Uncategorized

For two schools separated by only 16 miles, it seems surprising that Orange and Carrboro hadn’t met in volleyball in 14 years.

On Monday night, Orange made a long sought after victory over the Jaguars worth the wait.

In possibly its most complete performance of the season, the Lady Panthers defeated the Jaguars 3-1 on scores of 25-19, 25-12, 16-25 and 26-24. Orange (10-6) is now 3-0 lifetime against Carrboro.

Carrboro has won three straight conference championships and 43 consecutive league matches, extending back to its days as a 2A school (playing in the Mid-State Conference) and its current status in the 3A/2A Northern Lakes Conference.

Orange junior Ella Wimsatt finished with ten kills and 23 digs. Freshman middle blocker Ava Wilkinson had six kills while her sister, senior Allie Wilkinson, slammed home match point to end a nonconfernce match that extended to nearly two hours in front of a sizable crowd at Panthers Gymnasium.

Senior Erin Jordan-Cornell factored in the biggest down the stretch of a tight opening set. Jordan-Cornell evened things at 18-18 with a kill set up by freshman Katie Silcott, who finished with 19 assists. That triggered a 5-0 Orange run which continued when Jordan-Cornell dunked home a ball that hung precariously in the air over the net. Jordan-Cornell’s stuffed an attack by Carrboro’s Emily Stutts for a block, putting Orange’s lead at 22-18.

Following a kill by Wimsatt, Allie Wilkerson completed the set with a spike set up by Wilcott to conclude a lengthy point that included junior Josie Crawford making three digs.

Orange never trailed in the second set, which couldn’t have gone any better for the home team. It started with senior Caitlin Carden getting a rare kill, which sent the Orange bench into delirium. Orange led 10-4 when Ava Wilkerson started notched a kill to start a spree of eight straight Lady Panthers points. Wimsatt put Orange ahead 2-0 off a spike to wrap up the set 25-12.

“The second set was one of the best sets we’ve ever played,” said Jordan-Cornell. “Our coach said it was beautiful. And it really was. It was really flowing. Everybody was high-fiving each other and it felt really good.”

Carrboro (8-5), the 2017 2A State Champions, fought back from an early 2-0 deficit with five consecutive points. The Jaguars won the third set 25-16 off a kill by junior Catherine Rucker.

Orange had six different players register kills in the fourth and final set, which included seven ties. Wimsatt even the frame 8-8 with an attack off an assist from Silcott, which started a 5-0 Orange run. Following an ace by Allie Wilkerson and kills by Wilkerson and Jordan-Cornell, Orange led 12-8, leading to a Carrboro timeout. Silcott had five assists in the third set.

“It’s definitely been really challenging,” Silcott said. “I’ve been trying to adjust to stronger play as I’m playing older students. But it’s also been a lot of fun being challenged. It’s definitely been a fun experience.”

Orange crept closer to match point despite some tenuous moments late. It appeared that Wimsatt put Orange ahead 21-19 with a kill, but she was called for going over the line under the net, leading to a lengthy discussion between an official and Orange coach Kelly Young. After the Lady Panthers got a side out, Carden served up another ace to put Orange ahead 23-20.

Carrboro extended the fourth set into overtime following a point by Rucker. Orange’s Ashlyn Davis returned possession to the home side following a kill, which led to Wilkerson finishing things off.

“I like our chemistry,” Jordan-Cornell said. “We pretty much love each other. We have a lot of seniors and our freshmen are like our little babies. It’s a great team chemistry and it all goes nice together.”

Orange will travel to Eastern Alamance on Tuesday night, followed by a trip to Western Alamance on Thursday.

Women’s Tennis:

Orange 7, Roxboro Community School 2: Another strong week for the Orange women’s tennis team concluded with a victory over Roxboro Community School in Person County on Thursday.

Senior Madelyn Horn claimed two wins for the Lady Panthers. She won her match at #5 singles, then won her doubles match. Orange is now 9-2 overall. They’re 4-1 in the Central Carolina Conference, behind only Walter Williams. The Lady Panthers will resume CCC action when they travel to Eastern Alamance on Monday afternoon.

