Cedar Ridge High School

The Rodcast is back! On this edition, we talk with Curran Campbell of Hillsboroughsports.com. Curran is a basketball expert who weighed in on ESPN’s Greatest College Basketball Player of All Time poll from March. Curran, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2019, now attends Syracuse University. We also discuss the biggest sports conspiracy that we put stock in, as well as what’s ahead for sports once the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Thanks to Curran for his time!

On this edition of the Rodcast, we’re joined by #1 Johnny Jones and Matt Stradley. Together, we discuss “The Last Dance,” the ESPN documentary about the Chicago Bulls of the 1980s and 1990s. We discuss what we like about the first four parts, the legacy of Michael Jordan, did the team end at the right time? Johnny now attends Golden State Warriors games while following the NBA by the bay. Matt passionately follows all UNC Asheville sports and can be found on ESPN+ for everything from basketball to women’s soccer. Join this fun and entertaining discussion regarding the glory days of the Chicago Bulls.

Loyalty requires a certain amount of stubbornness.

As a freshman, Braxton Mergenthal was a starter on Cedar Ridge’s football team.

By the end of his sophomore year, he didn’t have a varsity football team.

In the summer of 2018, the Orange County School System announced that Cedar Ridge wouldn’t field a varsity squad the following August because of “safety concerns.” In a sport where quantity determines your quality, the Red Wolves simply didn’t have enough players.

Mergenthal would have had every right to transfer to neighboring Orange High. Five of his teammates did, and there were other defections by All-Conference-caliber athletes from other sports in a summer of torment at Cedar Ridge.

Six weeks later, his coach, Scott Loosemore departed for Scotland County in order to secure an elusive full-time teaching position.

In order for Mergenthal to return to Cedar Ridge, it meant he had to go back to a program that had hit the reset button on football. After two years at the highest level, he would spend his junior year playing junior varsity, the only team that Cedar Ridge could possibly deploy. He would be surrounded by freshmen and sophomores learning on the job, just as he did in prior years.

Still, Mergenthal stayed. So did Braedon Thompson, K.J. Barnes, Jaikel Gibbs, Matthew Hinton, Brandon Poteat and Zach Holmes.

In the future, whenever Cedar Ridge football rises from the ashes, those players should be remembered as the ones who laid the foundation for success.

“As long as you have seniors who stay all four years, you’re going to have something to build on,” Mergenthal said. “I think we’ll continue to have that.”

There was also an academic factor. As a member of Cedar Ridge’s International Baccalaureate program, Mergenthal had already spent two years taking college-level courses. A move to Orange would have basically reset that process.

It wasn’t easy to remain. As soon as Mergenthal finished junior varsity football season, he played center for a Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team that went 1-23. Nonetheless, he suited up for 23 games, including the season’s lone win over Rockingham County.

“Staying at Cedar Ridge was a great decision,” Mergenthal said. “It taught me how to face adversity and I’m going to need that in college.”

It took a lot of stubbornness to stay around for a 1-win basketball season and a 1-10 football season last fall, when Cedar Ridge returned to varsity action.

Where did that stubbornness come from?

Perhaps the answer is Dusseldorf, Germany.

After spending his sixth grade year at Gravelly Hill Middle School, Braxton and his younger brother Jake moved to Europe. Their mother, Jessica Adams, got promoted to project manager with Bayer-Crop Science, which develops crop safety products for farmers. It led them away from Efland and into a whole new world.

“It was kind of like vacation,” Jessica said.

Until it wasn’t.

Jessica arrived home from work one day to find that Braxton had his bags packed. He informed his mother he was ready to return to Efland. At the age of 12, he assumed his mother and Todd would surely follow.

The only problem was Jessica was six months into a two-year assignment.

“I tried to explain that to him what the situation was,” said Jessica, who now works at BASF in Research Triangle Park. “I told him that before we went there. He said ‘No, I’m going home. If you want to stay, you stay.'”

Things got tense. Jake, who was ten, also got upset and ran to his room. Jessica followed to calm him down.

In the meantime, Braxton vanished.

Jessica scampered around the house only to find the Euros the family stored in a drawer taken. When she went outside, the garage door was open and Braxton wasn’t there. Neither was his bicycle.

Since they lived only two miles from Dusseldorf Airport, Braxton had decided to get a head start on his voyage home.

Jessica frantically drove around the streets looking for her son.

