Cedar Ridge Baseball

Perhaps its fate. Maybe it karma. Possibly it’s a lot of residue stemming from design, hard work and plenty of heart.

Regardless, the close games that Cedar Ridge baseball lost last year have largely swung the opposite direction in 2022. On Wednesday night, the Red Wolves completed its fifth come-from-behind victory of the season.

After trailing Grimsley 5-2 going into the sixth inning in Greensboro on Wednesday night, the Red Wolves came back with five runs in the sixth inning, followed by four in the seventh to cruise to an 11-5 victory. Cedar Ridge has won five in a row, its longest winning streak since 2018, which was also the last time the Red Wolves reached the 3A State Playoffs.

Oddly enough, all five victories during the winning streak have been on the road. Technically, Cedar Ridge’s win over Eastern Alamance in the second game of a doubleheader on Friday was a home game, but it was played in Mebane after the original meeting was rained out in Hillsborough last week.

On Tuesday in Central Carolina Conference action, Cedar Ridge held off Western Alamance 4-1 in Elon. After the Warriors scored the initial run in the second inning, Red Wolf sophomore catcher Efrain Morales hit a grand slam to left field. It was Morales’ second home run of the season. Cedar Ridge loaded the bases after freshman pitcher Quinn Finnegan drew a leadoff walk, senior Aidan Mcallister was hit by a pitch by Western’s Owen Bynum, and Cristian Macias also walked.

“It was huge,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Bryson Massey about Morales. “Anytime you can get that guy up in a situation with the bases loaded, I have all the confidence in the world in that kid to get the job done. The at-bat right before that one where Cristian got the walk to load the bases, to give Efrain a chance to give Efrain a chance to do what we expect him to do.”

The Red Wolves (11-6, 6-3 in the Central Carolina Conference) are tied with Eastern Alamance for 2nd place in the conference at 6-3, but the Red Wolves control the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Eagles after sweeping the doubleheader in Mebane.

Against Western Alamance, Finnegan earned his fourth win of the season. Finnegan, starting for the second straight game, allowed only one run and five hits over four innings. Junior B.J. Thornton, who replaced Finnegan in the fifth, struck out seven of the ten batters he faced for his third save of the year. Over three innings, Thornton allowed just one hit.

After the Warriors’ Alex Nebrig drove in Ty Belles in the second inning, Western Alamance didn’t have a runner touch third base the rest of the game. Finnegan and Thornton, backed by a Cedar Ridge defense that played an errorless game, allowed four singles in the final five innings.

Thornton also went 2-for-4 at the plate. Brian Flores, starting at third base, went 1-for-3.

Wednesday night’s win over Grimsley was Cedar Ridge’s fifth non conference win of the season. Nick Atkin, who made his varsity debut in the second game of the Eastern Alamance doubleheader last Friday, earned his first varsity win. Senior Mason Cates threw two scoreless innings for his first save of the season. Cates allowed only two hits and two walks.

Cedar Ridge started the rally with a leadoff walk in the sixth inning from Nick Nolan. Thornton, starting at second base, lined a single to right field. Mcallister loaded the bases with a base hit to left field. Atkin, in his only official at-bat of the game, singled to centerfield to drive in Nolan. Grimsley inserted Stephen Adamczak as pitcher to replace Chase Gurney, but Thornton put Cedar Ridge within a run after he scored on a passed ball. Once again, Morales had the biggest plate appearance of the game as he lined a two-run double to left field to plate Mcallister and Atkin, putting the Red Wolves ahead to stay.

Cates leveled a 1-0 fastball to centerfield to bring in Morales.

The Red Wolves added four more runs in the seventh inning. Mcallister had an RBI double to score Nolan. Morales added another RBI single. Morales finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs, while Cates went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Thornton and Mcallister were each 2-for-4. Mcallister scored three runs.

Cedar Ridge is scheduled to host Western Alamance on Friday night in Hillsborough. It will be the Red Wolves first home game since facing Holly Springs in the Hilltop Invitational two weeks ago.

