Orange Baseball

GRAHAM–There’s a difference between hitting and timely hitting.

On Tuesday night, that was the difference between Orange and Southern Alamance. And, hence, it’s the difference in the race for the Central Conference baseball championship right now.

Each team had five hits. The Panthers largely hit for singles. The Patriots hit for power, albeit from unlikely sources.

Southern’s Janden Evans hit the very first pitch delivered by Cross Clayton over the left field fence, aided somewhat by a southwest wind, to put the Patriots ahead in the opening inning. It was Evans first home run of the season.

Southern would go on to beat Orange 3-1 at the Carroll Shoffner Baseball Complex. The Patriots now lead Orange by one game for first place in the Central Conference at 7-2. The Panthers will host the second game of the two-game series in Hillsborough on Friday. With only three league games remaining, it is likely Orange’s last hope to gain a share of the conference title.

The Panthers had plenty of opportunities on Tuesday. The Patriots committed five errors, but the Panthers didn’t make them hurt. Orange’s leadoff batter, Cameron Guentensberger, lined a single to centerfield and advanced to second when the ball was bobbled by Bradley Capps. Southern starter Braxton Cain struck out Kayden Bradsher and Ryan Honeycutt. With two out, Ryan Horton grounded a ball to shortstop to Mark King, whose throw to first baseman Cooper Partin was low. After Horton legged it out, Guentensberger attempted to score from first, but Partin immediately threw to catcher Eli Holland, who tagged out the centerfielder at the plate to close out the inning.

Clayton suffered his first-ever loss to a conference opponent, ironically in one of his best career outings. Of his 72 pitchers, he threw 58 strikes with nine strikeouts. Of the 26 batters he faced, Clayton threw a first-pitch strike to 24 of them. Clayton was going for his 20th career win, the first Orange pitcher to reach that plateau since Bryse Wilson in 2016.

After Evans stomped his foot on home plate to complete his first dinger, Holland sent a hopper that popped off third base into the left field corner for a double. It was the first in a series of failed scoring opportunities by both teams. Holland moved to third after Partin grounded out to Wyatt Hedrick for the first out. Clayton ended the inning striking out Ethan Mann and Noah Madren.

Orange designated hitter Garrett Sawyer was hit by a pitch in the second inning, then raced over to second when Cain’s pickup throw got away from Partin. King caught a soft liner by Clayton to end the frame.

Ryan Honeycutt opened the fourth with a cue shot down the third base line that Evans threw away, sending the senior to second. That’s as far as Honeycutt would go after Horton, Oliver Van Tiem and Wyatt Hedrick were retired in order.

In the sixth, Southern senior Bradley Capps sent a 1-1 fastball over the left field fence, a wall scraper that went out the most shallow part of the park. It was Capps’ first home run of the year, his seventh RBI.

With one out, Evans doubled to the right field gap. After Holland flew out to Elijah Santos in right, Evans moved over to third. Mann lined a single to centerfield to bring in Capps and make it 3-0 Patriots.

Orange’s only run came when Horton sent a diving liner to centerfield. Capps dove for the ball but missed and it rolled all the way to the fence. Horton wound up with a triple. Dominic O’Keefe replaced him as a courtesy runner. With Van Tiem at bat, Cain uncorked a wild pitch to the spacious backstop. O’Keefe scored off the wild pitch.

Cain surpassed 105 pitches when Garrett Sawyer rode out a ten-pitch at-bat that ended with a fly out to Mann in left field. Eli Gilley replaced Cain and earned the save by striking out Clayton and Santos.

ROXBORO–Enduring a strike zone that gradually shrunk to the size of a Dixie Cup and a Person team that wouldn’t say quit, the Orange baseball team emerged from Roxboro exactly where they want to be.

Tied for first in the Central Conference with a showdown two-game series against Southern Alamance that will almost certainly determine the league champion looming this week.

On Friday night, Orange played bread-and-butter baseball to sweep its two-game series against Person. Leadoff batters got on base, put themselves in scoring position and an experienced power hitter knocked them in.