“I had no idea where he went,” Jessica said. “He had just decided he was leaving. There was so many bicyclists around Dusseldorf on the streets, he blended in very easily.”

After about an hour, Braxton sheepishly decided to backtrack. He couldn’t returned to Efland yet because he didn’t have a passport and he was underage to fly back to Raleigh-Durham Airport alone.

But he didn’t come home empty handed.

As he peddled back home, Braxton stopped by one of the many lavish flower fields in Dusseldorf.

“He cut a bunch of flowers for me and brought them home,” Jessica said.

“OK. I’m sorry,” Braxton said as he handed his mom the tulips. “I can stay another year.”

Then he headed upstairs.

“That was the end of that,” Jessica said. “He’s kind of hard headed. But he’s a sweet kid. Once he works through it on his own, he’s all-in.”

In his final year in Germany, Mergenthal improved his tackling technique by playing rugby.

He even learned a little German.

“I lost most of it once I came back, though,” Mergenthal said.

After he came home, Mergenthal was a three-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge. In addition to football and basketball, he played baseball in the spring under former head coach Jamie Athas. In his junior and senior seasons, he played defenseman on the lacrosse team.

“I love football,” Mergenthal said. “Let’s just say I thoroughly enjoy lacrosse.”

“When he first came out he could barely pass and catching was an adventure,” said Cedar Ridge lacrosse coach Patrick Kavanaugh. “But he stuck it out and became a solid contributor.  I am sorry he didn’t get a full season this year to show how much he has grown.”

Earlier this month, Mergenthal signed to play football at Division III Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville, Virginia, in between Danville and Lynchburg.

“I toured the school and it was just fit,” Mergenthal said. “Everything was perfect. Academics had a lot to do with it I felt this was the place for me. I’m attracted by their business program and they have a great alumni program. So hopefully after college I’ll find a job.”

He also had offers from Division II Mars Hill and various Division III schools.

After a high school career filled with uncertainty, Mergenthal will start his college career the same way. Filled with idle time recently, Mergenthal has worked out constantly since in-person classes shut down in Orange County March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic. He’s already set for college football season, but has no idea when it will actually start this fall.

He’s not the only one.

Mergenthal finds himself set to graduate under the most unorthodox circumstances imaginable. As he departs for a destination not as far away as Germany, he’ll leave a lasting impact at Cedar Ridge by being, as late heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio coined it, the Last in Line.

“You could be the last, the strongest, and to me, it’s always been that,” Dio once said in an interview. “The perseverance that comes from going through challenges in life. And when you get to the end, and you’re the last one standing, and you ask yourself, ‘Was it worth it?’ you better say yes. That’s gonna be my answer.”

It’s the second edition of the Rodcast. Today, we’re joined by Cedar Ridge play-by-play man Tim Hackett and Cedar Ridge’s public address announcer Tim Hackett. This is a unique time in American history and for the sports landscape. On this edition, Jeff, Tim and Jon will discuss what this inactivity has felt like, the spring sports seniors that we feel bad for, and what we’ll remember from this season. Plus, overrated baseball films, Northwestern basketball and much more! Enjoy this edition of the Rodcast, presented by C&R Ski Outdoor in Hillsborough! We’ll be back on Friday with Bruce Mitchell, podcaster and writer for PWTorch.com to discuss pro wrestling, in particular the final edition of Nitro from March 2001!

Just a few weeks ago, sports as we know it was brought to a grinding halt. Who would have ever thought that an organism one billionth of our size would take out every single athlete from playing the sports they love and void every spectator of one of life’s most enjoyable escapes? 
But has anyone thought about the totality of this recent chain of events? 
Organized sports originated in 1869 with the advent of American Football while baseball came two years later. In 1875, ice hockey began it’s long standing run in Canada while a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith, would invent the American game of basketball in 1892. Pierre de Coubertin would help revive the Olympic Games in 1889, with the first Olympiad taking place in Athens in 1896.
But it wasn’t until the year 2020, when all of these fun events were suddenly stopped.
As I approach my 40th birthday, I began to recall events since 1900 that voided the world of athletic competitions. But, it’s only the recent events of COVID-19 that has shut down everything. International, national, collegiate, high school, recreation, and youth leagues have had forms of disruptions over time, but never in the history of sports have we ever seen a full shutdown of sporting events.
Here’s a look at some of the most notable disruptions.

