After coming close in the opening four games of the season, the Orange Men’s Soccer team earned its first win of the season in convincing fashion.

Junior Rohan Kasthuri scored two goals and an assist as the Panthers defeated Person 5-1 on Wednesday night in Roxboro. Cam Michalski, Johannes Sanchez and Drew Jagentenfl also scored for Orange, who are now 1-2-1. Jagentenfl assisted on two of the goals, while Sanchez assisted on another.

On Tuesday night, Orange traveled to Eastern Alamance and played to a 2-2 tie with the Eagles. Francisco McKinley, the new Orange goalkeeper replacing Noah Miller, came up with some important stops to keep the game even. Jo Sanchez scored two goals for the Panthers, while Michalski came up with an assist.

Also on Wednesday night, Graham defeated Cedar Ridge 2-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. The Red Wolves are now 2-1 after its second consecutive win. Cedar Ridge falls to 0-3-1. On Saturday, Cedar Ridge will travel to Wilson Hunt. Next Wednesday, Cedar Ridge will return home to face Southern Alamance.

The momentum from starting 4-0 for the first time since 2010 didn’t carry over for Orange in its Big 8 Conference opener.

East Chapel Hill, under new head coach Rachel Kline, defeated the Lady Panthers 3-0 at Wildcat Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The Wildcats swept the Lady Panthers on scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 25-21 to improve to 4-0. Over the summer, Kline replaced longtime head coach Michelle Wood at East Chapel Hill.

Orange, who suffered its first loss of the season, had eight kills from junior Emma Clements. That pushed Clements to a team-leading 61 kills through the first five games of the season. Senior Libby Jones and Natalie Ruble each had five kills. Senior Liz LaNier finished with two aces. Junior Grace Ducharme had ten assists and senior Meg Gattis finished with 12 digs. Vale Serge led Orange with 15 digs.

Through the first five games, Jones has 42 kills, eleven blocks and 19 digs. LaNier has 38 kills, six aces, and a team-leading 22 blocks. Clements also leads the squad with 97 digs, while Gattis has 85 digs and Serge has 51. Junior Kaitlyn Werden has 80 assists, including a season-high 23 in last Thursday’s 3-1 win at South Granville in Creedmoor.

The Lady Panthers are now 4-1, 0-1 in the Big 8 Conference. They aim to bounce back with a home game on Thursday night against Hillside. After Thursday, Orange will play three consecutive games on the road, including a nonconference match against Person in Roxboro on Monday night. They also travel to Northwood next Thursday.

Also on Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge dropped its first Big 8 Conference game to Northwood 3-0 on scores of 25-11, 25-14 and 25-12. The Red Wolves were only credited with five kills. Senior Sarah McCuiston led the team with three kills. Rachel Tucker had eight digs. Macy Henry finished with all five of the Red Wolves assists.

On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge suffered a disappointing loss to Eastern Alamance 3-2 in Mebane. Last week, the Red Wolves defeated the Eagles 3-1 in Hillsborough.

It won’t get any easier for Cedar Ridge on Thursday night. They travel to Chapel Hill, the two-time defending 3A Eastern Regional Champions. The Tigers are 6-1 under head coach Ross Fields after losing to Marvin Ridge 2-0 last week during the Best of the Best Tournament at Davidson College. The Tigers won its conference opener over Hillside on Tuesday 3-0.

Through the first five games of the season, McCuiston and freshman Lydia Wood lead the Red Wolves with 20 kills each. Sophomore Haylee Cothran has three aces. McCuiston has a team-leading 15 blocks, while Henry has 14 blocks and Emma Downing had 13 blocks, along with 16 kills. Tucker has 50 digs. Marlee Rakouskas, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, has 27 digs.

After playing three road matches this week, Cedar Ridge will return home on Tuesday to host Orange.

Elsewhere around the Big 8 Conference, Northern Durham is 3-0 after winning its Big 8 opener against Southern Durham. The Knights also won at South Granville on Monday 3-1 and opened the season with a 3-0 sweep of the Durham School of the Arts at Poe Gymtorium. Northern will host East Chapel Hill on Thursday night. The Knights finished 17-7 in 2017 and finished in a three-way tie with Northwood and East Chapel Hill for 3rd place.

After winning his big league debut with the Atlanta Braves on Monday night, Bryse Wilson has been optioned back to the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League.

Wilson, who had his contract purchased by the Braves on Monday afternoon, was sent back down as Atlanta recalled outfielder Michael Reed from Gwinnett. The move was expected as Braves manager Brian Snitker inserted Wilson as the starter against the Pirates after veteran infielder Ryan Flaherty was designated for assignment on Monday. Flaherty had only four starts in the previous 91 days.

