This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is softball junior right fielder Emma Roby. This season, Roby is hitting .438 and has 21 hits. Earlier this season, Roby was forced to play catcher for six games after starter Kymberlie Thacker suffered a concussion against Cardinal Gibbons. Cedar Ridge went 6-1 in those games, including a 11-1 victory over Orange at Red Wolves Territory. Roby has had four consecutive multi-hit games, including going 3-for-3 at East Chapel Hill on April 10. She went 4-for6 against Hillside last Tuesday. Cedar Ridge opened this week with a win over Vance County on Monday night in Hillsborough. 

The Orange lacrosse team defeated Cedar Ridge 14-12 on Thursday night at Red Wolves Stadium. Panthers midfielder Wyatt Jones opened the game by scoring the first two goals. He scored his third goal off an assist from Caleb Davis with 7.1 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The win pushed Orange’s record to 9-3, 2-1 in Conference 7. Jones has been a regular player for Coach Chandler Zirkle for the Carolina Hilltoppers travel team during the spring and summer. In addition, Jones is the starting quarterback for the Orange football team. 

A gritty, tenacious lacrosse battle between Orange and Cedar Ridge unfolded in dramatic fashion on Thursday night at Red Wolves Stadium. Orange’s Caleb Davis scored five goals in the second half as the Panthers defeated the Red Wolves 13-12 to complete a season sweep. Allen scored Orange’s first five goals in the second half. He also had three assists. The Panthers improved to 9-3 overall, 2-1 in Conference 7, one game behind East Chapel Hill for 1st place. Orange returns to action against Southern Durham on Monday night. 

Baseball is a numbers game. It’s 511 wins by Cy Young. Or 73 home runs by Barry Bonds in a season. Getting 20 wins in a high school career isn’t easy, but it’s a plateau that Cedar Ridge senior Phillip Berger reached last week in a 13-1 win at Hillside in Durham. Consider that Berger has only started 25 games in his varsity career and made 43 pitching appearances. Berger is now 3-4 this season in six starts. In his sophomore season, Berger earned a win in the state playoffs when the Red Wolves defeated Nash Central 4-1. Berger will wind down his accomplished varsity career over the next few weeks. He will face Southern Durham on Tuesday in a doubleheader at Red Wolves Territory.

Cedar Ridge centerfielder Jackson Strowd is the leading hitter for the Red Wolves this season with a .429 average over eleven games. Strowd leads the team with 12 hits and is tied for the team lead with eleven runs. He has three multi-hit games this season, the most recent against Eastern Guilford on March 25. Last Thursday, Strowd went 1-for-2 against Hillside in a 13-3 victory in Hillsborough. He also went 1-for-2 with a run scored in a 9-6 loss to Chapel Hill. On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will host Southern Durham in a doubleheader in Hillsborough as the Red Wolves continue their pursuit of a 4th consecutive state playoff birth. Action between the Spartans and the Red Wolves starts at 5. You can hear the game here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

The Cedar Ridge baseball team swept its first Big 8 Conference season of the year last week. They defeated Hillside 13-1 on Tuesday in Durham, then defeated the Hornets 13-3 in Hillsborough on Thursday. Chris Pearce earned his first varsity pitching win for the Red Wolves on Thursday. Pearce threw four-and-two-thirds innings, striking out five while surrendering four hits and three runs, one earned. Pearce made his first varsity start on March 6 in a loss to Carlisle (VA). This week, Cedar Ridge will look to maintain its momentum when they face Southern Durham in a doubleheader in Hillsborough on Tuesday. That doubleheader will be broadcast live here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s tennis player Bassem Elbitar. Last week, Orange won four matches in Big 8 Conference play to improve to 13-4 overall, 7-4 in the Big 8 Conference. Elbitar has been a consistent starter at singles for the Panthers, who opened the season with a 6-3 win at Southern Alamance. Elbitar has been a tennis player since his days at Stanford. A junior, Elbitar is also a model student who has regularly appeared on the honor roll throughout his middle school and high school years. Now, he’s preparing for Monday’s match at Northwood. A victory could lead to Orange receiving an at-large birth in the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs. The Big 8 Men’s Tennis Championships will be held on Wednesday at East Chapel Hill High School.