Orange Softball

It’s a new world for Hillsborough’s softball teams.

In the old model known as the Big 8 Conference, a team was only as good as its defense. Now, in the Central Carolina Conference that has brought Orange and Cedar Ridge league rivals from Alamance County, the team with the best pitching will be at the top of the standings once mid-May rolls around.

Realignment has made pitchers Eastern Alamance’s Kenna Raye Dark (who committed to UNC as a freshman) and Western Alamance’s Taylor Apple (who has committed to East Carolina) league rivals, which makes the margin for error microscopically small.

It’s something Orange coach Johnny Barefoot and Cedar Ridge head coach Allan Byrd, and his players, knew before the season even started. That notion was only reinforced after the first week of conference play.

On Monday, Western Alamance’s Taylor Apple threw a one-hitter against Cedar Ridge in a 11-0 victory at Red Wolves Softball Stadium. In as solid an all-around game as humanly possible, Apple struck out 15 batters, including the first nine Red Wolves she faced. At the plate, Apple hit a two-run homer in the game’s second at-bat, then added a three-run inside-the-park home run in the third.

Cedar Ridge’s only put four balls in play. Shortstop Ava Lowry, who singled in the fourth, was the lone baserunner of the day for the Red Wolves.

The next day, Western Alamance defeated Orange 2-1 at Orange softball stadium in a nail biter. The Warriors scored both of its runs off of a Panther error, with two out, in the first inning. This time, Apple threw a two-hitter, but Orange pitcher Gracie Walker hit a solo homer in the sixth. Orange’s defense held the Warriors to seven hits, and despite the early miscue, kept the Warriors off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

On Friday, the offense returned for both Cedar Ridge and Orange. Sophomore Caden Robinson hit two home runs, including an inside-the-park grand slam, in a 17-1 win in five innings over Walter Williams. Junior shortstop Carson Bradsher, who has committed to USC-Upstate, added her first home run of the season. The first eight Lady Panthers to come up to bat all scored. Bradsher hit twice in the first inning, leading off with an infield single. She stroked a first-pitch fastball over centerfield later in the frame. Orange sent eleven batters to the plate in the first inning.

Robinson struck out ten to pick up her second win of the season. Centerfielder Serenity McPherson went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Alexa Latta-Harshaw went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Meanwhile in Pittsboro, Cedar Ridge earned its first conference win over Northwood 15-5 in six innings. Senior Takia Nichols finished 4-for-4 with and RBI double. Freshman Kimber Shambley went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Catcher Reagan Simmons, also a freshman, finished with a career-high four RBIs, going 3-for-5 with a double.

Cedar Ridge opened with four runs in the first inning. The Red Wolves loaded the bases following a leadoff walk by Anaya Cater, a line drive single to right by Nichols and another walk to senior Olivia Aitkin. Senior Ava Lowry sent a fly ball to left field that landed for a double to bring in Carter and Nichols. Shambley sent a two-run single on a grounder up the middle.

In the second inning, Nichols drove in Carter, who reached on a fielder’s choice. Lowry lined to left field to bring in Nichols. Simmons knocked in her first run with a liner to left, plating Aitkin, who has committed to Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Freshman pitcher Charlotte Lowry, who has split time in the circle with Hayley King, earned the complete game win. Lowry is 5-2 on the season.

The Red Wolves (6-2, 1-2 in the CCC) face Orange (4-2, 2-1) on Tuesday at Panther Softball park.

It was a bumpy but ultimately successful ride for the Orange softball team in its trip to Chatham Central on Monday night. The Lady Panthers prevailed over the Bears 6-5 in Bear Creek, nearly an hour from Hillsborough. After the Bears got a grand slam from freshman Carleigh Warf put Chatham Central ahead 4-2 at the end of two innings, the Panthers chipped away at the lead. Senior third baseman Mary Moss Wirt had the biggest hits of the game. In the third, she laced a leadoff double to right field and scored off another double by Kelsey Tackett to cut the Bears lead to 4-3. In the fourth, Orange scored three runs to take the lead. Wirt hit an RBI single to right field to bring in Caden Robinson and tie the game. Delaney Shaffer knocked Wirt in wit a line drive to centerfield as Orange took the lead for good. Caden Robinson earned the win in the circle, throwing a complete game. Junior shortstop Carson Bradsher went 2-for-3 and had several important defensive plays. Orange is scheduled to host Vance Charter on Wednesday. They will open Central Carolina Conference play on Friday with another trip to Chatham County to face Northwood.

