Orange Softball

In terms of Hillsborough high school sports, the game of the year during the pandemic year of 2021 was arguably Orange softball’s trip to Cedar Ridge.

It was the only time during Orange’s undefeated run to the Big 8 Conference championship where they were seriously challenged–and even that took a miracle by Cedar Ridge. On April 15, 2021, the Red Wolves trailed 9-2 going into the bottom-of-the-seventh inning. Cedar Ridge had already achieved a moral victory by just extending Orange to the seventh inning. The Lady Panthers were 7-0, winning each game via run rule after five frames. They had outscored its first seven opponents 115-3.

Then Cedar Ridge scored seven runs in the 7th inning. After Alexandria Matthews knocked in Reagan Ruhl off a groundout to shortstop Carson Bradsher to tie the game, Emma-Rae Sharp nearly won it. With the bases loaded, Rae-Sharp grounded to third baseman Mary Moss Wirt, who threw out Marlee Rokouskas at the plate for the third out of the inning. Orange went on to win 12-9 in nine innings, but not before Ava Lowry almost won the game in the eighth inning with a fly ball to right centerfield that went off the wall inside Cedar Ridge’s inordinately large park.

One year to the day of that classic, Orange and Cedar Ridge returned to Red Wolves Softball Field once again on Friday night. It had all the trappings of a crosstown rivalry game. With a packed grandstand, around a dozen fans watched the game from behind the right field wall, content with a spot 230 feet from home plate because they wanted the feel of seeing the whole park on an early spring night.

There was some drama early, but it soon withered away after Orange scored ten runs in the third inning. The Lady Panthers would go on to win 18-6 for its third straight road win. Sophomore second baseman Delaney Shaffer, who made some crucial defensive plays in last year’s thriller against Cedar Ridge, went 4-for-6. It was her second four-hit game of the week. Against Williams on Tuesday, Shaffer also finished 4-for-6 in an 18-5 win in Burlington.

Cedar Ridge senior centerfielder Olivia Atkin and freshman pitcher Charlotte Lowry each went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Senior Gracie Walker earned the win during a week where Orange won three straight road games, including a victory at Person, ranked the #2 team in the 3A East Region by MaxPreps. The Lady Panthers (8-4 overall, 6-3 in the Central Carolina Conference) remain tied in the loss column with Western Alamance at Person for 2nd place in the CCC. Orange’s only two conference games remaining are against Eastern Alamance.

Cedar Ridge (7-8, 2-6) scored the opening run in the second inning after freshman Reagan Simmons walked. Charlotte Lowry reached on a bunt single back to Walker. Tori Carden laid down a sacrifice bunt that led to Simmons rushing around third to score.

Just as they did against Person, Orange took advantage of plenty of opportunities in the third inning. Junior Serenity McPherson, who scored the game-winning run against Person, reached second base off an error, went to third base and then scored off a passed ball to tie the game. Sophomore Caden Robinson hit two doubles in the third inning, the first of which was to centerfield. Senior Mary Moss Wirt doubled to right, bringing in Robinson. Senior catcher Lauren Jackson, who also got on board off of an error, came in to score off a ground ball hit by Kelsey Tackett. Walker drove in two runs off a double to right field to put Orange ahead 5-1. Robinson would go on to hit another double to score Shaffer and Orange led 10-1.

In the bottom of the third inning, senior Takia Nichols led off with a walk, while Aitkin reached on an error. Freshman Kimber Shambley sent a pop fly to right field that fell for a base hit and scored Nichols. Simmons sent a hard grounder to left field to bring in Aitkin and cut Orange’s lead to 10-3. Tori Carden got aboard with a single to second base, scoring Shambley.

Orange scored in each of the final five innings, including five in the seventh. Tackett went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Senior right fielder Alexis Latta-Harshaw finished 1-for-3 with two walks.

Last season, Cedar Ridge missed out on the 3A State Playoffs simply because the field was paired down to 32 teams (due to the pandemic) as opposed to the standard 64. Despite a 7-8 record, the Red Wolves are still ranked #23 among 51 teams in the 3A East Rankings. Of the top eight teams in the MaxPreps ranking, four are Cedar Ridge’s conference rivals: Eastern Alamance (#1), Person (#2), Western Alamance (#7) and Orange (#8). 32 teams from the East Region will make the state playoffs, which is a 64-team field once again this year.