It led to the Panthers charging out to a 5-0 lead, scoring in each of the first four innings and holding on as Cameron Guentensberger came in from centerfield to earn his second save in as many games to send the Panthers back up Highway 57 with a 7-4 win at Rockets Field.

Orange (14-4, 6-2) is now tied with Southern Alamance for first place in the conference. The Panthers will travel to Graham to face the Patriots on Tuesday night. The series will culminate in Hillsborough on Friday.

The Rockets had the Panthers somewhat concerned in the seventh. Trailing 7-2, Person brought across two runs against reliever Garrett Sawyer off of four walks, a hit batter, a balk and a wild pitch. With Ethan Norris at first base representing the tying run off a walk by Guentensberger, Jackson Riggan stepped up with a chance to pull off an improbable comeback. But Guentensberger set down Riggan on strikes to earn his second save in as many games. Guentensberger threw a scoreless seventh in a nonconference win over Voyager Academy in Hillsborough on Wednesday.

Josiah Gibbs threw five innings to improve to 5-0 on the season. Gibbs, who has 15 career wins, struck out six and allowed only two runs off five hits.

Guentensberger, whose versatility has led to him becoming Orange’s leadoff batter, opened with a walk against Person starter Ian Downey, then stole second base. Ryan Honeycutt, who has 14 RBIs in 12 games, stepped up and drilled a line driven to left centerfield, scoring Guentensberger easily.

Orange freshman Oliver Van Tiem lined a single to left field to open the second inning. With two out, Cross Clayton lined a 0-2 curve ball to left field, where Person’s Dylan England struggled to get the ball back to the infield. Van Tiem took advantage and crossed home plate to make it 2-0.

Gibbs didn’t allow a base hit in the opening three innings. The only mild Person threat in the first half of the game came when Carter Hodgin was hit by a pitch and Norris drew a walk in the second. Riggan flew out to Guentensberger in centerfield to end the inning.

Guentensberger stroked a leadoff single up the middle to start the third. After Kayden Bradsher laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Guentensberger to second, Honeycutt lined another RBI single to England. Guentensberger wound up with his second run of the game.

Orange pushed its lead to 5-0 in the fourth when Van Tiem drew a leadoff walk. Wyatt Hedrick followed with a first-pitch liner that dropped in for a single. Clayton lined a 3-2 fastball into right field, which was bobbled by Tyler Blackwell. Van Tiem scored off the hit and Hedrick came in off the error.

Jackson Riggan lined a fastball that nearly kicked up chalk along the right field line to open the fifth against Gibbs. After Gibbs induced a groundout by Brennen Kiser to move Riggan to second, Keegan Holmes struck out. Camden Shaw singled in Riggan with a base hit to centerfield. Third baseman Nick Young dropped in a fly ball in the outfield. England lined an RBI single in front of Guentensberger to score Shaw and cut the Orange lead to 5-2.

The Panthers took advantage of some Person miscues to regain it’s five-run lead. Van Tiem opened with an infield single to Holmes, the shortstop. Hedrick walked. Sawyer laid down a sacrifice bunt to the left of the mound. Kiser, who replaced Downey as pitcher, attempted to throw out Van Tiem but the ball went past Young at third base. Van Tiem scored. Following a walk by Cross Clayton to load the bases, Elijah Santos walked to bring in Hedrick.

Orange has beaten Person in six straight regular season meetings. The Rockets only victory over the Panthers in the past three years came in the 2022 Central Conference Tournament semifinals in Hillsborough. It was the second straight year that Gibbs beat the Rockets in Roxboro.

The Orange softball team has played King of the Mountain in the Central Conference for nearly a month now.

Well, Queen of the Hill, in this case.

Of course, to inherit that lofty title, you have to unseat the Queens of the Hill. Orange did precisely that when they defeated Western Alamance, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions, 16-6 on March 19 in Hillsborough.

There have been a long line of challengers since then. A 5-4 win at Southern Alamance, the 2021 3A State Champions. Last week, an 8-5 victory over Eastern Alamance, the 2019 and 2022 State Champions.

On Monday night, Person arrived into Hillsborough with six straight losses to the Lady Panthers and losses in six of its previous seven games. Yet the Rockets gave Orange its best shot, only for the home team to prevail once again to stay atop the league.

