Cedar Ridge Softball

After the corona virus pandemic cratered the sports scene across the U.S. and around the world, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has taken steps to keep students, staff and coaches safe.

On Thursday afternoon, the NCHSAA mandated that the spring sports season will be suspended starting at 11:59PM on Friday night until Monday, April 6.

Schools may not participate in games, practices, workout or skill development.

“As much as we would like this opportunity for our student-athletes, coaches, and their communities, we know that ultimately any decision we make must err on the side of caution,” said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker in a statement.

Right now, that’s everything that everyone associated with Orange and Cedar Ridge High Schools knows about the next three weeks.

Cedar Ridge and Orange’s baseball teams both had games scheduled for Friday, but they were both postponed. Orange was suppose to travel to East Chapel Hill for the second game of its two-game set on Friday afternoon. Orange won the first game on Tuesday night 9-4.

Cedar Ridge was supposed to host Northwood in Hillsborough, but that was also delayed. The Chargers threw a 15-out perfect game from Tyler Johnson to win 15-0 on Tuesday night in Pittsboro.

The only games on the slate for Friday will be lacrosse games. Cedar Ridge will host J.F. Webb in the Red Wolves third game this week. Orange will play its Conference 9 opener against Roxboro Community School in Person County.

The Cedar Ridge lacrosse team dropped a disappointing game to Southern Alamance by one goal in Graham. The Red Wolves fell to Eastern Alamance 14-11 in Hillsborough on Monday after taking a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Zachary Holmes had four goals for the Red Wolves against the Eagles. James Clayton had a goal and two assists.

On Thursday night, West Johnston softball handed Cedar Ridge its first loss of the season 13-3 in five innings. The Wildcats avenged a loss to the Red Wolves last Friday in Hillsborough, which Cedar Ridge won 21-16. The Wildcats scored nine runs in the fourth inning. Cedar Ridge had a doubleheader scheduled against Chapel Hill for Friday, but that was also postponed.

The Orange softball team also suffered a non-conference loss in its final game before the three-week break. Person defeated the Lady Panthers 12-6 at Panther Softball Field. Orange led 4-1 at the end of the second inning. Freshman Serenity McPherson singled in each of her first two at-bats. Each time, she knocked in classmate Carson Bradsher. In the first, Bradsher reached on a leadoff single and eventually scored to tie the game. Sophomore catcher Lauren Jackson gave Orange the lead with a single to second. McPherson, who stole third during Jackson’s plate appearance, touched the plate off the hit.

Orange added two more in the second. McPherson knocked in Bradsher again. After Maddie Bartlett reached on an error, Emma Puckett hit a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Bartlett to score.

It was all Person from that point forward. The Rockets scored eleven consecutive runs. Person pitcher Taylor Sullivan, who replaced starter Delaney Glover in the 3rd, threw four-and-two-thirds innings for the win. She gave up two runs, both in the 7th inning, off five hits.

Person’s Emma Bowes went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs.

Photo by Pam Scism

The power supply for the Cedar Ridge softball team has started on high voltage to begin the 2020 season.

If there was any sign the Red Wolves will contend for its third consecutive Big 8 Conference Championship, it came Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

In its conference opener, the Red Wolves pounded out 15 hits against Northwood in a 20-0 victory. It was Cedar Ridge’s first mercy rule win of the season.

Cedar Ridge sophomore third baseman Takia Nichols hit her fourth homer of the season with a three-run blast to left field in the first inning, bringing in Anaya Carter and Emma Roby. It started a 10-run inning.

Olivia Aitkin, who singled after Nichols’ home run, scored on a wild pitch. After Reagan Ruhl walked, ShiLi Quade singled to third base. With Cailyn Thornton at bat, Aitkin scored on a passed ball. Thornton reached on a grounder that found its way to left field and scored Ruhl to make it 5-0.

Quade scored on a passed ball with Carter at the plate. Carter eventually singled to center to score Thornton. Ava Lowry knocked in Carter with a bloop to center field. Aitkin earned her second hit of the inning with a grounder that popped over second base, who was intentionally walked.

Nichols has homers in each of Cedar Ridge’s three games this season. She had two in the season opener against Cardinal Gibbons. It’s also led to Nichols being intentionally walked more often. After she smashed a two-run homer off the scoreboard in the second inning against West Johnston on Friday, Nichols was intentionally walked four times.

After the leadoff homer against the Chargers, she was walked twice.

Cedar Ridge added ten more runs in the 3rd inning. After Nichols was walked, she scored off a double by Aitkin to centerfield. Aitkin scored off a grounder to center by Rhul, who finished 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Aitkin went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Carter, a freshman, finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and two runs scored. Quade, who hit an inside-the-park grand slam against West Johnston, finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Thornton went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Lowry went 2-for-3 with a triple and 3 RBIs.

