Cedar Ridge High School

A long trip down east paid off for the Cedar Ridge softball team on Friday night. The Red Wolves defeated West Carteret 6-3 to advance to the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Tori Dalehite blasted a two-run homer in the 3rd inning. Takia Nichols drilled her team-high eighth home run of the season in the 4th. Tionna Carter laced a two-run double in the sixth with two out. Senior Kara Wagoner lined a RBI single in the 1st inning to score Taylor Ruhl. Kymberlie Thacker made several big plays at the plate and didn’t conceded a wild pitch. Pitcher Taylor Barnes earned her 18th win of the season, the most by any Cedar Ridge pitcher in school history. The Red Wolves won’t have to travel nearly as far for its next state playoff game. They will take a 10-minute drive to Mebane on Tuesday night for a showdown against Eastern Alamance, the Mid State Conference Champions. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com at 6:25.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sprinter Zach Crane. On Saturday, Crane teamed with Vaughan LaNier, Brandon Garcia and Connor Blankford to finish 8th in the 4×800 relay at the 3A Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. Earlier this season, Crane finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters during a meet at Northern Durham, crossing the finish line at 11:52.1. Crane has been a member of Cedar Ridge’s 4×800 relay team for two consecutive years. He also has been a member of the Cedar Ridge indoor track team. Earlier this season, he set a new personal best in the 1,600 meters during the Big 8 Championships at Southern Durham High School.

In the longest playoff game in Cedar Ridge softball history, senior shortstop Tionna Carter laced a single to centerfield to score Taylor Ruhl in the bottom of the 11th inning to push the Red Wolves past West Johnston 4-3 on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Territory in the opening round of the 3A State Softball Playoffs. Carter’s single ended a long defensive stalemate where neither team scored for eight consecutive innings. The Red Wolves advance to Friday, where they will face West Carteret in Morehead City. Last season, the Red Wolves defeated West Carteret 10-0 in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough.

Last week during the Big 8 Track & Field Championships at Southern Durham High School, Wah finished 3rd in the 110 meter hurdle preliminary round. He crossed the finish line at 16.35 seconds. During the Big 8 championships, Wah participated in Cedar Ridge’s 4×100 relay team, which finished 3rd with a time of Keyshawn Crisp, Cory McIntyre and Eli Tilley. He also set a personal record in the long jump with a distance of 19 feet, 8.5 inches. On April 18, Wah won the 110 meter hurdles in a meet that included Orange and Southern Durham at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. Wah finished at 16.44 seconds, narrowly holding off his teammate Keyshawn Crisp. Wah also was a member of Cedar Ridge’s indoor track and field team last fall.On December 4, 2018, he captured the 55 meter hurdles during the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #4 event in Mebane.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman runner Sarah Tucker. On April 18 during a track & field meet at Auman Stadium, Tucker won the 400 meters, crossing the finish line at 1:04:24, two seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher. Last week during the Big 8 Championships at Southern Durham High School, Tucker joined Zoe Wade, Jill Myler and Allison Musty in finishing 2nd in the 4×800 relay. Their time of 10:25.38 qualified them for the Mideast Regionals, which will take place on May 11 at Southern Lee High School. In January, Tucker won the 500 meters in the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #6 meet in Mebane. Also at the Big 8 Championships, she teamed with Natalia Garay, Madison Wardlow and Alynah Howard to finish 4th in the 4×200 relay.

The Cedar Ridge softball team captured a share of the Big 8 softball championship on Tuesday night, beating Northern Durham 12-6. In her final regular season game at Cedar Ridge, catcher Kymberlie Thacker went 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBIs. Thacker is hitting .425 this season. In January, she formally signed with Brevard College. Earlier this year, Thacker suffered a concussion against Cardinal Gibbons, forcing her to miss six games. Regardless, the senior returned behind the plate. In her ten games since her return, Cedar Ridge has scored in double figure runs eight times. Next week, the Red Wolves will start action in the state playoffs, where they hope to be the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference. On Wednesday night, Orange hosts East Chapel Hill. If the Lady Panthers win, they will face Cedar Ridge in a one-game playoff for the Big 8’s top seed on Thursday.