Orange Baseball

The last two Orange players to hit a grand slam have both been Berinis. In March 2020, Joey Berini hit a grand slam against East Chapel Hill in what turned out to be his final at-bat for Orange in a victory over East Chapel Hill. On Wednesday night, his younger brother Jackson Berini hit a grand slam to right field in the third inning as Orange defeated Person 9-1 at Panther Field. Berini started the game with a base hit to left field. Right fielder David Waitt followed with a double down the left field line to score Berini. It was the first of three Orange runs in the opening inning. Waitt finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Berini’s grand slam was the first home run of his Orange career. Berini finished 2-for-4, as well. The Panthers had 12 hits, one shy of its season-high. Orange remains tied in the loss column with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Carolina Conference. Ryan Hench earned his second win of the season for Orange on the mound. The Panthers will finish the two-game series against the Rockets Friday night in Roxboro.

When a Berini hits for power, they make it memorable.

The last time someone hit a grand slam for the Orange baseball team, it was Joey Berini against East Chapel Hill on March 10, 2020. It was the first grand slam of his career–and also his last at-bat in his four-year Orange career. The pandemic shut down the Panthers’ season, along with everyone else’s, two days later.

On Wednesday night, Jackson Berini became the first Orange player to hit a grand slam since his younger brother did it two years ago. With two out in the third inning against Person, Berini took a 1-2 pitch and pulled over the right field fence at Panther Field, where the ball vanished into the bushes above Person outfielder Drew Mangum.

Berini’s first career home run vaulted Orange into a 8-1 lead, and the Panthers would go on to win 9-1. Orange (8-6 overall, 4-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) remains tied in the loss column with Eastern Alamance for first place in the CCC. The Eagles, who are 5-1 in conference play, will face Cedar Ridge in a doubleheader in Mebane on Friday.

Orange’s offense, which has been inconsistent during the first half of the season, finished with 12 hits, one shy of its season-high.

Junior Ryan Hench, which has lacked run support through his first seven starts, earned his second win of the season. Hench retired the first seven Rockets in order before 1st baseman Carter Stacy got aboard on a bunt single in the third inning. Hench finished with six strikeouts over six innings. He scattered five hits and one run. Joey Pounds threw a perfect seventh inning to close out the win.

Berini’s grand slam came after designated hitter Connor Nordan lined a leadoff single to right field. After Cameron Guentensberger moved Nordan to second with a sacrifice bunt, Connor Funk drilled a single to right. Cross Clayton loaded the bases with a walk, leading to Berini’s blast.

Orange scored three runs in the first inning. Berini led off with a single to left center. With right fielder David Waitt at the plate, Berini moved over to second on a wild pitch. Waitt drilled a double to the porch in left field, bringing in Berini. After Waitt moved over to third on a groundout, Nordan knocked in Berini with a ground ball that rolled into left field. Guentensberger kept the inning alive with an infield single, then Funk reached on another hit, which led to Nordan scoring when Person’s second baseman threw the ball into the Orange dugout.

The Panthers increased its lead to 4-0 in the second inning when Waitt hit a one-out single to right field. Waitt stole second, leading to catcher Davis Horton lofting a base hit over the head of 2nd baseman into right field. Waitt crossed home plate following Horton’s team-best 12th RBI of the season.

Funk started the fifth inning by beating out a throw following a cue shot that rolled left of the mound. Orange’s Cesar Lozano sent a bouncing ball up the middle for an infield hit which slipped off the glove of the shortstop, advancing Funk to third. Clayton laid down a bunt for a suicide squeeze play to score Funk.

Orange will finish the two-game series with a trip to Roxboro Friday night.

Cedar Ridge 14, Apex Friendship 5 After a disappointing loss to East Chapel Hill in the final game of the Hilltop Invitational, the Cedar Ridge baseball team had a resounding win in Wake County on Wednesday afternoon.

The Red Wolves scored a season-high 14 runs to defeat Apex Friendship 14-5 in Apex. The Patriots entered the game with an 8-4 record, but the Red Wolves jumped out with four runs in the first inning and never wavered in security its sixth win of the season.

