Mia Davidson: The all-time leading home run hitter in Orange High history has signed with the Denso Bright Pegasus of the Japan Diamond Softball League, the top professional organization in Japan. Davidson will play for the Bright Pegasus starting next week, as well as maintaining her American ties with Athletes Unlimited during the summer. The Diamond Softball League, commonly referred to as the “JD League,” has been in existence since 2022. Unlike the United States, which has struggled to maintain a standard individual franchise professional softball league despite the popularity of the sport in college and high school, the JD League has 16 teams. Denso Bright Pegasus was founded in 1960.

Takia Nichols: Nichols hit her first home run of the season for North Carolina Central against North Carolina on Tuesday night. The dinger gave the Eagles the lead, but UNC wound up winning 21-1 in five innings at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill. Over the weekend, the Eagles played in the Pirate Invitational at Joyner Family Stadium in Greenville. Nichols started in two games and went 1-for-2 with a double against Rider. The Broncs won 10-4. Nichols also started the second game of a doubleheader against East Carolina, which the Pirates won 5-0.

Mary Moss Wirt: Elon went 1-4 in the Duke Tournament in Durham last weekend. Wirt started at catcher in two games against Michigan State and against #8 Duke on Sunday. This weekend, the Phoenix will face off against UNC Greensboro at Hunt Softball Park in Elon.

Tori Dalehite: UNC Greensboro went 3-2 in the I-75 Tournament at Mewborn Field in Atlanta last weekend. In a 3-0 victory at Kennesaw State on Sunday, Dalehite entered the game as a pinch-hitter. In an 8-4 win over Robert Morris, Dalehite scored on a walkoff grand slam hit by Samantha Beck as the Spartans came back from a 4-0 deficit to win. Dalehite reached on an error leading up to the game-winning homer. Dalehite also played in a 13-1 victory over Army in five innings. Last week, Dalehite entered the game in the sixth inning as a reserve in a 6-4 loss to North Carolina.

Carson Bradsher: South Carolina Upstate hosted the Wings ETC Classic last weekend at Cyrill Stadium in Spartanburg, SC. The Spartans rolled past Monmouth 8-1. Bradsher scored as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning off of a sacrifice fly. On Saturday, Upstate defeated Monmouth again 9-0. Bradsher scored the final run of the day after Cassie Norris was hit by a pitch. Bradsher also entered the game in a reserve role in a 11-6 loss to Kentucky on Sunday. South Carolina Upstate went 2-3 in the event.

Lauren Jackson: Lenoir-Rhyne is now ranked #25 in Division II after sweeping four games from Barton and Johnson C. Smith at Bears Field in Hickory. Against the Golden Bulls, Jackson went 2-for-2 with an RBI single during a nine-run first inning. Jackson played as a pinch-hitter in a 4-0 win over Barton on Sunday in the opening game of a doubleheader. On Saturday, Jackson walked as a pinch-hitter in a 10-0 whitewashing of Barton in five innings.

Ava Lowry: Division III North Carolina Wesleyan started its season dropping a doubleheader to #9 Virginia Wesleyan over the weekend at Edge Field in Rocky Mount. On Saturday, the Battling Bishops swept Mid-Atlantic Christian in another doubleheader. Lowry, a former Cedar Ridge shortstop, hit a two-run homer in her first at-bat of the season in an 11-0 win over the Mustangs. In the nightcap, Lowry drew three walks and scored two runs as the Bishops won 17-4. Virginia Wesleyan won the opening game of Sunday’s doubleheader 6-5 in nine innings. The Bishops led 2-0 going into the seventh inning, but the Marlins tied the game in the seventh. Lowry finished 1-for-3. The Marlins claimed the second game 8-0. Lowry went 0-for-2.

Kelsey Tackett: Wesleyan’s opening weekend was also the first official games for Tackett, who played for Orange from 2020-2023.