Away from the impressive offensive numbers was Cedar Ridge’s starting pitcher. Junior Alexandria Matthews earned her first victory at the varsity level, throwing five shutout innings. She scattered only three hits and four walks, striking out two.

It was the first game this year that Aitkin didn’t pitch. Instead, Aitkin played right field.

In its first three games, Cedar Ridge has 52 runs off 45 hits. That total could grow on Thursday when the Red Wolves travel to Chapel Hill for a doubleheader. Each game is slated to be five innings.

Cedar Ridge has now won ten straight Big 8 Conference games. The Red Wolves will host Orange on Tuesday.

Last season, Cedar Ridge and Orange tied for the Big 8 Championship after they split the season series. Each team ran the table agains the rest of the Big 8. Cedar Ridge won a special tiebreaker in Hillsborough 8-3 to receive the top seed from the conference going into the 3A State Tournament.

With eleven home runs in 26 varsity softball games, it’s easy for local softball fans to draw a comparison between Cedar Ridge’s Takia Nichols and former Orange catcher Mia Davidson.

After Friday night, maybe Roy Hobbs would be the most accurate. (Here’s a video of the above reference for younger readers).

In the second inning against West Johnston, Nichols took a leadoff fastball and knocked it off the left field scoreboard at Cedar Ridge softball field. Despite gusts of 25 miles-per-hour, Nichols’ power thrust the ball into the teeth of the wind and off the screen that tallied the opposing team’s runs (above the home team) to tie the game at 7-7.

That was all West Johnston Coach Laura Jefferson needed to see.

Nichols never got another swing the rest of the night, receiving four intentional walks, twice with runners on board.

After two hours and 25 minutes in mid-40 degree temperatures, Cedar Ridge showed poise and plenty of offensive firepower to defeat the Wildcats 21-16 on Friday night. It was a rematch of a first-round state playoff game in May, where the Red Wolves’ won 4-3 in 11 innings off a walkoff single by Tionna Carter.

The Red Wolves amassed 19 hits to improve to 2-0. They opened the season with an 11-7 win over Cardinal Gibbons.

Cedar Ridge built an 18-8 lead off an inside-the-park grand slam by junior centerfielder ShiLi Quade, who laced a riseball to left field as the signature blow in a six-run third inning. Quade score Ava Lowry, Olivia Aitkin, and Reagan Ruhl.

Quade was one of five Red Wolves with three hits. She was joined by Aitkin, Thornton, Lowry and Ruhl. Lowry scored four runs, as did Ruhl and Nichols.

Aitkin, who spent the winter competing in the climate-controlled atmosphere of the Orange County Sportsplex for the Cedar Ridge swimming team, had to brave howling winds standing inside the circle in her first year as a regular starting pitcher. With scattered onlookers bundles under blankets, hand warmers and heavy jackets, Aitkin was left alone to face a West Johnston offense that piled up 24 runs in its season-opening victory over Northern Nash.

“I just try to focus on throwing my pitches like I imagine in my head,” Aitkin said. “Then I just throw it. I play softball year around so I’m used to the cold.”

After giving up an early run, Cedar Ridge scored five runs in the first inning after the opening two batters were retired. Ruhl, who played second base, drilled a double to left field to bring in Ava Lowry and Aitkin. Thornton launched a triple to center to score Rhule and Quade.

After trailing 16-6 going into the fifth inning, West Johnston cut its deficit to 19-16 off five runs in the sixth inning, including a three-run triple by shortstop Kaitlyn Tucker.

In the bottom of the sixth, Quade reached on a bunt single. After advancing to second and third off wild pitches, Rachel Serre scored Quade on a sacrifice fly. Thornton walked and added an insurance run following a double by freshman Anaya Carter.

Cedar Ridge will start its Big 8 Conference slate against Northwood on Tuesday in Pittsboro, then travel to Four Oaks for a rematch with West Johnston on Thursday. The Red Wolves travel to Chapel Hill for a doubleheader on Friday.

“The girls battled tonight,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Allen Byrd. “We got some productivity from the bottom of our lineup tonight, which we didn’t have the other night (against Cardinal Gibbons). They came up and hit the ball. These kids just stuck together and played fundamental softball.”