Wilson threw five shutout innings in earning the victory in his Major League debut against the Pirates at PNC Park, allowing three hits, striking out five with three walks. Wilson became the third 20-year-old pitcher to start a game for the Braves this season, joining Mike Soroka and Kolby Allard. The last Major League team to use three starters before their 21st birthday was the 1965 Kansas City Athletics. As fate would have it, another North Carolina native was one of the A’s in that trio, Hertford-native Catfish Hunter, along with Don Buschhorn and Ron Tompkins.

Wilson’s return to Gwinnett may lead to the North Carolina homecoming he didn’t receive on Tuesday night, when the Stripers faced the Durham Bulls at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Wilson was supposed to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader against Durham before his abrupt callup to Atlanta.

Gwinnett will travel to Charlotte at BB&T Park starting Saturday, which will be a day-night doubleheader. By that point, Wilson will have had five days rest and may throw one of those games. Gwinnett also faces Charlotte at 5PM Sunday afternoon and concludes the series on Monday night at 7 PM. Gwinnett’s season ends on Labor Day.

As mentioned in previous posts, Wilson became the first Orange Panther to reach the Major Leagues on Monday night. Two other Orange players reached AAA before retiring.

Chris Maples, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers, played 78 games over two seasons with the Toledo Mudhens of the International League. In 2006, he played 13 games in Toledo, hitting .206 with two home runs and five RBIs. After starting the following season with Erie of the AA Eastern League, Maples was promoted to Toledo again. This time, Maples hit .188 with no home runs and 15 RBIs over 65 games. After a season with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League, Maples retired.

Josh Horton was selected in the 2nd round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s. He played seven professional seasons, which included three different stints with the Sacramento River Cats of the AAA Pacific Coast League. In 2013, Horton played 17 games with Sacramento, hitting .224 before he was released. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles organization, where he finished his career with the Bowie Bay Sox of the AA Eastern League, hitting .303 with one home run and two RBIs in 74 games. In 2012, Horton hit .346 for Midland of the AA Texas League with nine home runs and 54 RBIs.

Bryse Wilson won’t be pitching in Durham tonight in front of family and friends, and that’s okay.

After Monday night, no one would have it any other way.

When Wilson woke up on Sunday morning, he had no idea that his Major League baseball debut was only 24 hours away. He certainly didn’t know he would drop like a plumb from heaven in the midst of the Atlanta Braves chase for its 18th division championship. Or that he would accomplish his dream of being a Major League pitcher in PNC Park in Pittsburgh, one of the most picturesque settings in all of baseball.

Yet there he was on Monday night, the youngest pitcher in the Major Leagues and the third 20-year-old to start for the Braves this year. He started the game by striking out Corey Dickerson. Then he struck out Adam Frazier.

Wilson became the first Orange High player to pitch in the Major Leagues, but he never showed it. He went five shutout innings and earned the win as the Braves defeated the Pirates 1-0. Wilson struck out five, walked three and yielded three hits. After Dickerson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the 5th, Wilson left the game. Dan Winkler earned his 2nd save.

After starting the season with the Florida Fire Frogs in the Florida State League, Wilson was surprised to find himself pitching on Monday night with the Braves clinging to first place in the National League East by one-half game over Philadelphia.

“Never,” Wilson said when asked if he could envision being in the major leagues so soon. “I thought I would move up one step at a time. I never expected this.”

Wilson was called up to Atlanta after just three starts with the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League. On Monday afternoon, Wilson was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after breaking the Gwinnett franchise record by recording 13 strikeouts last Wednesday in the Stripers 4-3 victory over the Louisville Bats.

“I was impressed by everything about him,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “He kind of carried himself like I expected. He has a lot of confidence from everything I’ve heard about him and what little I’ve known him. That’s his makeup.”

Friends and family of Wilson were anticipating his debut at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Tuesday night. He was slated to pitch the 2nd game of a doubleheader for Gwinnett against Durham.

After spending all of 2017 with the Macon Braves of the South Atlantic League, it’s been a summer of promotions for Wilson. He started the season with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League. In five starts, Wilson went 2-0 with a 0.34 ERA. He only yielded four runs in the FSL, and only one of those was earned. He struck out 26 with no walks.

On May 7, Wilson was promoted to Mississippi of the AA Southern League. In the month of July, Wilson led all of minor league baseball with 42 strikeouts, despite being the youngest player in the Southern League at 20 years old. He finished July with a 2-0 record, throwing 32 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, seven walks and a 0.84 ERA.