Cedar Ridge loaded the bases in the first inning after senior Aidan McAllister walked, Cristian Macias reached on an error and Efrain Morales walked. Mason Cates leveled a first-pitch grounder to left field to score McAllister. Senior Garrett Ray lined a two-run single to centerfield to plate Macias and Morales. Ray stole third, then stole home to put the Wolves ahead 4-0.

B.J. Thornton increased Cedar Ridge’s lead to 5-0 in the second inning. Thornton was hit by a pitch. McAllister doubled to right field to send Thornton to third. Morales knocked in Thornton with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

The Red Wolves strung together ten hits.

In the third, the Red Wolves added two more runs. Carlo Garay drew a one-out walk, followed by a single by Will Tippin. Senior Brian Flores, the starting pitcher, drove in Garay with a line drive single to centerfield. Tippin scored off a sacrifice fly by Thornton.

Morales, who cranked a solo homer into the teeth of a 25-mile-per-hour wind in the second inning against East Chapel Hill on Friday, finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored and a walk. Cates went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Ray finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Flores earned his second win of the season on the mound. Flores threw the opening two innings and allowed only three hits. Thornton closed out the game with a perfect seventh inning, striking out two.

Quinn Finnegan threw the sixth inning for Cedar Ridge, allowing only one hit. Macias and Joe Garbee threw middle relief on what was a staff day for Red Wolves head coach Bryson Massey.

Every year in the Hilltop Baseball Invitational, Orange has made it a point to play a team that will create a playoff intensity at the end of March.

New Hanover, a program steeped in tradition with four state championships and seven regional titles, filled the role of a powerhouse simply by showing up on Wednesday night.

The surroundings around Orange High Field made things extra special. For starters, inside the visitors’ dugout was Trot Nixon, a New Hanover alum who was the 1995 North Carolina High School Player of the Year. He went on to become a starter for the Boston Red Sox’s 2004 World Series team, playing a key role in the franchise’s first championship in 86 years. Luke Nixon is now the starting shortstop for New Hanover while his father watches from the dugout as an assistant coach.

There were also scouts from North Carolina, N.C. State, Appalachian State and UNC Wilmington in the stands watching several Division I prospects.

It was the perfect time for Orange to put on, in the opinion of Orange coach Jason Knapp, its best performance of the season. It was just one run shy of being a winning performance.

In a game where all the runs came across in the first inning, New Hanover edged Orange 2-1. Wildcats pitcher Bromley Thornton had the game-winning hit and earned the victory on the mound. He allowed only one run off three hits with five strikeouts

“That was our best game of the year,” Knapp said. “We played hard. It was just a good high school baseball game and we just came up short in the end.”

Thornton lined a double off the very top of the fence in straightaway centerfield to score Connor Marren and Luca Kellog, who both reached off walks in the first inning.

Orange didn’t stay down for long. After David Waitt singled to right field, he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Junior Jackson Berini lined a fastball to right field to bring in Waitt. Berini would advance to second on an error by the right fielder, who overran the ball. But the Panthers couldn’t bring in Berini and spent the rest of the game chasing that second run.

Berini would be the last Panther to reach second base.

Orange pitcher Ryan Hench and Thornton squared off in a pitcher’s dual which had to impress the scouts and fans on hand. Hench struck out five over five innings. The Wildcats didn’t have another batter touch third base until the fifth inning, when designated hitter Sean Smith got aboard on a one-out single. After Marren was hit by a pitch and Tucker Mueller was intentionally walked, Hench got Kellog to ground out to Cross Clayton, who threw to Berini to retire courtesy runner Davis Hinshaw.

Thornton and his defense held the Panthers to four baserunners in the final six innings. Orange second baseman Cross Clayton, who had a stellar defensive game, drew a leadoff walk in the third. Kellog, playing first base, turned an unassisted double play by catching a line drive off the bat of Waitt, then tagged out Clayton to kill the Panther threat.

Catcher Davis Horton started the fourth inning with a walk. Connor Nordan appeared to have a chance of reaching after he grounded deep into the left side of the infield. Nixon used his speed to chase down the ball and get a force out of courtesy runner Ty Walker, which stalled Orange’s momentum. In the fifth inning, Nixon made another gorgeous stop when he threw out Codey Snipes at first.

