Orange Baseball

Bryse Wilson started the next chapter of his Major League career with the very team he defeated in his first big league outing.

On Monday night, Wilson made his Pittsburgh Pirates debut only three days after being traded by the Atlanta Braves. Pitching in American Family Field, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated Pittsburgh 6-2. Despite surrendering only one run, Wilson suffered the loss.

Wilson conceded only two hits and two walks over five innings. He retired the Brewers in order in the first frame. Wilson walked Eduardo Escobar to leadoff the second inning, but set down Avisail Garcia, Rowdy Tellez and Tyrone Taylor to retire the side.

Milwaukee’s only run off Wilson came in the third inning when Lorenzo Cain scored off a sacrifice fly by Kolten Wong. Cain reached on an infield single to third to leadoff the inning, then stole second. Milwaukee pitcher Eric Lauer moved Cain over to third on a bunt single.

In the fourth, Wilson walked Escobar, but Garcia grounded into a double play. Wilson set the Brewers down in order in the fifth to end his stint.

“Team obviously wants you, so you want to come out and make a good first impression,” Wilson said afterwards. “There were a little bit of butterflies there. End of the day I wanted to come out and throw the way I can. Will now get some consistency.”

On Friday, Wilson and Ricky DeVito were sent to Pittsburgh in exchange for first baseman Richard Rodriguez.

Shortly after the trade, the Pirates activated Wilson.

“I thought the fastball played better,” said Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton. “Sometimes you see it on video & you don’t know what the action is going to be. Watching it from the side & talking to Stallings. The two-seamer really played & was very effective. Definitely a positive impression.”

The trade ended Wilson’s five-year stint with Atlanta that started when he was selected in fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, 109th overall, and received a $1.2 million signing bonus just days after graduating from Orange High School.

Only a month ago, Wilson was named the Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week with the Gwinnett Stripers. Against Durham on June 30, Wilson had a seven-inning scoreless stint, where he gave up just three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in a no decision.

Dating back to July 21, 2019, Wilson was 11-2 with Gwinnett.

In his final appearance with the Braves, Wilson threw the opening game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Over three shutout innings, he held New York to four hits. He walked one and struck out two.

In 2018, Wilson had a dramatic rise through the Braves system, where he went from the Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League all the way up to Atlanta in a span of four months. In 23 minor league games with Florida, the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League and the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League, Wilson went 8-5 with a 3.23 ERA.

He made his Major League debut against Pittsburgh at PNC Field on August 20, 2018. Wilson threw five innings and earned the win in a 1-0 Braves victory. At 20 years old, he became the youngest pitcher in National League history to win his debut by that score.

Over the past two years, Wilson has been dominant with Gwinnett in Triple-A East only to have occasional starts with Atlanta. Last October was the zenith of his career when he defeated Clayton Kershaw in game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Wilson, technically still a rookie making just the eighth start of his Major League career, surrendered just one hit over six innings as Atlanta won 10-2 to take a 3-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series.

In his Atlanta career, Wilson was 5-4 with a 5.35 ERA.

After Monday’s loss to Milwaukee, Pittsburgh is 40-66, 23.5 games behind Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central. The Brewers are currently the hottest team in baseball having won eight of its last ten.

Bryse Wilson: The last time Bryse Wilson started a game in Durham, he admitted that his fastball wasn’t working for him.

On Wednesday night, it was.

In front of 4,205 fans at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Wilson threw seven scoreless innings for the Gwinnett Stripers. Wilson left the game in the eighth inning with the Stripers leading 1-0. Reliever Dylan Lee surrendered a solo homer to Durham’s Ryan Boldt, which cost Wilson a chance to win the game. Gwinnett’s Cristian Pache singled home Terrance Gore in the ninth inning for the winning run as Gwinnett prevailed 2-1.

Orlando Arcia homered in the third inning for Gwinnett.

On the night, Wilson allowed only three hits and a walk over seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts. At one point, Wilson retired 12 consecutive batters. Wilson threw 91 pitches, 58 of which were strikes. As usual when Wilson pitches in Durham, many Hillsborough residents and some of Wilson’s previous coaches were on hand to watch.