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is softball center fielder Shili Quade. On Friday night, Quade had an inside the park grand slam as the Red Wolves outscored West Johnston 21-16 at Red Wolves Softball Field. Quade reached in all four off her at-bats against the Wildcats and scored three runs as Cedar Ridge improved to 2-0. Shili has been a member of two Big 8 Conference Championship teams in softball and has played on the varsity team since her freshman year. She has also played volleyball for the Red Wolves. Last fall, she helped the Red Wolves reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016. In the season opener against Cardinal Gibbons on Wednesday, Quade went 1-for-4 with a run scored as the Red Wolves won 11-7. Cedar Ridge will start Big 8 Conference play with a road trip to Northwood on Tuesday.

With wind gusts of 25 miles per hour making it feel in the high-30s, the Cedar Ridge softball team defeated West Johnston 21-16 at Red Wolves Territory on Friday night. Sophomore Olivia Aitkin stood in the middle of the blustery weather and threw 131 pitches for her 2nd win of the season. Aitkin helped her own cause by reaching base four times. She scored three times, including during a five-run first inning. Aitkin scored off a double by Shili Quade. Last year, Aitkin was the backup pitcher for the Red Wolves. Now she’s the first day starter and is 2-0 after picking up a victory over Cardinal Gibbons on Wednesday. Cedar Ridge will start Big 8 Conference play with a road trip to Northwood on Tuesday night in Pittsboro.

On Wednesday night, the Cedar Ridge softball team started its season with an 11-7 win over Cardinal Gibbons in Hillsborough. A year after Takia Nichols hit eight home runs in her freshman year, she started her sophomore season with two more dingers. Nichols finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and three runs scored. Freshman Anaya Carter, whose older sister Tionna played shortstop for the Red Wolves the past three seasons, went 3-for-4 in her first varsity game, scoring twice. Sophomore Olivia Aitkin took the win inside the circle for the Red Wolves. On Friday night, Cedar Ridge will face West Johnston in a playoff rematch. In May, the Red Wolves won a marathon 11-inning game when Tionna Carter got the game-winning hit to send the Red Wolves home with a 4-3 win and into the second round of the state playoffs. Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast Cedar Ridge vs. West Johnston, which will be played in Hillsborough, on Friday night starting at 6:25. Listen in on the website.

Possibly the most versatile female athlete in Cedar Ridge history has had her high school career come to a sad and premature end.

Tori Dalehite will be forced to sit out her senior softball season after she was diagnosed with a torn ACL in her right knee. She will undergo surgery Thursday.

Dalehite suffered the injury in the final minute of a basketball game against East Chapel Hill on February 10. The Wildcats won the game 54-13.

The injury means she will have played softball, her best sport, for only two years at Cedar Ridge. In her freshman season, Dalehite tore the ACL in her left knee on the first day of basketball practice.

It has been a bittersweet winter for the Dalehite family. Her brother, Landon, was a starting guard for the Gravelly Hill Middle School Grizzlies, who defeated Phillips to win the OPAC Boys Basketball Championship on February 11 in Efland. It was the first OPAC Championship in varsity boys basketball in school history.

Gravelly Hill won the day after Dalehite was injured.

It’s a devastating loss for a Cedar Ridge team that was counting on Dalehite’s return to make another run at the Big 8 Championship. But losing players to injury has become a pattern for Coach Allen Byrd.

“I have had the privilege of coaching Tori over the past two years,” Byrd said. “Two weeks ago, I receive a  phone call from Tori’s Dad informing me that Tori had just went down with an unknown knee injury during a basketball game. As a coach, this a phone call that you never want to receive. Coming off of back to back Conference Championships – back to back third round playoff runs… to hear that you may not have your “leader” is devastating. It’s simply heartbreaking.”

“However, I was more devastated for Tori,” Byrd continued. “She has dedicated most of her life to the sport of softball, she was gearing up for an amazing senior season. To have that taken away from her is heartbreaking.”

In her freshman year, Dalehite, pitcher Rivers Andrews and catcher Kymberlie Thacker all missed the 2017 season due to various injuries. The trio returned healthy the following year and the result was the best team in school history.

Behind Andrews’ dominant pitching and a deep batting order, the Red Wolves rolled to a 17-1 regular season, opening the year with a win at Eastern Alamance and losing only to Roxboro Community School.

From the time they started their Big 8 Conference schedule with an 11-0 win over Northwood, the Red Wolves were never seriously challenged. They went 14-0 to win the first softball conference championship in school history, outscoring league opponents 137-6.

In her first varsity season, Dalehite was named Big 8 Hitter of the Year after she finished with a .582 batting average with 32 hits, 32 RBIs, 29 runs and five triples, all team highs.

In the third round of the 3A State Playoffs, Dalehite hit a three-run homer against West Brunswick in the third inning in Shallote. In the fifth inning, she broke her hand after getting hit by a pitch, but still finished the game at 2nd base. The Trojans won 4-3 in nine innings. While the rest of the Red Wolves took a four-hour bus ride home, Dalehite stayed behind at the coast to get her hand examined at a hospital.