Cedar Ridge 7, Western Alamance 2: The Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team remains in the hunt for a spot in the state dual tournament after beating Western Alamance 8-1 on Thursday in Elon. Junior Cameron Mayhew won her #2 singles match 6-0, 6-0, then teamed with Adeline Cummings to claim a victory at #1 doubles 8-2.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Ella Caltabiano didn’t win her match at #3 singles, but she may have claimed the award for longest match in the CCC this year in terms of points played. Reagan Williams of Western Alamance worked double overtime to win her match over Caltabiano 6-4, 3-6, 16-14 (10-point tiebreaker).

Not to be outdone, Cedar Ridge junior Catherine Ballenger had her own 10-point tiebreaker at #3 singles. Ballenger defeated Western Alamance’s Kensley Gasaway 6-3, 5-7, 10-4. Ballenger and Caltabiano, a doubles team that could be dubbed “The Ironwomen,” fittingly teamed later in the night to win at #2 doubles 8-2.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Raven Mowles-Aring won her match at #5 singles 6-0, 6-3. Molly Alverson won at #6 singles by default. The Red Wolves are 6-5, 4-2 in the CCC. They will travel to the Durham School of the Arts later today.

Orange

Walter Williams 7, Cedar Ridge 1: On Wednesday, Williams maintained its undefeated record in the CCC with a victory at Red Wolves Tennis Courts.

Cameron Mayhew won at #2 singles for Cedar Ridge over Jaden Wilson is another three-set battle. Mayhew prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 12-10. Caltabiano played in yet another match that went three sets. Ella Forfilio defeated Caltabiano 3-6, 6-3, 10-4. The Bulldogs ended the match 5-0 overall, 4-0 in the CCC.

Orange 7, Riverside 2: On Wednesday, the Orange women’s tennis team extended its winning streak to four with a win over Riverside at Orange Tennis Courts. All of the matches were contained to one set comprised of eight games.

Lady Panthers sophomore Shannon Sollars won at #2 singles 8-0. At #1 doubles, Sollars teamed with her older sister Erin Sollars to win 8-1. At #3 singles, Makayla Davis won 8-2. Davis now has 13 overall wins this season after she teamed with Sydney Rogers to claim an 8-5 victory at #2 doubles.

Rogers, who has eleven overall victories this year, won at #4 singles 8-1.

Senior Madelyn Horn improved to 14-4 in all competitions this year. Horn won at #6 singles 8-4.

At #3 doubles, Isabel Jones and Katelyn Van Mater claimed their second win in as many days with an 8-2 victory. On Tuesday, Jones and Van Mater teamed to win over Northwood’s #3 doubles team.

Men’s Soccer: Northwood 3, Cedar Ridge 0 The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team played for the second time in two nights on Thursday at Red Wolves Stadium. Northwood scored the game-winning goal in the 61st minute to beat the Red Wolves. The Chargers added insurance with 11:14 remaining. Cedar Ridge is now 3-6-1 overall, 1-2 in the CCC.

Women’s Golf: Orange and Cedar Ridge participated in this week’s CCC golf meet at Northwood High School on Monday.

Among teams that had more than four competitors, Orange finished fourth among four teams. Shannon Murphy was the top competitor for Orange, shooting a 49 on the front nine. Samantha Durham finished with a 55. Shannon Dorsi and Kayla Pope also competed for Orange.

Eastern Alamance wound up finishing first.

Photo courtesy of NBC Sports

Trenton Gill: Following an impressive training camp, Gill will become the first former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf to play in the National Football League. On Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago Bears reduce its roster from 80 to 53 players. Gill, as widely expected, made the final cut. In May, Gill was selected in the 7th round of the NFL Draft by the Bears. He will replace veteran Patrick O’Donnell, who the Bears let leave in free agency last winter. In his final exhibition game last week against Cleveland, Gill averaged 48.3 yards on five punts. One of the punts was downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest attempt was 58 yards. When the Bears face the San Francisco 49ers at Solider Field on September 11, Gill will become the first player from Hillsborough to play in the NFL since Alvis Whitted, who played wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders in 2006. Whitted also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons in a nine-year career. He is now the wide receivers coach at the University of Wisconsin.

