Photo by Angie Carden Hurdle
In terms of adversity, it’s already been a long season for Orange softball.
And they just finished their second game.
Before the Lady Panthers started workouts this year, they had already lost their top pitcher, their starting first baseman, their backup pitcher and their starting shortstop for the entire year.
Then again, things are tough all over Hillsborough softball as winter draws to a close. Across town, Cedar Ridge lost second baseman Tori Dalehite, the most accomplished player of the class of 2020, with a torn ACL suffered just as practice was about to start.
In November, Orange’s coaches knew that Jaden Hurdle, a freshman who was the starting first baseman for the 2017 3A State Championship team, would be unlikely to play her senior season. Hurdle tore the ACL in her left knee for the second time in her high school career last summer during travel ball.
The news grew more grim in the winter. Sophomore shortstop Mary Moss Wirt was injured playing basketball at Carrboro on December 12. Wirt, who played 20 games as a freshman, tore her ACL trying to return to action.
On top of that, sophomore pitcher Gracie Walker suffered a torn labrum in her throwing shoulder. She underwent surgery last month and watched Orange’s game against Roxboro Community School with her arm in a sling Thursday night.
In her freshman year, Walker led Orange with eight wins in the circle, including a victory over Jacksonville in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. She finished 8-5 with a 2.90 ERA, along with a .414 batting average.
“It put us behind the eight ball,” said Orange Softball Coach Henry Horn. “We’re trying to do all the little things now. We’re giving a lot of kids opportunities. We’re just very young and inexperienced on the mound.”
The silver lining was Orange returned Kelly “Maddy” Bartlett, an all-Big 8 Conference infielder. Naturally, Bartlett was injured while tagging out Roxboro Community School’s Maci Clark at 2nd base in the penultimate out of Thursday night’s game in Hillsborough. Bartlett had to leave the game, forcing Orange to get the last out with four freshmen on the field.
Orange managed to get that last out to beat the Bulldogs 8-5 for its first win of the season. The Lady Panthers trailed 5-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but scored four runs in their final at-bat. Sophomore catcher Lauren Jackson and freshman Serenity McPherson were hit by pitches to open the sixth. Grace Andrews had a critical RBI single to score courtesy runner Brianna Wilkins.
If there is a positive for Orange, it’s that the five freshmen who are already on the varsity roster have plenty of experience winning. McPherson, Carson Bradsher, Savannah Wynne, Briane Foster and Kelsey Tackett were all members of Stanford Middle School’s Orange Person Athletic Conference Championship team from last May.
Bradsher, who hit leadoff for Orange on Thursday, finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
“Carson is someone we can play anywhere,” Horn said. “She’s a utility player. Very talented lady.”
Foster earned the save for Orange by retiring the final two Bulldogs.
Hurdle’s absence means that senior first baseman Grace Andrews is the final player remaining from Orange’s State title team. Three years ago, Andrews was a freshman whose insertion into the starting lineup by coach Eddy Davidson required senior Abby Hamlett to move to shortstop, a combination that led Orange to Raleigh and eventually glory.
“We’ve asked her to be a leader,” Horn said. “We need her to get over this hill for us this year. She’s done a really good job to helping the younger players.”
After a rocky start to the season with a 7-1 loss to Holly Springs on Wednesday, Orange’s youth came through on Thursday against a Roxboro Community School team that topped the Panthers twice last season.
“This is nice because they got us twice last year,” Horn said. “This year, I want to get them twice.”