What is delayed cannot be denied.

From the day she led the Orange softball team to the 2017 3A State Softball Championship, power has been the theme of Mia Davidson’s career. She still owns the all-time North Carolina record with 53 home runs.

When she started her career at Mississippi State in 2018, Davidson homered on her first day as a college player, an 8-0 win again Omaha at Nusz Park in Starkville. It was her second game as a Bulldog.

Through a pandemic, a head coaching change and an injury to her most prized teammate (her older sister), last week Davidson cemented her name in the Southeastern Conference record book for years to come. She hit her 70th career home run against Southern Illinois on February 18, breaking the all-time SEC record previously held by Lauren Haeger of Florida.

Davidson needed 214 games to break the record. Haeger achieved 70 home runs over the course of 261 games.

“It’s a great achievement,” Davidson, clearly emotional, said after the doubleheader during the Bulldog Classic. “I’m going to cry, oh my goodness. just being here for five years and doing something, especially in one of the best conferences in the country. It’s something amazing. It’s nice. It felt amazing. I was jumping around the bases the whole time.”

Davidson’s 70th dinger was a solo blast in the sixth inning that drew the Bulldogs to within one run of the Salukis, who held on to beat MSU 4-3. Later in the day, Mississippi State defeated Central Arkansas 11-3. In that game, Davidson had a two-run homer in the 2nd inning. It was an emotional moment for an emotional player that has aimed to make the Mississippi State program a better one as she prepares to end her softball career this summer.
“It was nice,” Davidson said. “They (her teammates) all came and gave me a hug. I think some of us starting crying together. It was an amazing feeling. I think just having a strong team and family especially with having my sister there. It was really nice.”

In 2018, Davidson was named the SEC Freshman of the Year after leading the conference with 18 home runs, but it wasn’t an easy transition from Hillsborough. Her older sister, Montana, was sidelined with a knee injury and was forced to take a medical redshirt.

Montana Davidson, who graduated from Orange in 2016, returned the following season, where she and Mia played at Duke Softball Stadium against the college team they grew up rooting for. The year away from Montana wasn’t just a period to recover from a painful injury. It robbed her of precious time to play alongside her sister that neither one of them could get back.

“It was indescribable,” Montana said after an extra innings win over Duke in 2019. “It hit me pretty hard when I couldn’t even travel (with the team due to being hurt).”

While Montana was out, she guided Mia through her first year away from Hillsborough.

“She was pretty much everything for me,” Mia said in 2019. “She would listen when I vented. She would tell me when to calm down and stuff. It was a different experience when she was there.”

Over this past weekend, Mia continued her torrent pace for her senior season. During five games in the Alex Wlcox Memorial at Nusz Park, Davidson hit five home runs. She went 7-for-13 while being walked five times. This season, Davidson has eight homers and 17 RBIs. She is now one RBI away from tying the school record.

On Friday alone, Davidson had four home runs over the course of two games. Against Longwood and Belmont, Davidson went 5-for-6 with eight RBIs. She reached base safely in seven of her eight plate appearances. The only time she was retired all day came when she struck out after her contact lens fell out on the previous pitch.

Against the Lancers, Davidson had a career-high six RBIs while going 4-for-4, including a grand slam. The six RBIs was the third-most in a single-game in school history. The grand slam was the third of her career.

In Sunday’s win over South Alabama, Davidson launched a solo blast to centerfield as the Bulldogs prevailed 5-0.

Mississippi State is 9-7 overall and will continue the season against Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday.