Orange Baseball

Shuttling between the Gwinnett Stripers of Triple-A East and the Atlanta Braves hasn’t shaken Bryse Wilson in his sixth professional season.

Wilson had the longest start of his Major League career on Saturday afternoon as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 at Truist Park. In six-and-two-thirds innings, Wilson surrendered only one run on five hits. He struck out four and conceded two walks, as well as a home run to Pittsburgh catcher Michael Perez. Wilson improved to 2-2 on the year.

For the cherry on top of the sundae, Wilson added his first hit of the season with a line drive to right field. In his first plate appearance, Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller nearly hit Wilson in the face with a fastball. Wilson barely eluded it and it struck his right hand.

As was the case with his first win of the season against the Chicago Cubs on April 18, Wilson received plenty of run support. Home run support, that is.

Atlanta Manager Brian Snitker, a former player with the Durham Bulls during their days in the Carolina League, praised Wilson’s variety of pitches.

“When he had his debut against the Pirates [in 2018] that was the one thing that stood out, was that changeup,” Snitker said. “Personally I think he started messing with the slider so much that he lost feel of his changeup a little bit. Two starts ago in [Triple-A] Gwinnett, he broke out his changeup really well and it’s a really good pitch for him. The fact that he throws strikes is huge. I’m just glad when he got hit that it didn’t affect him.”

Third baseman Ozzie Albies slammed two home runs, one from each side of the plate, to propel the Braves to a 5-1 lead at the end of five innings. Ronald Acuna Jr. led off the first with a dinger against Keller, who fell to 2-6.

“Fastball command was good,” Wilson said. “We were able to keep them on their heels between the four-seam and the two-seam, and the changeup was really good today. Really I was just able to pound the zone and throw a lot of strikes.”

Wilson’s best start in a Braves uniform came six days after his franchise-record streak of winning seven consecutive starts for the Gwinnett Stripers of Triple-A East came to an end. Last Sunday, Wilson had a no decision after he surrendered four runs off ten hits in six innings against the Louisville Bats at Coolray Field. He struck out three and walked none.

Though it had been known by local friends and family for several days, the Braves formally called Wilson up from Gwinnett on Saturday morning after optioning Jacob Webb back to Triple-A following the Braves 20-1 mauling of the Pirates on Friday night.

It was the second straight start where Wilson went six innings. On May 11 against Toronto, Wilson left the game with Atlanta leading 3-2. Against the Blue Jays, Wilson struck out five in six innings. He yielded two runs off six hits with no walks on 84 pitches.

Wilson now has a career Major League mark of 5-3. This season, he is 2-2 with a 4.38 ERA. He has 15 strikeouts and seven walks.

Atlanta is 22-24, two-and-a-half games behind the New York Mets for first place in the National League East. The Braves have a two-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park starting Tuesday night. Next weekend, they face the Mets at Citi Field.

WIlson is a 2016 Orange High graduate who signed with Atlanta immediately after marching in the Smith Center. He is the first Orange High product to reach the Major Leagues. Josh Horton and Chris Maples reached the Triple-A level with the Oakland and Detroit organizations, respectively.

There are errors that a defense commits in baseball that turn out to be only as big as a minnow in the sea.

Orange, on the other hand, made errors against East Chapel Hill the size of great white sharks.

The Panthers, who led 5-0 at the end of three innings, registered five errors in an 8-7 loss to East Chapel Hill at Wildcats Stadium on a steamy Friday afternoon. Trailing 7-5 going into the bottom-of-the-sixth inning, East scored three runs to win it. East’s Ben Smith scored the game-winning run as he advanced to third base off a wild pitch, and the subsequent pickoff throw ended up in left field.

It was a day of wayward throws by the Orange defense, which had been a consistently competent defensive unit in its opening five games. Until Friday, the Panthers hadn’t made more than two errors in a game.