1) WAR
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in 1914, the world went into war. As a result, the 1916 Olympic Games in Berlin were canceled. Berlin would host the games 20 years later in 1936.
In 1940, following Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland one year prior, the Olympic Games in Tokyo were forfeited as a result of Japan’s involvement in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The games were then awarded to Helsinki, Finland. But due to the “Winter War” between Finland and the Soviet Union compiled with the various conflicts of the European Theatre, the games were eventually canceled.
Likewise, the 1940 Winter Olympics were also canceled. Originally scheduled to be held in Sapporo, Japan, the Olympics were moved twice. The first to St. Moritz, Switzerland and then later to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. But as a result of the German invasion of Poland, the games were canceled. Sapporo would later host the 1972 Winter Games.
In 1944, London was set to host the Summer Olympic Games. They too faced cancellation as a result of World War II. London would later host the games in 1948. The Italian Alpine resort city of Cortina d’Ampezzo was slated to host the Winter games that same year, but these games were also canceled by WWII. Cortina would later host the Winter Olympics in 1956.
World War II also was responsible for the cancellation the 1942 and 1946 editions of the FIFA World Cup. 
Despite the international impact, professional leagues in the United States as well as collegiate sports and high school sports all continued.

2) 9/11
On that faithful Tuesday, America changed forever. In the immediate aftermath, major American sporting events were postponed or canceled. 
Major League Baseball postponed games up to one to three days following the tragedy. This would eventually delay the playoffs and cause the World Series between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks to be played for the first time in November.
The National Football League postponed its’ Week Two games and made them up one week after the conclusion of the season. This obviously caused a delay of the playoffs and Super Bowl XXXVI.
NCAA College Football also postponed games. Games scheduled for September 13 & 15 were eventually played in early December, or canceled as a result of the inability to find opponents.
The 2001 Ryder Cup that was scheduled to be contested at The Belfry in England was postponed by a year. Other team based golf events (Presidents’ Cup & Solheim Cup) were also postponed and played a year later.
More closer to home, high school and local events faced minimal disruption. 
I was living in McDowell County at the time and saw a few events in volleyball and soccer postponed to later dates. Football, however was still on schedule as most football stadiums were large remembrance venues, with patriotism on full display. The local youth football league also did not face any postponements.
There were memorials worldwide, but there were no mass cancellations.

3) BLIZZARDS
While not events that affected events nationally or abroad, winter weather events can be something to behold in North Carolina.
In early March of 1993, I as a 13 year old lad was an outfielder for my middle school – playing in the balmy 78 degree heat. I remember coming home to a ring around my neck, and no, that wasn’t from dirt. It was the sunburn. My arms also got a nice coating of pink. (I don’t tan, I burn….even today). 
Two weeks later, the great portion of Western North Carolina (ranging from the Georgia/South Carolina/Tennessee border counties to the I-77 corridor) was under a massive blanket of snow ranging from 15 to 48 inches, with a three-inch layer of ice underneath. At my parents’ home in southern McDowell County, we had a solid 19 inches. 
On that Saturday, a normal 15-minute drive to Marion for supplies turned into a six-hour trek due to the horrible road conditions. To a good portion, electricity was the biggest concern in addition to trying to reign in our patience. Power was restored a week later, just in time for the beginnings of March Madness.
Given the time of the event, high school sports faced minimal disruption as it occurred during the week of the state basketball championships, which were postponed a week. High school baseball, softball, and track & field also faced minimal time off as their seasons had not began.
In 2000, the Triangle faced one of it’s biggest winter weather emergencies as 20 inches of snow fell in 24 hours. As what we faced in the mountains seven years prior, the same effect was prevalent in Central North Carolina. Given it’s time frame in late January, basketball games, wrestling matches, and swim meets all faced uncertain futures with postponements. 
But it did produce one of the best diversions – the basketball game between Maryland and North Carolina. This was the game that could not be attended by the “Wine and Cheese” faithful (the alumni members of The Rams Club members) but instead by the students. After a thrilling win by the Tar Heels that saw the students storm the Smith Center floor, it unleashed a immense amount of controversy. For years, students tried every way possible to get more closer to the action – much to the dismay of Rams Club members who didn’t want to give up their seats.
In both cases, the snow melted, roads cleared, and events resumed.

If you look at all three of these circumstances, certain sects of sports faced a form of disruption. But never in the history of sports have we ever seen a total disconnect with the cancellation of tournaments, postponement of season play, and even to postpone the largest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games – all at one time.
While the future is grave and completely uncertain, we are living in times that we might not see again. But as a sports fan, I’m hopeful that breakthroughs can be made to return athletes to play and the fans to the stands.

