Orange Baseball

Dayne Watkins had plenty in store for his senior season for the Orange baseball team. In his third year on the varsity squad, Dayne had been a routine starter at first base and designated hitter for Orange teams that had made the state playoffs. Unfortunately, Dayne’s season ended prematurely, along with the rest of his teammates, because of the corona virus pandemic. On Monday night, Orange’s seniors gathered one final team for an impromptu senior night ceremony. Surrounded by family and friends, the lights stayed on at each of Orange’s athletic fields to honor senior baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis and soccer seniors. As for Dayne, he plans to attend Durham Tech this fall (presumably) for a career in mechanics.

Cooper Hench had a big day as Orange edged East Chapel Hill at Wildcats Stadium in March 2019. Hench had nine assists at third base, delivered the game-winning hit and came on in relief of Luke Riley to earn the win. Listen back to the game here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior shortstop Joey Berini. On Tuesday night, Berini hit a grand slam as the Panthers won its Big 8 Conference opener over East Chapel Hill 9-4. Berini has had an outstanding career at Orange. He started at shortstop since his freshman year. Since then, he has started in 80 of Orange’s 82 games. Last season, Berini was the Big 8 Player of the Year after he hit .541 with 33 hits, 35 runs scored and 26 RBIs. He also led the team with 12 doubles. This season, Berini has hit lead off as the Panthers got off to a 2-2 start before the hiatus caused by the Coronavirus. Last November, Berini formally signed with East Carolina to play baseball. His younger brother, Jackson, has played in all four games for Orange and will be the next generation of the Berini family to play in Hillsborough. Fittingly, Joey hit his first career grand slam on the night his younger brother got his first start. In fact, Berini knocked his younger brother in on the grand slam. If Orange doesn’t return to action this year, it will go down as Berini’s 84th and final hit for Orange.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Absolutely no one knows.

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

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

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

Could this be the end?

No one knows.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After winning the Big 8 Player of the Year in 2019 and securing three state playoff wins, there were largely two things that Joey Berini has never done in his four years as an Orange Panther.

Hit a grand slam and win the Big 8 Conference championship.

After Tuesday night, the former has been put to bed. The latter is still a work in progress.

With two out in the third inning against East Chapel Hill, Berini skied the first pitch over the centerfield wall with the bases juiced. There was a touch of anger in Berini’s swing. In his previous at-bat in the 2nd inning with runners at the corners, Berini grounded out to East pitcher Matthew Kupec.

“I was pretty mad,” Berini said.

From that point forward, Orange (2-2, 1-0 in the Big 8 Conference) cruised past East 9-4 at Panther Field, but Berini wouldn’t have had a chance to hit the grand slam if it wasn’t for Ethan Guentensberger.

With two out in the third, Guentensberger stepped up with Will Walker at third and Bruce Clark at second. Guentensberger, who had reached base eight times in the opening week of the season without the benefit of a base hit, poked a floater over the head of second baseman Zach Wernoski into left field to give Orange a 2-1 lead.

Tucker Miller replaced Guentensberger as a courtesy runner and stole second as Ryan Hench drew a walk. Centerfielder Jaren Sikes went opposite field down the left field line to score Miller. After freshman Jackson Berini earned his first varsity base hit to load the bases, Berini launched his grand slam.

East (1-2, 0-1) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning with its traditional station-to-station baseball. Catcher Ben Buchman singled to right field, stole second base, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Blake Moyer and scored off an RBI groundout by 1st baseman Will Briley.

Senior Cooper Hench, making his second straight start, earned the win. He threw four innings, giving up three hits, two walks and an earned run. Hench struck out two and remained in the game at third base after Marco Velasquez replaced him in the fifth.

Guentensberger came up with another clutch hit in the sixth. Walker, who has hit safely in Orange’s first four games, singled to left field. Clark was hit by a pitch, but was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice hit by Connor Funk. Guentensberger lined a first-pitch fastball to the right center gap, the deepest part of the park, to score Walker and Funk, who came in from first.

Guentensberger finished 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs. Freshman Ryan Hench went 3-for-3 with a run scored. Clark, in only his third start, was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Orange’s 13 hits was a season-high.

East, the defending Big 8 Conference champions, added two runs in the seventh. Wernoski and Buchman led off the inning with singles while Moyer reached on an error to load the bases. Briley knocked in Wernoski on a fielder’s choice, while Kupec hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Buchman.

Orange will travel to East Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon at 4.

On Tuesday night, the Orange baseball team defeated East Chapel Hill 9-4. Panther freshman Ryan Hench had three hits, including a liner in the seventh inning where Orange scored twice. Hench’s older brother, Cooper, earned the win on the mound for Orange. Last week, Ryan reached base in all five of his plate appearances in his first varsity game against Western Alamance. He drew two walks and was hit by pitches three times. Against East, Hench scored during Orange’s 7-run 3rd inning off of Joey Berini’s grand slam. The Panthers improved to 2-2, 1-0 in the Big 8 Conference. They will travel to East Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon looking for a sweep against the defending Big 8 Conference champions.