The first Cedar Ridge men’s tennis player to ever reach a state championship match.

Only the second player from Hillsborough to ever play in a state final, and the first in 15 years.

Yet hours after he finished 2nd in the 3A State Tennis Tournament on Saturday at the Burlington Tennis Center, Josh Mayhew mainly discussed the future. When he’s told that no player from a higher classification in Hillsborough history has ever reached a state final, the sophomore flashes a smile, then talks about a summer’s worth of work ahead. It will hardly resemble the desolate months of 2020.

What do you learn at an event where you achieve something unprecedented within your own school and town, but fall short of the state championship? You learn from it. For starters, Mayhew discovered the difference between a runner-up and a state champion.

“I learned there’s some good competition out there,” Mayhew said at A.L. Stanback Middle School on Saturday, where he played in middle school. “It’s going to take a lot to be the best. I gotta work a lot harder. I need to learn to play better behind the baseline and hang in points longer.”

On Saturday, Mayhew defeated Soham Padran of Marvin Ridge 6-2, 6-4 to reach the championship match. In terms of United States Tennis Association rankings, it was an upset. According to the USTA Southern Regional Junior standings, Padran is 260 spots higher than Mayhew.

The only other men’s high school player in Hillsborough history to reach a state championship final was Orange’s Britton Webb in 2005. Cardinal Gibbons’ Will Rollinson defeated Webb 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. It was the first of Rollinson’s three consecutive 2A State Championships.

In Saturday’s championship match, Chapel Hill’s Dennis Perumov defeated Mayhew 6-2, 6-2. It was the fourth time they had met this year and the second time in four days. On Tuesday, Perumov defeated Mayhew in the Mideast Regional Final on the same court.

Outside of his four losses to Perumov, Mayhew went undefeated in his first full season at the varsity level.

Mayhew’s father, Steve, is the Cedar Ridge head coach who formerly played at Orange. Josh’s earliest memories of tennis go back to when he was five years old when he would play in the driveway with his father.

“I came up with ways to make it fun,” Steve said. “It was a good way for the family to have fun. Josh, Cameron (his younger sister who is currently Cedar Ridge’s #1 women’s player) and even Hannah would all play tennis together.”

At seven years old, Josh started playing USTA Tournaments competitively with a red compression balls (which don’t bounce as high as regular balls) on a 36-foot court. By ten, he advanced to a 60-foot court with orange compression balls. Once he got to 12 years old, he played tournament on standards courts with standard gear.

“He aged up,” Steve said. “He has tons of experience. He’s played so much tennis at such a young age. He’s had tons of reps.”

Aside from his father, Mayhew has had help with coach Chris Cloer, a native of Brevard who went on to become an All-American at Florida State. Cloer is now a volunteer assistant with UNC.

“When Chris was an assistant coach at N.C. State, Josh worked with him.” Steve said. “Then when Chris went to UNC, we worked with him in Chapel Hill. He works to make Josh’s swing as efficient as possible.”

Mayhew’s current coach is someone called “Z,” a nickname he’s grown so attached to, neither he nor his father can remember his formal name.

Training can’t prevent cramping, which Mayhew experienced in his second round match against Ben Jones of Clayton on Friday. Late in the second set, Mayhew needed time to recover. He prevailed 7-5, 7-5 to reach the semifinals.

“I had to take a medical timeout,” Mayhew said. “I got ice and stretched. I was good again.”

Now a month away from finishing his sophomore year, Mayhew’s ultimate goal is clear. And obvious.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished something,” Mayhew said. “But I want to accomplish more. I want to be the best in the state next year.”

On Saturday, Cedar Ridge sophomore Josh Mayhew did something only one other man in the history of Hillsborough has done: play in a state tennis tournament final. Mayhew defeated Marvin Ridge’s Soham Pradhan 6-2, 6-4 in the 3A State Semifinals at Burlington Tennis Club. The only other male player to reach a state championship match in Hillsborough history was Orange’s Britton Webb in 2005. The only person to beat Mayhew the entire season was Chapel Hill’s Dennis Permuov, who captured the state championship on Saturday. Aside from that, Mayhew went 14-0 in his first season as a varsity player. Next season, Mayhew will be a junior in a new league. Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill will be 4A teams again, and Mayhew will set his sights on trying to become the first player from Cedar Ridge High to win a state championship in tennis. Mayhew started preparing for his sophomore season during the pandemic with daily workouts in Chapel Hill. Now that the offseason has arrived for him, Mayhew still won’t stop working towards his goal, even though he’s already accomplished something that no other tennis player at Cedar Ridge High has ever done.