This week;s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior lacrosse midfielder Braedon Thompson. For the past four years, Thompson has played lacrosse and football at Cedar Ridge, becoming the third member of the Thompson family to participate in sports at the school. As a freshman, Thompson played for the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship Cedar Ridge lacrosse team, which played for the state championship inside Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Thompson was also a team captain for the football team last fall. His father, Mason, is an assistant coach with the football team. With school currently under hiatus because of the Coronavirus pandemic, Thompson hopes to resume lacrosse season in April. Until then, he will continue to study towards graduation. He plans to attend Western Carolina University this fall to start studying Emergency Management.

Well, this whole “not have a game stuff” certainly puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?

Too much perspective, if you ask me.

(Ed. note: in the interest of fairness, that quote is from “This is Spinal Tap.” I don’t have an ear for most modern pop culture references, and Spinal Tap is old but timeless)

The most amazing thing regarding the coronavirus pandemic is how quickly the spring sports landscape in Hillsborough, and everywhere else, went from rich to barren. On March 10, the Orange baseball team beat East Chapel Hill. The following day, they were taking batting practice preparing for the second game of the series on Friday.

No one had any idea that, in all likelihood, it would be their final practice together. Or that the North Carolina High School Athletic Association would suspend the spring sports season less than 24 hours later.

When you’re a senior in high school, things are never as final as they seem. Many of the students who will graduate in the Smith Center in June (if they’re allowed to) will eventually live in Orange County or somewhere near it. Many of them will continue to carry friendships with people they’ll turn the tassels with, hopefully closer than five feet apart.

Yet the Class of 2020 will hold a unique place in history, but locally and abroad. Especially those that play spring sports.

Hopefully all of them live a long, rich life. And when they get to my age, they can look back and talk about their incomplete senior year. Every other athlete in the history of Orange and Cedar Ridge had the chance to succeed or do otherwise, based on their own abilities.

With each passing day, it feels like the Class of 2020 won’t be able to even say that. Their chance was taken away by an invisible enemy that has shut down everyday life like nothing we’ve seen before it. And hopefully never will again.

Last Saturday night, I received a DM from a friend who graduated with me from Orange in 1991. She asked if I was doing OK. Like many freelancers, I depend on games to make ends meet and the media paradigm isn’t as steady as it once was. I didn’t have a good answer for her because, after 30 years of covering sports, this is all so new to me.

As I’ve written before, high school sports has usually carried on through even the worst disasters, locally and nationally. Three days after 9/11, I was doing play-by-play for Northern Durham at J.F. Webb in Oxford. It may have been the most numb atmosphere for a game I’ve ever seen (especially since Northern won 67-0), but they still played. Well, at least Northern did.

The last thing anyone should do is feel bad for me.

But here’s who I do feel bad for:

Braden Thompson and Braxton Mergenthal: They’re senior lacrosse players at Cedar Ridge. When Thompson was a freshman, the Red Wolves defeated Chapel Hill 11-8 to win the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship. They became the first lacrosse team from Hillsborough to play for a state championship in lacrosse. Mergenthal was a defenseman who helped the Red Wolves shut out Roxboro Community School 16-0 in the season opener. It appeared Cedar Ridge was set to battle Orange for the Conference 9 Championship.

Wyatt Jones, Noah Davis and the rest of the seniors on the Orange lacrosse team: Orange tied the best start in school history last Friday at 6-0. Orange coach Chandler Zirkle approached the game with a sense of finality, which appears to be prescient. Jones is the first lacrosse player from Orange to commit to a Division I school. Hopefully next spring, Mercer won’t have its season interrupted like the rest of the spring sports teams, high school and college, did this year.

Cameron Hartley, Chris Pearce, Grant Fox and Fransisco Martinez: The Cedar Ridge baseball team is a young one, but Coach Bryson Massey got a win over The Burlington School on March 6. It wasn’t easy. It was a blustery night and Martinez got some big outs while wind gusts of 25-miles-per-hour swirled around him. I hope Martinez, Hartley, Fox and Pearce all get a chance to play again.

