Orange Softball

For most of Tuesday night, some of the Orange baseball seniors didn’t think they would reach the second round of the state playoffs, much less host another home game.

After a miraculous rally against Cedar Ridge, the Panthers didn’t leave drama against Eastern Alamance on Friday night.

The Panthers exploded for seven runs in the first inning, keyed by a two-run single by Wyatt Hedrick, and easily defeated the Eagles 19-1 in five innings to advance to the Round of 16 in the 3A State Playoffs on Friday night. Orange (19-5) will travel to Terry Sanford for the third round on Tuesday. The Bulldogs hammered Walter Williams 19-3 in Fayetteville Friday night.

Senior pitcher Josiah Gibbs tossed a five-inning complete game, surrendering only two hits for his 18th career win. Gibbs improved to 8-0 with a 2.07 ERA.

It was Orange’s third run-rule win of the season, its second against the Eagles in ten days. Last week, Orange beat the Eagles 11-0 where Cross Clayton won his 20th career game.

“Gibbs commanded the strike zone well,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. When you put seven runs in the bottom of the first, you know that a kid is going to pitch to contract. He’s not going to give up a bunch of walks.”

On the drama scale, it was the polar opposite of Orange’s playoff opener against Cedar Ridge on Tuesday. The Panthers were down four runs in the seventh inning with the bases empty and two outs before pulling off a stunning rally capped by Ryan Honeycutt’s three-run homer to win 7-4.

“I told the team it was like a batter who pops a ball up in foul ground, and the fielder drops it,” Knapp said. “Then that batter gets a new life. That’s what we got. We got a new life after that rally on Tuesday. We know that and we’re playing with house money. So the guys were a lot looser tonight. They’re not scared of the end.”

Facing Eastern Alamance (9-16) starter Conner Horner, Orange’s first six batters reached base and eventually scored. With the bases loaded, Ryan Horton blooped a curveball that fell down between three fielders, bringing in Cameron Guentensberger. Oliver Van Tiem tapped a fastball in front of the plate where Horner slipped on the wet grass that had been soaked from a pregame shower, delaying the game for 40 minutes.  Kayden Bradsher came in to score.

Wyatt Hedrick drove in two runs when he sent a high fly ball off the 2008 2A State Championship banner in right field to score Honeycutt and Henry Hoffman, running for Horton. Cross Clayton drove a fastball to the 395-foot ally in right centerfield to score Van Tiem. Elijah Santos lined a single up the middle to score Hedrick. In his second plate appearance of the inning, Guentensberger plated Clayton off a sacrifice fly to Tyler Westbrooks.

Eastern catcher Kasen McGinnis whacked a solo home run to left field to start the second inning, scoring the Eagles only run.

Hedrick blooped a double down the left field line to score Hoffman in the second to increase Orange’s lead to 8-1. In the third, Hedrick knocked in Honeycutt and Van Tiem with a line drive to left field.

Orange sent 14 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, where they scored nine runs. It included Hedrick driving in two more runs with a liner to right and a three-run home run by Clayton to left field.

Hedrick finished 4-for-4 with seven RBIs and two runs scored. Horton was 4-for-4, allowing Hoffman to score three times. Clayton was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Guentensberger scored three runs and was 2-for-3. Every Panther in the starting lineup scored a run.

There will be a sense of what might have been for the Orange softball team as they go into the state playoffs.

They won its first eleven games against 3A competition, including sweeping the defending Eastern Regional champions Western Alamance. They were one win away from the Central Conference title, but lost its final four regular season games.

Even after the Lady Panthers fell out of first place in a loss to Southern Alamance, they got a reprieve when Eastern Alamance stunned the Patriots. It set up a showdown in Mebane last Thursday where if Orange won, they would claim the regular season title.

The Eagles, on its senior night, scored the game-winning run in the sixth inning after Kayden Manning left off with a double that hit the top of the centerfield fence. Taylor Byrd sent another fly ball to center, which was captured by Hayleigh Hammond, but she fell down as she retrieved it. McKenzie Blevins, running for Manning, tagged up from second and took two bases on a sacrifice fly to score the game-winning throw without a throw to the plate.

Eastern Alamance, who trailed Orange by two games for first place on April 22 with three conference games remaining, wound up tying Southern Alamance for a share of the Central Conference title. Southern Alamance will be the #1 seed from the conference going into the state playoffs after winning a coin toss against Eastern Alamance.

Orange will still get a home game for the opening round of the state playoffs. They will open against C.B. Aycock on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Orange received a #11 seed. The winner of Orange/Acycock will face either South Johnson or West Carteret in the second round on Friday night.

Most likely, it will be the final Orange home game for pitcher Caden Robinson and designated hitter Mia Leathers. Robinson is the leading hitter for the Lady Panthers with a .551 batting average. She leads the team is almost every offensive category with a .551 batting average, 34 runs scored, 38 hits, 31 RBIs, 16 doubles and five home runs. Robinson has committed to play at Averett University.

The Golden Falcons finished second in the Quad County Conference behind South Johnston, the #3 seed in the East Region. Aycock will arrive into Hillsborough with a 12-9 overall record and wins in its last four games, including a 12-11 victory over South Central in its regular season finale.

The coin toss that Southern Alamance won likely kept anxiety levels down considerably across Hillsborough on Tuesday night. If Eastern Alamance has won, it would have been Cedar Ridge facing Orange in the state playoffs.

Instead of traveling across town, the Red Wolves will head to Cameron to face Union Pines. Cedar Ridge received a #19 seed. The winner of Union Pines/Cedar Ridge will take on either Southern Alamance or Franklinton on Friday night.