Dating back to July 21, 2019, Wilson is 10-2 with a 2.53 ERA and a .247 batting average allowed over his last 14 starts with Gwinnett.

This season with the Stripers, Wilson is 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA through eight starts. In 45 innings pitched this season, Wilson has 39 strikeouts and 14 walks.

Gwinnett improved to 23-26. Durham fell to 32-17. The Stripers start a homestead against the Nashville Sounds next Tuesday.

Phillip Berger: Berger made his latest appearance out of the bullpen for the Elizabethton River Riders last Saturday against the Danville Otterbots at American Legion Field in Danville, VA. The Otterbots defeated the River Riders 6-5. Berger suffered his first loss of the season. He threw the sixth and seventh innings for the River Riders and surrendered three runs off three hits. Only one of the three runs were earned. Berger walked one and struck out two.

Since then, Elizabethton has won three in a row, including a 9-2 victory over the Johnson City Doughboys on Wednesday night. Berger still leads Elizabethton with three wins. In seven pitching appearances, Elizabethton is 3-1 with a 3.46 ERA. He has thrown 13 innings and has 12 strikeouts with four walks. Elizabethton is 12-10 and in third place in the Appalachian League’s Western Division. The River Riders are two games behind the Greenville Flyboys for first place.

Joey Berini: Berini continues to play regularly for the Asheboro Copperheads of the Coastal Plain League. On June 25, Berini started at 2nd base for the Copperheads as they defeated the Forest City Owls 4-3 at McCrary Park in Asheboro. Berini went 0-for-4, but had two assists at second base. On June 26, the Florence RedWolves defeated Asheboro 4-2 at Cormell Field in Florence, SC. Berini started at shortstop but finished 0-for-4. On June 27, the High Point-Thomasville HiTome edged Asheboro 10-9 in ten innings. Berini, who started at second base, finished 1-for-5.

The Coastal Plain League crowns it champions over two halves of the season, similar to how the lower levels of minor leagues used to crown champions. Asheboro finished the first half in third place in the Western Division with an 11-11 record, eight games behind the division champions, the Savannah Bananas. Asheboro has opened the second half 2-0 with wins over the Martinsville Mustangs and High Point-Thomasville.

Despite the 3A State Baseball Playoff field being narrowed down from 64 to 32 teams this year because of the pandemic, the Orange Panthers still made the postseason for the 19th consecutive year.

Six Orange players were honored on the All-Big 8 Conference team, which was announced after all the Big 8 teams were eliminated from the postseason.

Junior catcher Davis Horton, the Big 8 Player of the Year, was among the players honored. So was sophomore Ryan Hench, the co-Big 8 Pitcher of the Year.

Also included were senior first baseman Will Walker, sophomore shortstop Jackson Berini, junior right fielder David Waitt and senior centerfielder Jaren Sikes.

Horton led Orange with a .490 batting average and hit safely in every regular season game. He paced the team with 24 hits and 15 RBIs.

In addition to being Orange’s top pitcher, Hench was among the top hitters on the team. Hench, who rotated with Cesar Lozano at third base when he wasn’t on the mound, hit .421. He was second on the team with 16 hits. Hench also tied for the team lead with six doubles. He was such a reliable bat that he usually remained in games as a designated hitter even after being replaced as pitcher. In Orange’s final game of the year, a 5-4 loss to Asheboro in the 3A State Playoffs, Hench went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Before the season started, Walker committed to play at Pitt Community College. He finished the year with a .324 average with 14 RBIs. Walker’s best stretch of the season came during a four-game winning streak that started in late May. In a 7-0 win over Walkertown on May 25, Walker went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs. In the sixth inning, Walker hit a ground-rule double that brought in Conner Funk and Jacob Jones. Against Northwood on June 1 in Pittsboro, Walker went 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs, including a RBI single in the third inning that scored Waitt and pushed Orange ahead 4-1. Against Cedar Ridge on June 8, Walker had a two-run single during a 11-run 7th inning as the Panthers came back from a 6-3 deficit to win 13-6.

