Cedar Ridge Softball

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.

Icez Barnett: Erskine defeated the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team 60-57 on Saturday in Due West, S.C. Barnett didn’t play. Last Tuesday, #21 Belmont-Abbey defeated Chowan 95-84. Barnett scored two points in three minutes. The Hawks are 4-16, 4-12 in Conference Carolinas.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech women’s basketball team edged Bryant & Stratton College 62-59 on Saturday at Maury High School in Norfolk, VA. Cates, who graduated from Orange in 2019, finished with four points, one rebound, two assists and two steals. She shot 1-of-5 from the field. On Wednesday, Louisburg College defeated Wake Tech 80-66 in a game where the two teams combined for seven technical fouls. Cates finished with six points. Wake Tech is 15-5 overall, 8-4 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team competed at the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock, TX over the weekend. Davis finished 11th in the triple jump with a leap of 15.38 meters.

Braden Homsey: Over the weekend, the Division III Ferrum Panthers wrestling team finished 16th at the Pete Wilson Invitational at Wheaton University in Wheaton, IL. Homsey came in 7th at 197 pounds, one of three Panthers to place individually. Homsey finished 5-2 with two pins in the tournament. This season, Homsey is 24-9 with two pins.

Next weekend will start the spring sports season for many college across the state. Hillsborough will be represented in baseball, softball and men’s lacrosse. Here are some of the local athletes that will return to action at colleges across the southeast.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State catcher was named a Preseason All-American by Softball America. Davidson, who led Orange to the 2017 3A State Championship, is 10th among active players with 45 home runs in her first two years in Starkville. She led Mississippi State in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, runs, RBIs and total bases in 2019. Davidson was a top-10 finalist for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year in 2019.

Montana Davidson: Montana will join Mia Davidson for a Mississippi State team that hired Samantha Ricketts as its new head coach in the offseason. After Montana received a medical redshirt during her sophomore season due to a knee injury, she started all 58 games for the Bulldogs in 2019. As a redshirt sophomore, she hit .269 with seven doubles and 21 RBIs. Mississippi State will play Missouri State to start its season on Friday during a weekend series in Clearwater, FL. That series will also include N.C. State, Louisville, and Liberty.

Amy Stutzer: Stutzer, a 2019 Cedar Ridge graduate, will start her softball career at Division III Salem College in Virginia against Southern Virginia on February 14.

Brad Debo: This upcoming season will be the senior campaign for Debo, who was the catcher for four consecutive Big 8 Conference championship teams for the Orange Panthers. Last season for N.C. State, Debo appeared in 59 of the Wolfpack’s 61 games. He hit .242 with 47 hits, 16 doubles, one triple, four homers and 39 RBIs. The Wolfpack will start its season against James Madison on February 14.

Brandon Andrews: Andrews will start his junior season with the Nicholls Colonels against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Thibodaux, LA on February 14. Andrews appeared in 24 games as a pitcher last season for the Colonels. He was 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA and two saves.

Jaylin Jones: The Division II Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team has become Hillsborough south. There are three former Orange and Cedar Ridge players who will suit up for the Falcons this year. Jones will start his junior season in Misenheimer. In his sophomore season, Jones made six starts and played in 16 games. He scored two goals and added three assists for the Falcons.

Zach Berry: The former Cedar Ridge goalkeeper transferred from the Virginia Military Institute to Pfeiffer last season. In his only year at VMI, Berry was between the pipes for five games. He gave up seven goals in 55 minutes and made six saves.

Luke Hernandez: Also now at Pfeiffer. Hernandez played in one game for the Falcons last season. Pfeiffer faces Emmanuel in Franklin Springs, GA on Saturday.

Bowen Collins: A former star at Orange, Collins is now at redshirt senior at Division Lenoir-Rhyne. Last season, Collins played in 15 games for the Bears. He scored seven points with ten shots on goal.

Zach Wright: Now a senior at Division II Mars Hill, Wright had nine goals in 15 games last season. Mars Hill hosts Montevallo on Saturday.

Aidan Poole: A former defenseman at Cedar Ridge, Poole is now at Division III Greensboro College. Greensboro opens its season on February 15 against Virginia Wesleyan at Pride Field in Greensboro.

In this edition, we ask Orange shortstop Joey Berini, Cedar Ridge volleyball setter ShiLi Quade, Cedar Ridge women’s basketball center Caitlyn Lloyd and Red Wolf soccer midfielder Eh Kaw Hso what they’re thankful for. Wait until the end for a thoughtful answer from one of the athletes.