The Orange lacrosse team’s road to hosting a third straight 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship game didn’t start in February, when they defeated 4A foe Apex in the season-opener.

It didn’t start when practice got underway last winter. Or during last summer with players journeying across the Mid-Atlantic Region playing for assorted travel teams, like the Carolina Hilltoppers.

It started in the Orange locker room at the football fieldhouse on May 16, 2023. That’s when a subdued group gathered one final time for the season moments after Northwood stunned Orange 10-8 to win the Eastern Regional Championship.

Going into that game, the Chargers had lost to the Panthers five straight times. Many around the program had felt last year would be the time Orange would finally reach the state championship game after First Flight defeated Orange in the 2022 regional title game, also in Hillsborough.

But it wasn’t to be.

Orange coach Chandler Zirkle told his team that many of his most instrumental players would be back in 2024, though that was little comfort to 2023 seniors like Joe Cady, Nick Cardone and Josiah Tisdale.

One year later, Orange lacrosse has put together its most dominant season in program history. And they will hope that Monday night will be the one so many around the program have waited for.

Neither the Carrboro Jaguars not a 40-minute rain delay did much to hamper the Panthers in the State Quarterfinals on Friday night in Hillsborough. Orange scored goals on eight of its first eleven shots to burst out to an 8-3 lead. The Panthers (23-1) would go on to rout the Jaguars 21-10 to advance to the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game, which will be held at Auman Stadium on Monday night at 6PM.

Orange will face Croatan for the regional title. The Cougars defeated First Flight 15-7 in Newport on Saturday.

Orange senior Connor Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in program history, finished with five goals and three assists, adding on to his career total with 532 career points. Senior Josh Cowan came away with four goals while junior Gray Crabtree, senior Josh Crabtree, and sophomore Brandon Williams all finished with hat tricks.

Carrboro senior A.J. Pease scored four goals in his final game. The Jaguars end the season 10-7.

Orange opened the game with four goals in the first 3:08. The Panthers outshot the Jaguars 22-14 in the first half and controlled early possession thanks to faceoff guru Matthew Macneir. Gray Crabtree opened with the first two goals, the second assisted by sophomore Brett Clark. Josh Crabtree added two more goals, both unassisted, within a span of 28 seconds to put Orange ahead 4-0, forcing a Jaguars timeout.

Pease and Tyler Pease scored back-to-back markers for the Jaguars to trim its deficit to 4-2, but Orange concluded the first quarter with a 4-1 run. Kruse took a centering pass from Clark for his first goal in a man-up situation after Carrboro’s Leland Robinson was called for a slash. Cowan added another man advantage goal following an offsides penalty, assisted by Josh Crabtree. Cowan ended the first quarter with a short dump shot off a pass from Kruse to put the Panthers ahead 8-3.

Kruse assisted on another goal scored by Clark with 8:03 remaining in the first half, which led to a 40-minute rain delay after a shower passed through the area. Upon resumption, Kruse added another goal to make it 11-3 Orange. A.J. Pease and Tobi Adroju scored back-to-back for Carrboro to get the deficit down to 11-5, but tallies by Kruse and Gray Crabtree ended the half.

Carrboro’s Charlie Walsh opened the second half with a pair of markers for the Red Wolves, but Orange finished the third quarter with four straight goals scored by Williams, Jay Parker, Josh Crabtree and Josh Cowan.

Senior goalkeeper Katie Wolter earned her 16th win of the season, making five saves. Freshman Jackson Runkle finished out the game between the pipes.

Thrive and advance.

It’s a modification of a three-word phrase that famed N.C. State men’s college basketball coach Jim Valvano coined to describe the unpredictable, exhilarating but cruel nature of March Madness.

In softball, it’s just as unrelenting. One bad inning can sink a team’s season.

Orange softball coach Rachel Peel turned that catchphrase on its head as the Lady Panthers started play against C.B. Aycock in the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday night. In its final postseason with senior pitcher Caden Robinson, Orange has reached the round of 16 in the state playoffs for the first time since they won the 3A State Championship in 2017.

On Friday night, Robinson struck out nine in a complete-game shutout for her 14th win of the season, propelling Orange past South Johnston 7-0 in Four Oaks. The Trojans, the Quad County Conference champions who rolled through conference play with a 14-0 record, had not been shutout all season. They end the year 20-2 after suffering its first loss since March 14.

