On March 17, the Orange lacrosse team had its biggest win in program history. Just nine days after Northwood hammered the Panthers 17-6 in Pittsboro, Orange came back and defeated the Chargers 10-9 in the second round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Seniors Ryan Merrill and Caleb Davis would score hat tricks for the Panthers. But underclassmen made major contributions. Sophomore Joe Cady had two goals and an assist. Freshman Connor Kruse would score the game-winning goal in the fourth period. Another sophomore, Jake Wimsatt, tied the game with a goal during a man-advantage in the fourth quarter. It was the first time ever that Orange advanced to the state quarterfinals in lacrosse. It also turned out to be the last week for a group of Orange seniors that excelled under head coach Chandler Zirkle. He’s a photo montage of that night with the play-by-play as heard on Hillsboroughsports.com. We thank Lynda Wileman for the photographs that bring this montage to life.

The electric atmosphere inside Orange High ballpark on Tuesday night wasn’t simply the standard vibe of a must-win game. It was the release of pent-up frustration by Northern Durham fans that had been withheld for years.

When the time is right, Northern baseball fans can created an electric atmosphere around its aging ballpark. It’s just been a long time since the time was right. About six years, to be exact.

The last time Northern Durham clinched a share of a conference championship in baseball, it was 2015. That was when Northern suited up a leadoff hitter named A.J. Bumpass, who would go on to play at the University of Cincinnati and eventually with the Cincinnati Reds organization. It was six years ago today that the Knights defeated D.H. Conley in Greenville to advance to the 4A State Quarterfinals.

It may be another six years before the throng of fans who gathered around the fences at Orange High Field on Tuesday see as brilliant a pitcher’s duel like the one they saw Tuesday.

In a game to decide the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference, neither Northern Durham senior Matthew Lombard nor Orange sophomore Ryan Hench would give in. They each threw six scoreless innings. They each registered eleven strikeouts.

Ultimately, Hench was pulled after he logged 100 pitches after six innings (the North Carolina High School Athletic Association institutes a limit of 105 pitches for any pitcher). When Hench left the game at the beginning of the seventh inning, it was all the latitude the Northern batters needed. The Knights struck for four runs in the seventh inning to beat Orange 4-0.

With the win, Northern (7-1, 7-1 in the Big 8 Conference) ensured they would share the Big 8 Championship with Orange. The Knights, who lost to Northwood last Wednesday, will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 in the state playoffs, which starts next month.

Orange (7-2, 7-1 in the Big 8) will still make the state playoffs and will claim a share of a conference title for the first time since 2016, Bryse Wilson’s senior year. But the Panthers will almost certainly travel for the opening round of the playoffs.

It was the Knights’ first win over Orange since March 8, 2017, ending the Panthers’ four-game winning streak in the series. Northern also clinched its first winning season since 2016.

“That’s as fine a high school pitching matchup as you’ll see at this level,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “I was just talking about this with (assistant coach Matt) Roberts.”

Hench was at 100 pitches by the time the seventh inning rolled around, but Knapp elected to pull him in lieu of throwing to one more batter. In six innings, Hench (2-0) conceded only two hits and four walks.

After Northern got to Orange’s bullpen, the Knights scored four runs off four hits in the seventh inning alone. Corbyn Poe opened with a leadoff walk, then stole second base. Seth Lumpkin hit a dribbler to left field for a base hit to move Poe to third. With Orange’s infield drawn in, Charles McDowell drilled a 1-0 fastball to left field to break the stalemate. After Knights’ leadoff batter Caleb Greene was intentionally walked, catcher Riley Adams lofted a soft pop-up to second base that would have been caught if the infield was at normal depth. This time, it went over Connor Funk’s head and allowed Lumpin to score.

Lombard, in his final at-bat, hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in McDowell. Scoggins lined a single to right field to bring in Greene.

Orange had its chances early. They loaded the bases with one out in the first inning after sophomore Jackson Berini led off with a single. Funk reached off an error. Each man moved up 90 feet following a wild pitch with Davis Horton at the plate. But the story of the game was Lombard’s power, most prominently a fastball that reached 88-miles-per-hour. Lombard struck out Horton, Orange’s most consistent hitter, with one out. After Will Walker walked to load the bases, Lombard struck out Hench, then forced David Waitt into a groundout back to the mound to escape the frame.