Berini played his first full varsity season in 2021. He started every game at shortstop, the position where his older brother Joey played for four years at Orange before moving on to East Carolina. Jackson, who lead off in every game, hit .333. Berini led the team with 16 runs. He also had 14 hits, which was tied for third-best on the team.

In Orange’s 10-1 win over Northwood on May 7, Berini reached base in all four plate appearances. He went 2-for-2 with three runs scored. Berini opened the game with a single and scored off a double by Funk. Berini’s base running prowess paid dividends early in Orange’s 3-2 victory over Chapel Hill on June 4 in Hillsborough. Berini walked to lead off the bottom of the first. Horton singled, which led to Berini moving over to third. Horton raced for second base after Berini slid in safely, which led to an errant throw by Chapel Hill that wound up in centerfield. Berini scored, and Horton followed right behind him to give Orange an early lead they would not relinquish.

In his first year as a starter, Waitt hit .304 with 14 hits. In a 19-9 win over Cedar Ridge on May 5, Waitt launched a three-run homer in the first inning over the left field wall. Waitt went 4-for-4 against the Red Wolves with four RBIs and three runs. Against Chapel Hill on May 11 at Tiger Field, Waitt went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the seventh inning to score Jones.

Sikes was a regular starter in centerfield. He hit .364 and reached base in 12 of 13 games. Against Northwood on June 1, Sikes went 2-for-3, including a triple down the left field line that scored courtesy runner Mason Thompson to tie the game. In the fourth inning, Sikes walked and scored off an error for an insurance run. Sikes was also a relief pitcher who made mound appearances in wins over Walkertown and Northwood.

Tyler Lloyd and Jordan Underwood were named honorable mention All-Big 8 Conference.

Anyone who saw the May 18 game baseball game between Orange and Northern Durham drove out of Hillsborough knowing they saw the two best pitchers in the Big 8 Conference.

In a showdown to determine the #1 seed for the 3A State Playoffs from the Big 8, Orange’s Ryan Hench and Northern’s Matthew Lombard each threw six consecutive scoreless innings. They each struck out eleven. Only one Northern player reached third base when Hench was in the game. Orange loaded the bases twice against Lombard, who calmly got out of the jams in the first and third innings.

Based on North Carolina High School Athletic Association rules, Hench had to leave the game to start the 7th inning as he approached a 105-pitch limit. Against Orange’s bullpen, Northern ended the stalemate with four runs in the seventh to win 4-0.

Hench and Lombard have both been honored as co-Big 8 Conference Pitchers of the Year. The awards were determined after a vote of the Big 8’s coaches after Northern was eliminated in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs by D.H. Conley.

In his first season as a varsity starter, Hench went 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA. He was second in the Big 8 Conference with 49 strikeouts, trailing Lombard’s 51. Hench allowed just 12 runs over 34 innings.

After Northern secured the top-spot from the Big 8 Conference for the 3A State Playoffs, Lombard didn’t make another start for the rest of the regular season. He only made sporadic relief appearances in the second half of the year, which included a win over eventual 4A State Champion Fuquay-Varina. It was Northern’s first winning season since 2016.

Hench, a sophomore, had not started a varsity game entering 2021. His only varsity pitching appearance came in his freshman year when he replaced Jordan Underwood in a win over Eastern Alamance in 2020.

By the time the season ended, Orange Coach Jason Knapp knew he had his top starter for the next two years.

Hench erased all doubt on May 11 when Orange shutout Chapel Hill 5-0 at Tiger Stadium, which sewed up a state playoff spot. Hench delivered the first complete game shutout by an Orange pitcher since Cooper Porter against Cedar Ridge in 2019. He threw a two-hit shutout and allowed just five baserunners, two of whom reached on dropped third strikes. It was a power pitching performance not seen since Byrse Wilson’s senior year in 2016.

In just his second varsity start, Hench struck out 14 Tigers and earned the complete game on only 90 pitches. It was the most strikeouts in a game by an Orange pitcher since Wilson struck out 15 against East Chapel Hill on March 21, 2016. In the 7th inning, Hench drilled an RBI single to the centerfield wall to score Jackson Berini for an insurance run.