Mia Davidson: Davidson completed her first professional season with Athletes Unlimited over the weekend. Davidson finished 21st among 60 players. For the final week of the season, Davidson played for Team Mulipola. The captain of Team Mulipola, Dejah Mulipola, wound up winning the individual championship with 1,782 points. Davidson ended the season with 1,280 points. In the final game of the season on Sunday, Team Mulipola defeated Team Chidester 10-6. Davidson hit her fourth home run of the season in the first inning, a two-run blast. Davidson ended up with 150 points on Sunday (60 for inning points, 50 for the win and 40 for the home run). Team Mulipola lost the other two games last weekend. On Friday, Team McCleney edged Team Mulipola 5-4. Davidson went 0-for-2 and finished with 18 points (10 for winning one inning, eight for getting hit by a pitch). On Saturday, Team Denham defeated Team Mulipola 4-0. Davidson finished with eight points (hit by a pitch). She also made a diving catch in right field, which was the first time she had played a defensive position this year (she was a designated player in her previous 13 games). Davidson ended the year with a .278 batting average with four home runs and eleven RBIs.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson had two starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the past week. On Monday night, Wilson had a no-decision as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied to defeat the Pirates 7-5. Wilson allowed three runs on five hits in three innings. He struck out two and walked two. Pittsburgh had a 5-3 lead going into the eighth inning before the Brewers scored two in the eighth and two in the ninth. On Friday, Wilson started as Philadelphia defeated the Pirates 7-4 at Citizen’s Bank Park. Wilson was chased after one inning where he gave up four runs on five hits. Wilson is now 2-8 with a 6.12 ERA.

Kayla Hodges: The Virginia Commonwealth University women’s soccer team continued its season with a 1-1 tie against former conference rival UNC Wilmington at SportsBackers Stadium in Richmond, VA on August 25. Hodges came off the bench to play 29 minutes. On Sunday, the Rams played to a 1-1 tie against UNC Greensboro. Hodges played 41 minutes as a reserve. VCU is 0-1-2. They will host William & Mary on Thursday night.

Emerson Talley: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team opened its season with a 2- 2 tie against Lees-McRae at Tate Field in Banner Elk on Saturday. Talley, the all-time leading goal scorer in Cedar Ridge women’s soccer history, came off the bench to play eleven minutes.

Avery Miller: Former Orange High volleyball player Avery Miler has started her freshman season at Pitt Community College. The Bulldogs are off to a 3-0 start. They opened the season with a 3-0 win over Central Carolina Community College in Sanford. Miller started and finished with seven kills and two digs. On August 23, Pitt defeated CCCC again 3-0, this time in Winterville. Miller had six kills, two aces and seven digs. On August 24, Pitt traveled to Elizabeth City and defeated Mid-Atlantic Christian University 3-0. Miller had two kills and a dig.

Beyond where the eye can see below Memorial Stadium at Walter Williams High School, there’s a creek running underneath.

It extends through the football field, which is also shared by the men’s and women’s soccer teams, and runs all the way west to the baseball stadium.

When someone tosses a rock inside a creek, it can cause a minor ruffle in the water, depending on the current and the size of the stone. Most years, the end of the Orange women’s soccer season barely creates a ripple. Other spring sports at Orange, like baseball and softball, are almost annually in the playoffs and deep playoff runs are common.

Which is precisely why this Orange women’s soccer team will go down in the annals as something special. Late last week, after the Lady Panthers’ stunned Cape Fear 5-2 in Fayetteville to reach the 3rd round of the state playoffs for the first time ever, it grabbed the attention of the school. Motorists along Orange High School Road saw “Go Orange Soccer” spelled out in bright Orange and Black plastic cups at the entrance of the student parking lot. It was still there on Memorial Day, nearly a week after Walter Williams ended Orange’s season.

After the Bulldogs emerged 3-2 with the win at Memorial Stadium last Tuesday, a steady mist fell onto the field as Orange head coach Jacki Mignosa held her postgame huddle in front of the strongest turnout of Panther fans for a road game all season. There were tears among some players that is standard for any team that just had it season end. The damp weather couldn’t dose the fire in the eyes of several starters who watched Williams’ players celebrate. They wanted to secure Orange’s first-ever trip to the state quarterfinals. Just because time ran out didn’t mean their emotions were empty.

There was also the elephant in the room of Orange losing its starting goalkeeper with the game in the balance. Tied 1-1 with 32:03 remaining, Abby Monteith sprinted to the edge of the box for a loose ball, which wound up being blown dead for offside. In the process, Monteith collided with a Williams’ player and a teammate and immediately grabbed her right knee. It forced her from the game. Less than 90 seconds later, Williams’ Olivia Vandre headed in a corner kick for the game-winning goal.