Junior Sadie Cecil drilled a first-pitch home run over the left field wall while senior Caden Robinson struck out nine for her eleventh win of the season as Orange defeated the Rockets 4-2 at Panther Softball Field. Orange remains in 1st place in the Central Conference with a 6-0 mark, one game ahead of Southern Alamance.

The victory was far from smooth sailing for Orange. Person pitcher Paisley Rigsbee limited Orange to six hits, its lowest amount since racking up five hits against Roxboro Community School on March 13, a 9-2 Panther win.

Fortunately for Orange, they got enough runs early to stay ahead the entire game. Cecil took the first pitch she saw deep over the left field fence and the ball didn’t touch the ground until it got to the adjacent football practice field. Katie Carden followed with a high liner that went over the head of Josey Harris in right field and the ball rolled to the fence. Carden stood up with a triple. Robinson blooped a fastball that landed between Harris and Kenzley Horne, easily scoring Carden. Robinson wound up with a double and would steal third with Hayeligh Hammond at the plate.

It appeared Rigsbee would escape the inning without any further damage. She struck out Delaney Shaffer and Hammond, then had a 1-2 count on Rhiley Crabtree. Then Crabtree swung at strike three, but the ball bounced off the shin guard of catcher Delayna Grimes. As Crabtree ran to first, Grimes’ throw to first was short, bouncing off Makayla Walker’s knee. Robinson scored off the dropped third strike wild pitch to make it 3-0, an error that the Rockets never stopped paying for.

Orange had three hits in the first inning, then amassed only three more for the remainder of the game.

In the bottom of the third, Shaffer sent a hard grounder to left field for a leadoff single, then took second after an errant Person throw back to the infield. Hammond skied a single to right field, sending Shaffer to third. Hammond picked up an extra base when the relay throw missed the cutoff man. With Crabtree at the plate, Shaffer scored off a wild pitch, which turned out to be Orange’s final run.

Person would steadily creep back. Taryn Massey slammed a solo home run to right field to lead off the fourth inning. In the sixth, Camryn Clarke reached on a fly ball to right field for a single. Massey was intentionally walked, with no one out. Clarke went to third after Walker grounded out to Shaffer at second base. Horne lined a single dead up the middle to score Clarke to cut the Orange lead to 4-2. Macey Bowes grounded out to Katie Carden at third to end the sixth.

Person never got the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning. Robinson struck out Liberty Jones and Massey. Rigsbee lined out to Natalie Roberson in right field to end the game.

On Tuesday, Orange (11-2, 6-0 in the Central Conference) will face to Burlington to face Williams in a doubleheader.

Orange senior pitcher Cross Clayton improved to 13-0 lifetime against Central Conference opponents as the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 4-0 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Clayton needed only 78 pitchers for his third career complete game shutout. Clayton is now 4-0 with a 0.84 earned run average. Senior first baseman Ryan Honeycutt continued his tear by going 2-for-3 with a home run. In the first inning, Honeycutt sent a double to the left field fence to score Kayden Bradsher and Wyatt Hedrick. In the third inning, Honeycutt added a solo home run to left field. Honeycutt, who missed the first six games of the season with a thumb injury suffered during basketball season, went 4-for-7 in the series against Cedar Ridge as the Panthers swept the Red Wolves. Honeycutt, in eight games, is hitting .455 with two home runs, four doubles and nine RBIs. Including its win over Heritage on Wednesday night, the Panthers have won seven in a row. They currently sit atop the Central Conference with a 4-1 record and are looking for its fourth straight conference championship. The Panthers will travel to Walter Williams on Friday night to face the Bulldogs in Burlington. Orange will face Person in a two-game series next week to start the second half of the season. Orange is currently 11-3.

Orange baseball’s Cross Clayton & Ryan Honeycutt discuss win over Walter Williams

Orange senior pitcher Cross Clayton improved to 13-0 lifetime against Central Conference opponents as the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 4-0 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Clayton needed only 78 pitchers for his third career complete game shutout. Clayton is now 4-0 with a 0.84 earned run average.