Joey Berini: Somehow, it would be prophetic if Joey Berini’s last game at Orange is the East Chapel Hill one from March 10. That would mean that Berini hit a grand slam in his last official at-bat. (He drew a walk in his final plate appearance in the sixth inning, but that doesn’t count as an at-bat.) Joey has started at Orange for four years at shortstop. I’ve interviewed him about eight times and he’s never cracked a smile once. He also isn’t known for long answers. Our last discussion was one minute and 37 seconds, mainly comprised of me filling up time with run-on sentences. Joey was always high on production even when he was low on words. Hopefully East Carolina beat writers will enjoy his production as much as Orange fans have.

Dayne Watkins: In Orange’s first game of the year, Dayne injured his hamstring running out a ground ball against Western Alamance. He was set to play again last week against East Chapel Hill, which never happened. Dayne also kindly asked me for a video interview despite not playing the past three games. Dayne, we’ll do that soon. What else am I going to do, watch March Madness?

Emma Roby: Taking the place of a three-year starter is not easy. Emma replaced Kymberlie Thacker as catcher for Cedar Ridge’s softball team and was off to a solid start. Thacker had a .370 career batting average with seven home runs and 57 RBIs. Roby went 2-for-4 in her first game against Cardinal Gibbons, an 11-7 Cedar Ridge win.

Cailyn Thornton: A starter for Cedar Ridge in right field, she opened the year 6-for-12 with five RBIs. Also made the state playoffs as a volleyball player last fall. She deserved a chance to win another Big 8 Conference Championship in softball.

Alyssa and Rachel Serre: Two more Cedar Ridge softball seniors who finally had a chance to start together for the first time at the varsity level.

Grace Andrews: As a freshman, she started at 2nd base for Orange’s 3A state championship team. Maybe Grace doesn’t need anyone weeping for her, after all. But she did deserve a chance to finish her career with a chance to win a conference title, one that Orange tied Cedar Ridge for last year. She already had two.

Maddy Bartlett and Rachel Tilley: Orange’s softball team was already dealt a tough hand with season-ending injuries to three infielders before practice started. Yet Bartlett and Tilley fought through all that to propel Orange past East Chapel Hill 10-8 on March 10, despite trailing 7-1. I know Maddy’s cousins, Mia and Montana Davidson, were proud in Starkville, MS.

And the list goes on and on. There are women’s soccer players. Men’s tennis players. Track & field athletes. All of whom are sidelined by something they can’t even envision.

Two weeks ago, I was out in the freezing cold at Cedar Ridge Softball Field to do play-by-play for Cedar Ridge vs. West Johnston. It was 49 degrees at first pitch and it only grew worse with 25-mile-per-hour winds. It was as if I had never left Appalachian State.

In the midst of all this, I though to myself “This is a weird way to make a living.”

Now, as I finish writing this in 70-degree temperatures on a calm night at the American Tobacco Campus, I can honestly say I can’t wait to feel that weird again.

Landon Riley: Liberty Baseball ended its year with a 10-7 record. The Flames defeated Kent State 7-2 on March 9 in Lynchburg, VA. Riley earned his second win of the season. He came out of the bullpen to throw two-and-two-thirds innings of shutout baseball. Riley faced eleven batters and scattered two hits and struck out two. It was a short but solid season for Riley. In seven appearances, he had a 2-0 record with four saves and a 1.46 ERA. In 12.1 innings, Riley had 15 strikeouts, allowed only three walks, six hits and two earned runs.

Bowen Collins: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team ended the year ranked #5 in the country. On March 10, the Bears defeated Assumption 17-12 at Moretz Stadium in Hickory. Collins scored a goal with 12:00 remaining in the game. Lenoir-Rhyne also defeated #1 Limestone 18-16 in the Crown Lacrosse Challenge at Hough High School in Cornelius on March 8. Collins scored two goals for the Bears, including a man-up goal in the second quarter to put the Bears ahead 7-4. He scored again with 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Collins ends the year with seven goals and six assists in seven games. Since he is a senior, Collins can take advantage of another year of eligibility that was extended by the NCAA on Friday after the rest of the season was canceled because of the Coronavirus.

Zach Wright: Wright had a goal for Division II Mars Hill in a loss to 19-8 loss to North Greenville on March 11 at Meares Stadium in Mars Hill. Wright scored an unassisted goal with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter. This season, Wright had four goals and two assists in eight games. He is also a senior.

Jaylin Jones: Jones assisted on a goal for Pfeiffer in a 16-8 loss to Guilford at Afmfield Athletic Center in Greensboro. Jones set up Quinn Becraft on a goal that reduced the Falcons’ deficit to 10-5 with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter. Jones, a junior, played in five games this year for Pfeiffer.