That defensively ability seemed to wilt under the hot afternoon sun Friday, not long after the Panthers built a 5-0 lead. The Wildcats’ started its climb back when Finn Harris, who two on, blooped a single to left field. Patrick O’Connell, who led off the inning with a walk, raced for third base. The throw from left field wound up sailing over the Orange dugout and into the woods. O’Connell and Zack Wernoski, who singled to left field earlier, scored off the errant throw.

“We you have a five-run lead, you gotta bring it home,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “We didn’t do that today. Credit (East Chapel Hill) Coach (Matt) Russell and East Chapel Hill. They continued to fight and fall and they got it done.”

After East’s Chris Horne walked, Nolan Parker hit a two-run single up the middle to bring in Harris and Horne and reduce Orange’s advantage to 5-4.

Ironically, defense helped Orange surge ahead early. In the first and third innings, East put its opening two batters on base with no outs, only to have the Panthers turn 6-4-3 doubles plays each time to keep the Wildcats scoreless.

The aforementioned errant throw in the fourth inning was typical on a weird day where the rawhide seemed to have the elasticity of a super bounce ball you could purchase for a quarter out of a 1980s gunball machine from the nearby A&P Grocery. In the first inning, Orange right field David Waitt scored from second base on a wild pitch. With Connor Funk batting, a fastball from Smith wound up in the dirt, sprung off catcher Ben Buchman’s shin guard and ricocheted halfway up the third base line. In an attempt to retrieve it, Smith booted the ball near the third-base coaches box, which allowed Waitt to race home. Jacob Jones, who was at first base, was tagged out by Smith in a race to third.

Jackson Berini scored off a sacrifice fly hit by Funk to shallow centerfield in the 3rd inning. Later, with the bases loaded, designated hitter Ryan Hench drilled a double to left field to score Waitt, Jones and Will Walker and increase Orange’s lead to 5-0.

After East scored four runs in the fourth, the Wildcats tied the game in the fifth inning. O’Connell led off with an infield single, moved over to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Zach Wernoski, went to third off a single from Harris and scored off an infield error on a ball hit by Noah Daniel.

Orange retook the lead with two runs in the sixth. After Walker and third baseman Cesar Lozano were each hit by pitches, Tyler Lloyd drilled a first-pitch fastball to centerfield that went over the head of Horne. Walker and Lozano scored to put Orange ahead 7-5.

Buchman drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the sixth. Ryder Jeske drilled a ground rule double that hopped over the left field wall to send Buchman to third. Smith reached on an infield error that brought in Buchman. O’Connell evened the game on an RBI groundout to Waitt, who had moved to second base after Funk was inserted as pitcher. Jeske came home on the groudout to tie the game.

It was a disappointment for Knapp and the rest of the Panthers, who defeated East 15-5 to start the season.

“We’re absolutely capable of being better than this,” Knapp said. “We have to correct some mental base running mistakes that have been sneaking up on us lately. And we have to shore up our defense.”

The electric atmosphere inside Orange High ballpark on Tuesday night wasn’t simply the standard vibe of a must-win game. It was the release of pent-up frustration by Northern Durham fans that had been withheld for years.

When the time is right, Northern baseball fans can created an electric atmosphere around its aging ballpark. It’s just been a long time since the time was right. About six years, to be exact.

The last time Northern Durham clinched a share of a conference championship in baseball, it was 2015. That was when Northern suited up a leadoff hitter named A.J. Bumpass, who would go on to play at the University of Cincinnati and eventually with the Cincinnati Reds organization. It was six years ago today that the Knights defeated D.H. Conley in Greenville to advance to the 4A State Quarterfinals.

It may be another six years before the throng of fans who gathered around the fences at Orange High Field on Tuesday see as brilliant a pitcher’s duel like the one they saw Tuesday.

In a game to decide the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference, neither Northern Durham senior Matthew Lombard nor Orange sophomore Ryan Hench would give in. They each threw six scoreless innings. They each registered eleven strikeouts.

Ultimately, Hench was pulled after he logged 100 pitches after six innings (the North Carolina High School Athletic Association institutes a limit of 105 pitches for any pitcher). When Hench left the game at the beginning of the seventh inning, it was all the latitude the Northern batters needed. The Knights struck for four runs in the seventh inning to beat Orange 4-0.