After a long day of school, why does someone stay after a two-hour practice to work on their serve for another 90 minutes? So that they accomplish things that no one has done before.

Only a sophomore, that’s what Cedar Ridge sophomore Josh Mayhew has done. He has become the first Red Wolf to advance to the semifinals of the 3A State Men’s Tennis Semifinals.

On Friday, Mayhew defeated Nicholas Clementi of Charlotte Catholic 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round of the 3A State Tennis Tournament at the Burlington Tennis Center. That win alone put Mayhew in a class by himself. He became the first tennis player from Hillsborough to win a match in the 3A State Tournament since 2012, at least.

Then Mayhew really outdid himself. He defeated Clayton’s Ben Jones 7-5, 7-5 to reach the semifinals. On Saturday morning, Mayhew will face Soham Pradhan of Marvin Ridge for a spot in the championship match.

The only player from Hillsborough to ever reach a state tennis championship match was Orange’s Britton Webb in 2005. Will Rollinson of Cardinal Gibbons defeated Webb 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the 2A Final.

Representatives from the Big 8 Conference comprise half of the 3A State Semifinals. Chapel Hill’s Dennis Perumov will take on Western Guilford’s Josh Gillis in the other semifinal on Saturday morning.

The victory continues a whirlwind week for Mayhew, which started last Saturday. After the 3A Mideast Regional was delayed a day by rain, Mayhew became the first Cedar Ridge player since Zac Mayhew in 2014 to reach the 3A State Tournament. Mayhew defeated Western Alamance’s Will Geiger 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round of the regionals in Burlington, then punched his ticket to the state championships with a 6-0, 6-0 win over East Chapel Hill’s Rama Varanasi.

Rain delayed the regional finals to Tuesday, but Mayhew defeated Chapel Hill’s Eddy Ferreira 6-2, 6-2 to reach the championship match. Perumov, the only player to beat Mayhew this year, won the regional championship 6-2, 6-2.

Mayhew’s run was part of a noteworthy day for Hillsborough tennis. Earlier, the doubles team of Colin O’Hagerty and Brandon Gwinn became the first representatives from Orange High in the 3A State Tennis Tournament since 2013, at least. In the opening round, Rish Reddy and Harrison Williams of Marvin Ridge defeated Gwinn and O’Hagerty 6-2, 6-1.

“I am super proud of Orange High School and Cedar Ridge for advancing to states,” said Cedar Ridge men’s tennis coach Steve Mayhew, who played at Orange High. “Having both schools from Hillsborough and advancing to States was so awesome to see.”

Mayhew, in his first varsity season, is 13-2 in singles play. He helped Cedar Ridge to a 9-4 overall record this season.

“Josh played two outstanding opponents who made you earn every point,” Steve Mayhew said. “Toward the end of the second match against Ben, Josh started cramping in his legs but persevered to win.”

Mayhew has strengthen himself with out-of-state tournaments during the summer in South Carolina and Georgia. While the pandemic ruined any chances of developing at Cedar Ridge during his freshman year, he still worked out with his coach at various facilities around UNC, even though many of the tennis clubs were shut down.

At night, Mayhew’s family gathers at Cedar Ridge tennis courts for games of pickle ball and doubles games. Now, Mayhew is on the cusp of something no Red Wolf has ever done before: play in a state tennis championship match.

“I think all the tournaments that Josh has played in the past helped him be ready both mentally and physically for regionals and today,” Mayhew said. “As his coach I am very proud of Josh but as his Dad, I am extremely happy for him because I know all the hours and sacrifice that he puts into tennis. To see all the hard work pay off is very nice. I like the fact that he is not satisfied and is ready to compete tomorrow.”

In the middle of a gas shortage, West Stokes drove nearly 170 miles round trip in the middle of a gas shortage for a nonconfernece game. Yet they still got their money’s worth.

While Orange didn’t get the result they wanted on Friday night, time will tell if they got what they needed.

West Stokes’ Kaden Fuller earned the win after he threw three innings of relief as the Wildcats scored two runs in the eighth inning to beat Orange 8-6 on Friday night in Hillsborough. Designated hitter Adam Parris drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk. Orange catcher Davis Horton, who finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, reached second base in the bottom of the eighth to represent the tying run, but Fuller struck out Orange’s next three batters to complete his first varsity win.

It was a night of firsts for both teams. Orange Coach Jason Knapp used six different pitchers, but second baseman Connor Funk established himself from the pack. Funk, who had never pitched in a varsity game, threw two-and-two-thirds innings and struck out six after relieving Jaren Sikes in the sixth. Though he took the loss, Funk was the only Orange hurler to hold the Wildcats scoreless in consecutive innings.

