Orange High School

The dominance of the Orange lacrosse team has stretched on for so long, even their head coach didn’t know the last time they had lost a regular season conference game until it finally happened.

It was April 27, 2019. A span of 47 games.

“It was really that long?” Orange coach Chandler Zirkle said as he walked to the team field house postgame.

That was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Orange won four consecutive conference championships, the first four in program history. Before they hosted three consecutive 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship games. Before they played for the state championship last spring.

It was even before Seaforth High School opened in 2021.

As Seaforth has done in so many different sports recently, they served notice that they are the new kings of the hill on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Behind five goals from junior Ivan Grimes, the Hawks outscored Orange 7-1 in the second half to win 11-6 at Auman Stadium.

Orange, who defeated Seaforth by scores of 17-3 and 22-6 during its Eastern Regional championship season last year, suffered its first loss of the season after opening the year beating 4A teams Pinecrest and Northern Guilford.

“They’re a tough squad,” Zirkle said. “They hit more tough shots and they got more ground balls. They deserved to win.”

Orange (6-1, 4-1 in the Central Conference) didn’t trail in the first half after junior Matthew Macneir opened with an overhand shot assisted by Aidan Monteith with 9:53 remaining in the first quarter. Grimes responded with an equalizer off a pass from Liam McCann. Brett Clark, who led Orange with three goals, notched his first off a feed from Brady Pfeiffenberger to put the Panthers ahead 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.

Clark’s goal started a 4-1 run that pushed the Panthers ahead 5-2. Following a man-up tally from Grimes to tie the game, Orange scored consecutive goals from Gray Crabtree, Jay Parker and Clark in a span of 1:18. Clark’s second goal, assisted by Macneir, came with 3:19 remaining in the first half.

The Panthers would notch just one more goal the rest of the game.

Seaforth junior Cameron Exley started the Seaforth comeback with a man-up goal after two Panthers were penalized. Senior Connor Yalch scored with 1:50 remaining in the first half off an assist from Exley to close Orange’s lead to 5-4.

The second half was total Seaforth domination. Grimes opened with the game-tying goal on a sidearm from 12 yards away to even it up at 5-5. The Panthers had uncharacteristic problems clearing the ball, leading to Seaforth dominating possession for most of the quarter. Grimes gave the Hawks the lead with his fourth goal off a pass from junior Jack Petrusa. Yalch added his second goal, followed by another marker from Exley with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter to compete a string of six consecutive Seaforth goals, pushing the Hawks lead to 8-5.

Clark scored Orange’s final goal with :48 remaining in the third quarter. Seaforth midfielder Jackson Powell squelched any chance of an Orange comeback when he took a pass from Exley in front of Orange goalkeeper Jackson Runkle and scored from point-blank range. Exley would finish with three goals and two assists.

On the chances Orange did muster in the fourth quarter, they were shut down by Seaforth goalkeeper Finn Prospero, a freshman who finished with 22 saves.

Exley, Yalch and Grimes all scored in the fourth period as the Panthers couldn’t take advantage of some man advantage opportunities late, including a 6-on-4 following a skirmish in front of the scorer’s table.

Earlier in the week, Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 13-4 at Red Wolves Stadium. The Panthers will face 4A foe Millbrook at Human Stadium on Wednesday night in Hillsborough, then return to conference action against Southeast Alamance on Friday.

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The Orange softball team captured its Central Conference opener in a wild game over Western Alamance on Tuesday night. In its final trip to Elon for a league game, senior Sadie Cecil went 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Lady Panthers defeated the Warriors 13-10. Last week, Orange held off Roxboro Community School 4-2. Cecil hit two home runs, including a three-run blast that put the Lady Panthers ahead in the second inning. Sophomore Addison Guentensberger has become Orange’s top pitcher this season, replacing Caden Robinson. Guentensberger earned the win throwing a complete game. She also had a single in the second inning and scored off the Cecil homer. In the season opener against South Granville, Cecil threw a three-hitter in a 10-1 win over South Granville in Creedmoor. She struck out three. Against the Vikings, Cecil went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cecil has opened the season with a five-game hitting streak as Orange has started the season 3-2. Guentensberger has thrown 27 innings through five starts. Orange sits atop the Central Conference going into its doubleheader tonight (Friday) against Walter Williams in Hillsborough. Last month, Cecil signed to play at Division II Mars Hill College, along with her Orange teammate, Allie Carden. Orange will travel to Cedar Ridge on Tuesday.

Orange softball’s Sadie Cecil & Addison Guentensberger discuss start to season

The Orange softball team captured its Central Conference opener in a wild game over Western Alamance on Tuesday night. In its final trip to Elon for a league game, senior Sadie Cecil went 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Lady Panthers defeated the Warriors 13-10. Last week, Orange held off Roxboro Community School 4-2.

Since he moved to North Carolina from Maryland with his father Dawayne and mother Katie, Jayden Medley has been a force in two sports. He arrived to Orange High after a year in Clayton and immediately made a difference with the Panther football team. On Tuesday, Medley signed with the Division II Barton College football team out of Wilson. Last year, Medley had many memorable moments. There was an interception return against Chapel Hill, Orange’s first win over its longtime rival since 2019. Medley’s return was depicted in a picture by Hillsboroughsports.com photographer Jacques Morin that has become so iconic within the Medley household, Dawayne Medley had a t-shirt designed from it. Medley also had 20 tackles against Walter Williams in Burlington last October, along with 15 tackles in his final home game against Southern Alamance. In his final game at Orange, Medley and 15 tackles against Eastern Alamance in Mebane. Medley was also a champion wrestler for Orange, winning the 215-pound title at the Central Conference championships at Williams High in February. He captured the Eagle Invitational in Mebane last December. On Tuesday, Medley formally signed his letter of intent to play at Barton with Dawayne and Katie by his side, along with many of his teammates and Orange football coach DeVante Pettiford.