Luke Hernandez: The former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf also played for Pfeiffer against Guilford. Hernandez, a sophomore, saw action in Pfeiffer’s last three games, including a 23-6 win over Averett on March 7. Pfeiffer went 2-4 this season.

Tyson Wolter: The former Orange High lacrosse goalkeeper is now at Division III Guilford after transferring from Pfeiffer. On March 11, Wolter faced Pfeiffer after he replaced starter Jack Rogers. Wolter plays 6:36 and made four saves. A freshman, Wolter played in two other games this season for the Quakers.

Aidan Poole: The Division III Greensboro men’s lacrosse team defeated Hampton 15-11 at Pride Field in Greensboro on March 11. Poole, who was an All-Big 8 Conference player at Cedar Ridge, started on defense for the Pride. He assisted on a goal scored by Austin Abourjilie in the third quarter. He also had a ground ball and created a turnover. Greensboro was 4-3.

Kate Burgess: The UNC rowing team finished 3rd in the Clemson Carolina Cup on March 7 at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, SC. Burgess, a freshman who made the rowing team last fall, was on the Varsity 8 team that finished fourth in a five-team race at a time of 7:38.63. Kate Pierce paced the boat that Burgess was rowing, along with Charlotte Melgard, Gabrielle Labrazzi, Juliana Micchia, Hannah Davis, Zoe Sang, Nicole Van Liew and Neeva Wernsman Young. This was the first, and only, race of the spring for UNC’s rowing team.

What started out to be a promising spring sports season for athletes across the region ended suddenly on Thursday. The NCAA announced that national championships for all spring sports would be canceled because of the corona virus pandemic.

On Friday, the NCAA extended the eligibility of athletes on spring sports teams one year to make up for the season lost to the coronavirus. An athletics official at an East Coast school told The Associated Press that the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee sent an email notifying schools of the eligibility decision.

Most prominently, that will impact Brad Debo, the former Orange High catcher who was already underway with his senior season on the N.C. State baseball team.

Also, former Orange lacrosse player Bowen Collins will have another year of eligibility on the Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team. The Bears had already defeated Limestone and Adelphi, ranked #1 and #3, respectively, in Division II, when the season was canceled.

Mia Davidson: Davidson ended the year with a bang as Mississippi State softball defeated Southern Miss 7-2 at USM Softball Complex in Hattisburg, MS on Wednesday. Mia went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. Davidson came up for her final at-bat needing a triple for the cycle, but hit another home run instead. It was the 41st multi-homer game in Mississippi State history.

Against UT-Martin, Davidson hit a home run to become the 23rd player in Southeastern Conference history to hit 50 home runs. She’s one of nine active players in Division I to reach that mark.

In the final weekend of the season, Mississippi State won the Bulldog Slamboree in Starkville. On March 6, the Bulldogs defeated Bryant 5-1, then shut out Mississippi Valley State 6-0. On Saturday, Mississippi State swept another doubleheader, beating Southeast Missouri State 2-0 and Mississippi Valley State 20-3 in five innings. On Sunday, the Bulldogs edged Southeast Missouri State 2-0.

In the second game against MVSU, Mia reached base in all four plate appearances, scoring three times. She finished 2-for-2 with a double and a single.

Mia ends the 2020 season with a .330 batting average in 28 games. She hit seven home runs and 21 RBIs, and a team-high two triples.

Montana Davidson: Montana started at 3rd base in all five games in the Bulldog Slamboree. She went 1-for-2 in the opening win over Bryant. Montana ends her junior season with a .224 batting average. She started in 27 of the Bulldogs’ 28 games. Mississippi State was supposed to open its SEC slate against Kentucky this weekend.

Brad Debo: The N.C. State designated hitter played in nine games with four starts. He hit .263 with one double. N.C. State finished with a 14-3 overall record, 1-2 in the ACC.

Phillip Berger: Berger played in Division III William Peace University’s final game of the season, a 13-9 win over Dean College at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary. Berger threw two-thirds-of-an-inning, striking out one batter. On March 7, Berger started against Piedmont. He threw six-and-one-thirds-innings, and allowed five runs on eight hits. He took a no-decision as Peace won in the 9th inning 6-5 in Cary. Berger was named the USA South Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week after his victory over Mary Washington on February 23. In that victory, he threw seven shutout innings and allowed three hits. Berger appeared in seven games this season. He finished 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA with 20 strikeouts and four walks.