Brianne Foster: Wake Tech Community College defeated Southwest Virginia 9-1 on Monday in William Peace University in Raleigh. Foster entered the game as a pinch-hitter. Foster started in left field as the Eagles swept the doubleheader with a 17-9 win in five innings. Foster started in left field. On Thursday, the Eagles will travel to North Myrtle Beach to face South Carolina Union.

Olivia Aitkin: The Division III Amherst College Mammoths will start its season on March 17 in a doubleheader against Endicott College and Rampo College. Aitkin will start her sophomore season after playing ten games last year, starting six. She had a batting average of .385 in 13 at-bats.

ROXBORO–Orange men’s basketball earned the feeling of a championship on Friday night.

Two weeks ago, the Panthers won the Central Conference regular season title, but it arrived anticlimactically. Orange blew out Southern Alamance by 41 points and didn’t learn until an hour later that they had won the championship when Person defeated Eastern Alamance.

Ultimately, basketball is a tournament sport. For the first time since 2016, Orange won a conference tournament on Friday night and did it convincingly.

The Panthers (15-11) charged out to a 8-0 lead and never trailed to defeat Eastern Alamance 86-69 in the Central Conference Tournament championship game at Rockets Gymnasium. Sophomore Coleman Cloer scored 36 points and was named Tournament Most Valuable Player as the Panthers never trailed in a game for the ninth time this season.

Sophomore Kai Wade, who finished with 15 points, was named to the All-Tournament team. So was defensive star Freddie Sneed, who scored eight points and made several huge blocks as the Panthers pulled away turning defense into offense in the opening minutes.

Cloer, only a sophomore, has now scored 967 points in 44 career games. He missed the first eight games of this season nursing an injured ankle, a stretch where the Panthers went 2-6.

It was Orange’s first conference tournament title since they defeated Southern Durham to win the Big 8 championship at Chapel Hill High School in 2016. It was also the first tournament crown for Orange coach Derryl Britt since he arrived in Hillsborough in 2018.

“This is a different feeling,” said Britt, who carried the championship trophy into the Person High lobby after most of the fans had left. “The key thing is validation. We came into the season with the goal of winning the regular season championship and the tournament. And by winning this tournament, we feel like we validated everything we did during the regular season.”

Junior Jordan Matthews led Eastern Alamance (18-9) with 19 points.

Orange has now beaten Eastern Alamance six straight times.

A week after winning over Eastern Alamance in Mebane, Orange wasted no time in getting off to another strong start. Wade drained a jumper from the foul line on the Panthers opening possession, the first of eight straight Orange points. Center Mason Robinson hit Wade for a backdoor lay-in. Then Wade picked off a pass and fed Xandrell Pennix, cherry picking on the other end for a lay-up. After Ja’Vier Tinnin missed, Sneed grabbed the rebound and took it down the heart of the Eagles defense for a lay-in, drawing a foul on Jalen Alston for a three-point play.

Eastern’s Amari Gibbs scored on a lay-in to earn the Eagles first points 2:56 in. After an Orange turnover, Matthews drained a 3-pointer to reduce Orange’s lead to 8-5, but Orange immediately responded with a 10-0 run.

Wade worked around a double-screen to feed Robinson for a two-hand dunk. After Tinnen missed a running one-hander, Cloer took it coast-to-coast for a driving lay-in, actually becoming the final Orange starter to score. Wade grabbed a rebound in transition and threw a no-look pass to a trailing Cloer, who laid it in, leading to an Eagle timeout.

Cloer scored 16 points in the second quarter. When he wasn’t scoring, he was drawing fouls. Orange had foul difficulty of its own. Sneed and Robinson were both pulled in the second quarter after they each picked up two fouls. Reserves Michael Clark and Ryan Moss had quality minutes as they extended Orange’s lead to 15 at one point. Moss, the only senior who played for Orange, had five points in the second quarter. Clark finished 6-of-7 from the foul line.