The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves baseball team is still in the hunt for the Central Carolina Conference regular season championship with five league games remaining. Sophomore catcher Efrain Morales hit a grand slam in the third inning to push the Red Wolves past Western Alamance 4-1 in Elon on Tuesday night. Morales went 2-for-2 after his first career grand slam. Cedar Ridge’s Quinn Finnegan earned the win, throwing five innings. B.J. Thornton earned his second save of the season. Thornton faced ten batters, seven of whom he struck out over three innings. Thornton, who started the game in right field, also went 2-for-4. Cedar Ridge has now won four in a row and has five conference road wins this season. Cedar Ridge is 10-6, 6-3 in the CCC. They are two games behind Orange for first place. The Red Wolves already have their most wins in a season since the 2018 campaign, where they went 18-6 and reached the second round of the state playoffs. The Red Wolves will travel to Greensboro on Wednesday night to face Grimsley. They will conclude the two-game series against Western Alamance on Friday night in Hillsborough. 

With only two-and-a-half seasons under his belt at Cedar Ridge, Bryson Massey is still young in his coaching career.

However long his career lasts, he’ll have plenty of pleasant stories to tell about Friday night in a wild doubleheader at Eastern Alamance.

How often does a team trail 5-2 in the seventh inning, then score six runs in the final frame? Against a team tied for first place in the conference?

And how often does a pitcher, called up from the junior varsity earlier in the day, throws over three innings in his varsity debut against said 1st place team? And how often does a team score eight runs in a game–off two hits?

That’s a lot of questions that worked in Cedar Ridge’s favor Friday night. In a Central Carolina Conference that seems to deliver a surprise almost every night, Cedar Ridge swept a doubleheader from Eastern Alamance, rallying to win the opening game 8-5, then taking the nightcap 8-7 in Mebane.

The sweep not only knocked Eastern Alamance out of a tie with Orange for first place in the CCC, but the Red Wolves are now tied with the Eagles for second place with a 5-3 conference mark. The Red Wolves start a two-game series against Western Alamance tonight in Elon.

“This shows how much we’ve grown this season,” Massey said. “I’ve said this team doesn’t quit at any point. They didn’t on opening night against Chapel Hill and I didn’t think they would going into the seventh inning tonight. They’ve worked hard in practice this week and I think that showed tonight.”

In the opener, Eastern Alamance had senior starter Joey Teixeria on the mound, who was on a four-game winning streak. He took a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning, but Cedar Ridge’s Mason Cates and Garrett Ray opened with singles. Freshman Quinn Finnegan, as a pinch-hitter, drew a walk to juice the bases. Eastern Alamance inserted Kasen McCawley as pitcher to replace Teixeria, who struck the next batter out. Cedar Ridge’s Brian Flores started the rally after he was hit by a pitch, scoring Cates. B.J. Thornton was also hit by a pitch, which brought Ray to home plate and reduce the Eagle lead to 5-4. With the bases still loaded, senior Aidan McCallister sent a sharply hit grounder that got past the third baseman and trickled into the outfield, allowing Finnegan and Flores to score and vault Cedar Ridge into the lead for the first time at 6-5.

The Red Wolves weren’t done. With two out, sophomore Efrain Morales drew a walk to load the bases again. Cates, in his second at-bat in the inning, singled to right field to score Thornton.

It wasn’t smooth sailing in the seventh inning for Cedar Ridge. Junior catcher Cole McGuiness hit a leadoff double, while Colton Roberston also singled. Tristan Keck hit a liner to Flores at third base. Flores threw to Morales, who tagged out McGinnis trying to score at the plate. Finnegan earned his first career save when Jackson Saunders grounded out to Cristian Macias at second base, triggering an emotional celebration by the Red Wolves in the dugout.

Brian Flores earned the win, throwing six innings, his second victory of the season.

If the first game was one for drama, the second one was straight out of Moneyball. The objective for Cedar Ridge was getting on base, which they did courtesy of 14 walks issued by Eastern Alamance pitchers. The Red Wolves had just as many hits (two) as hit batters.

“We’ve taught our batters to stay patient at the plate,” Massey said. “We want them to wait for their pitch. The most important thing is to get on base and I thought they handled that well.”