We’ll have a look at lacrosse, wrestling and basketball players coming up on Monday.

After a chaotic 48-hour span where breaking news about the coronavirus pandemic seemingly burst across Twitter feeds and smart phones every ten minutes, there are two things for certain in regards to local sports.

One is that after Friday night, there won’t be any games contested in Orange County until Monday, April 6, at the earliest.

The other is that this is the weirdest time to be involved in sports, at any level, in modern history.

Even after 9/11 in 2001, there were football games played across the Triangle only three days later.

The Corona virus pandemic, on the other hand, has led to Orange County Schools calling off class starting on March 16 all the way through April 6.

On Thursday afternoon, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association barred teams from holding organized workouts, practices or skill development for the next three weeks. At the end of the school day, Orange Baseball Coach Jason Knapp and Cedar Ridge Baseball Coach Bryson Massey delivered final instructions to their players on how to stay in shape during their off time for the next three weeks until the season starts again.

But will it resume? If it does, what will the schedule look like? Will there be only conference games? Or will the Hilltop Invitational, scheduled to return this Easter after a year off, be contested when the students return? Will there be a state playoff? If so, will it be a 64-team field? Will the NCHSAA just cancel the season outright, like the NCAA essentially did on Thursday?

Absolutely no one knows.

That’s why Knapp described Thursday’s meeting with his team as gut wrenching. No one wants to think this would be the end for Orange seniors Joey Berini, Tucker Miller, Cooper Hench, Ethan Guentensberger, Dayne Watkins and Nathan Horton.

Certainly the thought of Cedar Ridge seniors Fransisco Martinez, Grant Fox, Chris Pearce and Cameron Hartley ending their senior year prematurely isn’t any easier.

Yet as images appeared on Twitter timelines of college baseball and softball teams from around the country gathering to mourn the abrupt ends to their seasons Thursday, there were an air of finality in the meeting rooms that was unescapable.

Could this be the end?

No one knows.

“I feel like someone has kicked me in the gut and ripped my heart out,” Knapp tweeted after the team meeting.

Knapp acknowledged he wasn’t surprised when the NCHSAA suspended the spring season. He had been in a series of texting chains with other Big 8 Conference coaches and athletic officials about contingency plans since late Wednesday.

“We had a feeling after the NBA did what it did on Wednesday night that things were going to go this way,” Knapp said from his home Thursday. “We haven’t had any specific plans. What’s probably going to happen is the athletic directors are going to get together and see what they come up with as far as a conference schedule. That would be my guess.”

Cedar Ridge was supposed to face Northwood on Friday night in Hillsborough. It was postponed.

“It’s tough to meet with your team in a situation like that when they’ve worked really hard,” Massey said. “They’ve been all-in from day one. Now we don’t know when we’re going to get back on the field. I saw a lot of faces that were upset and unhappy. They asked why. But this is a teaching moment. You have to accept it.”

Orange was also slated to travel to the Wilson Tobs Classic against Wilson Hunt on March 21, which will be postponed. Knapp talked with the director of the Tobbs Classic, Mike Wilson, but didn’t come up with any concrete changes.

“He called me today and we kicked around a few ideas,” Knapp said. “I think we’re all in wait-and-see mode right now.”

The uncharted territory is hard enough for a veteran coach. Massey is in his first year at Cedar Ridge.

“It’s really different,” Massey said. “I talked to some coaching buddies today. It’s not what you expect in your first year of coaching. I guess you get thrown to the fire and your learn. It can’t get any worse. You figure it out and you get through it.”

As for the absence of practices, Knapp and Massey hope the players will show individual responsibility.

“I put that on the kids,” Knapp said. “Hopefully, if things go as scheduled, will get back after it after April 6. I told them they’re going to have to hit the ground running. My pitching coach, Matt Roberts, told them about pitching drills that they can do on their own. We have some great senior leadership and asked them to reach out to the team and make sure they’re doing their part.”

Something that Massey knows for sure is that just because there aren’t any games doesn’t mean he won’t stop being a baseball coach.

“I’ll still spend these three weeks taking care of my field,” Massey said. “Even if I don’t have practices, I can always do that. The field is always there for you regardless of what’s going on across the world.”

That will help pass the time, but now there is lots and lots of waiting.

And the waiting, indeed, will be the hardest part.