BURLINGTON–There had not been a Hillsborough representative in the NCHSAA 3A State Men’s Tennis Championships, singles or doubles tournaments, since 2014.

This year, there will be two.

For such a lofty accomplishments that took years for anyone to accomplish, Cedar Ridge sophomore Josh Mayhew didn’t exactly survive a thriller to clinch a spot in the 3A Mideast Regional Semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the Burlington Tennis Center. Mayhew cruised past East Chapel Hill’s Rama Varanasi 6-0, 6-0 in the second round. Earlier in the day, Mayhew defeated Western Alamance’s Will Geiger 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round.

The four semifinals in the regionals, scattered across four different tournaments in North Carolina, automatically qualify for the 3A State Championships.

Mayhew is the first Cedar Ridge singles player to qualify for the 3A State Singles Tournament since 2014, when Zac Marion faced George Lovitt of Marvin Ridge in the opening round. Lovitt won by default.

Mayhew has made up for lost time after the pandemic prematurely halted his freshman season. In addition to regular practices with his teammates, he often stays afterwards to practice his serve, often with softball and baseball games going on around him. His father, Steve, and sister, Cameron, occasionally play pickle ball at Cedar Ridge Tennis Courts after workouts.

“I’ve been practicing a lot,” Mayhew said. “There’s some good people in this tournament like Dennis Perumov (of Chapel Hill) and Eddy Ferreria of Chapel Hill. That’s my goal for this tournament, to beat them.”

While Mayhew has played offseason events in South Carolina and Georgia, the state tournament will offer a new challenge.

“I think it will be some good competition,” Mayhew said. “I can’t wait to play them.”

Mayhew will face Ferreria in the regional semifinals on Monday. The regional title match will also be held later that afternoon.

While Mayhew won easily, Orange’s doubles team of Colin O’Hagerty and Brandon Gwinn pulled the upset of the tournament. In the second round, the unseeded Panther tandem defeated Northern Guilford’s Duncan Moore and James Harrington 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. Moore and Harrington arrived into the event as the #2 seeded doubles team.

“I didn’t know what to expect at the beginning,” Gwinn said. “We turned out to have the upper hand in the end.”

O’Hagerty and Gwinn are the first representatives, singles or doubles, to reach the 3A State Tournament since Justin Webb became Orange’s coach in 2013.

Gwinn and O’Hagerty didn’t start the season as a doubles team. O’Hagerty teams with Justin Conover, Orange’s top singles player. Webb decided to adjust at midseason.

“I thought Colin and Brandon were a better pairing and it worked out for us,” Webb said. “They went from not being a doubles pairing to being in states. So that’s pretty impressive. They came in very focused and towards the end of the season they started to play some of their best tennis.”

Gwinn and O’Hagerty have their contrasts. Gwinn shows up for matches with a pumpkin logo designed on the bottom his racket and will gladly show it off for anyone who requests it.

“Colin is definitely more of a serious player,” Webb said. “Brandon brings a little more laid back nature. They tend to offset each other.”

In the opening round, Gwinn and O’Hagerty defeated Isai Gutierrez and Francisco Urieta of Harnett Central 6-1, 6-0. On Monday, O’Hagerty and Gwinn will face Kabir Grewal and Michael Gannon of East Chapel Hill in the semifinals.

Orange junior Justin Conover defeated Western Alamance’s Zach Allred 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was one of two matches in the opening round to go three sets.

Terry Sanford’s Jordan Miller defeated Conover in the second round with a spot in the state championships on the line.

The Mideast Regionals was a final show of domination for the Big 8 Conference, which will disband next month. Of the eight qualifiers for the state championships, seven were from the Big 8.

The event was originally scheduled for Friday, but was rained out and postponed until Saturday morning.

The 3A State Championships are scheduled to start Friday at the Burlington Tennis Center.

For the first time since 2014, Cedar Ridge has had a singles player qualify for the 3A State Tennis Championships. For something that took such a long time, sophomore Josh Mayhew accomplished the feat in anti-climatic fashion at the Burlington Tennis Center on Saturday. Mayhew defeated East Chapel Hill’s Rama Varanasi 6-0, 6-0 in the second round of the 3A Mideast Regionals. Mayhew, who went 7-2 in his first full varsity season at Cedar Ridge this season, became the first Cedar Ridge player to qualify for the 3A State Championships since Zac Marion did it in 2014. Mayhew has been known to commonly stay around practice at Cedar Ridge to continue practicing, or play pickleball with his family, including his younger sister Cameron, a freshman at Cedar Ridge who is a member of the Red Wolves’ women’s team. Mayhew will face Chapel Hill’s Eddy Ferreira in the regional semifinals on Monday. The regional championship will be played that night.