Hench’s Chapel Hill start came on four days rest. He made his starting debut the previous Thursday in a 10-1 victory over Northwood in Hillsborough. After Orange opened the game with five runs in the first inning, Hench threw four hitless innings. He had one walk, which was the only baserunner he allowed, and struck out four to notch his first varsity win.

Hench didn’t allow a run in his first three starts. That streak ended against Northwood on June 1 in Pittsboro when he conceded an unearned run in the first inning. After that, the Chargers didn’t get another hit in the subsequent four innings. Hench took the win, which turned out to be his final one of the season.

In the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs, Hench started against Asheboro. Following a shaky start where he allowed four runs in the opening two innings, Hench shut out the Blue Comets over the next four innings as Orange fought back to tie the game 4-4 going into the 7th inning.

Hench’s older brother, Cooper, pitched at Orange from 2017-2020. Cooper Hench went 4-1 over three seasons with a 2.05 ERA. He was slated to be Orange’s top starter during his senior season before the pandemic ruined everything. Cooper, who is now a member of N.C. State’s club baseball team, was a frequent attendee to his brother’s games this season.

A 15-game hitting streak and being the most reliable presence behind the plate for Orange baseball since Brad Debo has to count for something.

For Davis Horton, it has led to being named the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year.

The junior was officially honored after a vote of the Big 8’s coaches at the conclusion of the regular season last Friday. Horton, who transferred to Orange from Riverside last summer, led the Panthers in three offensive categories in 2021. He had a .490 batting average with 24 hits and 15 RBIs. Horton also tied for the team lead with six doubles.

Horton had a base hit in every regular season game. It started with a three-run homer in his second at-bat as a Panther against East Chapel Hill on April 27, an 15-5 Orange win in six innings. In his first game with Orange, Horton went 3-for-5 with 5 RBIs with two doubles and the home run.

Horton’s hitting streak, which ended in last week’s opening round loss in the 3A State Playoffs at Asheboro, actually extended all the way back to his freshman year at Riverside. In the final game of the 2019 season, Horton went 2-for-3 as the Pirates defeated Southern Nash 18-0. In 2020, Horton played in two games before the season shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He had hits against Wake County Home School and Green Level.

This season was Horton’s first full season as a catcher at the varsity high school level. He proved to be a steady presence for Orange pitchers Ryan Hench, Pierson Kenney, Jordan Underwood, and Joey Pounds. Horton didn’t concede a passed ball all year and only committed one error.

Horton supplied consistent offense throughout the season for the Panthers, who stormed out to a 5-0 start to secure a birth in the state playoffs for the 19th consecutive year. In a 19-9 win over Cedar Ridge on May 5, Horton reached in each of his first three plate appearances. In the first inning, he singled to left field to score Jackson Berini. Usually, senior Jacob Jones was the courtesy runner for Horton, which limited Horton’s total output to four runs. Horton went 2-for-4 against Cedar Ridge.

In Orange’s 10-1 win over Northwood in Hillsborough on May 7, Horton went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. The Panthers immediately took control with five runs in the first inning, which included Horton knocking in Conner Funk with a single down the left field line. In the second, Horton lined to right field to bring in Jackson Berini. Horton finished the night with a two-run single in the fourth.

Against Chapel Hill on June 4, Horton had a single in the first inning, which led to Jackson Berini scoring off a throwing error. Horton rounded the bases off another throwing error to put Orange ahead 2-0. They would go on to win 3-2.

There were three games where the hitting streak was in jeopardy with Horton was down to his final at-bat. In Chapel Hill on June 23, Horton was 0-for-3 when he had a two-out single, which later led to Jones scoring off a hit by Hench. Against Northwood on June 1, Horton was 0-for-2, but reached on an infield single to lead off the 7th inning. In the regular season finale against Northern Durham, Horton singled to right field in the sixth inning against the Knights’ Matthew Lombard, the co-Big 8 Pitcher of the Year.

Horton is the second consecutive Orange player to earn Big 8 Player of the Year honors. In 2019, shortstop Joey Berini earned the honor after he hit .541 with 33 hits, 26 RBIs and 12 doubles. Berini, whose younger brother Jackson starts at shortstop for the Panthers, now plays for the East Carolina Pirates.