“Everyone in the playoffs is saying ‘Survive and Advance,'” Peel said after the bus returned from a two-hour journey from Johnston County on Friday night. “I keep saying ‘Thrive and Advance.’ I don’t want to have that mindset of finality. I don’t want to have that mindset of this could be the last one. I want to leave it all the field and play the absolute best you can play. Just thrive at a high level.”

Orange has outscored its opening two playoff opponents 22-0. On Tuesday night, Orange routed Aycock, another Quad County opponent, 15-0 in Hillsborough.

On Friday, Orange played an error-free game and didn’t allow a Trojan beyond second base. Robinson threw her third shutout of the season and now has 370 career strikeouts. It’s believed that the school record is held by Kristina Givens, the pitcher from Orange’s state championship team, who finished with 378 from 2014-2017.

The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning when Allie Carden reached on a walk. Hayeligh Hammond sent a ground ball to Trojans shortstop Kaylee Cox, who underhanded the ball to second baseman Randi Deese, but Carden legged it out and slid into second safely. With Rhiley Crabtree at bat, Carden raced for third. The throw by catcher Reese Penny overshot third baseman Allison Barbour, leading to Carden and Hammond both scoring.

The Trojans engineered its biggest threat when Cox singled to left field and Ava Strickland walked with two out. Orange shortstop Sadie Cecil captured a line drive from Jaydin Wall to end the inning.

Katie Carden, Addison Guentensberger and Cecil all singled to open the fifth inning. Robinson threw a bases-loaded walk to score Guentensberger. Then Allie Carden followed with another bases-loaded walk, bringing in Cecil. With two out, Crabtree was hit by a pitch, allowing Katie Carden to increase Orange’s lead to 5-0. Senior Mia Leathers delivered the big blow with a hard grounder up the middle, scoring Robinson and Allie Carden to make it 7-0.

In Orange’s 15-0 win over C.B. Aycock on Tuesday night, Cecil set the proper tone, leading off with a solo home run that sailed over the centerfield fence, her fourth of the season. Allie Carden followed with a towering three-run homer that went over dead centerfield.

In the second, Katie Carden delivered a three-run homer that scored Guentensberger and Cecil. It was Katie Carden’s second home run of the season to increase the Orange lead to 7-0. Leathers drove in Allie Carden and Hammond with a two-run single.

Orange is now the last team remaining in the state playoffs from the Central Conference. Southern Alamance, the co-league champion, lost to Union Pines 8-7 in Graham on Friday night. Southern Nash, the #1 overall seed in the East Region, held off Eastern Alamance 2-1 in Bailey.

For most of Tuesday night, some of the Orange baseball seniors didn’t think they would reach the second round of the state playoffs, much less host another home game.

After a miraculous rally against Cedar Ridge, the Panthers didn’t leave drama against Eastern Alamance on Friday night.

The Panthers exploded for seven runs in the first inning, keyed by a two-run single by Wyatt Hedrick, and easily defeated the Eagles 19-1 in five innings to advance to the Round of 16 in the 3A State Playoffs on Friday night. Orange (19-5) will travel to Terry Sanford for the third round on Tuesday. The Bulldogs hammered Walter Williams 19-3 in Fayetteville Friday night.

Senior pitcher Josiah Gibbs tossed a five-inning complete game, surrendering only two hits for his 18th career win. Gibbs improved to 8-0 with a 2.07 ERA.

It was Orange’s third run-rule win of the season, its second against the Eagles in ten days. Last week, Orange beat the Eagles 11-0 where Cross Clayton won his 20th career game.

“Gibbs commanded the strike zone well,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. When you put seven runs in the bottom of the first, you know that a kid is going to pitch to contract. He’s not going to give up a bunch of walks.”

On the drama scale, it was the polar opposite of Orange’s playoff opener against Cedar Ridge on Tuesday. The Panthers were down four runs in the seventh inning with the bases empty and two outs before pulling off a stunning rally capped by Ryan Honeycutt’s three-run homer to win 7-4.

“I told the team it was like a batter who pops a ball up in foul ground, and the fielder drops it,” Knapp said. “Then that batter gets a new life. That’s what we got. We got a new life after that rally on Tuesday. We know that and we’re playing with house money. So the guys were a lot looser tonight. They’re not scared of the end.”

Facing Eastern Alamance (9-16) starter Conner Horner, Orange’s first six batters reached base and eventually scored. With the bases loaded, Ryan Horton blooped a curveball that fell down between three fielders, bringing in Cameron Guentensberger. Oliver Van Tiem tapped a fastball in front of the plate where Horner slipped on the wet grass that had been soaked from a pregame shower, delaying the game for 40 minutes.  Kayden Bradsher came in to score.