Orange loaded the bases again in the third inning. Berini led off with another single. Horton lined a fastball off the leg of Scoggins at 3rd base. That would be the final Orange hit of the game. After Hench walked to load the bases with two out, Waitt popped out to Lombard.

Lombard started against Chapel Hill on Friday, a game that Chapel Hill led 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Despite having just four days rest, fatigue was not a factor for Lombard, who only conceded three walks in his final three-and-two-thirds innings of work. After Lombard eclipsed 105 pitches following a strikeout of Funk, Northern first baseman Jackson Bishop relieved Lombard and got the final out.

It was the first time Orange was shut out since losing to Wilson Fike 6-0 at Fleming Stadium on March 23, 2019.

None of which should overshadow the outstanding performance by Hench. In only his third career start for Orange, Hench allowed just one Northern batter to reach third base through six innings.

In 17 innings this season, Hench still hasn’t given up a run. He’s thrown 29 strikeouts, just five walks and conceded four hits.

With the second half of its season starting Friday afternoon at East Chapel Hill, Knapp knows his postseason fate with six games (possibly more) still remaining in the regular season. He knows he will go to the state playoffs, regardless of what his team’s final record is. Now, he’ll focus on trying to revive an offense that scored 15, 19 and ten runs in its opening three games, but has been limited to only five in its last two Big 8 games.

“We’re going to come up with some team goals tomorrow that I’ve already been thinking about,” Knapp said. “It’s going to be good because the majority of our games during the last half of the season are on the road. So that’s going to be good to prepare us for the playoffs.”

The Cedar Ridge wrestling team’s dual matches continue to be tight. And their top three grapplers continue to hold undefeated records.

For senior night at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 48-30. In its Big 8 Conference match, the Red Wolves narrowly lost to defending league champion Chapel Hill 45-33.

The loss ended Cedar Ridge’s five-match winning streak. The Red Wolves are now 7-5.

Two Cedar Ridge seniors improved to 12-0 for the season. At 145 pounds, Daina Pritchard pinned Stanley Eno of Southern Alamance in 2:48. Later, Pritchard rode out a 6-2 decision over Chapel Hill’s Bar Dinh 6-2. Pritchard is now 62-33 for his Red Wolves career. He also finished 4-0 lifetime against Chapel Hill.

At 152 pounds, Red Wolf senior James Rosati-Brown earned a forfeit win over Southern Alamance. Against Chapel Hill, Rosati-Brown pinned Leo Davenport in 2:58. Of Rosati-Brown’s 12 wins this year, seven have been via pinfal. His fastest came against East Chapel Hill’s William Weis in only 20 seconds last Thursday.

Also maintaining an unblemished record was Cedar Ridge sophomore Fernando Martinez, who added two more pins to his quickly growing career total Tuesday night. Competing at 120 pounds, Martinez pinned Southern Alamance’s Walker East in :58 seconds. Against Chapel Hill, Martinez disposed of Jack Krueger in 1:05. Midway through his sophomore season, Martinez has a 46-13 career record. Of those 46 wins, exactly half have been via pinfall.

Cedar Ridge senior and co-Captain Kady Watkins earned her seventh win of the season. Against Southern Alamance, Watkins pinned Lucas Perry in 2:35. It was her fourth pin of the season. Watkins has also pinned Southeast Guilford’s Colon Krall in 2:33 during a tri-meet at Orange on May 6. She pinned Eastern Alamance’s Mason Tanner in 2:49. Last week, Watkins defeated East Chapel Hill’s Cuong Tran in 1:57.

Against Southern Alamance, Thomas Bradley scored a pin at 182 pounds over Nicholas Reid in 40 seconds to secure the dual match win. Cedar Ridge’s Wyatt Robinson pinned Nate Ayers in 50 seconds at 195 pounds.

Cedar Ridge’s Gavin Mintz (160), Kaden Tatro (170) earns forfeit wins to complete the win over the Patriots.

The Red Wolves will face Carrboro and Orange in a special tri-meet on Thursday. It will be the second time this year the Red Wolves have taken on the Jaguars and the Panthers.

Cedar Ridge baseball to hold vs. Cancer benefit against Orange

The Cedar Ridge baseball team will start the second half of its season on Friday night against Northwood. However, Red Wolves baseball coach Bryson Emerson is quickly putting together a benefit to fight cancer for the game against Orange on May 28.