The Orange softball team finally gets to return home after a successful four-game road swing. On Thursday night, the Lady Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 18-6 at Red Wolves Softball Stadium. Sophomore Delaney Shaffer finished 4-for-6 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Last season, Shaffer faced Cedar Ridge and turned a crucial double play in the ninth inning of a thrilling game that the Panthers won despite a miracle comeback by the Red Wolves. First baseman Kelcey Tackett went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Orange completed a stretch where they defeated Walter Williams in Burlington, upset Person in Roxboro and prevailed over the Red Wolves. Senior Gracie Walker earned her third win of the season in the circle for Orange, who improved to 9-4. Waiting for Orange when they return back to Orange Softball Field on Monday night—Eastern Alamance, the #1 ranked team in the 3A East Region who has already clinched the Central Carolina Conference Regular Season championship. Orange will travel to South Granville on Wednesday, then host Vance Charter on Thursday for Senior Night. The Panthers are tied for second place in the CCC with Person and Western Alamance, though the Warriors have already swept the season series from Orange. 

ROXBORO: In possibly the most stacked softball conference in the state, the margin of error is small.

For two-thirds of this season, Orange has had that margin go against them in big games against Western Alamance and Person in the Central Carolina Conference.

On Wednesday night, fortune didn’t fall on the Panthers’ side as much as sophomore Caden Robinson earned it for them.

In her career-best game inside the circle, Robinson struck out 14 batters and threw a 4-hitter, leading to Orange upsetting Person 3-1 on the Rockets’ senior night.

Person, who came into the game ranked #2 in the 3A East Region by MaxPreps, suffered only its senior home loss of the season. Eastern Alamance, the #1 team in the East, defeated the Rockets 1-0 on Monday night in Roxboro.

Previously, Person defeated Western Alamance (currently #7), led by East Carolina commitment Taylor Apple, 4-3 on April 1 in Roxboro.

Orange, who went undefeated en route to the Big 8 Conference championship in 2021, has spent much of this season on the outside looking in at the Central Carolina Conference’s upper-echelon of Eastern Alamance, Person and Western Alamance. Behind Robinson, the Panthers finally got their breakthrough victory to remind the rest of the league that there was still a team, or two, in Hillsborough to be taken seriously for the stretch run.

“I think we’ve been overlooked this year,” said Orange coach Johnny Barefoot. “We’ve been only a play or two in some of these games from pulling off a win just like this one. It just hasn’t fallen our way. We could have beaten Western Alamance, but I’m proud of the way we played together. We were poised tonight.”

Last month in the first meeting between the two teams, Orange went into the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead, but the Rockets got three homers from Lillie Davis, Taryn Massey and Mariah McCowan to rally for a 8-4 win.

On Wednesday night, senior Kelsey Mangum was one of only two Rockets to touch third base all night. In the opening inning, Mangum took the first pitch she saw and ripped it down the first base line. Orange right fielder Alexis Latta-Harshaw chased it until it fell into a hole in foul ground, limiting Mangum to a double when she could have easily scored. After Robinson struck out McCowan and Davis, Mangum stole third and then scored as the throw went into left field.

From there, Robinson dominated. She struck out the side in the third inning and allowed just four baserunners the rest of the game.

“It was just confidence and heart,” Barefoot said of Robinson’s performance. “Confidence and heart.”

Orange also took advantage of several free bases the Rockets supplied them in the third inning. Latta-Harshaw led off with a fly ball that dropped in front of the left fielder, then rolled behind her, allowing Latta-Harshaw to move to second. Junior leadoff batter Serenity McPherson lined a double off the bottom of the left field fence to bring in Latta-Harshaw and tie the game. With no one out, shortstop Delaney Shaffer sent a grounder to the first baseman, who bobbled it. With the ball at her feet, the first baseman briefly paused, but McPherson did not, rounding third with zero hesitation and scoring to put Orange ahead without even a throw to the plate.