The Red Wolves go into the playoffs for the third straight year with momentum. Last week, Cedar Ridge junior Kimber Shambley whacked a walkoff home run in the seventh inning to beat Western Alamance 7-6 on Senior Night in Hillsborough.

Shambley, who has committed to play at Western Carolina, leads the team with eight home runs, 34 RBIs, and 28 runs scored. Second baseman Mia Best leads the Red Wolves with 32 hits and ten doubles and is only behind Shambley with a .457 batting average.

Cedar Ridge, 12-7-1, will likely start pitcher Charlotte Lowry. This season, Lowry has won six games and has registered 97 strikeouts with only 25 walks.

Union Pines finished 9-3 in the Sandhills Conference, good enough for second place behind Scotland County. The Vikings lost three conference games, two to Scotland County and the other to Southern Lee in Sanford.

Six teams from the Central Conference made the field of 64 for the state playoff. Three will have home games in the opening round of the playoffs .Eastern Alamance faces Croatan in Mebane.

The Orange softball team sits atop first place in the Central Conference. On Tuesday night, the Lady Panthers used home runs from Mia Leathers, Caden Robinson and Hayleigh Hammond to defeat Eastern Alamance 8-5 in a battle of teams undefeated in conference play. Sophomore Katie Carden singled in the first inning, which allowed Sadie Cecil to score a run off an error. Later in the frame, Carden scored off a groundout by Allie Carden. After the Eagles tied the game at 2-2, Orange hit back-to-back homers. Hayleigh Hammond smashed one over the centerfield wall to put Orange in the lead for good. Afterwards, Leathers took one deep, also to centerfield. Later in the fourth, Katie Carden knocked in Addison Guentensberger with a single to centerfield to put Orange ahead 5-2. Katie Carden is hitting .378 this season and has played in all eleven games. Orange has won nine of its last ten games. Leathers has two home runs while starting at first base. On Friday night, the Lady Panthers will travel to Western Alamance, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions. It will start the second half of the conference slate for Orange. Earlier this year, Orange defeated the Warriors 16-6 in six innings in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers will host Person on Monday.

Orange softball’s Katie Carden and Mia Leathers discuss win over Eastern Alamance

No Description

In a conference as deep as the Central Conference, any road softball win feels like a true accomplishment.

On Tuesday night, the Orange softball team did it the old fashioned way at Southern Alamance. They earned it.

Sophomore Hayleigh Hammond looped a RBI single to centerfield to score Katie Carden, pushing Orange ahead for good in a 5-4 win over the Patriots in Graham.

The win ended Southern Alamance’s 34-game conference winning streak. It was their first league loss since March 17, 2021, which was actually their season opener against Southwestern Randolph in the Mid-Piedmont Conference. That was the pandemic-shortened year where the Patriots wound up winning the 3A State Championship. The past two years, Southern Alamance played as a 4A team in the DAC-VII Conference, where they won 24 straight games and consecutive league crowns.

Senior pitcher Caden Robinson handled the lead for the final two innings as Orange won its seventh straight game. The Patriots got leadoff batter Brianna White aboard after a walk, but Robinson struck out Savannah Strickland. After Abagail Holt moved White to second with a sacrifice bunt, Macyee Tickle drew a walk. Hammond ended the inning when she caught a fly ball hit by senior Kayla Wilson.

The Lady Panthers (6-1) haven’t lost since dropping its opener against Wakefield on February 26. They are now tied with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference at 2-0. Orange hosts Eastern Alamance on Tuesday in Hillsborough.

Robinson struck out nine to earn her sixth win of the season, allowing only four hits.

Orange never trailed against the Patriots, but the Patriots tied the game twice. Robinson lined a double to the right field gap. Allie Carden followed with a bloop that fell between three Patriots in right for a base hit to score Robinson.

After Robinson retired the Patriots in order in the first inning, Hammond led off the second when she belted a hanging curveball to the left field fence for a double. Hammond advanced to third following a groundout by Mia Leathers to first base. Natalie Roberson laid down a bunt that rolled past first baseman Peyton Carter. Wilson, playing second, backed her up and tagged out Roberson, but Hammond easily scored to increase Orange’s lead to 2-0.

Southern Alamance struck for two runs in the second to tie the game. After Carter was hit by a pitch, Gracie Shoffner belted a line drive that sailed over the head of Hammond in centerfield. Freshman Avery Dobbins sent a high bouncer to shortstop, which Delanie Shaffer knocked down but couldn’t make a play with. Carter scored to cut the Orange lead in half. Then Shoffner scored off a groundout by White to tie the game.

Orange immediately grabbed the lead back in the third inning. Robinson lined a single through the hole into left field. Allie Carden took a 2-2 fastball and parked it just shy of the scoreboard in centerfield. her second home run of the season.

The Patriots evened things up with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Holt reached on an error at first base. Wilson stepped up and lined a base hit to right field that nearly hit Holt running to second. Rylee Humble then sent a bouncing ball that eluded a diving attempt by Shaffer at shortstop and rolled all the way to the royal blue fence to score Holt and Wilson. With Morgan Edmunds running for Humble at second and one out, Robinson struck out Carter. Shoffner grounded out to Katie Carden to keep the game tied 4-4 at the end of three innings.

Katie Carden opened the fifth inning by getting hit by a pitch. Allie Carden went opposite field with a diving liner that hugged the right field line, sending Katie Carden to third, leading to Hammond’s game-winning hit.

Orange will host Cedar Ridge on Thursday night.