The Vs. Cancer game will have a first pitch scheduled for 6PM, immediately after the junior varsity contest between the Panthers and the Red Wolves.

“We’ll be raffling off lots of stuff,” Emerson said. “There will be many items from local restaurants and businesses.”

All proceeds will go to fight childhood cancer.

There will also be a proceed night at Jersey Mike’s on Oakdale Drive, a short drive from Cedar Ridge. There will also be items donated from several Major League Baseball players.

After forfeit wins over Vance County and Southern Durham over the past week, Cedar Ridge will start the second half of its Big 8 Conference slate against Northwood on Friday night in Hillsborough. First pitch will be at 6 o’clock at Red Wolves Territory. You can hear the game with Curran Campbell and Jmari Graham on Hillsboroughsports.com.

On Tuesday, Bethany Community School defeated the Red Wolves 7-6 in Summerfield. Trailing 6-4 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Bethany scored three runs to win the game, ending with a walkoff single.

Senior Trent Kirby hit a two-run homer for the Red Wolves in the top of the second inning. Kirby scored Bryan Flores, who singled to leadoff the inning. Cedar Ridge’s B.J. Thornton went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

For this week’s retro Orange Panther of the Week, we journey back to the week starting January 10 and Orange senior basketball forward Jason Franklin. On January 11, Franklin led Orange with 20 points and ten rebounds at Cedar Ridge. Two nights later, Franklin led the Panthers once again with 20 points as Orange played Northwood tight in Pittsboro. The Chargers, who would go on to play in the 3A State Championship game, escaped with a 60-54 win. Franklin was one of Orange’s most dependable scorers over the past four years. This season, he averaged 16.6 points per game. He had a season high 24 points in a February 4 game against Southern Durham. Two days later, Franklin scored 23 points in Orange’s first win of the season, a 65-62 victory at Vance County. Franklin also scored four goals in his junior season for the Orange soccer team. After he graduates from Orange next month, Franklin will attend N.C. State with a focus on computer science. For Orange basketball fans, not seeing #4 on the floor will take some getting used to. After four years as a varsity player, Jason has made his mark in Orange basketball.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore pitcher Ryan Hench. Last week, the Orange baseball team sewed up a spot in the 3A State Playoffs after a 5-0 win over Chapel Hill. Hench, in just the second start of his varsity career, struck out 14 and threw a two-hit shutout. He made the start on only four days rest. The prior Friday, Hench earned his first win in Orange’s 10-1 victory over Northwood. Hench didn’t give up a hit to the Chargers. He struck out four and walked just one batter. Ryan was the top starter for Stanford when they won the Orange-Person Athletic Conference Northern Division championship in 2019. Hench’s older brother, Cooper, was a successful pitcher and 3rd baseman at Orange. Cooper, who now plays with the N.C. State Club Baseball team, helped the Panthers continue to win during the transition away from the Bryse Wilson/Brad Debo era. Orange has already earned a share of the Big 8 Conference championship. Tonight, they will face Northern Durham in Hillsborough. If Orange wins, they will win the Big 8 outright for the first time since 2016. Ryan Hench also plays 3rd base when he isn’t pitching. He’s hitting .400 at the plate this year.

After its best overall season in six years, there were two Orange women’s soccer players honored by the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association as All-Region 6.

In fact, they came from the same family.

Logan and Sydney Rogers were named to the NCSCA Region 6 3A team. Region 6 includes all the teams from the Big 8 Conference as well as the six teams from the Greater Neuse Conference.

In addition, Logan and Sydney Rogers were named to the All-Big 8 Conference team. Joining them on the All-Big 8 team from Orange were junior Bella Brown and sophomore goalkeeper Abby Monteith.

Cedar Ridge senior striker Emerson Talley and midfielder Nicol Anderson were also named All-Big 8 Conference. It was the third time (out of three possible years) that Talley made All-Big 8.