“We know he’s got it in him,” Knapp said. “He’s got an electric arm. He just needs some time on the mound. We tried to give everybody a little bit tonight, but when we got caught in extras, we had to stick with him. He did a great job.”

West Stokes (5-1), a 2A team from the Western Piedmont Conference, has a roster of big bats and powerful arms. Coming into Friday, the Wildcats had hit seven home runs in five games. They added two more on Friday. Their pitching staff, which includes three sophomores, averaged eleven strikeouts per game. They maintained that average against Orange.

Fuller lined an opposite field home run off Orange starter Pierson Kenney to lead off the second inning for the first run of the night. The Panthers responded with three runs in the second inning after West Stokes’ starter Evan Cecile walked the bases loaded. With two out, Panther shortstop Jackson Berini drew a walk to score Jaren Sikes. Funk knocked in Joey Pounds with a grounder that reached left field, then Horton lined a first-pitch fastball over second base which plated Tyler Lloyd and built Orange’s lead to 3-1.

West Stokes tied it right back up when Fuller ripped a triple to right field. Dylan Roscoe, running for catcher Brighton Berthrong, scored. Pounds, making his first start in right field, hit Funk on the relay and Horton tagged out Joshua Jones at the plate. Fuller tied the game 3-3 after Parris hit a two-out bouncer to right field.

Sikes drew a walk in the bottom of the third, stole second, advanced to third on a single by Cesar Lozano and scored off an infield hit by Tyler Lloyd.

Again, Orange didn’t have the lead for long. West Stokes first baseman Bryson Bowman drew a leadoff walk to start the fourth inning and tied the game following a liner up the middle by Berthrong.

Orange got the lead back in the bottom of the frame when Funk drew a one-out walk. After Funk stole second, first baseman Will Walker drilled a double down the left field line to push Orange back ahead 5-4.

Fuller opened the fifth with a walk, and Jacob Smith throttled a 2-1 fastball off the bottom left corner of the Orange scoreboard to give West Stokes a 6-5 lead.

Fuller, who started at second base, replaced Dominic Mickle as pitcher in the sixth. Funk drilled Fuller’s first pitch over the head of centerfielder Jacob Smith for a triple. Horton sent a fly ball to right field that was dropped and allowed Funk to tie the game. With the go-ahead run at second base, Fuller came up with two strikeouts to keep the game tied 5-5.

After Orange went through four pitchers in five innings, Funk held the Wildcats scoreless in the sixth and seventh. Orange had a chance to win in the seventh after David Waitt, who was inserted into the game as a reserve in the fifth, grounded a one-out double to left field. But Fuller struck out Ryan Hench and got Jackson Berini to fly out to shortstop to send the game into extra innings.

While Orange played a back-and-forth game against a team they hadn’t faced since 2009, the Big 8 Conference championship race was extended into next week. At Knights Field, Northern Durham rallied from a 3-0 deficit with five runs in the sixth inning to defeat Chapel Hill. That means the Knights and the Panthers will meet on Tuesday night in Hillsborough for a winner-takes-all battle for the Big 8 Conference championship. Orange (6-1, 6-0 in the Big 8) clinched a share of the title after Northwood defeated Northern Durham (5-1, 5-1) 7-6 on Wednesday. The winner of Tuesday’s game will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 in the state playoffs.

“We scheduled this game because we needed some quality opponents to prepare ourselves for the state playoffs,” Knapp said. “We knew that West Stokes was quality and they were going to bring a good team up here and they did.”

What many would consider a successful start to their high school career is what Fernando Martinez describes as “getting his butt kicked.” Martinez, a sophomore wrestler at Cedar Ridge, went 34-13 in his freshman year while competing at 106 pounds. That included a fourth place finish at the Mideast Regionals in February 2020. Martinez also won the 106-pound tournament at the Buccaneer Cup at Bartlett Yancey High School in January 2020. This year, wrestling mainly at 120-pounds, Martinez is off to a 10-0 start. That included a gutsy win over East Chapel Hill’s Asher Yeo on Thursday, even though Martinez injured his left shoulder midway through the match. Last week, Martinez pinned Orange’s Colton Jones in 4:37, then earned a forfeit win against Southeast Guilford. On Thursday, Martinez picked up another forfeit victory against Vance County to improve his career record to 44-13 midway through his sophomore year. Cedar Ridge won both dual matches to improve to 6-4 on the season. The Red Wolves grapplers will return to action on Tuesday with a tri-meet at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium. They will face Southern Alamance and Chapel Hill.