GRAHAM–There’s a difference between hitting and timely hitting.

On Tuesday night, that was the difference between Orange and Southern Alamance. And, hence, it’s the difference in the race for the Central Conference baseball championship right now.

Each team had five hits. The Panthers largely hit for singles. The Patriots hit for power, albeit from unlikely sources.

Southern’s Janden Evans hit the very first pitch delivered by Cross Clayton over the left field fence, aided somewhat by a southwest wind, to put the Patriots ahead in the opening inning. It was Evans first home run of the season.

Southern would go on to beat Orange 3-1 at the Carroll Shoffner Baseball Complex. The Patriots now lead Orange by one game for first place in the Central Conference at 7-2. The Panthers will host the second game of the two-game series in Hillsborough on Friday. With only three league games remaining, it is likely Orange’s last hope to gain a share of the conference title.

The Panthers had plenty of opportunities on Tuesday. The Patriots committed five errors, but the Panthers didn’t make them hurt. Orange’s leadoff batter, Cameron Guentensberger, lined a single to centerfield and advanced to second when the ball was bobbled by Bradley Capps. Southern starter Braxton Cain struck out Kayden Bradsher and Ryan Honeycutt. With two out, Ryan Horton grounded a ball to shortstop to Mark King, whose throw to first baseman Cooper Partin was low. After Horton legged it out, Guentensberger attempted to score from first, but Partin immediately threw to catcher Eli Holland, who tagged out the centerfielder at the plate to close out the inning.

Clayton suffered his first-ever loss to a conference opponent, ironically in one of his best career outings. Of his 72 pitchers, he threw 58 strikes with nine strikeouts. Of the 26 batters he faced, Clayton threw a first-pitch strike to 24 of them. Clayton was going for his 20th career win, the first Orange pitcher to reach that plateau since Bryse Wilson in 2016.

After Evans stomped his foot on home plate to complete his first dinger, Holland sent a hopper that popped off third base into the left field corner for a double. It was the first in a series of failed scoring opportunities by both teams. Holland moved to third after Partin grounded out to Wyatt Hedrick for the first out. Clayton ended the inning striking out Ethan Mann and Noah Madren.

Orange designated hitter Garrett Sawyer was hit by a pitch in the second inning, then raced over to second when Cain’s pickup throw got away from Partin. King caught a soft liner by Clayton to end the frame.

Ryan Honeycutt opened the fourth with a cue shot down the third base line that Evans threw away, sending the senior to second. That’s as far as Honeycutt would go after Horton, Oliver Van Tiem and Wyatt Hedrick were retired in order.

In the sixth, Southern senior Bradley Capps sent a 1-1 fastball over the left field fence, a wall scraper that went out the most shallow part of the park. It was Capps’ first home run of the year, his seventh RBI.

With one out, Evans doubled to the right field gap. After Holland flew out to Elijah Santos in right, Evans moved over to third. Mann lined a single to centerfield to bring in Capps and make it 3-0 Patriots.

Orange’s only run came when Horton sent a diving liner to centerfield. Capps dove for the ball but missed and it rolled all the way to the fence. Horton wound up with a triple. Dominic O’Keefe replaced him as a courtesy runner. With Van Tiem at bat, Cain uncorked a wild pitch to the spacious backstop. O’Keefe scored off the wild pitch.

Cain surpassed 105 pitches when Garrett Sawyer rode out a ten-pitch at-bat that ended with a fly out to Mann in left field. Eli Gilley replaced Cain and earned the save by striking out Clayton and Santos.

ROXBORO–Enduring a strike zone that gradually shrunk to the size of a Dixie Cup and a Person team that wouldn’t say quit, the Orange baseball team emerged from Roxboro exactly where they want to be.

Tied for first in the Central Conference with a showdown two-game series against Southern Alamance that will almost certainly determine the league champion looming this week.

On Friday night, Orange played bread-and-butter baseball to sweep its two-game series against Person. Leadoff batters got on base, put themselves in scoring position and an experienced power hitter knocked them in.

It led to the Panthers charging out to a 5-0 lead, scoring in each of the first four innings and holding on as Cameron Guentensberger came in from centerfield to earn his second save in as many games to send the Panthers back up Highway 57 with a 7-4 win at Rockets Field.

Orange (14-4, 6-2) is now tied with Southern Alamance for first place in the conference. The Panthers will travel to Graham to face the Patriots on Tuesday night. The series will culminate in Hillsborough on Friday.

The Rockets had the Panthers somewhat concerned in the seventh. Trailing 7-2, Person brought across two runs against reliever Garrett Sawyer off of four walks, a hit batter, a balk and a wild pitch. With Ethan Norris at first base representing the tying run off a walk by Guentensberger, Jackson Riggan stepped up with a chance to pull off an improbable comeback. But Guentensberger set down Riggan on strikes to earn his second save in as many games. Guentensberger threw a scoreless seventh in a nonconference win over Voyager Academy in Hillsborough on Wednesday.

Josiah Gibbs threw five innings to improve to 5-0 on the season. Gibbs, who has 15 career wins, struck out six and allowed only two runs off five hits.

Guentensberger, whose versatility has led to him becoming Orange’s leadoff batter, opened with a walk against Person starter Ian Downey, then stole second base. Ryan Honeycutt, who has 14 RBIs in 12 games, stepped up and drilled a line driven to left centerfield, scoring Guentensberger easily.