After the Eagles charged out to a 4-0 lead, Cedar Ridge scored all eight of its runs in the second inning. Morales and Cates each walked, while Will Tippin also had a base on balls to load the bases with one out. Finnegan walked to score Morales. With two out, Thornton walked to plate Cates. McCawley came in as pitcher, but Tippin came in to score off a wild pitch. McCallister was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, which led to Macias reaching on a five-pitch walk, scoring Finnegan and tying the game. Morales lined a double over the head of the centerfielder to plate Thornton and McAllister. Cates drew another walk, leading to Ray drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Macias. Tippin was the latest player to walk, plating Morales and giving Cedar Ridge an 8-4 lead.

While Finnegan, after earning the save in the opening game, got the win in the second game, the unsung hero of the night was freshman Nick Atkins. Since it was Cedar Ridge’s first doubleheader of the season (after Tuesday’s game scheduled in Hillsborough had been rained out), Massey told Atkins he would get called up from the junior varsity team earlier in the day.

“I though maybe we could get a few good innings out of him,” Massey said. “He did a lot better than that.”

Atkins threw three-and-two-thirds innings and struck out three. He allowed just two runs on five hits.

Once again, Cedar Ridge had to earn it when the Eagles cut the lead down to 8-7 in the seventh inning. Thornton, who started the game in right field, relieved Atkins in the seventh inning and retired the Eagles in order for his first save of the season and a doubleheader sweep that will dramatically alter the Central Carolina Conference pennant chase in numerous ways.

Brandon Andrews: Andrews, who pitched for Cedar Ridge and graduated in 2017, earned his win of the season for Nicholls State against Southeastern Louisiana on March 26. The Colonels defeated the Golden Lions 6-4. Andrews replaced starter Tyler Therlot in the seventh inning and threw one-and-two-thirds innings. He gave up just one hit with two strikeouts. Andrews earned his second win of the season against McNeese on Sunday as the Colonels rallied to win 8-7 in ten innings. Andrews threw the final two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout. On April 2, McNeese State defeated Nicholls 5-1 at Didier Field in Thibodaux, LA. Andrews threw two perfect innings, winding up with two strikeouts.

Bryse Wilson: Former Orange High baseball and football player Bryse Wilson will make his season debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon. Wilson earned his first win in spring training in his final start on Monday afternoon. Facing Baltimore, Wilson started and threw three-and-two-thirds innings, striking out seven. Wilson gave up two runs on five hits with two walks. Pittsburgh will face the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Wilson, who turned 24 during the offseason, will start his fourth Major League season.

Landon Riley: The Liberty baseball team lost to Jacksonville 11-7 on Sunday at Session Stadium in Florida on Sunday. Riley came out of the bullpen to throw two-thirds of an inning for the Flames. He struck out one. Liberty is 17-10. They start a three-game series against Florida Gulf Coast in Lynchburg, VA on Friday.

Dante DeFranco: The Wintrhop baseball team defeated Charlotte 9-6 at Winthrop Ballpark in Rock Hill, SC on Wednesday. DeFranco, who played shortstop at Cedar Ridge and 2nd base at Orange, entered the game in the ninth inning as a left fielder. The 49ers are 17-11, 4-5 in Conference USA. They host Southern Miss at Hayes Stadium in Charlotte for a weekend series starting Friday.

Will Walker: The Pitt Community College baseball team started a game against Lenoir Community College on Wednesday. The game was interrupted by rain in the eighth inning with Lenoir leading 6-3. Walker started at first base and was 1-for-4 at the time of the game’s stoppage. He singled in the fifth inning.

Mia Davidson: Southern Miss upset Mississippi State 3-0 at USM Softball Comples in Hattiesburg, MS on Wednesday. The Bulldogs were limited to three hits. Davidson went 0-for-1 with two walks.

Montana Davidson: Montana entered the game as a pinch hitter for the Bulldogs against the Golden Eagles. The Bulldogs are 24-13 and start a weekend series against Missouri on Friday at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS.

Tori Dalehite: For the second year in a row, Dalehite played against the college team she grew up rooting for. UNC Greensboro’s softball team faced Duke at UNCG Softball Complex on Wednesday. The Blue Devils, ranked #13 in the country, defeated the Spartans 11-1 in five innings. Dalehite entered the game as a pinch runner. The Spartans are 25-11 and will face Chattanooga to start a three-game weekend series on Friday in Greensboro.