With the win, Northern (7-1, 7-1 in the Big 8 Conference) ensured they would share the Big 8 Championship with Orange. The Knights, who lost to Northwood last Wednesday, will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 in the state playoffs, which starts next month.

Orange (7-2, 7-1 in the Big 8) will still make the state playoffs and will claim a share of a conference title for the first time since 2016, Bryse Wilson’s senior year. But the Panthers will almost certainly travel for the opening round of the playoffs.

It was the Knights’ first win over Orange since March 8, 2017, ending the Panthers’ four-game winning streak in the series. Northern also clinched its first winning season since 2016.

“That’s as fine a high school pitching matchup as you’ll see at this level,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “I was just talking about this with (assistant coach Matt) Roberts.”

Hench was at 100 pitches by the time the seventh inning rolled around, but Knapp elected to pull him in lieu of throwing to one more batter. In six innings, Hench (2-0) conceded only two hits and four walks.

After Northern got to Orange’s bullpen, the Knights scored four runs off four hits in the seventh inning alone. Corbyn Poe opened with a leadoff walk, then stole second base. Seth Lumpkin hit a dribbler to left field for a base hit to move Poe to third. With Orange’s infield drawn in, Charles McDowell drilled a 1-0 fastball to left field to break the stalemate. After Knights’ leadoff batter Caleb Greene was intentionally walked, catcher Riley Adams lofted a soft pop-up to second base that would have been caught if the infield was at normal depth. This time, it went over Connor Funk’s head and allowed Lumpin to score.

Lombard, in his final at-bat, hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in McDowell. Scoggins lined a single to right field to bring in Greene.

Orange had its chances early. They loaded the bases with one out in the first inning after sophomore Jackson Berini led off with a single. Funk reached off an error. Each man moved up 90 feet following a wild pitch with Davis Horton at the plate. But the story of the game was Lombard’s power, most prominently a fastball that reached 88-miles-per-hour. Lombard struck out Horton, Orange’s most consistent hitter, with one out. After Will Walker walked to load the bases, Lombard struck out Hench, then forced David Waitt into a groundout back to the mound to escape the frame.

Orange loaded the bases again in the third inning. Berini led off with another single. Horton lined a fastball off the leg of Scoggins at 3rd base. That would be the final Orange hit of the game. After Hench walked to load the bases with two out, Waitt popped out to Lombard.

Lombard started against Chapel Hill on Friday, a game that Chapel Hill led 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Despite having just four days rest, fatigue was not a factor for Lombard, who only conceded three walks in his final three-and-two-thirds innings of work. After Lombard eclipsed 105 pitches following a strikeout of Funk, Northern first baseman Jackson Bishop relieved Lombard and got the final out.

It was the first time Orange was shut out since losing to Wilson Fike 6-0 at Fleming Stadium on March 23, 2019.

None of which should overshadow the outstanding performance by Hench. In only his third career start for Orange, Hench allowed just one Northern batter to reach third base through six innings.

In 17 innings this season, Hench still hasn’t given up a run. He’s thrown 29 strikeouts, just five walks and conceded four hits.

With the second half of its season starting Friday afternoon at East Chapel Hill, Knapp knows his postseason fate with six games (possibly more) still remaining in the regular season. He knows he will go to the state playoffs, regardless of what his team’s final record is. Now, he’ll focus on trying to revive an offense that scored 15, 19 and ten runs in its opening three games, but has been limited to only five in its last two Big 8 games.

“We’re going to come up with some team goals tomorrow that I’ve already been thinking about,” Knapp said. “It’s going to be good because the majority of our games during the last half of the season are on the road. So that’s going to be good to prepare us for the playoffs.”