Four minutes later, Williams’ Vanessa Wright sent a long shot into the net from 23 yards to extend the Bulldog’s lead to 3-1.

Despite losing Monteith, Mignosa refused to use her injury as an excuse.

“Their goalkeeper made a ton of good saves,” Mignosa said. “We kept pounding and I’m proud of them for doing that. It’s never just the goalkeeper’s fault. It’s the mistakes made at midfield and then defense. The goalkeeper is just the last person. We talk about that a lot as a team.”

And it showed. Trailing 3-1 with 28:00 remaining, Orange was the aggressor for the balance of the game. Freshman Elliana Sullivan Gaddy scored off a breakaway when she moved in against Williams’ goalkeeper Tahani Villines. Initially, Villines made the save, but Sullivan Gaddy chipped in the rebound with 21:14 remaining.

Senior Bella Brown nearly added the equalizer. Off a long throw-in by Sydney Rogers from midfield, Sullivan Gaddy sent a cross to Brown, who had a shot from the penalty spot. It was also the dampest part of the field, which prevented Brown from getting much steam on it. Villines captured the ball diving to her right.

With 10:00 left, sophomore wingback Channing Mahaney found Sullivan Gaddy on a clearing pass. Sullivan Gaddy had a strong shot from ten yards, but Villines denied her with a diving save.

“I tell them all the time ‘no regrets,'” Mignosa said. “Don’t come off this field with regrets. You gotta play hard. Any substitution I make, I make it to the best of my ability. And there’s no regrets. I don’t like to live that way. I don’t like to think ‘what if?'”

After Williams’ Lila Fleming opened the scoring off an assist from Vandare with 27:44 remaining in the first half, Brown tied the game for Orange. Sullivan Gaddy found Brown, who dribbled into the right edge of the box and fired it in off the hands of Villines.

Orange kept the pressure coming based off the attack of junior Sydney Rogers, whose is the fourth member of her family to play with the Lady Panthers. Her older sister, Jordan, recently graduated after playing four seasons at Division III William Peace University in Raleigh.

“She’s always been a strong player since her freshman year,” Mignosa said. “I was lucky enough to coach her two older sisters. She’ll be amazing her senior year.”

Next February will feel different for Orange women’s soccer. There will be higher expectations. Bella Brown, who was second on the team with ten goals and 27 points, is the only senior with substantial playing time graduating. Sullivan Gaddy, who led the squad with 13 goals and 31 points, will return. So will Rogers, a healthy Monteith, freshman Caroline Cathey (five goals) and rising senior Allison Torkewitz.

“We’ll absolutely miss Bella,” Mignosa said. “But we’re a young team. I told them that after the game. Now we have this expectation and the younger kids are going to have to step it up. Because now I’m expecting us to go even further.”

FAYETTEVILLE–91 degrees at kickoff in 45% humidity playing 102 miles from Hillsborough against a team that finished undefeated in its conference.

None of those obstacles were big enough to stop the Orange women’s soccer team from making history.

Senior Bella Brown notched her fifth career hat trick, her first this season, to propel the Lady Panthers (11-7-1) past Cape Fear 5-2 at Colt Stadium on Thursday night in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Freshman Elliana Sullivan Gaddy notched the game-wining goal with 27:29 remaining. Sullivan Gaddy, who scored two goals in Orange’s win at Harnett Central on Tuesday night, now leads the Lady Panthers with 13 goals this season.

Cape Fear (15-4-2), who finished undefeated in winning the United Eight Conference championship, got both goals from sophomore Jayda Angel. She ends the season with 32 goals.

It’s the first time in the 34-year history of the program that Orange reached the 3rd round of the state playoffs. On Tuesday, the Lady Panthers defeated Harnett Central 5-3 for its second postseason victory in team history. The other was in double overtime against Southern Lee in 2016.

“It’s really a tribute to their hard work,” said Orange coach Jacki Mignosa. “I’m just kind of there to guide them, but they put in that time, they put in that effort. I’m glad they’re reaping the benefits.”

While Sullivan Gaddy got the game-winner, Brown injected Orange with a huge boost of adrenaline on a muggy night in the final minute of the first half. Junior midfielder Sydney Rogers sent an entry pass from 35 yards away. Cape Fear goalkeeper Meridith Wenthur struck the ball at the edge of the six-yard box. The ball popped off Wenthur’s hands, then bounced off the leg of Isabel Jones and off the chest of Brown, where it rolled into the right corner of the net with only 13 seconds remaining.