Smith came into the seventh inning and retired Orange in order for the save.

Orange relievers Joey Pounds and Connor Funk threw shutout innings in the sixth and seventh innings to keep the Wildcat lead at 2-1.

“We’re not happy about losing,” Knapp said. “You have to look at the big picture. Our kids played their tails off. This is the type of environment we’ll see in the state playoffs. Tip your hat to all the kids. There were Division I scouts in the stands tonight and the kids knew it. They embraced the moment and that will pay dividends down the road.”

The Hilltop Invitational, held for the first time since 2018, got going a night early on Tuesday. Orange defeated Riverside 12-2 in five innings at Panther Field. It was also Orange’s senior night. Horton, Funk, Snipes, Cesar Lozano, Jared Weaver and Garrett Compton were all honored before the game during a pregame ceremony.

In a matchup that was the antithesis of the sharp fielding Orange would face 24 hours later, the Pirates and the Panthers combined for seven errors on a sloppy night where temperatures sank to the mid-40s by the first pitch.

Riverside, coached by 2014 Orange High graduate Jordan Toney, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after a double by catcher Carson Hervey that hopped over the third base bag. Orange evened things up after Waitt hit a leadoff single. Waitt eventually scored off a throwing error by the catcher. Horton drove in Berini after another error by the second baseman.

Designated hitter Connor Nordan went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Funk ended the game in the fifth with a three-run homer over the left field wall, his first career dinger.

Sophomore Josiah Gibbs, in his second start, earned the win. Cameron Guentensberger came on in relief in the third inning and threw two-and-two-thirds perfect innings. Before he threw a pitch, Guentensberger picked off courtesy runner Jericho Parks at 2nd base, then retired the all seven batters he faced.

Orange is scheduled to travel to Wilmington to face Ashely on Friday night at 6.

The resumption of the Hilltop Baseball Tournament coincided with Senior Night for the Orange baseball team on Tuesday. The Panthers defeated Riverside 12-2 in five innings at Orange High Field. Seniors Davis Horton, Connor Funk, Cesar Lozano, Codey Snipes Jared Weaver, and Garrett Compton were all honored before the game. Fittingly, Funk hit the first home run of his career in the last at-bat of the game, a 3-run blast to left field, to ensure the Panthers’ first run rule win of the season. Horton, the 2021 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year, has been Orange’s most reliable catcher since Brad Debo, who graduated in 2016. Against Riverside, Horton hit 1-for-3 with a double to left field. Lozano has become Orange’s everyday third baseman and scored a run in the third inning against the Pirates. Snipes has taken over at first base and laced a double to centerfield in the fourth inning. Weaver, the starting quarterback for the Orange football team last fall, scored a run as Orange’s courtesy runner when Horton reached base against the Pirates. Compton, in his second year on the varsity, entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning. Orange will face New Hanover on Wednesday night at 6 PM in the second game of the Hilltop Invitational. You can audio stream the game on Hillsboroughsports.com.

It wasn’t Orange baseball.

Basically, that was the message that Panther coach Jason Knapp conveyed to his team during a locker room meeting following an error-filled trip to Wilson, where the Perquimans Pirates manhandled Orange 13-0 in a run-rule win at historic Fleming Stadium on March 19. On a breezy day where gusts peaked at 25-miles per hour, the Panther infield had no less than two dropped infield pop-ups. Perquimans’ Trenton Sawyer threw a no-hitter and allowed only five Panther baserunners–three on walks and two on errors.

So as Knapp prepared for a two-game set against Walter Williams, where he was head coach for eleven years, it wouldn’t be unfair to say the series would be a litmus test to determine how the rest of the season would go.

Would Orange be a shark in a Central Carolina Conference that lacks a clear frontrunner? Or would they be an also-ran?

Knapp got his answer with three consecutive wins last week, triggered by the torrent hitting of junior Ryan Hench and reliable pitching from a cast of new faces.

