Orange Baseball

ROXBORO–Jason Knapp didn’t need to tell his team about the stakes on the line as the baseball bus ventured down Highway 157 into Person County.

Everyone aboard knew that first place in the Central Carolina Conference was on the line Tuesday night when they faced the Person Rockets. Not to mention their hopes of a better seed for the state playoffs and the inside track for the CCC regular season championship.

In a season that’s been defined by players growing up in pressure situations, juniors Josiah Gibbs and Coltin Hedrick proved the Baptism by fire has been taught well.

Gibbs, who had just three career starts coming into this season, earned his team-high fourth win of the season as the Panthers held on to defeat Person 4-3 on Tuesday night. Orange (12-2, 5-2 in the CCC) is now in sole possession of first place going into the second game of the series, which will be played tonight (Wednesday) in Hillsborough.

Hedrick, in his first year at varsity, retired the final seven Rockets in order to earn his second save in as many weeks.

With senior Ryan Hench out for the tenth straight game, the Panthers were also missing right fielder David Waitt, who was ill. Waitt leads Orange with 18 hits and a .400 batting average.

For an Orange team that hasn’t had its full array of players since the second week of the season, Waitt’s absence may have hurt, but it didn’t make the difference in winning and losing.

Junior centerfielder Cameron Guentensberger went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a double, stepping up biggest during a two-run third inning that left the Rockets playing catch-up all night.

“David has been sick for a few days now and our thoughts are with him,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “It was another chance for someone to step up and that is what (this season) has been.”

On the first pitch of the game, senior leadoff batter Jackson Berini grooved a fastball to centerfield that one-hopped the fence for a double. Connor Nordan took a 1-2 fastball and laced it down the spacious left field line, allowing Berini to score the opening run.

Nordan leads Orange with 22 RBIs.

Orange increased its lead in the third inning when Nordan drove a one-out single to centerfield. Ryan Honeycutt sent a pop-fly that hugged the first base line and was dropped, but Person second baseman Brady Blackwell threw to Keegahan Holmes to retire Nordan at second. Honeycutt usually is a catcher and has a courtesy runner whenever he gets on base, but on Tuesday he was the designated hitter, meaning he had to run for himself.

Guentensberger took a fastball and drove it to the gap in left field that landed near the fence. The relay throw missed the cutoff man, allowing Honeycutt to score from first base and increased Orange’s lead to 2-0. Catcher Ryan Horton lined a single to right field, scoring Guentensberger.

In the bottom of the third, Person centerfielder Carter Stacey looped a single to centerfield. After stealing second, Stacey went to third when Dylan England grounded out to Gibbs. It appeared that Gibbs would escape the inning when he struck out Seth Oakley for the second out, but catcher Tyler White lined a RBIt hit to centerfield, decreasing Orange’s lead to 3-1.

With two out in the fifth, Guentensberger grounded a single into left field. As Horton was at the plate, Person pitcher Ian Downey sent a errant pickoff throw below the glove of first baseman Brennan Kiser, allowing Guentensberger to advance to third. Horton followed with another RBI single to left field for another insurance run.

“Cameron has turned into a seasoned veteran out there,” Knapp said. “He’s a mainstay in centerfield, a solid bat and obviously, a reliever when we need him. Very proud of that young man.”

As nightfall descended along Madison Boulevard in Roxboro off in the distance beyond the right field fence, the Rockets increased the drama in the fifth. England drew a leadoff walk. Hedrick replaced Gibbs after pinch-hitter Braden Clayton flew out to Guentensberger.

“We put Coltin in a spot there,” Knapp said. “They had a little momentum going and they capitalized a little bit. (Coltin) is another young man who blossomed over this half of the season. He gathered himself and we played some good defense behind him.”

White sent a grounder to Hedrick, who threw out England at second base for the second out. Kiser threw a walk, while Camden Shaw reached on an infield hit on a ball that third baseball Neo Best tracked down kicking up dirt, but unable to throw him out. With the bases loaded, Levi Strader sent a hard grounder up the middle to score Dalton Langford, running for White. Kiser followed and just beat a relay throw to the plate by Berini and Orange’s lead was down to 4-3.

That’s as close as the Rockets would get. Hedrick struck out Holmes to end the inning, then retired the final six Person batters in the sixth and seventh. He struck out four of the last seven batters he faced.

There’s not to much time to enjoy it. Person will visit Orange on Wednesday night. The Rockets upset the Panthers in Hillsborugh last year in the semifinals of the CCC Tournament.

“We got off the bus and felt this was a statement game,” Knapp said. “For both teams. Either team has a chance to put their stamp on the season. Tomorrow is another big one. We’re looking forward to it at Orange.”

Through the first half of the season, Jason Knapp has had two Orange baseball teams.