The equalizing goal provided Orange with momentum that they would not lose again.

Cape Fear had the first scoring opportunity in the second half when senior forward Brooke Dawkins dribbled up the right sideline. Dawkins fed a cross to Angel, whose attempt was blocked by Rogers. Throughout the second half, the Colts’ repeatedly tried to attack Orange’s sophomore left back Lily Crayton, who shut down every threat Cape Fear offered as Orange started controlling possession.

“When Lily gets on like that, there’s no stopping her,” Mignosa said. “She’s gets in that mindset and keeps steeping and going. She’s only a sophomore.”

Orange earned three corner kicks in the opening ten minutes of the second half. With 31:10 remaining in the second half, Brown sent a high line drive off the crossbar from 18 yard away. After Orange centerback Channing Mahaney cleared an entry pass, Crayton forced a turnover that led to a shot by Rogers that was saved by Wenthur.

As wingback Christina Paz sent a back pass to Wenthur, Sullivan Gaddy stuck her leg out, which doesn’t work about 95% of the time. This was an exception.

Sullivan Gaddy made just enough contact at the edge of the box to force a turnover. Sullivan Gaddy beat Wenthur to the ball and tucked it into the right corner of an empty net to put Orange ahead 3-2.

Cape Fear nearly earned a penalty kick on the subsequent possession. Angel sprinted towards the middle of the field, where Crayton rubbed her off the ball and fell to the turf. The Cape Fear fans screamed for a handball, but the official shook his head “no” as Crayton successfully cleared it down the field.

With 24:27 remaining, Ella Wimsatt fired a long shot that Wenthur blocked with both hands. The rebounds spilled out to the right flank, where Brown fed Jones on a gorgeous cross. Jones chipped it over the goal line from eight yards away into the right corner of the net for Orange’s first insurance goal.

Brown, who transferred from Burlington Christian Academy in 2020, ended the scoring with possibly the goal of the season for the Lady Panthers. After Crayton picked off a cross, Jones played it to Sullivan Gaddy. Brown got a slither of daylight from 22 yards away and fired a gorgeous ball that sailed into the left corner past a flailing Wenthur to send the Orange bench into hysteria.

“She’s had a lot of really pretty goals,” Mignosa said. “But that was beautiful.”

Brown now has 24 career goals.

As has happened time and time again across women’s sports in the Central Carolina Conference, Orange will face a conference rival in the third round of the state playoffs. On Monday night, the Lady Panthers will travel to Burlington to face Walter Williams. On Thursday night, the Bulldogs upset second-seeded Union Pines 2-1.

Orange and Williams had a bizarre season series where the Bulldogs dominated Orange 2-0 in Hillsborough on April 14. Just eleven days later, Orange traveled to Burlington and handled the Bulldogs 5-0.

That win started a four-game winning streak for Orange that propelled them into the sate playoffs. Now, this Orange team has gone where no other Lady Panther squad before them ever has: the Sweet 16 of the 3A State Playoffs.

“I’m so proud of them,” Mignosa said. “It’s amazing and it’s really just an honor to watch them and to just have time with them and be a part of their lives right now. This team works so hard. I lot of times, I feel like they get overlooked. So I’m so happy that they gets this time in the spotlight. They deserve it.”

A decade ago, the Orange lacrosse team finished a winless conference season by losing to crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 15-3.

On Tuesday night, some 3,679 days after a largely ignored end to a forgettable season, the same Orange program hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Men’s Lacrosse Championship game in front of thousands of fans at Auman Stadium.

It was a world of difference between what Orange lacrosse was then and what it is now. The storybook finish would have led the Panthers playing again in Cary this Friday night for the state championship.

That will have to wait.

The First Flight Nighthawks reeled off an 11-1 run at the end of the first quarter to beat Orange 13-7 at Auman Stadium on Tuesday night.

First Fight (12-3), who came into the season with only one state playoff win in school history, captured its first regional championship in lacrosse. They will face Lake Norman Charter for the 3A/2A/1A State Championship on Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.

Junior Jacob Gray continued a strong postseason with five goals to lead the Nighthawks. Gray scored eight goals against Cedar Ridge in a 14-10 win in the third round of the State Playoffs in Kill Devil Hills last Tuesday.