Logan Rogers scored a career-high nine goals this season for an Orange team that finished 9-5, its best record since going 15-4-2 in the 2015 season. In a non-pandemic year, the Lady Panthers’ record would have been good enough to make the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2017. Due to the pandemic, the field was limited to 32 teams, instead of the usual 64, by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

During a two-week period in March, Logan had a three-game goal scoring streak. That included the only tally in a 1-0 victory over Northwood in Hillsborough on March 24. She also scored in a 5-1 win against Cedar Ridge on March 22, the first time the Lady Panthers defeated its crosstown rivals since April 28, 2017. In the rematch on April 14, Rogers notched a season-high two goals. In her final game at Orange, Rogers registered a goal and an assist as the Lady Panthers defeated Northern Durham 4-1 at James Armstrong Stadium.

Sydney Rogers played on Stanford Middle School’s 2019 Orange-Person Athletic Conference Championship team, which stunned Phillips 2-1 in the OPAC title game. It was Stanford’s first-ever tournament title. She has continued that success across the campus at Orange, where she is a defender along Orange’s back line. In Orange’s eight wins that were contested (there was a forfeit against Southern Durham), Orange held all of its opponents to one goal or less.

Logan and Sydney’s older sister, Jordan, is a starter for the Division III William Peace women’s soccer team in Raleigh.

Last summer, Brown transferred to Orange from Alamance Christian School. Her impact was felt immediately as a striker. She scored 12 goals to lead the team. In Orange’s first win of the year, a 9-0 decision over Vance County, Brown scored a hat trick. It was the first of three hat tricks for Brown. She also had three goals against Cedar Ridge on April 14 at Red Wolves Stadium, and added another three goals at Vance County on April 12. In the first matchup against the Red Wolves, Brown scored twice. She finished with a team-high 34 points.

After starting one game as a freshman in 2020, Monteith earned eleven starts in net for the Lady Panthers in 2021. Playing against Eastern Regional Champion Chapel Hill and an East Chapel Hill team that advanced to the 3rd round of the state playoffs (and eliminated by Chapel Hill in penalty kicks), Monteith still finished 7-1-1 for her first appearance on the All-Big 8 Conference team. She opened the season with 12 saves in a 3-0 loss to East Chapel Hill at Orange Soccer Stadium.

For Cedar Ridge, Talley finished her career as the all-time leading goal scorer in school history. In her final game, she notched three goals as the Red Wolves rolled past Vance County 9-0 in Henderson. Talley finished with 87 career goals, and that was after her junior season was limited to four games. Her senior year included four hat tricks, including six goals against Northern Durham in a wild 7-6 Red Wolves victory at Cedar Ridge Stadium.

Talley signed with Division II Lenoir-Rhyne last month to continue her soccer career. She is the fourth member of the 2018 Cedar Ridge team that will play college soccer.

Anderson was a senior co-captain for the Red Wolves. She had a career-high 13 goals in her fourth varsity season. In her final game, she scored two goals against Vance County. Anderson also played on Cedar Ridge’s team, in her freshman year, that was over West Carteret in the 3A State Playoffs in Morehead City.

Among the honorable mention selections was Orange’s Katelyn Van Mater and Madison Orange. Van Mater, a sophomore who is a regular rotation player for the Orange women’s basketball team, scored three goals in her first full varsity season.

Orange, in ten games, had the game-winning goal in the season-finale against Northern Durham. She had two goals against the Knights.

Cedar Ridge’s Ianna Pfeifer and Lily Dyslin, both sophomores, were also named honorable mention. Pfeifer scored five goals in her first varsity season. Dyslin had two goals and four assists.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior wrestler James Rosati-Brown. This season, Rosati-Brown is 10-0. Last week, he went 4-0. That included a pinfall of East Chapel Hill’s William Weis in just 20 seconds. He also pinned Khamani Dixon of Northern Durham as the Red Wolves won all four of its dual matches against East Chapel Hill, Eastern Alamance, Northern Durham and Vance County. Two weeks ago, Rosati-Brown edged Orange’s Matthew Smith-Breeden 4-3 at Orange High. Earlier that night, Rosati-Brown pinned Southeast Guilford’s Ryan Murphy in 2:35. He opened the year by pinning Northwood’s Nate Davis in 1:57. The pandemic has robbed Rosati-Brown of something he loves, which is wrestling in individual tournaments like the Jim King/Orange Invitational at Orange High, the Buccaneer Invitational at Bartlett-Yancey, the Red Wolf Invitational at Cedar Ridge and the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill. With the 3A Mideast Regionals set for next month, Rosati-Brown hopes to end his career in the state tournament. He is the winningest active wrestler at Cedar Ridge with 65 victories. On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will host a tri-meet with Chapel Hill and Southern Alamance as Rosati-Brown looks to remain undefeated for 2021.

