The biggest question surrounding the 3A North Carolina State Softball tournament is who can hit Rivers Andrews?

Not in the traditional softball sense of opposing teams getting base hits and scoring runs off of them, but actually trying to make contact with Andrews’ pitches.

On Friday night in the second round of the 3A state playoffs, West Carteret (16-8), who rolled to the Coastal Conference Championship with a 10-0 record, had just two players put the ball in fair play.

The first, Makyiah Mitchell, came up to bat in the third inning after Andrews started the game by striking out the first ten Patriots she faced. Mitchell grounded out to Red Wolves shortstop Tionna Carter. The other was Sierra Mitchell, who was thrown out by third baseman Taylor Barnes. That was the 15th and final out.

Andrews struck out the other 13, bringing her total for the season to 190, and Cedar Ridge rolled past the Patriots 10-0 for the school’s second-ever win in the state playoffs.

“It goes back to the framework that we put in early on last year,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Allen Byrd. “It’s fundamental softball and we’ve stuck to the game plan.”

On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will travel to face top-seeded West Brunswick in Shallotte in the 3rd round. The Trojans cruised past Wilson Fike 9-0 Friday. Last season, West Brunswick lost to Orange in a best-of-three Eastern Regional Championship series, dropping the final two games in Hillsborough.

How dominant has Andrews been?

Her five-inning perfect game on Friday night was her ninth no-hitter this season and second in as many games. In playoff wins over Southern Wayne and West Carteret, Andrews has faced 37 batters. One of them has gotten on base.

That was a walk issued with two out in the top of the seventh on Wednesday against Southern Wayne after she had retired the first 20 Saints.

Andrews has struck out 32 of 37 batters in the postseason. So how does the rest of the defense keep from getting complacent?

“That’s something we work on in practice everyday,” said Byrd. “Because there’s going to be girls that can hit her. These girls that play in travel ball see that speed. (There’s) not a lot of them. But they’re expecting the ball and we the ball comes to them, they come up with some plays.”

The Red Wolves (17-1) scored in the opening inning, then added six more in the second to put the game away in front of a packed home crowd that watched for all of 67 minutes for the final out.

In the first, Taylor Ruhl and Carter singled. Andrews grounded to 2nd baseman Kiersten Newton, who threw out Cater at second, but the relay throw to first nearly wound up in the West Carteret dugout along first base, allowing Ruhl to score.

12 Red Wolves came up to bat in the second. Kara Wagoner, Taylor Barnes and Amy Stutzer all reached on errors to start the frame. Tori Dalehite, who leads the team with 29 RBIs, stroke a single to right field. Ruhl followed with a three-run, inside-the-park home run to left to push the Cedar Ridge to 5-0 and they were just getting warmed up.

After Andrews got aboard on a fielder’s choice, courtesy runner Shili Quade scored after Wagoner lined a ball off pitcher Breann Caldwell’s glove.

The Red Wolves pushed across three more runs in the fourth. After Andrews and catcher Kymberlie Thacker each singled with one out, Quade scored off a looper to center by Emma Roby. Wagoner lined a 2-1 fastball to center, scoring Reagan Ruhl, who was running for Thacker. Roby scored the final run off a groundout by Barnes.

Of Cedar Ridge’s 17 wins, nine have come from the slaughter rule, which is outscoring teams by ten runs after five innings, or 15 runs after three.

Now Cedar Ridge will made a four-and-a-half hour bus trip to West Brunswick, just a few miles from the South Carolina line. It’s only natural that a team that’s never been to the third round of the playoffs faces an unfamiliar opponent at a place they’ve never played.

“I just told the girls in the dugout that they made a statement tonight,” said Byrd. “It doesn’t matter who we play because eventually we’re going to have to play at someone’s else place at some point. Wherever we play, we’re going to tackle it one step at a time.”

Cedar Ridge’s Rivers Andrews was dominant again on Friday night in the Red Wolves’ 10-0 win over West Carteret in the 2nd Round of the 3A State Playoffs. Andrews struck out the first eleven batters that came to the plate, 13 of the 15 batters overall as the Red Wolves advanced to the third round of the 3A State Playoffs to face West Brunswick on Tuesday. Through the first two games of the playoffs, Andrews has allowed just one baserunner after facing 37 batters. That one was after a walk issued on Wednesday against Southern Wayne, ending a perfect game after Andrews had retired 20 consecutive Saints. 

Cedar Ridge Pitcher Rivers Andrews on Another Perfect Game

Cedar Ridge’s Rivers Andrews was dominant again on Friday night in the Red Wolves’ 10-0 win over West Carteret in the 2nd Round of the 3A State Playoffs. Andrews struck out the first eleven batters that came to the plate, 13 of the 15 batters overall as the Red Wolves advanced to the third round of the 3A State Playoffs to face West Brunswick on Tuesday.

It was another quick night for the Cedar Ridge softball team. They defeated West Carteret 10-0 in five innings in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough on Friday night. In a six-run 2nd inning, Taylor Ruhl scored on a three-run, inside the park home run. Ruhl scored four runs as the Red Wolves advanced to face West Brunswick on Tuesday near the South Carolina border. This will be the first time the Red Wolves have faced the Trojans.

Cedar Ridge Junior Taylor Ruhl Talks Inside the Park Home Run in Playoff Win vs. West Carteret

It was another quick night for the Cedar Ridge softball team. They defeated West Carteret 10-0 in five innings in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough on Friday night. In a six-run 2nd inning, Taylor Ruhl scored on a three-run, inside the park home run.