Wyatt Hedrick drove in two runs when he sent a high fly ball off the 2008 2A State Championship banner in right field to score Honeycutt and Henry Hoffman, running for Horton. Cross Clayton drove a fastball to the 395-foot ally in right centerfield to score Van Tiem. Elijah Santos lined a single up the middle to score Hedrick. In his second plate appearance of the inning, Guentensberger plated Clayton off a sacrifice fly to Tyler Westbrooks.

Eastern catcher Kasen McGinnis whacked a solo home run to left field to start the second inning, scoring the Eagles only run.

Hedrick blooped a double down the left field line to score Hoffman in the second to increase Orange’s lead to 8-1. In the third, Hedrick knocked in Honeycutt and Van Tiem with a line drive to left field.

Orange sent 14 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, where they scored nine runs. It included Hedrick driving in two more runs with a liner to right and a three-run home run by Clayton to left field.

Hedrick finished 4-for-4 with seven RBIs and two runs scored. Horton was 4-for-4, allowing Hoffman to score three times. Clayton was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Guentensberger scored three runs and was 2-for-3. Every Panther in the starting lineup scored a run.

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By this point, it shouldn’t be shocking when Orange baseball rallies past Cedar Ridge.

Except on Tuesday night, it was shocking. Because Cedar Ridge had played so well, by the time the seventh inning had rolled around, it felt like their night, finally.

They had not beaten Orange at Panther Field since 2012. They hadn’t beaten its crosstown rivals at all since 2018, a span of ten games.

But the Red Wolves’ performance on Tuesday night had been so crisp, flawless and balanced, even a few of Orange’s coaches were ready to admit its season was over in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

It was baseball, after all, the sport where the better team doesn’t always win. But on this night, Cedar Ridge was clearly the better team.

Throughout the course of winning nine conference championships in everything from volleyball to women’s track & field this year, Orange baseball coach Jason Knapp has received several congratulatory phone calls from his counterpart at Cedar Ridge, Andy Simmons.

On Tuesday night, Knapp stood helplessly in his third base coach’s box as Cedar Ridge second baseman Grant McGuffey easily handled a soft pop-up lofted by Oliver Van Tiem. That made it two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning with Cedar Ridge leading 4-0. The bases were empty.

With Simmons standing and watching in the Cedar Ridge dugout as the Red Wolves were one out away from its first playoff win in six years, Knapp figured it was only appropriate that he walk over and congratulate him on his team’s upcoming playoff win.

And Knapp would do that after Cedar Ridge got one more out.

History has shown that the last out is always the hardest for Cedar Ridge against Orange, but even on this night it didn’t feel like the light at the end of the tunnel would be a freight train.

On April 2 against Orange, Cedar Ridge starter Quinn Finnegan had been perfect through four innings. Through six innings on Tuesday night, he wasn’t perfect, just more efficient. He had allowed only three singles and one walk. Not one Panther touched third base in the first six innings.

Following Van Tiem’s pop-out, Wyatt Hedrick rolled a grounder over to McGuffey, who bobbled the ball into right field. Designated hitter Garrett Sawyer became the first Panther to come down to his final strike when he grounded a 1-2 pitch to shortstop Nick Aitkin, who ran down the ball before it could reach left field and threw a dart across his body to second.

It appeared to be a perfect throw to end a perfect Cedar Ridge night.

Except the throw was dropped and Hedrick slid in safely.

That was the spark that ignited an inferno.

Finnegan had a 3-2 count to senior Cross Clayton, who was hitting to keep his career going. With the Red Wolves again one strike away, Clayton unleashed a laser to the left field gap, Orange’s first extra base hit of the game. Hedrick scored and Sawyer advanced to third.

At the time, all Orange had accomplished was simply avoiding getting shutout for the first time this year. Cedar Ridge head coach Bryson Massey replaced Finnegan, who had thrown 96 pitches (pitchers are allowed 105 pitches by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association). It appeared that Finnegan tried to talk his coach into letting him finish out the game. Instead, Massey went with Ian McGuffey.

For the third time, Orange was down to its last strike when Elijah Santos fouled off a 3-1 fastball. McGuffey went with a breaking ball that barely dipped below the strike zone. Santos loaded the bases with a walk.

Cameron Guentensberger sent a bouncer over to Hudson Kelly at third base. Playing two steps in front of the bag, Kelly looked back as Clayton ran across from second. Instead of backtracking, Kelly opted for first base. The throw one-hopped Mason Cates. Guentensberger beat it out to score Sawyer and cut the Red Wolf lead to 4-2.