While hosting a regional championship game for the first time in school history will always be a point of pride for this Orange team, the loss to the Nighthawks will likely leave sour feelings. Last year, the Panthers played at a high level in losing to East Chapel Hill in the state quarterfinals at Auman Stadium. The Wildcats won, but Orange played well offensively. East had Alec Levy, whose five goals was enough to take the Wildcats to the regional final. Two teams played its best and the better one won.

Against the Nighthawks, the Panthers were held to its lowest scoring output of the season. While the Nighthawks defense may have been the best Orange has faced, the Panthers were sloppy offensively. Simple passes that Orange usually completes almost effortlessly wound up out of bounds or in the pockets of Nighthawk sticks. The Panthers were just 1-of-5 in man-up opportunities, rarely getting multiple shots on possessions when the Nighthawks had someone confined to the penalty box.

After Orange led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, they were held to just one goal in the subsequent 23:26. Sophomore Connor Kruse and junior Joe Cady, Orange’s leading scorer with 136 points this season, was held without a goal for the first time this year.

First Flight longstick defenseman Cam Van Lunen, the son of head coach John Van Lunen, defended Kruse for much of the game.

Tigh Metheny and Jake Wimsatt each had two goals for Orange.

“We weren’t able to possess the ball the way we wanted to do it,” said Orange coach Chandler Zirkle. “I think we got caught up with how electric the crowd was. The moment got a little bit bigger than us.”

After Grey Crabtree knocked a loose ball into the net past First Fight goalkeeper Porter Smith, Orange led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. Josh Cowan and Metheney opened the Panther scoring. Orange goalkeeper Katie Wolter made three saves from point-blank range against the Nighthawks in the first quarter and it appeared the Panthers were in good shape.

That changed very quickly.

Immediately in the second quarter, the Nighthawks assumed command. Joey Krieg scored in transition off a feed from Joe Wagner only 43 seconds into the frame. Grey tied the game after another fast break goal assisted by Van Lunen. After Orange’s Alden Cathey was called for a slashing penalty, senior Jackson Kelly notched his 23rd tally of the year on a diagonal pass from Krieg for the first man-up goal of the game. First Flight took its first lead 4-3 with 9:22 left in the first half and they were just getting warmed up.

Sophomore James Summerton went low to the bottom right corner against Wolter to make it 5-3. Kelly, Wagner and Grey (three goals in the first half) all scored in the final minutes of the second quarter to put the Nighthawks ahead 7-4 at the half.

Orange was no stranger to comeback wins in the regular season. They trailed Northwood 8-1 in Pittsboro on March 21 and still prevailed 14-9. They trailed the Chargers again 10-7 with 8:43 remaining on April 27, then finished the game with the final five goals to win 12-10.

There would be no rally on Tuesday. The Nighthawks kept Orange scoreless in the third quarter. Senior Nicholas Gardill, First Flight’s leading scorer, hat a hat trick in the third quarter. His final goal, assisted by Gray, gave First Flight an 11-4 lead.

Wimsatt scored Orange’s only man-up goal in a 6-on-4 situation in the fourth quarter. Joe Cady notched his lone tally after he whacked a rebound into the top of the net to cut the Orange deficit to 13-7 with 6:27 remaining. There was some left time for a miracle, but First Flight was too disciplined and ran out the clock as the faithful from Kill Devil Hills, who had driven four hours to Hillsborough, cheered on.

The Orange players got a standing ovation from the largest lacrosse crowd in Auman Stadium history. The Panthers’ following in lacrosse will likely only grow from here. A team that has twice as many sophomores as seniors will return all of its offensive weapons from a 17-3 team, the most successful in school history.

But for Zirkle as his Orange coaching staff, there’s pain right now which may only grow as the weekend approaches. In 2005, Chandler’s father, Franklin, took his East Chapel Hill Wildcats into Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park (then called SAS Stadium) and won the North Carolina Lacrosse Association’s State Championship over Chapel Hill. Even now, 17 years later, the game’s final score of 10-2 just rolls off the tip of his tongue.

Chandler Zirkle was a ballboy for that East team. Now, his father is an assistant at Orange after amassing over 200 head coaching wins at East and Leesville Road. Zirkle wanted to coach in Cary this weekend, just like his father did in 2005. Now, he’ll explore how to get better with the bulk of a Mid-Carolina Conference Championship team returning for 2023 and a bevy of 8th graders arriving from Orange Middle School waiting to make their mark, some possibly sooner than later.