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore pitcher Ryan Hench. Last week, the Orange baseball team sewed up a spot in the 3A State Playoffs after a 5-0 win over Chapel Hill. Hench, in just the second start of his varsity career, struck out 14 and threw a two-hit shutout. He made the start on only four days rest. The prior Friday, Hench earned his first win in Orange’s 10-1 victory over Northwood. Hench didn’t give up a hit to the Chargers. He struck out four and walked just one batter. Ryan was the top starter for Stanford when they won the Orange-Person Athletic Conference Northern Division championship in 2019. Hench’s older brother, Cooper, was a successful pitcher and 3rd baseman at Orange. Cooper, who now plays with the N.C. State Club Baseball team, helped the Panthers continue to win during the transition away from the Bryse Wilson/Brad Debo era. Orange has already earned a share of the Big 8 Conference championship. Tonight, they will face Northern Durham in Hillsborough. If Orange wins, they will win the Big 8 outright for the first time since 2016. Ryan Hench also plays 3rd base when he isn’t pitching. He’s hitting .400 at the plate this year.

In the middle of a gas shortage, West Stokes drove nearly 170 miles round trip in the middle of a gas shortage for a nonconfernece game. Yet they still got their money’s worth.

While Orange didn’t get the result they wanted on Friday night, time will tell if they got what they needed.

West Stokes’ Kaden Fuller earned the win after he threw three innings of relief as the Wildcats scored two runs in the eighth inning to beat Orange 8-6 on Friday night in Hillsborough. Designated hitter Adam Parris drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk. Orange catcher Davis Horton, who finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, reached second base in the bottom of the eighth to represent the tying run, but Fuller struck out Orange’s next three batters to complete his first varsity win.

It was a night of firsts for both teams. Orange Coach Jason Knapp used six different pitchers, but second baseman Connor Funk established himself from the pack. Funk, who had never pitched in a varsity game, threw two-and-two-thirds innings and struck out six after relieving Jaren Sikes in the sixth. Though he took the loss, Funk was the only Orange hurler to hold the Wildcats scoreless in consecutive innings.

“We know he’s got it in him,” Knapp said. “He’s got an electric arm. He just needs some time on the mound. We tried to give everybody a little bit tonight, but when we got caught in extras, we had to stick with him. He did a great job.”

West Stokes (5-1), a 2A team from the Western Piedmont Conference, has a roster of big bats and powerful arms. Coming into Friday, the Wildcats had hit seven home runs in five games. They added two more on Friday. Their pitching staff, which includes three sophomores, averaged eleven strikeouts per game. They maintained that average against Orange.

Fuller lined an opposite field home run off Orange starter Pierson Kenney to lead off the second inning for the first run of the night. The Panthers responded with three runs in the second inning after West Stokes’ starter Evan Cecile walked the bases loaded. With two out, Panther shortstop Jackson Berini drew a walk to score Jaren Sikes. Funk knocked in Joey Pounds with a grounder that reached left field, then Horton lined a first-pitch fastball over second base which plated Tyler Lloyd and built Orange’s lead to 3-1.

West Stokes tied it right back up when Fuller ripped a triple to right field. Dylan Roscoe, running for catcher Brighton Berthrong, scored. Pounds, making his first start in right field, hit Funk on the relay and Horton tagged out Joshua Jones at the plate. Fuller tied the game 3-3 after Parris hit a two-out bouncer to right field.

Sikes drew a walk in the bottom of the third, stole second, advanced to third on a single by Cesar Lozano and scored off an infield hit by Tyler Lloyd.

Again, Orange didn’t have the lead for long. West Stokes first baseman Bryson Bowman drew a leadoff walk to start the fourth inning and tied the game following a liner up the middle by Berthrong.

Orange got the lead back in the bottom of the frame when Funk drew a one-out walk. After Funk stole second, first baseman Will Walker drilled a double down the left field line to push Orange back ahead 5-4.

Fuller opened the fifth with a walk, and Jacob Smith throttled a 2-1 fastball off the bottom left corner of the Orange scoreboard to give West Stokes a 6-5 lead.

Fuller, who started at second base, replaced Dominic Mickle as pitcher in the sixth. Funk drilled Fuller’s first pitch over the head of centerfielder Jacob Smith for a triple. Horton sent a fly ball to right field that was dropped and allowed Funk to tie the game. With the go-ahead run at second base, Fuller came up with two strikeouts to keep the game tied 5-5.

