Alongside her designation as the all-time home run hitter in Cedar Ridge history, Takia Nichols has a new accolade.

The 2021 Big 8 Conference Softball Player of the Year.

On Thursday, Nichols was named the league’s top player following a season where she led the Big 8 Conference with 13 home runs and 38 RBIs. Nichols amassed that total despite being walked 17 times.

Overall, Nichols led Cedar Ridge in six offensive categories. She hit .707 with 34 runs scored, 29 hits, and nine doubles. She even had three stolen bases.

“Firstly, I want to thank God for everything because none of it would be possible without Him. I want to thank my mom, my trainers, and my coaches for making me into the player that I am,” Nichols said on Thursday night. “would also like to thank the fans and my teammates for rooting me on in every situation- good or bad. I am super appreciative for all the love and support from everyone!”

In a nutshell, here’s how some teams protected themselves from Nichols’ power. In the Red Wolves season-opener against Northwood on March 17, Nichols led off the third inning with a solo homer to centerfield. In her subsequent four at-bats, she was intentionally walked.

In the rematch on April 9, Nichols was intentionally walked in all three of her plate appearances–despite hitting leadoff. In an instance of poetic justice, Nichols scored all three times in a 14-2 Red Wolves win.

Then there was Cedar Ridge’s unforgettable comeback on April 15 against Orange. The Red Wolves trailed 9-2, only to score seven runs in the seventh inning. With Nichols coming up to bat with Marlee Rakouskas standing at third as the game-winning run, Lady Panthers Coach Johnny Barefoot didn’t dare risk Nichols hitting a potential walkoff homer. She was intentionally walked in her second plate appearance in the 7th inning (Nichols walked earlier in the frame, when Cedar Ridge sent 13 batters to the plate). She was intentionally walked again in the ninth inning.

“Takia exemplifies what hard work is,” said Cedar Ridge softball coach Allen Byrd. “She is never satisfied, always striving to be better. She pushes her teammates to be better. It’s such an honor to be a small piece of her continued growth and progression.”

Nichols was an immediate sensation in her freshman season. Paired alongside power hitters Tori Dalehite, Kymberlie Thacker, and Kara Wagoner, Nichols still led the team with eight home runs. She was third on the team with 36 RBIs, tied with Taylor Ruhl.

Her sophomore season will forever linger in the unknown. In just four games, she hit five home runs. She knocked the ball off Cedar Ridge’s scoreboard against West Johnston in a 21-16 win in the third game of the year. Could she have inched closer to former Orange catcher Mia Davidson’s state record of 53 home runs? The COVID-19 pandemic ensured that question would go unanswered as the season was canceled after four games. She will enter her senior year with 26 career home runs in 42 career games. Davidson hit her 53 home runs in 90 career games.

“She’s amazing,” said junior Ava Lowry, who shares the same side of the infield with Nichols. “We have this bond because we’ve played together since middle school. We know what the other is thinking defensively. We’ll just look at each other and we’ll know where to line up. We know what’s going on with each other without saying anything. I’ve never had a better teammate.”

Normally, Nichols would have roughly 17-20 games to show her talents. Because of the pandemic, that number was paired down to 14 games this year. Still, Nichols saved her best for the final weeks of her junior season, where she hit home runs in each of her final six games.

That included two-home run games against Vance County on April 27, then another two-home run game against Southern Durham in the opening game of a doubleheader last Friday.

Nichols plans to announce her college commitment this summer.

“I am very happy about the way that things turned out for me this year but I can’t ponder on it anymore,” Nichols said. “It’s time to put in more work and it’s time to get better. 2022 is my last year as a Red Wolf and I only want to make the best of it.”

A part of Cedar Ridge’s future, a soon-to-be graduate, and a name commonly seen across Cedar Ridge circles for postseason football awards are this year’s honorees for All-Big 8 Conference first-team for the Red Wolves.

Freshman wide receiver Mitchell Bonner, linebacker/wide receiver Jake Mergenthal and defensive end/guard James Larisa were named first-team All-Big 8 Conference last week.

Center and defensive tackle Michael Nicholson and defensive lineman Javon McKiver were named honorable mention All-Conference.

This season, Bonner started as a freshman for first-year head coach Corey Lea. Running out of a spread offense operated by quarterback Elijah Whitaker, Booner made several big plays throughout the six-game season for the Red Wolves on both sides of the ball. His playmaking ability garnered him the nickname “Mitchell Baller” from teammates and staff.