Even when Eastern started to gain momentum, Cloer silenced it immediately. Matthews drained a 3-pointer to cut the Orange lead to 28-19 and send a vibe across the Eagle bench. Cloer marched right back down and hit his own 3-pointer, remarkably the only shot from beyond the arc for Orange the whole night, to stem any tide the Eagles hoped to build.

Orange’s lead remained in double-figures the entire second half. Wade scored eight points in the second half as the Eagles couldn’t contain his explosive first step to the basket. Even when they got someone in his way, Wade would simply sink a pull-up jumper Cloer and Robinson each had spectacular dunks in the fourth quarter.

Orange will now wait for the field of 64 to be released for the 3A State Playoffs on Saturday. The Panthers will play at home on Tuesday night and most likely receive an 11-seed.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore runner Naomi Dyreng. Last fall, Dyreng won the individual championship of the Central Conference women’s cross country meet at Lake Cammack Cross Country Course in Burlington. It was a Cedar Ridge finish in the top two. Abigail Klaitman finished second. Dyreng would go on to finish third in the Mideast Regional. For the second year in a row, Dyreng qualified for the 3A State Championships, where she finished 17th. This winter, Dyreng qualified for the 3A State Indoor Track & Field Championships. She finished 7th in the 1,600 meters in the 3A State Championships at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. Dyreng qualified for the state championships when she finished with a time of 5:32.95 in the 1,600 meters at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear at Dave Thaden Stadium on January 27. Last fall, Dyreng helped the Cedar Ridge women finish 2nd in the Central Conference championship meet. Now, she’s gearing up for the outdoor track and field season, which will begin next week. Last year, Dyreng won three Mideast Regional Championships at Franklinton High School. She won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters championships, as well as a relay championship. She ran in the state championships at North Carolina A&T University inside Truist Field in Greensboro. 

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Naomi Dyreng

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore runner Naomi Dyreng. Last fall, Dyreng won the individual championship of the Central Conference women’s cross country meet at Lake Cammack Cross Country Course in Burlington. It was a Cedar Ridge finish in the top two. Abigail Klaitman finished second.

Any win for the Orange men’s basketball team in Roxboro is precious. On Tuesday night, the Panthers had extra reason to celebrate as they defeated the Person Rockets 65-59 on Tuesday night in Roxboro in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. Sophomore Coleman Cloer finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. Cloer scored 15 in the second half as the Panthers advanced to a conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2017. Despite not even completing two years as a player, Cloer is already at 931 career points. Sophomore Kai Wade went 8-of-8 from the foul line and finished with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. It was the first win for Orange in Roxboro since December 2014. Cloer fed fellow sophomore Mason Robinson for an ally-oop dunk to trigger a 10-0 run late in the third quarter, putting Orange ahead for good. It was the Panthers second win over the Rockets this season. Xandrell Pennix added eleven points for Orange, while Robinson had ten points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Orange will face Eastern Alamance for the Central Conference Tournament championship on Friday night at 7:30 in Roxboro. Last week, Orange defeated the Eagles 79-74 in Mebane. Orange hasn’t won a conference tournament since 2016 when they defeated Southern Durham to win the Big 8 Conference championship.

Orange’s Coleman Cloer & Kai Wade discuss win over Person & reaching the Central Tourney title game

Any win for the Orange men’s basketball team in Roxboro is precious. On Tuesday night, the Panthers had extra reason to celebrate as they defeated the Person Rockets 65-59 on Tuesday night in Roxboro in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. Sophomore Coleman Cloer finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.

Photo from Carolina University 

Grace Andrews: After three years at Catawba Valley Community College, Andrews is now at Carolina University, a National Christian College Athletic Association school in Winston-Salem. Carolina won its first game of the season against Salem College on February 17. Andrews went 2-for-5 with a double. In the second game of the doubleheader, Andrews finished 1-for-3 with an RBI double as Salem won 9-8 with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. On February 21, the Bruins split a doubleheader with Milligan University in Milligan, TN. In a 12-2 win for Carolina in the opener, Andrews went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. In Milligan’s 5-4 win in the nightcap, Andrews went 1-for-4 and scored the Bruins first run off a throwing error. She started at shortstop. Andrews also played both games in a doubleheader sweep of Johnson C. Smith in Clemmons on February 19. The Bruins are 4-4.