The one he envisioned since the end of last season. And the one he’s had since since March 9.

Knapp knew that the top two pitchers in his rotation from 2022, Ryan Hench and Cross Clayton, would return for 2023. And that’s the way it was—for the first week.

Then Clayton suffered an injury to his pitching hand after his opening day win over East Chapel Hill on February 27 and didn’t resume pitching again until nearly a month later. Hench started his senior season in style with a dominant 11-3 win over Northern Durham, which included nine strikeouts and a powerful two-run homer in the fifth.

A week later, Hench was injured against Grimsley in Greensboro and hasn’t played since.

That impacted Knapp on several levels. First, it took the most powerful bat out of his order. Hench led Orange with five home runs and 26 RBIs in 2022. Secondly, his top two starting pitchers were sidelined for the start of the conference schedule. That meant some younger pitchers that Knapp had in mind for occasional starts during staff days would soon find themselves out there every week for games that would decide Orange’s fate for the state playoffs.

“When you lose a Ryan Hench, you aren’t just losing a quality arm and a quality bat,” Knapp said. “You’re losing an emotional leader. He brings some swag in the lineup. We had to find ourselves for a little bit.”

Despite the injuries and some offensive inconsistency, Orange will enter its two-game series against Person tonight tied with the Rockets for first place in the Central Carolina Conference with a 4-2 record. The Panthers are 11-2 overall and #3 in the 3A East RPI rankings.

Part of the reason why the Panthers have endured is pitching depth. Eight different hurlers have won games this season. That includes junior Coltin Hedrick, who earned his first win against Walter Willams in a 1-0 win on March 26. Hedrick also threw four scoreless relief innings in his first varsity appearance, a 2-1 win over Jordan on March 6. He had his first career save against Cedar Ridge last Thursday.

“Coltin pitched his tail off,” Knapp said after the Williams victory. “He’s been a real pleasant surprise.”

Junior Josiah Gibbs has stepped in as Orange’s Tuesday starter. In his second year on the varsity, Gibbs currently leads the team with three wins and 21.1 innings pitched. His ERA is 2.30.

Knapp’s vision of Utopia for the second half of the season would be to merge the younger players who have stepped up in emergency roles over the past month with a healthy Hench and Clayton back in their regular roles.

Clayton has returned to the rotation and was in midseason form against Cedar Ridge last Thursday, striking out ten over five innings in a 3-1 win.

Regardless of whose pitching, he has a reliable infield around him. Senior shortstop Jackson Berini and senior third baseman Neo Best anchor an infield that has allowed five-or-less runs in eleven of its 13 games.

“Neo found himself at third base later in the season,” Knapp said. “He’s just solid defensively. He’s a leader on the field right beside Berini. He’s always communicating and he’s always talking. He’s doesn’t get enough credit. And Berini is our field general. We expect him to make big plays. They’ve all stepped their game up.”

Person had to deal with some adversity of its own last week. After dropping a 1-0 loss to Northwood in Pittsboro last Tuesday, it appeared the Chargers would complete a two-game sweep on Friday in Roxboro. After playing a scoreless tie through seven innings, Northwood took a 2-0 lead in the tenth inning. With two outs and the bases empty, the Rockets were down to their last strike before Levi Strader stroked a double to centerfield to score Dylan England and Colin Kennedy to tie the game.

In the eleventh, England stroke a walkoff double to centerfield to score Brady Blackwell.If it wasn’t for that, Orange would be in first place in the CCC right now.

Of course, the last time the Rockets face Orange, Person upset the Panthers in the semifinals of the CCC Tournament in Hillsborough. The Rockets went on to win the championship.

The second game of the two-game set has been rescheduled for Wednesday night at Orange. Originally, it was set for Thursday but changed due to rain in the forecast.

In a sport predicated on mistakes, there wasn’t much separating Orange and Cedar Ridge on the baseball diamond Thursday night.

There were two excellent pitching performances from two players on opposite ends of the experience spectrum. Orange junior Cross Clayton, still working his way back from an early season injury, made the tenth start of his career.

Cedar Ridge junior Mason Cates started for only the third time, the first time this season. He sure didn’t look it.

Cates survived an early hiccup to allow only three hits over four-and-two-thirds innings with seven strikeouts in a superb performance.

Clayton tossed a two-hit shutout over five innings with ten strikeouts, ultimately earning his second win of the season.

Orange’s defense, whose ability separated them from the rest of the Central Carolina Conference en route to the regular season championship in 2022, once again made the difference in its ninth straight win over their crosstown rival.

The Panthers scored unearned runs in the second and fifth innings, which proved to be enough to win 3-1 on another night where the margin of error was small. Orange won despite being outhit 4-3.