“Mitchell really stepped up as a freshman,” Lea said. “Led the team in kickoff returns, 2nd in tackles, and 3rd in receiving yards. He is going to be big for us next season.”

Mergenthal has been one of the names most synonymous with Cedar Ridge athletics over the past five years. Jake’s brother, Braxton, played football, basketball, baseball and lacrosse with the Red Wolves. During Braxton’s middle school years, he and Jake lived in Dusseldorf, Germany when their mother got promoted to project manager with Bayer-Crop Science, which develops crop safety products for farmers.

It led them away from Efland and into a whole new world. Braxton Mergenthal now plays college football with Division III Hampton-Sydney in Hampton, VA. In the winter of 2020, Braxton turned down offers from Division II Mars Hill and various Division III schools.

“I really proud of Jake,” Lea said. “He led the team in tackles and was our quarterback on the defensive side of the ball.”

Jake also played wide receiver when Whitaker needed a big option near the sidelines.

Larisa was possibly the most consistent player on Cedar Ridge’s defensive line. A constant threat on the pass rush, Larisa had an impressive outing against Vance County to conclude the season.

“James was a matchup nightmare at defensive end,” Lea said. “His speed really made a difference in making some big plays on defense.”

Cedar Ridge lost its starting quarterback during the first quarter of its season-opener against Northwood. Whitaker, who figured to alternate between running back and wide receiver, was forced to resume duties at quarterback, where he remained for the rest of the six-game season.

Among Whitaker’s most reliable protectors was Nicholson, a sophomore listed as 6-feet tall at 280 pounds.

“He was a rock of consistency along the offensive line,” Lea said. “He’s only going to get better.

McKiver turned into a late bloomer as the season went on, particularly defensively.

“He’s a real presence on the defensive line,” Lea said. “He is working hard to get bigger and stronger. Will be a force to be reckoned with next year.”

Cedar Ridge played its best games at the end of last season. In its season-finale, they led Vance County at halftime before the Vipers charged back and held on for a 20-14 win inside Red Wolves Stadium. Since then, Lea has focused on the future, which will include life in a new conference that includes Eastern Alamance, Western Alamance, Walter Williams and Person, as well as traditional Big 8 rivals Orange and Northwood.

“At the end of the season, we wanted to get better and we did,” Lea said after the Vance County game. “Hopefully, the changing climate of the pandemic will allow us to get back to normalcy in the weight room. To solidly create a culture that you have to do to get better. I’m excited about possibilities simply because we only had five seniors that played this season. Realistically, we were a very talented junior varsity team. But we were asking a lot of guys to take varsity reps straight out of middle school.”

On Tuesday night at Southern Durham High School, Orange senior Kessel Summers became the 48th wrestler in school history to win 100 matches. Competing at 132 pounds Summers won via forfeit over Vance County. Last winter, Summers qualified for the 3A State Championships with a 3rd place finish in the 3A Mideast Regional. In the State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum, Summers pinned Havelock’s Nate Lucio in 5:52 in the opening round. Summers went on to pin Josh Meyers in the consolation round. It was the second straight year that Summers qualified for the 3A State Championships. Shortly after the season ended, the pandemic struck. For a time, Summers was left wondering if he would be stuck at 96 career wins since there was no guarantee there would be a wrestling season last summer. Though it has started late, Orange wrestling is 6-0 after wins over Southeast Guilford and Cedar Ridge at Orange High Gymnasium on Thursday night. On Tuesday, Summers and his fellow seniors will be honored on Senior Night when Orange hosts Northwood at 6PM. Congratulations to Kessel Summers on his 100th career victory.

David Waitt wasn’t sure what he had just done. Neither did his coach, Jason Knapp.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Knapp said as he watched Waitt’s 1st inning fly ball to left field carry…and carry…and carry until it nearly hit Orange trainer Emily Gaddy’s car parked near the football field house beyond the left field wall.

Waitt, who has garnered an early reputation as a singles and doubles hitter, had his first varsity career home run. A three-run job, no less.

By the end of the night, Orange pounded out 19 hits against a weary Cedar Ridge pitching staff as the Panthers defeated the Red Wolves 19-9 in six innings at a windy Orange High Field on Wednesday night. Orange (3-0) is tied with Northern Durham for first place in the Big 8 Conference.