After Orange went through four pitchers in five innings, Funk held the Wildcats scoreless in the sixth and seventh. Orange had a chance to win in the seventh after David Waitt, who was inserted into the game as a reserve in the fifth, grounded a one-out double to left field. But Fuller struck out Ryan Hench and got Jackson Berini to fly out to shortstop to send the game into extra innings.

While Orange played a back-and-forth game against a team they hadn’t faced since 2009, the Big 8 Conference championship race was extended into next week. At Knights Field, Northern Durham rallied from a 3-0 deficit with five runs in the sixth inning to defeat Chapel Hill. That means the Knights and the Panthers will meet on Tuesday night in Hillsborough for a winner-takes-all battle for the Big 8 Conference championship. Orange (6-1, 6-0 in the Big 8) clinched a share of the title after Northwood defeated Northern Durham (5-1, 5-1) 7-6 on Wednesday. The winner of Tuesday’s game will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 in the state playoffs.

“We scheduled this game because we needed some quality opponents to prepare ourselves for the state playoffs,” Knapp said. “We knew that West Stokes was quality and they were going to bring a good team up here and they did.”

Bryse Wilson: On Tuesday morning, Bryse Wilson was recalled by the Atlanta Braves from Gwinnett of Triple-A East. Wilson made his fourth start of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays at Truist Park. Wilson worked effectively and threw five shutout innings. In the sixth, Wilson conceded a two-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Wilson wound up with a no decision. He threw six innings and struck out five. Wilson gave up six hits, two runs and one walk. The Braves bullpen couldn’t hold on to a 3-2 lead and lost 5-3. On Wednesday morning, Wilson was reassigned back to Gwinnett. He could pitch for the Stripers this weekend against the Louisville Bats.

Kayla Hodges: A week after the Elon women’s soccer team’s season came to an end after reaching the NCAA Tournament, Hodges was named the winner of the Robert C. Browne Sportsmanship Award. The award is presented annually to the male and female student athletes who have best displayed exemplary qualities of sportsmanship. “Her strength, leadership and aerial ability has been unwavering this season,” Elon women’s soccer coach Neil Payne said in a statement. “Along with our entire defensive unit, she has shown tremendous resolve, grit and determination all year.” Hodges is a Human Services major who has also worked as a coach for youth soccer. She has also spent numerous hours with community organizations. Hodges participated in the Phoenix Leadership Academy. She helped Elon win its first Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship last month.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team continued its winning ways in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Wednesday. The Bulldogs defeated #23 Ole Miss 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals in Tuscaloosa, AL. Davidson drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning to score the first run of the afternoon. In the fifth inning, Davidson doubled to left field. She also tagged two runners out at the plate, including one in the fifth inning that was the subject of a lengthy replay review.

Montana Davidson: Montana started at third base and was in the nine spot in the batting order for Mississippi State. She walked twice. Mississippi State has won eight in a row. They will face top-seeded Florida, ranked #4 in the country, in the quarterfinals on Thursday morning at noon.

Jaden Hurdle: The Patrick Henry Community College softball team captured a best-of-three series against Southeastern Community College on Wednesday. The Patriots won the third and deciding game 3-1 in Martinsville, VA. Hurdle went 0-for-2 and drew a walk in the third game. Patrick Henry won the opening game 4-2 on Tuesday. Hurdle went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the sixth inning, which proved to be a valuable insurance run. Before Hurdle’s RBI, the Rams had narrowed what was once a 3-0 deficit to 3-2. Southeastern captured game 2 of the series 6-2. Hurdle had an RBI single. She also relieved starting pitcher Brianna Taylor in the circle. Hurdle threw three-and-one-thirds innings and surrendered just two hits and one run. She struck out three. Patrick Henry will start play in the Region X Division II Tournament at Springwood Park in Burlington. The Patriots will face the fifth-seed, Florence-Darlington Tech, Friday morning at 10 o’clock. This will be a two-day, double elimination tournament.