Jaden Hurdle: The Patrick & Henry Community College softball team was swept in a doubleheader by Louisburg College on Sunday. The Hurricanes defeated the Patriots 7-2 in the opener in Martinsville, VA. Hurdle hit leadoff and went 0-for-3. In the second game, Louisburg won 8-0 in five innings. Hurdle went 0-for-1 with a walk. Patrick & Henry are 20-10, 11-3 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. They host Wake Technical Community College this weekend, where Hurdle will go against her former Orange High teammate Kara Tackett, who suits up for the Eagles.

Like all other local baseball seniors, Brian Flores hasn’t had a traditional season since he started at Cedar Ridge.

The pandemic ended his sophomore season to only three games. Last season, the Red Wolves was limited to eleven games because of a reduced schedule mandated by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

So when Coach Bryson Massey texted Flores that he was starting against Northwood in Pittsboro last Tuesday, no one knew what to expect. Certainly not Massey and Flores. Not to mention that Northwood may be the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the Central Carolina Conference.

Flores had a few relief appearances this season, the most recent coming against Person on March 15. Yet he had never started a game.

No one could have imagined that Flores would throw a complete game two-hitter against the Chargers. Or that he would take a no-hitter into the sixth inning after he walked Northwood’s Seth Davis to open the game. The Chargers’ Walker Johnson broke up the no-hitter with a double to left field, ending a string of 15 consecutive batters retired by Flores.

By that point, Cedar Ridge had largely put the game away, leading 6-0. Flores would finish with his first career complete game, conceding only one run and two hits in seven innings. He struck out four with one walk in a 6-1 Cedar Ridge win.

“He did more than I could have expected,” Massey said. “I told him to go out there and win us a ballgame and he did. He beat a gritty Northwood team that gives you a lot of troubles. He kept them off balance and gave us a chance to win the ballgame.”

It was the second straight year that the Red Wolves won at Northwood. Last season, Cedar Ridge won in Pittsboro 8-2, Massey’s first conference win as the Red Wolves’ coach.

Cedar Ridge jumped on top of the Chargers with a run in the opening inning. Following a leadoff single by third baseman B.J. Thornton, senior Aidan McAllister reached on an infield hit. McAllister stole second, which led to an RBI single from Garrett Ray.

The Red Wolves struck for two runs in the third inning, once again generated by McAllister’s base running. McAllister, who has committed to play at Hofstra, reached on an infield single. The ball was thrown away by a Charger fielder and wound up going up a steep hill behind first base, which doesn’t have a fence behind it. After McAllister took second, Efrain Morales lined a fastball to right to plate McAllister. Right field Nick Nolan moved Morales to second with another hit, while Carlo Garay would knock Nolan in with an RBI groundout.

In the fourth inning, Morales drove in McAllister with a double to right field. Braedyn Jacobson, who reached on an error to start the frame, scored off another error. B.J. Thornton added another run.

Thornton finished 3-for-4, while McAllister, Ray and Morales were each 2-for-4.

“I love this team,” Massey said. “They’re going to fight and they’ve been through it together. There’s a lot of seniors and they’ve gone through the battles. They’ve suffered some tough losses and this year they’ve won some games. I couldn’t be more happy with the first half of the season.”

On Friday, Northwood defeated Cedar Ridge 5-2 to split the two-game series in Hillsborough. Northwood coach David Miller started Salvador Delgado, who also started Tuesday’s game. This time, Delgado keep the Cedar Ridge bats quiet through two-and-two-thirds innings, conceding only a triple by Morales in the first and a single by McAllister in the third.

Northwood jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the end of three innings. In just the second at-bat of the game, Charger third baseman Zach Barnes doubled to right field to score Mason Bae, who drew a leadoff walk. Luke Smith would knock in Barnes on a sacrifice fly.

Morales went 3-for-3 for the Red Wolves on Friday

Cedar Ridge will start play in the Hilltop Invitational against Holly Springs on Wednesday night at 6PM. The Red Wolves are scheduled to host Chapel Hill on Thursday at 6, then will travel to East Chapel Hill Friday afternoon at 4PM.

The Red Wolves (6-4 overall, 3-3 in the CCC) will return to conference play against Eastern Alamance on April 5 in Hillsborough.