Takia Nichols :North Carolina Centra won 3-2 in the HBCU Softball Invitational at the Turner Lake Softball Complex in Covington, GA last weekend. Nichols started as a designated hitter in a 4-3 win over Alabama State. She went 1-for-3. Alcorn State edged the Eagles 7-6 on Friday night. Nichols went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. Nichols went 1-for-3 with an RBI off a sacrifice fly as Central edged Jackson State 9-8 on Saturday. Alabama A&M defeated Central 4-1 on Sunday. Nichols entered the game as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-1 with a walk. The Eagles are 4-6 and will head to Greenville this weekend for the Pirate Invitational at East Carolina University. Central will face East Carolina on Friday.

Tori Dalehite: Last week, Dalehite started in left field as UNC Greensboro defeated Wintrop 6-1 at UNCG Softball Stadium. Dalehite went 0-for-3 with a walk. The Spartans hosted the Spiro Classic last week in Greensboro. Dalehite started in left field in a 5-3 win over Sacred Heart on Friday. She played right field in a 7-2 win over Drexel on Friday night. Dalehite singled and scored as a pinch-hitter in the Spartans 7-3 win over Drexel on Saturday. Ohio defeated UNCG twice last weekend, including a 6-4 win on Sunday. Dalehite entered that contest in the seventh inning as a right fielder.

Mary Moss Wirt: The Elon softball team played in the Marucci Classic at Dail Softball Stadium at N.C. State University in Raleigh. The Phoenix went 1-4 in the event. Wirt played in all five games, starting with an appearance as a pinch-hitter in an 8-7 loss to North Dakota State in eight innings. Wirt started as catcher in an 9-0 loss to Connecticut in five innings. Elon’s only win of the weekend with a 7-5 victory over North Dakota St. in eight innings. Wirt entered the game against the Bison in the second inning as catcher. Wirt also played in two games against N.C. State. The Wolfpack defeated Elon on Saturday 5-2. On Sunday, N.C. State prevailed 8-4. On Wednesday, Wirt started at catcher in a 9-1 loss to Virginia Tech in six innings at Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg, VA.

Carson Bradsher: South Carolina Upstate went 2-2 in the Winthrop Eagle Classic at Terry Field in Rock Hill, SC last weekend. In a 14-3 win over Mount St. Mary’s, Bradsher had an RBI single to right field in the fourth inning. Bradsher entered the game during a 10-run fourth inning as a pinch-runner and scored. off a throwing error.

Lauren Jackson: Division II Lenoir-Rhyne defeated the #1 team in D2, North Georgia, 2-1 in ten innings in Dahlonga, GA on Saturday. On Sunday, North Georgia bounced back to beat the Bears 6-0. Jackson played in the second end of the doubleheader as a pinch-hitter. Jackson walked in the Bears 9-0 victory over UNC Pembroke in five innings on Saturday afternoon. On Thursday, Lenoir-Rhyne split a doubleheader against Lees-McRae at Bears Field in Hickory. The Bears won the nightcap 10-2 in five innings. Jackson started at catcher and went 1-for-3.

Brianne Foster: Breezy has started her freshman season at Wake Tech. The Eagles defeated the Guilford College junior varsity team 10-2 on February 18 for its first win. Foster went 1-for-2 with a run scored. Foster went 2-for-4 in the opening game of the doubleheader against Guilford, which the Quakers won 15-7. Foster started at catcher. Foster also started the opening game of a doubleheader against Gaston College on Wednesday, which the Rhinos swept.

ROXBORO: The curse of the Rock has been broken.

