Orange High School

It’s official. Next week’s two-game series with Orange and J.F. Webb will be a battle of the unbeaten in the Big 8 Conference. The Panthers shutout Northwood 3-0 on Friday night in Pittsboro. Orange senior Kristina Givens threw her eighth shutout of the season as the Panthers improved to 14-1 overall, 8-0 in the Big 8. Orange travels to Webb in Oxford on Tuesday night at 6.

Orange Pitcher Kristina Givens Discusses Shutout Win over Northwood

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For four years, Northwood baseball has tried to climb past Orange in the Big 8 pecking order. On Friday night, their time finally arrived.

After losing all seven of its games to Orange since becoming a 3A team in 2013, the Chargers dominated the Panthers 9-2 on Friday night at the Ronald Horton Baseball Complex in Pittsboro.

The win puts the Chargers two games ahead of Orange and Chapel Hill for 1st place in the Big 8 with four conference games remaining. Northwood finishes the regular season with two contests against the Tigers.

Orange (8-10, 4-3 in the Big 8) has now lost four of its last five.

The Panthers scored first after Jayden Poteat started the game with a single. After Poteat stole second, Jason Slaughter knocked him in with a single to right.

Yet the Chargers quickly put to rest any hopes the Panthers had of a repeat of Tuesday night’s 2-1 upset win in Hillsborough. Catcher Matt Oldham laced a triple off the centerfield wall, scoring leadoff batter Matt Hundley. Pitcher Patrick Szczypinki scored Hundley off a single, and the Chargers never trailed again.

Northwood added three more in the second. After Trey Romel singled, Hundley bunted and beat out a throw by pitcher Dalton Brown. Davis launched a 2-1 fastball to centerfield that got caught in the centerfield fence, leading to a ground rule double, scoring Romel. Oldham followed with a double down the right field line thatplated Davis and Hundley to push the Northwood lead to 5-1.

Orange’s final round came when freshman Dalton Brown singled. After Brown moved to third following an errant pickoff throw, freshman Joey Berini got an RBI single to right.

The Panthers return to Panther Field on Saturday to face Archbishop Moeller out of Cincinnati, Ohio at noon.

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At a time when Orange needed it most, senior pitcher Derek Lindaman provided his best performance of the season. Lindaman threw a complete game on Tuesday night, holding Northwood to one run as Orange defeated the Chargers 2-1. The Panthers and the Chargers are now tied in the loss column for first place in the Big 8.

Orange Pitcher Derek Lindaman on the Panthers 2-1 Win Over Northwood

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Jaden Hurdle drove in five runs as Orange defeated Northwood 10-7 on Tuesday night to remain undefeated in the Big 8. Hurdle, a first baseman, went into the game leading the team with a .545 batting average. Her two-run double in the sixth but Orange ahead 10-2, and turned out to be vital as the Chargers rallied for five runs in the seventh to put a scare in the Panther faithful. The two teams meet again in Pittsboro on Friday.

Orange Freshman Jaden Hurdle Discusses Win over Northwood

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In mid-March, Orange Coach Dean Dease hoped his young Orange squad would be a good team by April.

On Thursday night at the Hilltop Invitational, there were reasons to believe he hopes would come to fruition. On Friday night, there weren’t.

Athens Drive, coming in 3-10, bolted out to a 5-0 lead and defeated Orange 7-3 at Panther field. Jaguars centerfielder Sam Enders went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, while 2nd baseman Braxton Boddorf came off the bench to score twice and finish the game in relief of freshman starter Zach Hurand, who earned his 3rd win.

The Panthers briefly had hopes of tying the game in the 3rd. After centerfielder Jaydin Poteat lined a single to left field, second baseman Jason Slaughter doubled to right field to reduce the Orange deficit to 5-1. After Caige Clayton walked, Mark Willms singled to left field to score Slaughter. With two on and two out, 1st baseman Eric Nichols slapped a 2-1 fastball to left that cleared the wall, albeit around 10 feet foul. Nichols walked, but Ryan Puckett flew out to Enders to end the threat.

Orange’s only other run came in the 5th when freshman shortstop Joey Berini dropped an opposite field floater to left field, leading to a triple. In the subsequent at-bat, Slaughter singled him in.

The Panthers conclude the Hilltop Invitational against Western Harnett on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 at Panther field. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com.

So far in Big 8 Conference play, Orange has won all six of its games by a combined score of 126-0.

After Easter, things will get real.

The Panthers completed its latest series sweep by beating Chapel Hill 21-0 on Thursday at Orange Softball Field. The Panthers took the opener on Monday 28-0 over the Tigers to improve to 11-0 overall.

Orange is tied with J.F. Webb for 1st in the Big 8 at 6-0. The Warriors are 12-1 overall, its only loss against defending 2-A state champion South Granville 9-4 on March 8.

On Monday against the Tigers, Mia Davidson hit her 49th career home run and finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Davidson has 33 RBIs this season (1st on the team) and 135 for her career.

Freshman 1st baseman Jaden Hurdle went 3-for-4 with four runs and two RBIs, improving her team-leading average to. 594 with 17 runs and 20 RBIs. Hurdle also leads the squad with 19 hits. Senior Abby Hamlett finished 3-for-4, scoring five runs. Hamlett leads the team with 21 runs scored. Olivia Latta-Harshaw also homered, her second of the year.

Hayley Funk, Jansen Manley and Kristina Givens had multi-hit games for Orange.

Orange hosts Northwood on Tuesday at Orange. They travel to Pittsboro next Friday to complete the series against the Chargers.