But for now, there’s just pain after a lost opportunity.

“First Flight played a really good game,” Zirkle said. “They had a really good defensive game plan. We had too many uncharacteristic turnovers and I’m not sure what they were based on. We just threw the ball away too much. It’s probably a product of not being fully ready for the moment. I think that’s probably more of it than anything else. We have a really young group. I hope at this time next year, we’re more ready for this.”

In a year where Duke and North Carolina finally met in the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, it was only fitting that Orange and Cedar Ridge would square off in the state playoffs in some sport.

It could have been volleyball. There were three teams from the Central Carolina Conference in the state quarterfinals, with Cedar Ridge ultimately taking it all.

It could have been lacrosse, and it still very much could.

The fact that it will happen in baseball, still one of the most widely participated youth sports from one end of Orange County to the other, makes the matchup juicier than a 5-pound sirloin steak.

The field of 64 in the 3A State Baseball Playoffs was unveiled on Monday morning by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Orange, the regular season champions of the Central Carolina Conference, received a #8 seed. Cedar Ridge got a #25 seed, and the two teams will square off head-to-head tonight at Orange High Field. First pitch will be at 6:30.

“I had a pretty good idea it was going to be Cedar Ridge,” said Orang coach Jason Knapp, who was mowing his outfield grass well into Monday night in preparation for the game. “We were prepared for it. It’s going to be a lot of excitement in the community and a great atmosphere.”

The winner will meet the winner of Terry Sanford and Union Pines in the second round later this week.

“This is a great opportunity for our guys,” said Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey. “I don’t want to make it any bigger than it is. That’s my way of thinking about it. It’s just another game and it’s great to play in the state playoffs. That was one of our goals at the beginning of the year was to play in the playoffs.”

Going into last week, an Orange-Cedar Ridge matchup in the opening round of the state playoffs looked highly unlikely. As Orange finished first in the CCC, Cedar Ridge came in second. Yet both teams had disappointing results in the CCC Tournament, which is the main reason why they’re playing tonight.

Last Monday, 7th-place Walter Williams upset Cedar Ridge 6-2 in the first postseason game at Red Wolves Territory since 2018.

“We didn’t play our best baseball,” Massey said. “For the guys, it was their first taste of postseason baseball. They got that underneath their belt and realizing how it is. I think it was a good experience for them before the state playoffs. Realizing how it is. It was a learning lesson for them that every out is big. That’s postseason baseball for you.”

Orange, the tournament’s #1 seed, was stunned by Person 4-0 on Tuesday. The Rockets went on to win the tournament championship at Northwood on Thursday night.

“I think we learned you can’t take anything for granted,” Knapp said. “You can get beat any given day at any given time. I think it was an eye-opener for us. We had a great couple of practices in the days after the Person game and had a really good practice today. I think we’re ready to go.”

It will be Cedar Ridge’s first state baseball playoff game since 2018, when they lost to Terry Sanford 7-4 in the 2nd round.

Meanwhile, Knapp is going for his first postseason win in Hillsborough. The Panthers’ last win in the state playoffs came in 2018 when they prevailed at Jacksonville. Four nights later, Chapel Hill dominated the Panthers in what was Dean Dease’s final game as Orange’s head coach after 31 years.

In 2019, J.H. Rose pounded Orange 15-3 in the opening round in Hillsborough. Last June, Asheboro edged the Panthers 5-4 at McCrary Park in a thrilling game that ended with a walkoff double by Tanner Marsh.

The two crosstown rivals met in a two-game series only three weeks ago with plenty on the line. Orange wound up sweeping the series to officially wrap up the CCC regular season championship. On April 21, the Panthers got a 5-inning perfect game from sophomore Cross Clayton in a 16-0 win. The Panthers had a season-high 17 hits.

On April 18, Orange pulled away from Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Territory 13-5. Leading 4-2 going into the top of the sixth inning, the Panthers scored nine runs in the final two frames. Right fielder David Waitt went 2-for-3 with four runs scored, while sophomore Connor Nordan went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs.

Nordan went 8-for-9 with seven RBIs in the two-game series against the Red Wolves.

In order to advance to the second round of the state playoffs, Cedar Ridge will also have to battle history. The Red Wolves haven’t won at Orange since April 18, 2012.