By this point, the Cedar Ridge fans were two-thirds of the way through a movie they had seen before—and hated.

Freshman Kayden Bradsher, who was Orange’s player of the game, grounded a single dead up the middle. Santos and Guentensbergber each scored without a throw to the plate to tie the game at 4-4 in front of an exhilarated group of Orange fans whose season had new life.

Bradsher, who had shown up to school before first period on Tuesday to help Knapp prepare the field, finished 3-for-4, the only Panther with multiple hits.

“That was a huge at-bat for a freshman,” Knapp said. “Stepping up in that moment to tie that ballgame speaks volumes. It was a huge at-bat. I’m glad he’s going to be around for the next three years.”

There was still a chance for Cedar Ridge to reach extra innings. Ryan Honeycutt had fouled off two pitches. Then McGuffey went with a fastball where Honeycutt launched it to deep right field. Carter Warren backed up to the fence and tried to reach over it. But the ball cleared his glove and fell just short the scoreboard.

It was the first home run this year at Orange High Field that went over the right field wall.

Bedlam ensued in the Orange dugout. When the inning started, Honeycutt felt like his career was about to end. Not only had he just extended it, but he would get another playoff home game this Friday night. Across the county line in Graham, Eastern Alamance had stunned 5th-seeded Southern Alamance 13-8.

But in a crosstown rivalry game that ends so dramatically, the natural question is how did the other team feel?

Cedar Ridge seniors Landon Dalehite, Mason Cates, Kevin Jones, Joel Davis and Rayshawn Page held a group hug down the left field line. Obviously, there were tears in player’s eyes, a unwanted but familiar feeling. Several Cedar Ridge coaches stared at the ground in dejection. What could be said?

The Red Wolves spent the entire night dominating their archrival–and it all came apart in five batters.

Cates, in particular, was a man on a mission in his final game against Orange. In the second inning, after Nick Aitkin reached on a throwing error, Cates blasted a fastball from Cross Clayton over the centerfield fence. Cedar Ridge led 2-0 and stayed ahead for almost the entire night.

Finnegan cut through the Orange lineup without putting many miles on his odometer. He allowed just one hit through the first three innings on 29 pitches. When Bradsher became the first Orange leadoff man to reach off a line drive to centerfield in the fourth, Finnegan promptly shut down the threat when Horton grounded into a 1-6-3 double play.

Freshman John Grove led off the fourth with a walk. After Caden Thompson replaced him on the base paths, Cates blooped a single that fell between Honeycutt, Santos and Henry Hoffman, sending Thompson to third. After Cates stole second, Grant McGuffey stroked a line drive to left that buzzed over Bradsher’s outstretched glove and rolled to the fence. Thompson and Cates scored easily to give Cedar Ridge a 4-0 lead.

Cates, who has committed to play at Catawba Valley Community College, finished 3-for-3 in his final game.

Even the plays that Cedar Ridge would ordinarily have a hard time making against Orange were handled with ease. Van Tiem became the first Panther to reach second base in the fifth inning after he drew a walk and advanced on a groundout to Finnegan by Hedrick. Sawyer lofted a dangerous floater to McGuffey, who made an over-the-shoulder catch before it could reach centerfield. Finnegan struck out Clayton to end the frame and keep Orange fans in stunned silence.

In hindsight, what turned out to be a crucial call came back to haunt the Red Wolves in the seventh. Finnegan was hit by a pitch from Sawyer, who had relieved Clayton. Finnegan was so pumped with joy, he gave a double thumbs up to his teammates before trotting to first. Landon Dalehite reached on an error at first base, Orange’s third error. Finnegan stole third before he was replaced by Dominic Sena. After Grove walked with one out, Aitkin sent a ground ball to Van Tiem, who threw to Clayton to retire Thompson (on as a courtesy runner again) at second. Sena appeared to have scored to put the Red Wolves ahead 5-0, but after an appeal by Knapp, it was ruled that Thompson slid past second base and interfered with Clayton’s attempt for a double play, thus Aitkin was out and the inning was over. It nullified a precious insurance run.

Orange (18-5) won a state playoff game for the third straight year. They will host Eastern Alamance, the 28th seed, on Friday night. Last week, the Panthers swept a two-games series from the Eagles.

Cedar Ridge (12-10), seeded 21st, suffered a new level of heartbreak that has extended well beyond the point of cruelty for the seniors for several years now. They can take pride in the fact that a Cedar Ridge team down the line will have their time of triumph come at some point. And when it does, it will make the sweet times sweeter.