On Saturday, Orange doubles team Colin O’Hagerty and Brandon Gwinn entered the 3A Mideast Regionals unranked. They left the Burlington Tennis Center as the first doubles team from Orange to qualify for the 3A State Championships since 2013, at least. O’Hagerty and Gwinn defeated Northern Guilford’s Duncan Moore & James Harrington 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the regional tournament. They advanced to the semifinals, which is scheduled to start on Monday. Gwinn and O’Hagerty started the day with a victory over Isai Gutierrez and Francisco Urieta of Harnett Central 6-1, 6-0. They’re also the first men’s tennis representatives for the 3A State Tournament since Justin Webb became the head coach of the Panthers eight years ago. Unfortunately, this will be among the last times that Gwinn and O’Hagerty will team together as Gwinn is moving away with his family this summer. On Monday, Gwinn and O’Hagerty will face East Chapel Hill’s Kabir Grewal and Michael Gannon. East Chapel Hill, incidentally, is led by former Orange High and Stanford Middle School Coach Nick Walker.

With this year’s Big 8 Conference baseball race a sprint instead of a marathon, Orange had a pitcher ready to learn on the job just in time for his first start.

In only his second pitching appearance for the Panthers, sophomore Ryan Hench didn’t surrender a hit over four innings to earn his first win as Orange rolled past Northwood 10-1 on Friday night at Panther Field. Hench, Jaren Sikes, Cesar Lozano and David Waitt combined on a one-hitter.

The Panthers (4-0, 4-0 in the Big 8 Conference) remain tied with Northern Durham for first place in the Big 8.

Orange scored at least ten runs for the third straight game (excluding the forfeit victory over Vance County last Friday). Northwood, coming off a dramatic win over Chapel Hill on Tuesday, started Salvador Delgado as pitcher for the second straight game. Orange’s first six batters had base hits, starting with Jackson Berini’s line drive to right field. Connor Funk lined a first-pitch fastball that rolled all the way to the fence, which allowed Berini to score from first.

It was the start of a five-run first inning. After Will Walker laced a single to left, catcher Davis Horton drilled a line drive down the left field line to bring in Funk. Horton finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. Through three games, Horton leads the team with ten RBIs.

Hench helped his own cause when he legged out an infield single on a cue shot up the third base line. David Waitt poked a fly ball that floated down fair inches from the right field line to score Walker and led to Delgado being replaced by reliever Nick Lovingood.

Jordan Underwood got on board off an error to score courtesy runner Jacob Jones. Sikes hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, which led to Hench coming in for the fifth run.

Berini, who finished 2-for-2, led off the second inning with a walk. After he stole second, Horton got his second RBI when he looped a single to right field that fell between three Chargers converging on the ball.

In the fourth, Berini lead off with a bouncing single over second base. Funk walked, which led to Horton lining a two-run double to the fence in left field.

Northwood didn’t get its first hit until the fifth inning, after Hench, left the game, when Seth Davis sent a soft line drive to centerfield. Davis took second off a wild pitch. Luke Smith and Lovingood walked, and Andrew Johnson brought in Davis with another free pass.

The Panthers responded with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sikes led off with a double. Tyler Lloyd sent a hanging fly ball to second base, which was dropped and allowed Sikes to score. Walker knocked in Lloyd with a sacrifice fly.

Orange will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, its first road game of the season. Panther coach Jason Knapp has also scheduled a nonconfernece game against West Stokes next Friday. The contest against the Wildcats will replace a scheduled contest against Southern Durham, which will be a forfeit win for Orange since the Spartans aren’t fielding a team this year.

NORTHERN DURHAM 10, CEDAR RIDGE 9

For the second week in a row, Cedar Ridge nearly came back from a big deficit late.

Northern Durham led Cedar Ridge 10-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning before the Red Wolves staged another big rally, only to fall short against the undefeated Knights 10-9.

Garrett Ray started the rally with an infield single. B.J. Thornton walked, and Nick Nolan doubled on a line drive. Ray was thrown out at the plate while Thornton advanced to third. Aiden McAllister doubled on a ground ball to centerfield to score Nolan and Thornton.

Cedar Ridge started the seventh inning by loading the bases with no outs. Grady Ray singled to left, while Cristian Macias walked and Tucker Cothran singled to right. Mason Cates’ sacrifice fly to right field brought in Ray.

Marco Velazquez lined a double to centerfield to score Macias and Cothran, but Velasquez was thrown out at third for the second out. Thornton walked. but Norther secured a groundout to second base for the final out.

McAllister finished 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. Garrett Ray also went 2-for-4.

Cedar Ridge will travel to East Chapel Hill on Tuesday.

Sophomore Ryan Hench had a notable first start as a pitcher for the Orange Panthers. In four innings, Hench didn’t surrender a hit before he was pulled in the fifth inning. On his way to his first win at Orange, Hench only allowed two baserunners: one reached on an error, the other on a walk to lead off the 4th inning. Neither reached second base. It was an impressive performance for Hench, whose only other appearance on the mound for Orange came last March in relief against Eastern Alamance, just a week before the pandemic canceled the season. Hench’s brother, Cooper, pitched for Orange for three seasons. Cooper Hench is now with N.C. State’s club baseball team. Orange is 4-0 and remains tied with Northern Durham for first place in the Big 8 Conference. Orange will make its first round trip of the season on Tuesday to face Chapel Hill at 7 PM. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com.

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.”