The last Orange catcher to be named Big 8 Conference Player of the Year was Brad Debo in 2016. Debo, who would go on to play at N.C. State for four seasons, hit .446 with 29 hits and 24 RBIs in his senior season.

Phillip Berger: The Elizabethton River Riders of the Appalachian League, now a summer, wooden-bat collegiate league, faced the Burlington Sock Puppets on Tuesday night at Burlington Athletic Stadium. It was a near-homecoming for former Cedar Ridge pitcher Phil Berger, who now pitches for Elizabethton, as well as with William Peace University in Raleigh. The Rivers Riders defeated the Sock Puppets 4-3 on Tuesday. The two teams will play again tonight. Elizabethton is 7-9 and Berger currently is 3-0. Last Tuesday, Berger picked up his team-leading third win of the year when the River Riders cruised past the Kingsport Axmen 6-1 at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, TN. Berger relieved starter Drew Gillespie and threw two innings. He gave up one run on three hits with two strikeouts and one walk. On Saturday, the Bristol State Liners defeated the River Riders 9-4. Once again, Berger relieved the starter, Andy Quintana, in the bottom of the second inning. In two-and-one-thirds-innings, Berger gave up two hits and one run with one walk and one strikeout. In five appearances this season, Berger has a 3.00 ERA in nine innings pitched. He has eight strikeouts and three walks. After leaving Burlington on Wednesday, the River Riders will continue its six-game road trip against the Pulaski River Turtles on Thursday.

Bryse Wilson: On Sunday, Wilson made his first start for the Atlanta Braves since May 22. He struggled in a 9-1 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals at Truist Park in Atlanta. In four inning, Wilson surrendered five runs on eight hits. He had four strikeouts. This season in Atlanta, Wilson is 2-3 with a 5.35 ERA. After the game, Wilson was reassigned back to Gwinnett of Triple-A East. On June 15, Wilson earned the win for Gwinnett in a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Sounds at Coolray Field in Gwinnett, GA. Wilson struck out nine batters in six innings. He gave up just one runs on five hits with one walk. Wilson threw 86 pitchers, with 57 of them strikes. This season with the Stripers, Wilson is 4-1 with a 4.36 ERA with 29 strikeouts and ten walks. Wilson could return to action this weekend for Gwinnett’s road trip to Norfolk.

Joey Berini: After East Carolina’s season ended in the Super Regionals of the NCAA Baseball Tournament against #4 Vanderbilt, Berini ventured into the Coastal Plain League, another summer collegiate, wooden-bat league. Berini will spend the summer with the Asheboro Copperheads, which call McCrary Park home. Ironically, McCrary Park is where Berini’s high school team, the Orange Panthers, has its season end against the Asheboro Blue Comets last week. Berini has come out of the gates strong for the Copperheads with hits in each of his first four games. He’s hitting .615. On Tuesday, Asheboro defeated the High Point-Thomasville HiToms 4-2. Berini had an RBI single in the second inning. Berini opened the season in a doubleheader against the Martinsville Mustangs at Hooker Field in Martinsville, VA. In the opening 4-2 loss, Berini went 2-for-3 with a stolen base. In the nightcap, the Copperheads won 6-5. Berini started at second base and went 3-for-4 with a double. On Monday, Asheboro defeated Martinsville 16-7. Berini went 3-for-6 with a double and four RBIs. After hitting 9th against the Mustangs on Sunday in the closing game of the doubleheader, Berini led off on Monday. Asheboro will return home to face the Forest City Owls at McCrary Park Thursday night.

Grace Andrews: The Catawba Valley Community College softball team announced its year-end awards after the completion of its first full season. Andrews, a freshman who played second base for Orange, was presented with the Silver Slugger Award. This season, Andrews finished with a .442 batting average, a .750 slugging percentage, 53 hits and 41 RBIs.

Replacing a legend isn’t easy, even if it has been something fairly common around Orange the past few years.