Orange (11-2, 4-2 in the CCC) swept its first CCC opponent in a two-game series this season. The Panthers will go into next week’s two-game set against Person in first place in the CCC. The Rockets, 3-2 in conference play, will host Northwood in Roxboro on Friday night with a chance to tie Orange.

Cedar Ridge (6-6, 3-5) had their chances to make things interesting late after B.J. Thornton lined a single to score Cates in the sixth inning, cutting Orange’s lead to 3-1. Immediately after Cates scored, a Red Wolf courtesy runner tried to advance to third. Orange left fielder Joey Pounds sent a sharp relay throw to cutoff man Jackson Berini, who had the presence of mind to throw to Clayton at second base, trapping the runner. Third baseman Neo Best tagged out the runner to end the threat and the inning.

“I’m proud,” said Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey. “I’m proud the way my team carried themselves. That’s what we really talked about after the loss the other night was fighting and competing and being us. We’re going to play the game of baseball and we’re going to do it the right way. I felt like we did that tonight.”

Orange senior David Waitt, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs on Tuesday night, struck again in the first inning. He grooved a grounder that hopped over the mound into centerfield for a single. After Waitt stole second, Ryan Honeycutt stroked a base hit to left field and Waitt scored for the opening run.

Honeycutt, hitting in the cleanup slot in place of the injured Ryan Hench, had four RBIs in the series.

After that, Cates didn’t surrender another hit until the fourth inning.

Orange’s Wyatt Hedrick drew a leadoff walk to start the second. Hedrick moved to second on a stolen base, but Cates struck out Pounds and Clayton. Best sent a two-out grounder to second, but it was mishandled by the second baseman and Hedrick scored the first of two unearned Orange runs to increase its lead to 2-0.

“We made a few mistakes tonight,” Massey said. “But that’s going to be part of us this year. We’re going to make our mistakes now, but there are some young guys that are getting a lot of experience. Hopefully by the end of the year, we’re going to be hitting our stride. That’s the goal.”

Cedar Ridge’s first threat came in the third when Landon Dalehite reached on a dropped pop-up at first base. Isaac Anderson lined a single for the Red Wolves’ first hit with two outs. Cates sent a fly ball down the line in right. With no wind blowing to push it foul, Waitt was able to chase it down at the chalk and record the third out.

Quinn Finnegan started the fourth with a leadoff single, but Hedrick immediately turned a 4-6-3 double play to squash the Cedar Ridge opportunity.

Orange increased its lead to 3-0 in the fifth. Jackson Berini, who leads Orange with 19 runs, drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a steal and went to third after Waitt grounded out to Grant McGuffey. Connor Nordan sent a grounder to the shortstop, whose throw to first was low. Nordan collided with first baseman B.J. Thornton, which jarred the ball free. Berini scored while Nordan favored his right knee but was able to continue.

After Cates reached his maximum allotment of 105 pitches, Finnegan came in from right field to replace him on the mound. Finnegan quieted the Orange bats, setting down all seven Panthers he faced in order.

Junior Coltin Hedrick, who earned the win last week in relief against Walter Williams, picked up his first career save. He replaced Clayton in the sixth. Cedar Ridge had one more threat in the seventh after McGuffey drew a walk with two outs. Dalehite sent a fly ball to right field that Waitt nearly overran towards the line, but made the catch on his knees for the final out.

It’s spring break this week across Orange County Schools and Jason Knapp could use the rest.

To say he doesn’t sleep well after conference losses would be inaccurate. Usually, he doesn’t sleep at all.

Such was the case last Tuesday when his Orange baseball team dropped a 1-0 decision to Walter Williams in Burlington. The Panthers mustered two measly hits and only got one runner to third base. Despite a road trip back to Hillsborough, by 6 o’clock the next morning, Knapp was mowing his infield with bleary eyes and in no mood to mince words during his weight training classes later that day.

“I was in a bad mood and I was probably a little hard on the guys on Wednesday,” Knapp said. “I have a lot of them in weight training class and I was just not a happy camper. I have a lot of my players in my classes and I was cranky.”

His players responded by taking the final contest of a two-game set with Williams on Friday, with Orange winning a 1-0 decision in another game where offense was as scarce as finding the good parts in a Maroon 5 song. The Panthers again mustered only two hits, but Jackson Berini scored off a dropped fly ball to left field hit by Connor Nordan in the fourth inning.

On Tuesday night, the Panther bats came alive against its crosstown rival.

Senior David Waitt went 3-for-4 with four RBIs while junior catcher Ryan Honeycutt had his first varsity home run as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 12-2 in five innings at Orange High Field.

Cedar Ridge’s B.J. Thornton went 2-for-3, including an RBI single in the fifth that actually reduced the Panthers lead to 5-2. Orange scored seven runs in the bottom-of-the-fifth to earn its third run-rule win of the season.

