”

Cedar Ridge is scheduled to have back-to-back home games on Friday and Saturday. On Friday night, the Red Wolves will host Chapel Hill. On Saturday, they will play A.L. Brown at 1PM.

From the time he played in his first varsity game on a chilly night in Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge catcher Efrain Morales distinguished himself from the rest.

Now, after a sophomore season where he hit safely in 19 of Cedar Ridge’s 24 games, Morales has been honored by the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association.

Under head coach Bryson Massey, Morales was named to the 3A All-State team by the NCBCA. He was one of 32 players honored and one of only two players from the Central Carolina Conference to make the squad.

In his first varsity season, Morales made an immediate impression. In the season-opener against Chapel Hill on March 2, Morales scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning to break a 7-7 tie after Garrett Ray drew a bases-loaded walk. Morales started the rally with a single to centerfield with two outs and the bases empty. Hitting leadoff, Morales went 2-for-4 in his varsity debut with an RBI single and a stolen base. The Red Wolves held on to win 9-8.

Two days later, Morales drove in the game-tying run against Bartlett Yancey in a pitcher’s dual at Red Wolves Territory. His sacrifice fly to centerfield scored Carlo Garay to even the game in the fifth inning against the Buccaneers. Cedar Ridge would go on to win 2-1 after Cristian Macias scored off an error in the sixth inning.

The early victories struck the right tone early for the Red Wolves, who would go on to its first winning season since 2018. After finishing second in the CCC, the Red Wolves reached the 3A State Playoffs for the first time in four years.

In 2022, Morales hit .338. He was the only player to hit a home run at Red Wolves Territory this season when he parked a fastball over the left field wall against Orange on April 19.

On March 10, Morales went 3-for-5 with two RBIs in an 11-2 win over Glenn High School at Truist Point in High Point. Morales drove in the game’s opening run with an single to centerfield to score Aidan Mcallister. The following inning, Morales lined an RBI single to centerfield to score Mason Cates and increase the Red Wolves lead to 4-0.

Morales was valuable in league games that led to the Red Wolves’ best conference finish since 2018, when they finished runner-up behind Chapel Hill in the Big 8 Conference under former head coach Jamie Athas. Against Northwood in Pittsboro on March 22, Morales went 2-for-4 with a double in a 6-1 victory for the Red Wolves. Morales bolted the Red Wolves ahead 2-0 after a line drive to right field to bring in Mcallister. In the fourth, Morales doubled down the right field line, driving in Braedyn Jacobson and B.J. Thornton. Morales eventually scored on a Little League homer after several Chargers errors.

In the Hilltop Invitational on April 1, Morales drilled a fastball into the teeth of a 25-mile-per-hour wind gust over the left field wall in the second inning against East Chapel Hill at Wildcats Field. He finished 2-for-4 against the Wildcats with three RBIs.

The following week, Morales went 2-for-2 with two RBIs in a 14-5 win over Apex Friendship in Wake County. After he walked in the first inning, Morales scored off a single by Garrett Ray. Morales drove in Thornton on a sacrifice fly in the second inning to put the Red Wolves ahead 5-0. He added an RBI single in the fifth.

In the second game of a doubleheader against Eastern Alamance in Mebane on April 8, Morales added a key hit in an 8-7 Cedar Ridge win. Morales doubled to centerfield to score Mcallister and Thornton, putting the Red Wolves ahead for good in the second inning. The victory completed a doubleheader sweep of the Eagles and secured an automatic trip to the state playoffs for Cedar Ridge.

Morales added another home run in a 4-1 win over Western Alamance in Elon on April 12. Against the Warriors, he finished 2-for-2 with four RBIs.

In addition, Morales also made the All-Central Carolina Conference team.

Typically, this is the happiest week for most students across Orange County because its the culmination of a nine-month-long academic year.

There’s summer vacation just around the corner. Time for beach vacations, sleeping late, no studying and days filled with leisure instead of classes.

At Stanback Middle School, there was extra reason for celebration last week for 14 players and three coaches, who delivered the Orange Person Athletic Conference Baseball Championship to the school.

Any championship is precious. It Stanback’s case, it was truly earned.

“We knew we were going to be good this year,” said Stanback Baseball Coach John Capps. “What we didn’t anticipate was how good the rest of the league was going to be this year. It was a super competitive league. We had to fight hard.”

The Bulldogs had to win three games over a span of three days to secure the OPAC Championship. Going into the final week of the season, Stanback was in a dual with Southern Middle School in Roxboro for the OPAC Northern Division crown. Whoever came out on top would face Culbreth, champions the OPAC Southern Division, in the conference championship game.