When Dean Dease retired after 503 career wins at the end of the 2018 season, he figured Walter Williams head coach Jason Knapp would be a fitting replacement. Some of the players who helped Knapp make the transition into his new program were Will Walker, Jordan Underwood and Pierson Kenney, all sophomores making their varsity debuts in March 2019.

It would be a stretch to say that Knapp coached those seniors for three years. Part of what made 2020 so difficult was the time it took away for coaches and players to develop and work together. On March 12, 2020, two days after Orange defeated East Chapel Hill in its Big 8 Conference opener, Knapp had to tell the team that their season was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic for three weeks. They would never play together again.

Knapp later described that meeting “felt like somebody had kicked me in the gut and ripped my heart out.” It was not an enviable position for any coach, much less someone in charge of the vaunted Orange baseball program just starting their second year. For all of the rigorous day-to-day duties that Dease did in 31 years, he never had to tell a team that their season was suspended because of a worldwide pandemic only three weeks into a campaign. Especially a team that that had Joey Berini as a senior, one year after he was named Big 8 Conference Player of the Year. Whether it was fate or karma, Berini’s final at-bat in an Orange uniform was the first grand slam of his career against East.

So when Asheboro’s Camden Walker scored from first base off a double by sophomore Tanner Marsh in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a 5-4 win in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday night at McCrary Park, there was a combination of shock and sadness in the Orange dugout. Some players were inconsolable.

For Knapp, this was the first Orange class that helped him get indoctrinated to Hillsborough. They made him feel less like an outsider during a time when it was harder to establish his own identity in a program because of the pandemic, where there were no games nor practices.

“Our seniors did a great job leading the way,” Knapp said. “I told them I can’t believe its over. It’s been such a crazy time with COVID. Those seniors have been a staple of the program. They’ve been a cornerstone.”

Each of the Orange seniors ended their careers playing some of their best ball. Walker drew three walks against the Blue Comets. While that runs counter to Walker’s reputation as a power hitter, the bases on balls came at a point when the Panthers trailed 4-0 and needed baserunners. Sure enough, Walker scored the Panthers’ opening run off a double play grounder, and followed with the game-tying run after Asheboro surged to a 4-0 lead.

In his final pitching appearance, Kenney had the longest stint of his career with four innings against Northern Durham on June 10. He left the game with Orange leading 6-4. This season, Kenney went 2-0 and pitched reliably in middle relief stints against Northwood and Walkertown late in the season, each resulting in Orange wins.

The pandemic wasn’t the only thing that worked against Underwood, who entered his ill-fated junior season in 2020 as Orange’s opening night starter against Western Alamance. Underwood developed arm trouble which kept him from returning to the mound to start 2021. For the first half of the season, Kenney took his spot in the rotation while Underwood played first base. Gradually, Underwood became a dependable second starter after sophomore Ryan Hench established himself as Orange’s top man following a 2-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts to beat Chapel Hill 5-0 on May 11.

In Orange’s final four wins, Underwood captured three of them. He threw two shutout innings over Walkertown in a 7-0 victory on May 25. Against Chapel Hill on June 4, Underwood may have had the best performance of his career when he gave up just one hit in five shutout innings. Four nights later in the completion of a suspended game against Cedar Ridge, the Panthers trailed 6-3 and were down to its last strike in the 7th inning before pulling an improbable comeback to win 13-6 after scoring eleven runs in the seventh inning. Underwood replaced Hench and earned the win in relief.

And that wasn’t all. Jaren Sikes, in his first season as a starter, drove in Kenney with an RBI single in the fourth inning to cut Asheboro deficit to 4-2. Sikes would later tie the game with a bases-loaded walk. Tyler Lloyd, in his first varsity season, closed the year with hits in six of his last seven games.

Hench, Jackson Berini, David Waitt, Davis Horton, Conner Funk, Cesar Lozano and Joey Pounds will provide the leadership for Orange next season. But Knapp will always hold a special place in his heart for the seniors that helped make Hillsborough a less strange place to be three years ago.

“I’m going to miss them,” Knapp said. “Will Walker was a big part of that 2019 team. Looking back, I just hate it for them because all of those guys lost a year playing ball for Orange. But that all came back this year and just worked their tales off. I can’t thank them enough.”