Hench went 3-for-3 with two triples in Orange’s 7-2 win over Williams on March 22 in Hillsborough. Hench also earned his first win of the season on the mound, registering eight strikeouts over five innings. He yielded only three hits and two walks.

Of Orange’s seven base hits in the opener, five were for extra-bases. in the first inning, Jackson Berini poked a fastball to right field. After catcher Davis Horton was hit by a pitch and Davis Waitt walked, Hench last an 0-1 fastball to the right field power alley, the deepest part of Panther field. Berini, Neo Best (running for Horton as a courtesy runner) and Waitt all scored as Hench stood up for a triple. Designated hitter Connor Nordan knocked Hench in with a groundout to second base.

After Hench connected to the deepest part of Panther Field in the first, he reached the most shallow part in the 3rd. With two out, Hench parked a fastball over the left field wall, a porch that is a constant source of frustration for right-handed pitchers. Orange led 5-0.

After Cross Clayton drew a one-out walk in the fifth inning, Cameron Guentensberger reached on an infield single. Senior Connor Funk found the right field power alley again to bring in Clayton. Guentensberger scored off a sacrifice fly by Berini.

Joey Pounds threw an inning of scoreless relief for Orange in the sixth. Funk finished the game with mop-up duty in the seventh.

The following night going into a non-conference game against Southwestern Randolph, Orange may have stumbled into a potential new starting pitcher by accident. Sophomore Josiah Gibbs was supposed to start the junior varsity contest against the Cougars, but the game was canceled due to a lack of umpires. So Knapp opted to have him make his varsity debut instead.

It went beyond Knapp’s expectations.

Gibbs threw five shutout innings, winning his varsity debut while allowing only five hits. Hench had another big night, connecting on a two-run triple to right field in the 2nd inning and slamming a solo homer to lead off the fourth as Orange cruised 9-2.

“As I was going through the pitching rotation, Josiah was already going to come with us for the Hilltop,” Knapp said. “So I thought we’d run him up there tonight. Maybe he could give us two or three (innings). Instead, he gave us five strong.”

Nordan went 2-for-4 against the Cougars with a two-run double in the first inning.

On Friday, Knapp returned to Burlington and completed the two-game sweep against the Bulldogs with a 7-5 win. Orange built a 6-0 lead. They scored five runs in the third inning, all with two out. Berini opened with an infield single, then stole second. After Hench was walked, Horton was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Funk drove a 2-2 fastball to right field to bring in Berini and Hench. Nordan tagged a fastball to centerfield to score Neo Best (running for Horton). Senior third baseman Cesar Lozano got aboard on an infield single to plate Funk, while Nordan scored off an error by the Williams’ first baseman.

Orange added another run in the fourth inning when Guentensberer drew a leadoff walk. Guentensberger stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by David Waitt.

The Bulldogs fought back to make it a 7-5 game with two runs in the seventh inning. The Bulldogs had the tying run at second base, but reliever Connor Funk forced Angel Mora into a groundout to Lozano at third base. Cross Clayton earned his second career win on the mound.

Going into spring break, Orange is tied with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Carolina Conference with a 3-1 record. The Panthers are 6-4 overall.

Orange will start play in the Hilltop Invitational on Tuesday night (March 29) against Riverside, coached by former Orange pitcher Jordan Toney. Game time will be 7:30. This game will be Orange’s senior night. Festivities will start at 7:15.

At the beginning of this week, Orange sophomore Josiah Gibbs didn’t know he would be starting the first game of his varsity career on Thursday. When the Panthers’ junior varsity game against Southwestern Randolph was canceled on Thursday afternoon, Orange coach Jason Knapp decided to start Gibbs in the varsity game against the Cougars. Gibbs made an instant impression, throwing five shutout innings as the Panthers rolled 9-2. Gibbs threw only 49 pitches against 18 batters and surrendered just five hits with zero walks. Orange junior Connor Nordan had an RBI double during the Panthers’ five-run first inning. Nordan replaced Gibbs on the mound in the sixth inning. He finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Orange is now 5-4 and will travel to Williams on Friday night for its final game before spring break. Orange will start play in the Hilltop Invitational on Wednesday against traditional power New Hanover in Hillsborough.