Bryse Wilson has become the first Orange Panther to be called up to the Major Leagues.

On Sunday night, Wilson was called by the Atlanta Braves to join the parent club. He will start on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, completing a meteoric rise up the baseball chain that started with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League on April 10th.

Wilson’s callup came the day before a homecoming at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. He was supposed to start the 2nd game of a doubleheader for the Gwinnett Stripers against the Bulls in front of hundreds of friends and family from across the area on Tuesday night. Instead, Wilson got word from Braves’ management he was being called up on Sunday night after only three starts with the Stripers.

Wilson, who graduated from Orange in June 2016, will step right in the midst of a pennant chase. The Braves lead the Philadelphia Phillies by a half-game for first place in the National League East. Oddly enough, the Pirates will start another North Carolina product to oppose Wilson. Clayton’s Chris Archer will start for the Bucs, who are five games behind St. Louis for the final wildcard spot in the National League.

On Monday afternoon, Wilson was named the International League Pitcher of the Week. In a 4-3 victory over Louisville on Wednesday, Wilson set the Gwinnett franchise record with 13 strikeouts over eight shutout innings, yielding only one hit. The previous Gwinnett record was set in 2009 by Charlie Horton.

Wilson was a sensation from the first day he set foot on the hill for Dean Dease’s Orange Panthers. He went 11-0 with a 1.05 ERA in his freshman season. During his Orange career, he was 33-4 with a 0.90 ERA in 38 career starts. He had 335 strikeouts with 43 walks.

Wilson committed to play at UNC, but opted to start his minor league career immediately after being drafted in the 4th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft by the Braves. After starting five games with Florida, Wilson was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the AA Southern League on May 5th. In Mississippi, Wilson made 15 starts and finished 3-5 with a 3.97 ERA. He struck out 89 batters while walking 26.

Braves will make his Major League debut after just 18 days with the Stripers. He won all three of his starts with Gwinnett. His first game in the International League came on August 4th against the Norfolk Tides, when he threw five-and-a-third innings, giving up six runs off seven hits. He struck out eight as the Stripers won 10-6. On August 9th, the Stripers defeated Buffalo 9-5. Wilson earned the victory after throwing six-and-two-thirds innings, giving up seven hits, four runs off seven hits. He struck out three and issued no walks.

Wilson was also a linebacker, running back, wide receiver and backup quarterback for the Orange football team for four varsity seasons. In 2015, Wilson rushed for 1,024 yards and eight touchdowns as the Panthers went 11-2, with both losses coming against Southern Durham. Wilson had several scholarship offers from FCS schools to play football.

Our first Orange Panther of the Week for this academic year is Orange junior outside hitter Emma Clements. Last week, Orange won all three of its matches to start the 2018-19 academic year. That included two victories over South Granville, who won the 2A State Championship in 2015. In the first three games of the season, Clements had 51 kills, including 22 in Thursday’s win at South Granville. She also had six aces, seven blocks and 74 digs. Emma’s life is consumed by volleyball year-round. When she isn’t playing for the Lady Panthers, she’s usually on a volleyball court somewhere in travel ball. Orange returns to action on Monday night to host Eastern Alamance. 

Orange Panther of the Week: Emma Clements

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Kelly Young has played and coached volleyball in elementary school, middle school, high school, recreation and intramurals at N.C. State. She has never seen a 64-point set until last Thursday night. Fortunately for her, she was on the right side of it.

Orange won the 2nd set against South Granville 33-31, then captured the subsequent two sets to complete a season sweep of the Vikings 3-1 in Creedmoor. The Lady Panthers, who defeated the Vikings on Tuesday, are off to a 3-0 start for just the third time in nine years.

“I told my team I’ve never even play in, seen or coached a game into the 30s,” said Young, who just completed her first week as Orange’s volleyball coach. “I think the highest I’ve ever gotten was maybe 28, but never into the 30s”

Junior Emma Clements had a season-high 22 kills, 38 digs, five blocks and one ace. Senior Libby Jones had eleven kills and ten blocks. Junior Kaitlyn Werden finished with 23 assists. Senior Liz LaNier came away with 12 blocks, six kills, and two aces.

Beating South Granville in Hillsborough was one thing, but winning in the spirited confines of Viking Gymnasium was another level of achievement for Young’s team.