ASHEBORO-The double-edged sword of making the state baseball playoffs carries high stakes for seniors.

The highs of pulling off a postseason road win can be the highest imaginable.

A loss means the end.

And when the end comes off a dramatic play in the 7th inning, it feels very sudden and very cruel.

That’s why Tyler Lloyd, Jaren Sikes and Pierson Kenney met at the third base line for a group hug at McCrary Park on Tuesday night. They wanted one final moment together in uniform because they would never experience it again.

Not after Asheboro’s Tanner Marsh struck a 1-1 fastball off the top of the wall in centerfield, deep enough to score Camden Walker all the way from first base for the game-winning run as the Blue Comets defeated Orange 5-4 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday night. Asheboro (13-2) will travel to Greenville to face D.H. Conley for the 2nd round on Thursday.

Orange, who conclude the year 10-5, showed grit as they stormed back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game. Pitcher Ryan Hench finished 2-for-4 with a double. Sikes, in his final game, went 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

“We came out a little nervous,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “I could tell taking infield we were just a little tight. I think Ryan was a little nervous, but he settled in after those first few innings. He was great.”

Ultimately, Marsh was the biggest factor. In addition to getting the game-winning hit, Marsh replaced starter Caleb Walker to start the fifth inning. After some early hiccups, Marsh retired the final seven Panthers to earn the win.

Asheboro has won twelve in a row.

Trailing 4-0 in the fourth inning, Orange loaded the bases after senior Will Walker drew a leadoff walk, Hench doubled to left field and Conner Funk drew a walk. Marsh turned a double play that allowed Walker to score. Sikes hit a hard grounder into left field to bring in Kenney, who was running for Hench, to cut the Blue Comets’ lead in half.

Asheboro head coach Brett Hoogkamp made the daring move to put Marsh, a sophomore, on the mound. Right away, Orange loaded the bases again after Waitt hit a leadoff single, Walker walked and Hench singled to left field. Conner Funk lined a 3-1 fastball to right field to bring in Waitt. Sikes tied the game at 4-4 after he drew a bases-loaded walk.

“It’s always been a timely hit at the bottom of the order that has gotten us going,” Knapp said. “Today was no different. Those guys are aggressive at the plate and they came through for us. Particularly at the end of this year.”

It was also the last offense for Orange this year. After Caleb Walker ran up a short hill behind first base to catch a pop-up fouled off by Tyler Lloyd, Marsh retired Orange in order in the sixth and seventh.

Hench was close to the limit of 105 pitches coming into the 7th inning. Asheboro leadoff batter Alex Martinez drew a leadoff walk, but Camden Walker’s bunt, with two strikes, was fielded by Hench, who threw out Martinez at second. On Hench’s 105th pitch, Marsh sent the ball off the top of the wall and Walker raced around the bases and slid into home plate safely to start a raucous celebration as the Blue Comets continued its season.

With two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the first inning, Gage Miller lined a single in front of Sikes in centerfield, which delighted the Asheboro fans sitting in the gold seats under a packed grandstand. Walker lined a double off the top of the left field wall that advanced Miler to third. With Connor Adams running for Walker, catcher Avery Jones tore a liner into right field to bring in the opening two runs.

Asheboro sophomore Josh Meadows sent a laser down the 3rd base line to open the second inning. Meadows went to third after a groundout by Camden Walker. Tanner Marsh sent a flair to centerfield to score Meadows and increase the Blue Comet lead to 3-0. Centerfielder Tatum Marsh, Tanner’s older brother, drilled a ball over Sikes’ head all the way to the 400-sign in dead centerfield. Tanner scored while Tatum was tagged out in a rundown.

“When you work so hard as a group, it hurts,” Knapp said. “It’s going to hurt unless you win the last one. That’s our goal every year when we go into the playoffs is to win the last one. Those guys put their heart and soul into it. As a coaching staff, we ask a lot out of our guys. And they give a lot. I love them to death. Our seniors did a great job leading the way. I told them I can’t believe it’s over.”