With an array of Division I softball prospects spread across the various Alamance County schools within the Central Carolina Conference, it’s been easy to overlook the Hillsborough teams this season.
Orange did win the 2021 Big 8 Conference Championship after an undefeated regular season. Cedar Ridge won back-to-back conference titles in 2018 & 2019, reaching the Round of 16 in the 3A State Playoffs both times.
It speaks volumes about Cedar Ridge’s strength of schedule that, even with a current 9-11 overall record, the Red Wolves are still seeded #22 in the 3A East Rankings, according to MaxPreps. Four of the teams ahead of Cedar Ridge are from the Central Carolina Conference.
Nonetheless, Cedar Ridge coach Allen Byrd, who became a grandfather over the weekend, doesn’t want a repeat of last season.
The 2021 3A Softball state playoffs was narrowed down to 32 teams instead of the standard 64 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At season’s end, the Red Wolves were ranked #59 by MaxPreps, which likely would have put them in the postseason in a standard year. Of course, 2021 was anything but standard. Seven Cedar Ridge seniors, many of whom were members of the 2018 team that won the first softball conference championship in school history, ended their careers without one final trip to the playoffs.
While Cedar Ridge’s chances of returning to the postseason are strong this year, there was no denying a sense of finality last Wednesday. It was the final home game for Red Wolves seniors Takia Nichols, Olivia Aitkin and Ava Lowry. They have all signed to play college softball across the East Coast.
In her farewell game at Cedar Ridge against Walter Williams, Nichols hit one last home run in easily the most pitcher-friendly ballpark in the Central Carolina Conference, possibly the state (it is 220 feet down the left and right field lines to the wall at Cedar Ridge Softball Field. For comparison’s sake, at Duke Softball Stadium, it is 195 feet each way). Leading off the bottom of the second inning, Nichols drilled an 0-1 pitch well beyond the left field wall for her school record 32nd career home run. She finished the night 3-for-3 with two RBIs as the Red Wolves cruised 21-2 in five innings. Nichols, who has committed to play at North Carolina Central, now has 109 career RBIs, also a school record.
While Nichols is prepared to move on to play with the Eagles, she will have at least two more games alongside Lowry. The two have shared the left side of the infield for the past two seasons, but it should have been longer.
Perhaps the perfect play that sums up the pairing came against Orange on April 15, 2021. In the seventh inning, Orange’s Serenity McPherson lined a ball to Nichols at third base. With a runner at second, the ball ricocheted off Nichols knee, bounced directly across to Lowry, who recovered in time to throw out McPherson and end the inning.
“I know that Ava always has my back,” Nichols said the following week. “I never have to question if she’s going to be there for me. I bobbled that ball, she had my back and we made the out.”
Lowry, who has signed with North Carolina Wesleyan, went 3-for-4 with three RBIs against the Bulldogs. She had a double and a triple. For her career, Lowry has a .450 career batting average. She has 28 hits this season, which leads the team.
“Takia and I have this bond,” Lowry said last summer. “She’s amazing. We’ve been playing since middle school. We know what’s going to happen. We’ll know what each other is thinking without saying anything. I know that if she’s covering the line, then I need to move closer to the hole in the infield. Our communication is the best.”
Aitkin, who committed to Amherst College in Massachusetts last year, is a three-sport athlete. Last fall, she made regionals in golf. In February, she teamed with Sophia Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon and Abbygale Pearce to set a new school record in the 4×400 relay in swimming at the Orange County Sportsplex. They group qualified for the 3A Central Regionals.
Tonight, the three Cedar Ridge seniors will play its final game against crosstown rival Orange at Panther Softball Field in the Central Carolina Tournament quarterfinals. The Red Wolves are the #5 seed. The winner of the game will face top-seeded Eastern Alamance on Tuesday night in Mebane.
Nichols, Lowry and Aitkin are the last players who won a conference championship in softball. In 2019, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange 8-3 at Panther Softball Field to claim the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference for the state playoffs. In the postseason, Cedar Ridge defeated West Johnston 4-3 in eleven innings, then journeyed all the way to Morehead City and defeated West Carteret 6-3. Nichols homered in the fourth inning against the Patriots.
Also tonight in the Central Carolina Tournament: Williams travels to Person while Western Alamance hosts Northwood. The semifinals are set for Tuesday with the championship game on Thursday.