Orange football’s Jayden Medley signs with Barton College

Since he moved to North Carolina from Maryland with his father Dawayne and mother Katie, Jayden Medley has been a force in two sports. He arrived to Orange High after a year in Clayton and immediately made a difference with the Panther football team.

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Since 2021, a softball team currently in the Central Conference has won the 3A Eastern Regional Championship three times. Two of them won state championships.

In the final year of possibly the most powerful softball conference in the state, Orange used its potent batting lineup to win its league opener at Western Alamance.

The Lady Panthers put up eight runs in the fourth inning, then held off a Warriors rally to win 13-10 in its final league trip to Elon on Tuesday night.

Allie Carden put the exclamation point on the decisive frame with a grand slam, vaulting the Lady Panthers ahead 11-2. Allie had two at-bats in the frame. She rounded the bases after sending a fly ball to right field at the fence, which was dropped, leading to a Little League home run.

At that point, Orange’s lead was only 4-2 and it appeared that would be all after the next two batters grounded out. Then the Lady Panthers scored seven runs with two outs, starting with senior Rhiley Crabtree and Natalie Roberson each hitting singles. Senior Sadie Cecil dropped a fly ball into centerfield to score Crabtree. Camryn Rodrigues replaced Addison Beal as Western pitcher, but Orange scored when Katie Carden drew a bases-loaded walk to score Roberson.

On the verge of getting run-ruled, Western Alamance came back with five runs in its side of the fifth inning, capped by a two-run homer from Rodrigues.

Cecil struck back with  a RBI single to centerfield to score Molly Kate Ollis in the fifth, putting Orange ahead 12-7. Hayleigh Hammond dropped down a sacrifice bunt to score freshman Reese Blank, who reached on a pinch-hit single to right field earlier in the inning.

Cecil finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Katie Carden drove in four runs, including the opening tally of the night with an RBI single in the third inning.

Orange sophomore Addison Guentensberger threw six innings to earn the win.

Cedar Ridge 15, Person 2, 5 innings: 

Cedar Ridge smashed a season-high 18 hits, including three hits each from senior Kimber Shambley and freshman Reagan Remaly, in an each win in Roxboro on Tuesday night.

Senior Reagan Simmons hit a solo homer in the second inning as the Red Wolves bounced back from a crushing home loss to Eastern Alamance to even its league record to 1-1. In five innings of work, senior Charlotte Lowry struck out nine to improve to 3-1.

Cedar Ridge chained together three consecutive singles to scratch the opening run across. Remaly and Shambley each reached. Junior Rylee Capps lined to center to score Remaly.

Simmons home run in the third help the Red Wolves pull away. Remaly singled and stole second with Shambley at bat. Shambley earned her second hit with a fly ball that dropped into right field. On a double steal with Capps at the plate, Remaly scored as Shambley bolted for second. Capps then earned another RBI with a single to right field.

Cedar Ridge sent 14 batters to the plate during a 10-run fourth inning. Mia Best sent a two-run single to centerfield that brought in Parker Kennedy and Brittany Goddard, putting the Red Wolves ahead 6-0. Simmons stroked an RBI single to score Madeline Galindo-Woodring. Remaly hit a two-run single on a worm burner to right field to score Best and Simmons. Then Remaly scored off a single from Capps, along with a throwing error by a Person outfielder. In her second at-bat of the inning, Goddard hit an RBI double to score Laci Sykes. Earlier in the frame, Goddard reached on an error.

Best increased Cedar Ridge’s lead to 14-0 with a two-run double to left field.

In a pinch-hitting situation, Emma Going hit a RBI single in the fifth inning to score Shambley.

Cedar Ridge will host Falls Lake on Thursday night in Hillsborough.

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Braden Crawford. This winter, Crawford won his third Central Conference Tournament championship. In January at Williams High School, Crawford pinned James Farmer of Person in the championship match to claim the 138-pounds title. He finished undefeated against conference opponents in his career during a time when Cedar Ridge and Person fielded some of their best teams in their respective histories. A starter since his freshman year, Crawford qualified for the state championships three times. He finished this season 28-7 and won over 100 matches in his career. In his junior season, Crawford finished 33-6 and wound up beating Takota Tala of Parkwood in Greensboro during the consolation round. In 2024, he finished fourth in the Mideast Regionals at 126-pounds. In his sophomore year, Crawford finished 2nd in the Mideast Regionals at Cedar Ridge High School, beating Ethan Croom of West Johnston to reach the final at 126 pounds. He won two matches at the 2023 State Championships, beating Matthew Mehaffey of Pisgah 7-5 in overtime. He also scored a major decision Styler Oxford of West Carteret. Crawford will continue his wrestling career at Ferrum College in Virginia, which is transitioning to Division II and will compete in Conference Carolinas. He will be coached by former Orange star Braden Homsey, who is an assistant with Ferrum.

Orange Panther of the Week: Braden Crawford

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Braden Crawford. This winter, Crawford won his third Central Conference Tournament championship. In January at Williams High School, Crawford pinned James Farmer of Person in the championship match to claim the 138-pounds title.

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