Last year, Cedar Ridge set a school record for victories (21-3) and tied Orange for the Big 8 Championship. The Red Wolves defeated the Lady Panthers in a special tiebreaker for the #1 seed to the state playoffs 8-3 at Panther Softball Field.

Though it wasn’t as dominant as 2018, Cedar Ridge still made a run to the third round of the state playoffs. They defeated West Johnston 4-3 in 11 innings after a walkoff single by Tionna Carter. On May 10, the Red Wolves romped pat West Carteret in Morehead City. In that game, Dalehite hit a two-run homer in the third inning to dead center, her final dinger for the Red Wolves.

Eastern Alamance knocked the Red Wolves out the following week. In her final at-bat, Dalehite singled against Eastern Alamance freshman pitcher Kenna Raye Dark, who eventually led the Eagles to the 3A State Championship.

Last year, Dalehite verbally committed to play softball at UNC Greensboro. Her signing ceremony took place in November.

In a time of increased specialization of high school athletes, Dalehite remained a three-sport athlete to the very end regardless of the talent level around her. She reached the state playoffs in three different sports.

Dalehite played volleyball for four years. Last fall, she was a part of a Cedar Ridge team that upset Chapel Hill and returned to the state playoffs for the first time since 2015.

She played varsity basketball for three years. As a sophomore, the Red Wolves finished 14-11 and reached the state playoffs, losing to D.H. Conley in the opening round.

“She is a leader on and off the field, and I have no doubt she will bounce back,” Byrd said. “I am a better person for having the opportunity to know Tori, I have no doubt that she will excel in the classroom and on the field, but more importantly, she will excel in this game called life.”

Marvin Jones: The former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Male Athlete of the Week. Jones, a junior on the North Carolina Central track & field team, won his third high jump competition of the season at the Darius Dixon Memorial at Liberty University on Saturday. Jones had a career-best jump of 2.10 meters. He also won the Camel City Invitational and the JDL January College Kickoff for the Eagles. Jones will compete in the MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Landover, MD starting Thursday.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team competed in the Don Kirby Elite Invitational at New Mexico University in Albuquerque, NM. Davis finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 50’6.25″. He has already qualified for the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held at South Bend, IN starting February 27.

Braden Homsey: Wrestling at 197 pounds for Division III Ferrum College, Homsey won the Southeast Wrestling Conference Tournament at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL on Saturday. In the championship match, Homsey edged Huntingdon’s Jack Haury 11-10. Homsey scored a technical fall over D.J. Adams of Huntingdon in the opening round and pinned Montana Doty of the University of the Ozarks in 6:14 to reach the finals. Ferrum won the team championship, as well. Homsey is 25-9 with two pins this season.

Icez Barnett: The freshman for the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team earned her first college start on Saturday. Barnett played 16 minutes as King defeated Chowan 72-45. Barnett scored six points off 3-of-7 shooting, and grabbed two rebounds. On February 11, Barton routed Chowan 88-58 in the Helms Center in Murfreesboro. Barnett came off the bench and scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 17 minutes. Chowan is 4-19, 4-15 in Conference Carolinas. Icez has played in 15 games this season for the Hawks. She has averaged 9.2 minutes per game and has scored 32 points. Chowan will return to action against Southern Wesleyan in Central, S.C. on Wednesday.

Kaylen Campbell: On Saturday, the Division III Trinity Bantams women’s college basketball team defeated Hamilton 74-71 in double overtime at Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, CT. It was the New England Small College Athletic Conference regular season finale for Trinity. Campbell came off the bench and played seven minutes. The victory ended a four-game losing streak for the Bantams. On Friday, Campbell scored two points in six minutes as Trinity lost to Amherst 58-53. Trinity concludes the regular season 16-8 and will play at Williams at Williamstown, MA in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament on Saturday. This season, Campbell has played in 19 of the Bantam’s 24 games. She is averaging 11.3 minutes per game and 2.7 points per game.

Lauren Cates: On Thursday, Catawba Valley Community College defeated Wake Technical Community College 62-52. On February 8, Cape Fear Community College beat Wake Tech 90-83. Cates, a freshman guard for Wake Tech, started but didn’t take any shots. In 22 games this season, Cates is averaging 8.7 points per game and shooting 35.3% from the field. Wake Tech is 16-7 overall, 9-6 in Region X.

There’s so much spring sports news between baseball, softball and men’s lacrosse that will have another alumni update early Tuesday morning. It was another strong weekend for Mia Davidson and the Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team. Plus, Brad Debo started his senior season with the N.C. State baseball team and the Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team kicked off its season.