Southern was the only team to beat the Bulldogs this regular season. Not only that, but the Panthers were undefeated going into its showdown with Stanback on May 10.

The Bulldogs came out on top of the Panthers 7-2 to force a one-game playoff the following day. In what was essentially the OPAC Northern Division title game, Stanback won 6-5 in Hillsborough.

After Southern charged out to a 2-0 lead going into the bottom-of-the-second inning, the Bulldogs scored five runs. Dominic Sena led off the frame after getting hit by a pitch, then stole second. John Grove and Aiden Ryan followed with run-producing hits. Tripp Beasley laid down a gorgeous bunt with two-out that kept the inning alive.

Caden Thompson stole home for what turned out to be the game-winning run.

The win over the Panthers meant the Bulldogs would host the OPAC title game against Culbreth.

In a season where the Bulldogs’ built its pitching depth, 6th grader Jesus Velazquez earned the win in the championship game. Replacing starter Caden Thompson in the fourth inning with the game even 1-1, Velazquez threw four perfect innings, retiring all 12 Cougars he faced, striking out four of them. He even caught the championship-clinching out on a pop-up back to the mound.

For the final week of the season, basically three consecutive elimination games, Velazquez threw nine innings of no-hit ball. He finished 7-0, winning every start and tying the school record for victories in a season.

“We knew Jesus was going to pitch for us,” Capps said. “We had no idea how valuable he would be. He really stepped up in the championship game. Many players come up to middle school knowing how to throw, but not many know how to pitch. Jesus knows how to pitch.”

After Culbreth scored first in the opening inning, Stanback’s Grant Kennedy even the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the frame. Kennedy led Stanback with three home runs this season.

It remained 1-1 until the sixth, when Ian McGuffey led off with a single. Kennedy followed with a ground rule double. With one out, Armando Sanchez grounded a ball to second base, where the Cougars tried to throw out McGuffey at the plate. But McGuffey slid in safely and the Bulldogs had its first lead of the day.

It was McGuffey’s 20th run of the season, tying a school-record. McGuffey comprises one-half of an all-McGuffey middle infield. Ian plays second base and usually leads off. His twin brother, Grant, bats second and is the shortstop.

“They really set the table for us,” Capps said.

The lead would grow from there. John Grove lined a single to left field to bring in Kennedy and increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-1. At this point, Gavin Stone entered the game to pinch-run for Sanchez. Ryan belted a single up the middle to score Stone.

Thompson would end a four-run sixth inning with an infield single. Grove, who stole third earlier, touched the plate for the game’s final run.

“Caden is a competitor,” Capps said. “He came into this year not have thrown many innings at all. He was a work in progress, but he did a great job.”

Stanback finished 13-1, ending the season with ten consecutive wins. They outscored opponents 139-59.

This was a championship team that didn’t exactly subscribe to the Moneyball philosophy of drawing walks and never stealing. The Bulldogs hit .351 and set a school-record with 88 stolen bases.

“When the guys got on base, they just ran,” Capps said. “They were so aggressive. I would give them signs, but they knew exactly when to go. They literally ran away with it.”

Capps was also quick to honor assistants Joe Sharp and Greg Monschein.

“Those guys were my rocks,” Capps said. “Greg’s work with our pitchers and Joe’s robotic arm throwing batting practice nearly every day – not to mention their invaluable insight – made our team that much stronger and made my job that much easier.”

Josh Scism, Parker Schultz, Brody Tapper and Elijah Johnson all played vital roles in securing the Bulldogs OPAC Championship.

“Overall it was an incredibly memorable season, and one I won’t forget,” Capps said. “These boys are such great young men and I look forward to following their progress as they move up through the high school ranks. They are fun to teach, too. My job was just not to screw it up.”

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore catcher Efrain Morales. From the very start of this season, Morales has made a difference for a Cedar Ridge team that is poised to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2018. In the season-opener at Chapel Hill, Morales scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning as the Red Wolves defeated the Tigers 9-8. In his first varsity game, Morales went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI single. The next game, Morales had a sacrifice fly to score Carlo Garay as the Red Wolves defeated Barrett Yancey 2-1 in Cedar Ridge’s home opener. Against Western Alamance on April 12, Morales hit a grand slam in the third inning to push the Red Wolves past the Warriors 4-1 in Elon. Morales also had a solo homer, into the teeth of the wind, against East Chapel Hill in the Hilltop Invitational. Against Orange last Tuesday, Morales had a two-run homer. Morales leads Cedar Ridge in home runs. The Red Wolves are on the verge of a second-place finish in the Central Carolina Conference, which would be its best showing in four years. Cedar Ridge will face Southwest Guilford on Wednesday in High Point, followed by a trip to Bartlett Yancey on Thursday.