Orange freshman Oliver Van Tiem lined a single to left field to open the second inning. With two out, Cross Clayton lined a 0-2 curve ball to left field, where Person’s Dylan England struggled to get the ball back to the infield. Van Tiem took advantage and crossed home plate to make it 2-0.

Gibbs didn’t allow a base hit in the opening three innings. The only mild Person threat in the first half of the game came when Carter Hodgin was hit by a pitch and Norris drew a walk in the second. Riggan flew out to Guentensberger in centerfield to end the inning.

Guentensberger stroked a leadoff single up the middle to start the third. After Kayden Bradsher laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Guentensberger to second, Honeycutt lined another RBI single to England. Guentensberger wound up with his second run of the game.

Orange pushed its lead to 5-0 in the fourth when Van Tiem drew a leadoff walk. Wyatt Hedrick followed with a first-pitch liner that dropped in for a single. Clayton lined a 3-2 fastball into right field, which was bobbled by Tyler Blackwell. Van Tiem scored off the hit and Hedrick came in off the error.

Jackson Riggan lined a fastball that nearly kicked up chalk along the right field line to open the fifth against Gibbs. After Gibbs induced a groundout by Brennen Kiser to move Riggan to second, Keegan Holmes struck out. Camden Shaw singled in Riggan with a base hit to centerfield. Third baseman Nick Young dropped in a fly ball in the outfield. England lined an RBI single in front of Guentensberger to score Shaw and cut the Orange lead to 5-2.

The Panthers took advantage of some Person miscues to regain it’s five-run lead. Van Tiem opened with an infield single to Holmes, the shortstop. Hedrick walked. Sawyer laid down a sacrifice bunt to the left of the mound. Kiser, who replaced Downey as pitcher, attempted to throw out Van Tiem but the ball went past Young at third base. Van Tiem scored. Following a walk by Cross Clayton to load the bases, Elijah Santos walked to bring in Hedrick.

Orange has beaten Person in six straight regular season meetings. The Rockets only victory over the Panthers in the past three years came in the 2022 Central Conference Tournament semifinals in Hillsborough. It was the second straight year that Gibbs beat the Rockets in Roxboro.

Following a disappointing stretch of games, the Cedar Ridge baseball team got its groove back just in time for its third straight win over Eastern Alamance in Mebane.

The Red Wolves scored seven runs in the first inning, headlined by a two-run double by junior Quinn Finnegan, and went on to defeat the Eagles 12-6 at Eagles Field on Friday afternoon. Finnegan finished with a season-high five RBIs as the Red Wolves (7-10, 4-6 in the Central Conference) ended a seven-game losing streak.

Eastern Alamance won the opening game of the series 7-1 in Hillsborough on Tuesday night. Cedar Ridge has beaten the Eagles three straight times in Mebane since the two teams became league rivals in 2022.

Despite a tough start to April, the Red Wolves are still on solid ground to make the state playoffs for the third straight season. They’re currently #21 in the 3A East RPI rankings as of Sunday night going into its final two-game conference series of the season against Western Alamance this week. The Red Wolves will celebrate Senior Night against the Warriors on Friday night in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge had its first seven batters reach against the Eagles. Landon Dalehite, who finished 4-for-5, led off with a ground ball that rolled into left field. Ian McGuffey sent a comebacker to Eagles pitcher Conner Horner that was thrown away. Following a walk to pitcher John Grove, Nick Aitkin reached on an infield single to shortstop Tate Yount, allowing Dalehite to score. McGuffey scored when he brother, Grant McGuffey reached on a fielder’s choice where Aitkin was thrown out at second. David Schoof sent a fly ball to left field that dropped for a single, bringing in Caden Thompson, who was running for Grove. Senior Mason Cates lined a 1-1 fastball to left field to score Grant McGuffey. With two out, Finnegan skied a fly ball over the head of right fielder Jarrett Newell and landed just shy of the fence. Schoof and Cates scored easily. Dalehite, the tenth batter in the inning, lined a single to right field for the seventh run.

Eastern’s Christian Vieau singled in Rett Page in the bottom of the first to narrow the Red Wolf lead to 7-1.

Cates reached on an error to start the third inning. Hudson Kelly bunted Cates over to second base on a sacrifice. With Finnegan at the plate, Cates stole third. Finnegan knocked in Cates with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to increase the Red Wolf lead to 8-1. Dalehite lined a double to right field to send Finnegan to third, but Eastern’s Zack Merchel got a strike out to end the inning.

The Eagles whittled the Red Wolf lead down to 8-5 going into the fifth inning, but Kelly led off with a single to left field. Kelly stole seconda and went to third after a groundout by Finnegan to third base. Dalehite laced an RBI single to centerfield to score Kelly.

Eastern’s Jarrett Newel homered to right field to cut Cedar Ridge’s lead to 9-6. Once again, Finnegan came up with a key hit, this time in the sixth. After Schoof lined a single to right field, Cates reached on an error at shorstop. With two out, Finnegan doubled to centerfield to bring in Schoof and Cates.

Ian McGuffey was credited with the win, throwing 2-and-one-thirds innings. It was McGuffey’s second win of the season. Cates closed out the game throwing the final three-plus innings for his first save of the year. Cates allowed only four hits and one run, striking out two.

Last week, the Red Wolves were supposed to face Eastern Guilford, but the Wildcats canceled at the 11th hour. Chapel Hill agreed to come in as a late replacement. The Tigers, who lead the 4A DAC-VII Conference, won 9-6. Aitkin went 2-for-2 with two RBIs for the Red Wolves. Finnegan finished 1-for-2.