Obviously, it was a night of offense. Orange’s win couldn’t overshadow the most impressive performance in the career of Cedar Ridge leadoff batter Aidan McAllister, who launched two home runs, each to dead centerfield, in the opening two innings. McAllister scored three times and finished with three RBIs.

Waitt, a sophomore in his first year at the varsity level, finished 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs and three runs scored. His classmate, shortstop Jackson Berini, went 3-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored. Conner Funk went 2-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs.

“1-through-9, we’re solid,” Knapp said. “It’s as solid as a hitting lineup as I’ve ever had. We have the potential to get the ball over the fence and bust one open.”

Cedar Ridge (1-2), coming off a narrow loss to Chapel Hill on Friday, has drawn the short straw in terms of Big 8 Conference scheduling. Among the six teams in the league that are fielding teams week in and week out (Orange, Cedar, Northern Durham, Northwood, East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill), the Red Wolves are the only one that haven’t had a forfeit win yet (Southern Durham and Vance County have forfeited all of its games thus far due to a lack of players). After a season-opening triumph at Northwood on April 27, Cedar Ridge has played three games in eight days, the most strenuous stretch for any Big 8 team. Coach Bryson Massey has used pitchers Will Berger and Cristian Macias in all three games.

Not that he wants to hear that.

“We don’t make excuses,” Massey said. “I tell our guys we don’t make excuses. Whether its the rain, the forfeits, whether we face everybody’s ace every time we roll out. We don’t make excuses for ourselves. We’re going to walk out and expect to compete every pitch of every game. We want to be the team that competes the hardest every night.

McAllister opened the night of offense with a solo blast to centerfield on the second pitch thrown by Orange starter Pierson Kenney (who improved to 2-0). After Bryce Clark walked and Garrett Ray was hit by a pitch, Macias reached on a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases. Catcher Tucker Cothran grounded a ball back to Kenney, who threw to catcher Davis Horton at the plate to retire Clark. Third baseman Marco Velazquez knocked in Ray with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to put Cedar Ridge ahead 2-0.

Orange responded with four runs in the 1st inning. Before Waitt’s three-run homer Berini reached on an error and scored off a single by Horton. That lead was short-lived, as well.

After B.J. Thornton reached on a one-out infield single in the top of the second, McAllister belted a 1-1 fastball over the centerfield wall to tie the game.

Orange sent 12 batters to plate in an 8-run 2nd inning. Berini led off with a single to right field, followed by Funk getting aboard on an infield error. Senior Will Walker lined a double down the left field line to bring in Berini. After Horton was intentionally walked, Waitt went opposite way with a soft liner to right field. Walked scored, and Horton slid in safely after the ball popped out of the glove of the catcher in a close play at the plate.

Jaren Sikes lined a RBI single to bring in Waitt. Tyler Lloyd walked, Berini singled and Funk reached on an error, which led to Lloyd and Berini coming in.

The only semblance of consistent defense came when Orange sophomore Joey Pounds entered the game to relieve Kenney in the fourth inning. At one point, Pounds retired seven consecutive Red Wolves, including striking out the side in the fifth inning. It was Pounds’ first varsity save as he riddled Cedar Ridge batters with his unique fastball that looks like a curve but really isn’t.

“It’s all over the place,” Knapp said. “It cuts, it tails. He’s got great movement. I’m awfully proud of him. I put him in a tough spot. He battled through some adversity with a few balks that were called. He pulled himself together and absolutely started dealing for a few innings.”

In the sixth, Clark doubled to left field. Centerfielder Garrett Ray knocked him in with a single.

Orange will host Northwood on Friday night. Cedar Ridge will return home to host Northern Durham on Friday.

“These guys compete,” Knapp said. “They work hard in practice. They’re always pushing each other and I was really proud of these guys tonight. They rang the bell and they answered some questions. People in the back were asking some questions about these guys, and they really came out and showed some things.”