Cedar Ridge hasn’t won at Orange since 2012. The Panthers have won eight straight in the series overall.

Orange (10-2, 3-2 in the Central Carolina Conference) is now tied with Person for first place in the CCC. On Tuesday night in Pittsboro, Northwood defeated the Rockets 1-0 off a walkoff single by Jacob Garrett.

The Panthers played without senior Ryan Hench, who missed his eighth straight game. Junior Josiah Gibbs earned his third win, striking out six over four innings. The Red Wolves mounted its biggest threat when they loaded the bases in the fourth with Orange leading 3-0. Quinn Finnegan and Thornton each lined singles to left field. Grant McGuffey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out. Third baseman Will Tippin sent a hard grounder to third that was misplayed, leading to Finnegan scoring. The bases remained loaded with no outs, but Gibbs struck out the next two batters. Orange centerfielder Cameron Guentensberger caught a flyball for the final out and contained the damage to one run.

Waitt, in his third year as a starter in right field, had the game’s biggest moments early. Moments after Nicholas Aitkin turned a 6-4-3 double play for Cedar Ridge, Waitt reached on a cue shot to third base. With Nordan at the plate, Waitt advanced to second off a passed ball, went to third off a wild pitch and scored when Nordan legged out an infield hit on a grounder hit to the hole in left field.

in the second, Cross Clayton was hit by a pitch. After Joey Pounds moved Clayton over to second with a sacrifice bunt, Jackson Berini reached on a fielder’s choice where Cedar Ridge’s Grant McGuffey threw out Neo Best at second for the second out. Elijah Santos walked and Waitt sent a worm burner to left field for a two-run single that plated Clayton and Berini and increased Orange’s lead to 3-0.

Before Cedar Ridge loaded the bases in the fourth, Gibbs struck out four Red Wolves over the first three innings. In the second, McGuffey walked and reached third after a single by Will Tippin. The Red Wolves tried to bring in McGuffey on a double steal, but Berini threw a strike to Honeycutt at the plate to retire McGuffey.

Cedar Ridge returned the favor in the bottom of the third. Cameron Guentensberger reached on a leadoff single, he reached third on a wild pitch. Cross Clayton sent a chopper to Tippin, who trapped Guentensberger in a rundown where catcher David Schoof tagged him out at the plate.

Orange increased its lead to 5-2 in the fourth with more station-to-station ball. Neo Best drew a leadoff walk against Thornton, stole second, went to third following a groundout by Berini to McGuffey. Santos sent a flyball to centerfield that was snagged by Isaac Anderson to score Best off a sacrifice fly. Once again, Waitt came up big with two out. He reached on an error and stole second. Connor Nordan laced his team-high 21st RBI to left field to make it 5-1 Orange.

Following Thornton’s RBI single, Orange broke the game open in the fifth inning. It started with a thunderous shot by Ryan Honeycutt over the left field fence that nearly hit the football/lacrosse field house across the caraway. Clayton followed with a double that hugged the third base line, which led to the first of three pitching changes in the fifth.

After reliever Mason Cates notched a strikeout, Best walked. Berini was intentionally walked after Clayton got to third base on a passed ball. Santos drew a bases loaded walk to score Clayton. Waitt groves a line drive single to drive in Berini (who leads the team with 18 runs) and Santos. Nordan, who finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, lined a single to left to bring in Santos. With two out, Honeycutt narrowly missed his second home run of the inning with a fly ball that landed just shy of the fence. It was good enough for a two-run double to end the game.

Orange will travel to Cedar Ridge on Thursday night at 6PM to complete the two-game series.

Not only did the Orange baseball team defeat the defending Big East Conference champions last Saturday night. They also ended the Wilson Curse. After disappointing performances in 2019 and 2022, the Panthers defeated South Central 8-7 on Saturday night at Historic Fleming Stadium. Senior Cameron Guentensberger earned his first save after his threw two perfect innings against the Falcons. Guentensberger also went 2-for-4, including a single during a four-run second inning. Junior Elijah Santos drove in a run with an RBI single to score Cross Clayton in the fourth. Santos was moved to 2nd in the batting order and went 2-for-4 with a double. The Panthers defeated a South Central team that advanced to the 3A East Regional finals series last season. After a win over Leesville Road on Wednesday night, the Panthers are 8-2 on the year. They will host Walter Williams on Friday night at 7 PM in Hillsborough in a critical Central Carolina Conference matchup.

Orange’s Cameron Guentensberger and Elijah Santos discuss baseball win in Wilson over South Central

Not only did the Orange baseball team defeat the defending Big East Conference champions last Saturday night. They also ended the Wilson Curse. After disappointing performances in 2019 and 2022, the Panthers defeated South Central 8-7 on Saturday night at Historic Fleming Stadium.