With every passing week of the Big 8 Conference baseball season, it’s clear that the race for the league’s four state playoff spots may not be decided until the final day of the season.
That would appear to be good news for Cedar Ridge, who has the toughest part of its schedule in the rear view mirror.
On Friday, the Red Wolves completed a two-game sweep of Northern Durham with a 9-1 win at Knights Stadium. Cedar Ridge starter Phil Berger earned the win, throwing his 2nd complete game of the season to improve to 4-2. Berger is 3-1 in Big 8 starts this season and is the only pitcher in the league to beat Chapel Hill in 2018.
Berger also homered in the first inning. In the third, Berger put Cedar Ridge ahead 2-0 after an RBI double to center that scored Matthew Kahn.
After the Knights scored its only run in the 2nd, Cedar Ridge responded with three in the 4th. Chris Cox hit a leadoff infield single, went to second on a balk by Northern pitcher Jordan Snow, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cooper Lamb.
After Kahn doubled to center, Adam Chnupa ripped a two-run home run over the left field wall. It was Chnupa’s 2nd home run of the season.
Cedar Ridge put the game on ice in the seventh inning with four runs. Jake DeFranco led off with a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly by his younger brother Dante DeFranco. Sailor Ramos and Cox hit back-to-back singles, followed by a walk by Lamb. With Eric Zehnder at bat, Ramos scored on a passed ball. Zehnder then singled to plate Cox and advance Cox to third. Kahn hit an infield single to score Kahn.
Cedar Ridge is now 8-5, 5-3 in the Big 8 with a critical two-game series against East Chapel Hill starting Tuesday. The Red Wolves travel to Burlington to face Walter Williams on Monday, then head to Wildcat Stadium to face the Wildcats on Tuesday.
Going into the East Chapel Hill series, Cedar Ridge is tied for 3rd in the Big 8 with Orange at 5-3. After sweeping Hillside last week, East Chapel Hill is tied with Chapel Hill for 1st place at 7-1. Northwood is tied with Northern Durham for 5th at 4-4. Those two teams start their. Own two-game series on Thursday in Pittsboro.