Robinson lined out to Davis, who doubled up Shaffer at first base for the inning’s second out. Senior catcher Lauren Jackson lined a single to left field. After courtesy runner Courtney Watkins replaced Jackson at first, senior Mary Moss Wirt took a 1-2 pitch and lined it to right field and past a diving Lindsey Melton. The ball rolled all the way to the makeshift fence and by the time Melton picked it up, Watkins had already crossed home plate.

That would be the final runs of the game. The closest Person came to scoring came in the fifth when Karter Hawkins, one of five seniors honored on Senior Night, opened the inning with a single that landed in front of McPherson in centerfield. After Hawkins stole second, Robinson struck out Kyle Gould for the second out. Mangum sent a bloop to centerfield, where McPherson made a diving catch to flat-out steal an RBI single and end the inning.

Person’s Delaney Glover reached third base after an error in the fourth inning. Robinson kept her there after inducing a groundout to the circle by Delanya Grimes, then striking out Massey.

By the time Moss squeezed the final out on a pop-up to third base, the Orange players gathered in a celebration huddle along the third base line in front of their dugout. While Eastern Alamance has put the race for the CCC Regular Season Championship to bed, Orange’s hopes for a strong run in the state playoffs are very much alive.

All year, the Orange softball team had waited to get its breakthrough win. They came close against Southern Alamance and Western Alamance in March, but fell just short. On Wednesday night, Orange defeated Person 3-1 on the Rockets’ senior night in Roxboro. Sophomore Caden Robinson had a career night, striking out 15 batters. She also went 2-for-3 at the plate. Orange scored all three of its runs in the third inning. Senior right fielder Alexis Latta-Harshaw started the rally with a single to left field, then took second base off an error. On the next at-bat, junior centerfielder Serenity McPherson doubled to left field, scoring Latta-Harshaw and tying the game. Delaney Shaffer reached on an error, and McPherson caught Person napping, rounding third and scoring to put Orange ahead for good. Later, Mary Moss Wirt drilled a triple that rolled all the way to the right field fence to bring in courtesy runner Courtney Watkins, who was in for Lauren Jackson, who reached on a single. Orange is now tied for second place in the loss column with Western Alamance and Person. The Panthers are 8-4, 6-3 in the Central Carolina Conference. Orange is scheduled to face Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Softball Stadium on Thursday night at 6:30. 

Like many people, Lauren Jackson had some doubts during the pandemic. When the 2020 season was stopped, Jackson was only four games into her sophomore year. Her dreams of playing in college was in question after summer travel season was greatly reduced. Jackson responded with a great junior season for Orange, where she led the team with five home runs. On Monday night, Jackson officially signed her letter of intent to play with Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory. Jackson has started for four seasons at Orange. She has been a starter on two Big 8 Conference championship teams. As a freshman in 2019, Jackson led the team with five home runs and was second on the team with 21 RBIs. In her junior season, Jackson had 17 RBIs, second only to Carson Bradsher She was also third on the team with 20 hits. Joining Lauren for the ceremony at Orange High Softball Field on Monday night was her mother Christy and her father William, along with Orange softball coach Johnny Barefoot, assistant Wayne Bradsher, Principal Jason Johnson and Athletic Director Mike McCauley. A couple of Lauren’s travel coaches, Rick Webster and Craig Apple, were also on hand. The Orange softball team returns to action on Tuesday night with a road trip to Burlington to face Walter Williams. 

In its first game since spring break, the Orange softball team rolled to a 10-0 win over Northwood in Hillsborough on Wednesday night. Senior catcher Lauren Jackson hit her 14th career home run as the Lady Panthers improved to 6-3 overall, 4-2 in the Central Carolina Conference. Freshman Sadie Cecil made her first career start at 2nd base. Cecil went 2-for-3 with an RBI single. On Monday night, Jackson will formally sign with Lenoir-Rhyne College. Jackson has started for four years as the Orange catcher. In her career, she has 57 career RBIs and a career .462 hitter. Cecil is the latest young prospect to learn on the job for the Lady Panthers. She played her middle school softball at Gravelly Hill. Orange will make the journey to Western Alamance on Friday night to face the Warriors, her are currently in third place in the Central Carolina Conference. It will start a four-game road trip for Orange. Next week, the Panthers travel to Burlington to face Williams (Tuesday), to Roxboro to take on Person (Wednesday), and then across town to take on Cedar RIdge.