For the first time in nearly ten years, Orange has won in Roxboro right in front of the Rocket Rowdies.

The play itself wasn’t exactly reminiscent of a classic basketball film like “Hoosiers” or “Above the Rim.” It wasn’t even “Space Jam.”

But Orange won in Roxboro for the first time since December 15, 2014, ending a five-game losing streak in Person County.

Now, they’re headed to the Central Conference Tournament championship game.

On a night of the strange, Coleman Cloer remained the reliable constant. He scored 22 points, including 15 in the second half, to pace the Panthers to a 65-59 win on Tuesday night

Orange, the top seed in the tournament, will face either Eastern Alamance or Southern Alamance at Person High School in the championship game on Friday night at 7:30.

Orange avenged a loss to Person two weeks ago, its only defeat against a conference team this season. Person had beaten Orange in seven of the last eight meetings in Roxboro.

Reserve Lamont Johnson and starter Lance Clarke each led Person with 17 points, but Clarke was held to two points in the second half. Clarke, the Rockets leading scorer, was injured with 1:56 remaining in regulation but returned in the final 30 seconds, despite writhing on the floor in pain for several minutes while being treated by head coach Charles Dacus.

The frantic back-and-forth pace usually set by both teams yielded to a half-court matchup on Tuesday night. Orange tried to push tempo whenever possible, but the highlight reel dunks off the backboard against Eastern Alamance from Friday night didn’t make the trip up Highway 157.

Part of that was the Rockets inspired play. Person had to beat Walter Williams in Burlington on Monday night just to reach the semifinals inside its own gym. The Rockets may not have been at their best, but they certainly didn’t make it easy for Orange.

“I’ve watched that team play lackluster in a lot of games,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “But no matter where the game is located, when it’s Orange and Person, they get up for it. So it doesn’t matter if they played the night before. They get up for us. We expect what we got tonight.”

Cloer came into the game off a 41-point effort against Southern Alamance, followed by a 31-point night against Eastern Alamance on Friday. Person forward Daejon Hodge held Cloer to seven in the first half.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half. Orange sophomore Mason Robinson threw down three ally-oop feeds in the second quarter to space the Panther lead to 31-27, but Johnson and Hodge scored the final four points of the half to even things up at 31-31 going to the locker room.

With Clarke bottled up by Orange’s Freddy Sneed and Pennix, Johnson and Hodge carried the offensive load for the Rockets during the second half. After Clarke blocked a shot from Wade, Jordan Lunsford got the ball to Hodge, who tipped it in to even the game 42-42 with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Cloer lobbed the ball for Robinson for another ally-oop dunk immediately afterwards, which triggered a 10-0 run that put the Panthers in control. Sneed stole a pass from Clarke and fed Kai Wade, who appeared to set up an ally-oop for Cloer. But Wade threw the pass so precise, it dropped through the net to increase the Orange lead to 47-42. Cloer scored off a running one-hander, while Clarke followed with an errant 3-pointer. Cloer hit two more free throws.

Reserve Malykhai Justice was inserted into the game to replace Robinson after he picked up his fourth foul. As the third quarter wound down, Cloer absorbed contact while missing a drive to the basket, but Justice grabbed the rebound and beat the 3rd quarter clock with a lay-in to give Orange its first double-digit lead at 53-43.

Person shot 0-of-6 from three-point range in the third quarter.

The Rockets whittled the margin down to six points several times in the waning minutes, but Clarke was injured during a frantic sequence where the Rockets had possession. Clarke injured his calf and couldn’t put any weight on his left leg as he was carried off the floor by Person assistant wrestling coach Chase Kernodle, a former Orange grappler. Yet Clarke returned in the final seconds.

Wade and Pennix knocked down pressure free throws in the final minute.

Person was chosen as the location to host the tournament semifinals and championship games after a vote of the Central Conference’s basketball coaches because it was the most convenient geographically to the league’s seven teams.