Photo by Lindsay Chamberlain

Jaden Hurdle: Hurdle was named to the Region 10 All-Tournament team for the Patrick Henry Community College softball team. The Region 10 Tournament was held at Springwood Park in Burlington on Friday and Saturday. Patrick Henry was eliminated on Friday. The Patriots captured the opening game as they edged Florence-Darlington Technical College. Hurdle completed a 5-run third inning for the Patriots with a three-run homer to right field, which put Patrick Henry in the lead for good. She finished 1-for-3. Later in the day, top-seeded Louisburg shut out Patrick Henry 5-0. Hurdle threw five innings agains the Hurricanes and struck out seven. Louisburg would go on to win the tournament championship. Florence-Darlington would eliminate Patrick Henry 2-1 to end the day on Friday. Hurdle completed her freshman season with a .328 batting average. She was tied for the team lead with ten home runs and ten doubles. Hurdle also had 31 RBIs, which was third on the squad. In 17 pitching appearances, Hurdle was 4-3 with a 4.51 ERA. Patrick Henry finished 22-20, 13-7 in Region 10.

Tori Dalehite: The UNC Greensboro softball team captured the Southern Conference Championship with a 9-4 victory over Western Carolina at UNCG Softball Stadium on Sunday. On Thursday, the Spartans advanced to the semifinals as they subdued Mercer 3-2. Dalehite entered the game as a pinch runner in the 1st inning after designated player Kayleigh Wilis walked. On Sunday night, UNCG learned they would face #13 national seed Duke in the opening round of the Athens Regional on Friday at noon. The irony is that Tori, her father Danny and her younger brother Landon are all Duke fans. As for her mother Beth, rooting against Duke is second nature.

Mia Davidson: On the strength of winning eight consecutive Southeastern Conference games down the stretch of the season, Mississippi State earned a trip to the NCAA Softball Tournament on Sunday night. The Bulldogs will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma regional to face Boston University on Friday afternoon. Mississippi State is the #2 seed. Oklahoma State, the host and #5 national seed, will face Campbell in the opening round. On Thursday, #4 Florida eliminated Mississippi State 6-2 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Tuscaloosa, AL. Davidson went 0-for-1 with two walks. She scored off a home run from Jackie McKenna in the 2nd inning.

Montana Davidson: Montana started at third base against Florida. She finished 0-for-2. Mississippi State goes into the NCAA Tournament 33-23.

Bryse Wilson: Upon his return to the Gwinnett Stripers of Triple-A East, Wilson had a no-decision in Sunday’s game against the Louisville Bats at Coolray Field. Wilson threw six innings and surrendered four runs off ten hits. He struck out three and walked none. Wilson had won seven consecutive starts for the Stripers, a franchise record.

Landon Riley: The Liberty Flames baseball team took two-out-of-three games against Kennesaw State over the weekend. On Saturday, the Flames won 12-11. Riley threw two-thirds-of-an-inning and surrendered five runs off three hits. He struck out one and walked two. It was Liberty’s eighth straight win, but the Owls snapped the streak after a 7-4 win on Sunday. Liberty finished as the Atlantic Sun Regular Season champion. Starting Friday, Liberty will host Bellarmine in a best-of-three series at Worthington Field. The winner of the series will face either Kennesaw State or Lipscomb in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in another three-game series in Jacksonville, FL starting May 27.

Jaylin Jones: The most successful season in Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse history came to an end on Saturday. In the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, #4 Lynchburg defeated the Falcons 26-11 at Shellenberger Field. Jones, who was named to the All-USA South Conference first-team as a short-stick defensive midfielder, had two ground balls. Pfeiffer finished 12-2 after they reached the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history.

Kate Burgess: During the ACC Rowing Championships at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, SC on Saturday, former Orange women’s basketball center Kate Burgess helped UNC’s varsity four win the Petite Final. Burgess joined coxswain Isabelle McGimsey and rowers Gigi Maroney, Jackie Wilhelm and Jessica Judge to finish the 2,000 kilometer course at 7:58.10. They edged Miami and Boston College. UNC finished ninth in the team standings with 19 points.