The Cedar Ridge Girls 4×200 and 4×400 Relay Teams will compete in Saturday’s 3A Mideast Regionals at Southeast Guilford High School in Greensboro. They qualified at last week’s Big 8 Conference Championships at Southern Durham. Featured in this video, from left to right, are freshman Katie Watkins, junior Abby Averette, sophomore Allison Musty, sophomore Ella Nissler, junior Macy Henry, freshman Jill Myler and freshman Anne Morrell.

Cedar Ridge’s Girls 4×200 and 4×400 Relay Teams Compete in Mideast Regionals Saturday

The Cedar Ridge Girls 4×200 and 4×400 Relay Teams will compete in Saturday’s 3A Mideast Regionals at Southeast Guilford High School in Greensboro. They qualified at last week’s Big 8 Conference Championships at Southern Durham.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Ben Pardue started pole vaulting last year. In just one year of work, he finished 2nd at the Big 8 Championships last week at Southern Durham with a distance of 12 feet. On Saturday, he will compete in the 3A Mideast Regionals for the first time. He has several goals outlined as he moves forward with his track and field career, including for the Regionals at Southeast Guilford on Greensboro on Saturday. 

Cedar Ridge Sophomore Ben Parude Discusses Pole Vaulting in the Mideast Regionals

Cedar Ridge sophomore Ben Purdue started pole vaulting last year. In just one year of work, he finished 2nd at the Big 8 Championships last week at Southern Durham with a distance of 12 feet. On Saturday, he will compete in the 3A Mideast Regionals for the first time.

Only a handful of baseball programs across the state can say they’ve won a game in the state playoffs for seven consecutive years. But Orange is one of them after Wednesday’s 6-2 victory over Jacksonville at Cardinals Stadium. Jaydin Poteat went 2-for-4 and scored in each of the first two innings. Jason Slaughter had three RBIs and also finished 2-for-4. Kaymin Matsko earned the win by throwing four innings, giving up only two runs. Dalton Brown singled, scored and threw two key innings of relief as the Panthers advanced to face Chapel Hill on Saturday night at 7, a game you can here on Hillsboroughsports.com

Orange Senior Jaydin Poteat, Jason Slaughter, Kaymin Matsko & Dalton Brown Discuss Playoff Win over

Only a handful of baseball programs across the state can say they’ve won a game in the state playoffs for seven consecutive years. But Orange is one of them after Wednesday’s 6-2 victory over Jacksonville at Cardinals Stadium. Jaydin Poteat went 2-for-4 and scored in each of the first two innings.

For the third time in four weeks, Caige Clayton came in from third base and pitched the final outs of a big Orange win. Clayton struck out the final two Jacksonville batters, with two men on base, to preserve Orange’s 6-2 win over the Cardinals. Clayton drove in the first run of the game with a double off the left field wall, scoring Jaydin Poteat. To prepare for a three-hour bus ride to Jacksonville, Clayton had a steady breakfast which included diligent attention to making his cereal, as he discusses in this interview. 

Orange 3rd Baseman and Closer Caige Clayton Discusses Getting Save vs. Jacksonville and the Finer P

For the third time in four weeks, Caige Clayton came in from third base and pitched the final outs of a big Orange win. Clayton struck out the final two Jacksonville batters, with two men on base, to preserve Orange’s 6-2 win over the Cardinals.

Matthew Kahn has been a revelation for Cedar Ridge’s push to its best record in 12 years, and he showed why on Wednesday.

Kahn, a sophomore, delivered a two-run triple, which proved to be the knockout blow during a six-run sixth inning as Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 10-2 in the first round of the 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough.

The Red Wolves are now 18-5. They will face Terry Sanford in Fayetteville on Saturday at noon in the 2nd round.

Junior pitcher Phil Berger earned the win, though he was limited to three-and-a-third innings. Berger improved to 6-2 by giving up two runs off three hits. Kahn came in during the fourth inning and took the save by throwing three-and-two-thirds shutout innings. He allowed one hit and two walks for his first varsity save.

It’s the 2nd straight year where Cedar Ridge has won a playoff game. Last year, the Red Wolves defeated Nash Central in the opening round before losing to Eastern Alamance 3-0 in the 2nd round.

As anticimatic as the game ended, it certainly didn’t start that way. Southern Alamance (17-10) scored its only runs in the first inning. Cole Greyson lined the game’s second pitch to centerfield. Junior Kaleb Potts got on board after a dropped pop-up. Amren Strigo loaded the bases after a line drive single to left. Junior catcher Austin Gilley grounded into a fielder’s choice to Jake DeFranco, bringing in Greyson. Potts scored off another RBI groundout by Scottie Thompson.

Cedar Ridge scored the game’s final ten runs, starting in the bottom of the first when Chris Cox doubled to the left field gap to plate Berger, who led off the frame with a single.

The Red Wolves took the lead with a pair in the 2nd. Erik Zehnder led off with a double to centerfield. Zehnder was thrown out at the plate trying to score off a grounder by Cooper Lamb. With two out, Adam Chnupa singled to right, sending Lamb to third. Jake DeFranco sent a grounder to Thompson, the pitcher, who threw it away, allowing Lamb and Chnupa to score.

In the fourth, Dante DeFranco sent a one-out single to left, and Cox followed with another single. Sailor Ramos got his team-leading 23rd RBI of the year with a liner to left, bringing in DeFranco and increasing Cedar Ridge’s lead to 4-2.

During Cedar Ridge’s sixth, Jake DeFranco walked, and Berger doubled. Dante DeFranco slammed another double to right to score Jake. Ramos added two more RBIs to his total with a line drive double to left. Lamb hit a sacrifice fly to left, allowing Kahn to tag up.

On Saturday, Cedar Ridge will play to get into the third round of the state playoffs for the first time since 2006.