An offensive barrage carried the Orange baseball team to a 19-9 win in six innings over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night at Panther Field. Sophomore David Waitt lit the spark with a 3-run homer in the first inning, the first home run of his varsity career. Waitt went 4-for-5, including another RBI single in the second. Shortstop Jackson Berini went 3-for-6 with an RBI with three runs scored. All nine Panthers who started registered base hits and Orange finished with 19 hits against the Red Wolves. Waitt and Berini have been teammates for years on summer travel teams, as well as at Stanford Middle School, where they captured the 2019 Orange-Person Athletic Conference Northern Division Championship. Orange is 3-0 and will look to remain undefeated when they host Northwood on Friday night in Hillsborough. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 5:55.

Just weeks after ending the season with a classic game against Chapel Hill at Culton-Peerman Stadium, six Orange Panthers have been named to the All-Big 8 Conference squad for the 2021 season.

Linebacker/wingback Elliott Woods, wingback/cornerback Eric Brooks, offensive tackle Hayden Horne, linebacker/quarterback Jayce Hodges and cornerback/wingback J.J. Torres were all named to the first team. Also making the first team as punter was Darius Satterfield.

During a six-game regular season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers finished 3-3. The record can’t begin to tell the tale of a team that had to reinvent itself offensively after the opening week of the season and was competitive with the Big 8’s best teams. It’s possible that Orange was two kicks away from making the state playoffs.

Woods led Orange with 65 tackles. Linebacker Jackson Wood was second on the team with 36 tackles. Against Northern Durham and Northwood, Woods scored Orange’s only touchdowns. He was also second on the team with 280 rushing yards.

The Panthers opened the year with a 20-0 loss to Southern Durham at Auman Stadium. In the ensuing week, quarterback Nigel Slanker left the team and transferred to Cedar Ridge, where he practiced but never played. Hodges became Orange’s starting quarterback and engineered a team that relied almost exclusively on the run for the remainder of the season.

After a crash course in the double wing the following week in practice, Hodges led Orange’s offense in a 7-6 upset of Northern Durham at Durham County Stadium. Woods scored the Panthers’ only touchdown early in the second quarter. He finished with 43 yards from scrimmage and five tackles. In addition to playing quarterback, Hodges started at linebacker, where he had six tackles, including two for a loss.

For the season, Hodges had 19 tackles and four tackles for loss. He also had an interception late in the first half against Vance County that set up a touchdown as the Panthers came from behind to beat the Vipers 22-8 on March 20.

Brooks, a senior, got better as the year went on in the new offense. In his final game at Orange, Brooks ran for a career-best 128 yards, his first-ever 100 yard games at the varsity level. Brooks scored a 2-point conversion with 24 seconds remaining to put the Panthers ahead of the Tigers 22-21. He led the Panthers with 309 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Against Vance County, Brooks scored three touchdowns. He also started at cornerback after starters Zahmir Watkins and Daniel Champion suffered injuries against Southern Durham.

With the greater reliance on an old-fashioned running game, Horne anchored the offensive line from his right tackle position. After a fumble-prone Orange offense was held to a measly 50 yards against Southern Durham, the Panthers had 151 yards the following week against a solid Northern Durham defense. Orange’s offense largely improved from that point forward. Horne and co-horts Brendon Worsham, Jaylen Partin, Jose Guzman and Dari’us Matkins helped the offense register 250 yards against Vance County, 270 yards against Cedar Ridge and a season-best 373 yards against Chapel Hill.

Torres started on offense and defense in several games. He rushed for 218 yards and scored one rushing touchdown against Cedar Ridge (his first came in the 2019 season opener against R.J. Reynolds). Torres had an interception against Northwood on the Chargers’ opening drive in their matchup on March 26 in Pittsboro.

In his first year as starting punter, Satterfield averaged 27.4 yard per punt. His longest punt was 53 yards and two of his kicks were downed inside the 20-yard line. Satterfield showed so much promise in his first season that, last week, he was invited to the Kicking World Kicking Camps National Showcase in Austin, Texas on December 4-5.

Making honorable mention All-Big 8 Conference from Orange was fullback/linebacker Jackson Wood, Trey Grizzle and Elijah Danley. Wood scored Orange’s last touchdown on the season against Chapel Hill. He also led the team with ten tackles for loss. Danley, a junior, had three interceptions on the season. Grizzle caught a touchdown pass in his final game for Orange agains the Tigers. He registered 19 tackles and six tackles for loss.

Orange was also honored with the sportsmanship award from the Big 8 Conference.

On Thursday, we’ll review the All-Big 8 Conference selections for Cedar Ridge and the rest of the Big 8 Conference awards.