“(South Granville) was very solid,” said Young. “I think they played even better than they did here on Tuesday. They’re hitting was on. They’re blocking was on. Each set was point-for-point. We started off a little slow in the first set. But we did not stop hustling and we came back.”

Orange will host Eastern Alamance on Monday night before starting play in the Big 8 Conference. They travel to East Chapel Hill for its conference opener on Tuesday, followed by a home match against Hillside on Thursday.

On the other side of Hillsborough, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves won its second game of the season by beating Eastern Alamance 3-1 on scores of 19-25, 25-19, 28-26 and 25-21. Junior Emma Downing had eight kills to lead the Red Wolves. Downing also had four blocks. Senior Cody Rabalais finished with seven kills. Freshman Lydia Wood, in just her third game, had six kills. Senior Rachel Tucker finished with 21 kills, while sophomore Marlee Rakouskas had 30 digs.

On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge dropped its first game under new head coach Anna Seethaler to Durham School of the Arts.

After playing three consecutive home games to open the season, Cedar Ridge has three straight road games this week. That includes the conference opener on Tuesday night against Northwood in Pittsboro. On Wednesday, the Red Wolves will face Eastern Alamance in Mebane in a rematch. Then on Thursday, they travel to power Chapel Hill. The Tigers, under head coach Ross Fields, are the two-time defending 3A Eastern Regional Champions. Last season, the Tigers defeated Person 3-1 to win the Eastern Regional title. They fell to North Iredell in five sets in the 3A State Championship match at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. In 2016, Chapel Hill fell to Cox Mill 3-0 in the 3A State Championship match.

Cedar Ridge’s next home match is set for August 28th against Orange.

How does a coach turn a great Thursday night football team into a great Friday night football team?

If that was a simple question to answer, Orange High would have had several state football championships by now. The Panthers haven’t lost a junior varsity game in over three years. At a time when some schools can’t field varsity programs, Orange continues to have healthy numbers for junior varsity just as they’ve done since the late 80s.

The transition to the next level isn’t easy. Some of the players who suited up for Orange during Friday’s 33-24 loss to Northern Nash had never lost a high school football game before. They had certainly never lost to a team that went 1-10 the previous season.

It was Orange’s first season opening loss since 2010, but perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising. The Panthers have only one returning starter on offense, four on defense.

Last season, Orange captured a share of the Big 8 Championship despite being held under 100 yards passing seven times. There was hope new quarterbacks Travis Ray or Wyatt Jones would make Orange’s spread vertical to start the 2018 season against the Knights.

Summertime 7-on-7 drills can’t adequately prepare a new quarterback for what he will face in the regular season because 7-on-7 games don’t have a pass rush, something that plagued the Orange offensive line and created endless headaches for Ray and Wyatt Jones on Friday night.

Yet that didn’t seem to hamper Orange the previous Friday against Eastern Alamance. The Panthers outscored the Eagles 38-21 in Mebane with Zyon Pettiford scoring two touchdowns.

So what happened against the Knights?

Things started unraveling immediately. Orange lost two starting wide receivers in the opening six minutes. Flanker Freddy Francis, a transfer from Cedar Ridge, injured his foot on the game’s second series and didn’t return. Slot receiver Khaleb Smith, who also plays defensive end, injured his knee after making a catch to convert a 4th down on Orange’s third series. He also didn’t return.

“With Khaleb, we didn’t want to take any chances,” said Orange Coach Van Smith. “It was a problem with his knee. It was just precautionary.”

It was also the theme of the night. Throughout the course of the second half, Panther after Panther left the game because of cramps or other injuries.

“We went from being a team that’s pretty deep with having any of our players playing offense and defense to plugging people in on both sides very quickly,” said Smith.

Entering Friday night, Orange had gone 67-13 since the 2012 season behind players like Bryse Wilson, Payton Wilson, Stone Edwards, Tay Jones, Ryan Sellers, Garrett Cloer, Marvante Beasley, Noah Rogers, Eryk Brandon-Dean and countless others.

Now, all those players have moved on. As with Northern Durham,  Hillside, Southern Durham, Garner and every other program that has had success over several years, there comes a time for transition because that’s how sports evolve. Orange has just started theirs, but Smith has coached successful teams before coming to HIllsborough. He’ll coach more of them at Orange, and he isn’t ready to press the panic button after one game.

“I think going into next week, the guys know that they have to focus,” said Smith. “We had a long talk after the game that we’re inexperienced in a lot of areas. We’re young in a lot of areas. There are eight coaches on the coaching staff. What we need now are our older guys, who are experienced, to become coaches at practice and bring these younger guys along and help get them ready.”