There’s no time to beat around the bush for Cedar Ridge baseball this year.
Usually, it’s two-game series against crosstown rival Orange falls midway through the conference schedule. This year in the new Big 7 Conference, it’s the first league series for both teams.
Cedar Ridge, with eight returning starters, showed off its bullpen experience by holding Southeast Alamance to one hit in its first-ever trip to Haw River on Thursday.
Sophomore Jesus Velazquez threw two-plus innings of hitless relief and delivered two hits at the plate as the Red Wolves defeated the Stallions 7-1.
Aidan Ryan earn the win, throwing four innings and surrendering just one hit, striking out three. After Velazquez, who started the game at second base, struck out four and got into the seventh inning, junior Brody Tapper closed out the game by striking out Ian Kooser.
Trailing 1-0 going into the fourth inning, Cedar Ridge tied the game in the fourth inning by rallying with two outs. The Stallions were a strike away from getting out of the inning, but Cedar Ridge senior Dominic Sena was hit by a fastball on a 0-2 pitch. Velazquez moved Sena to third with a ground ball to right field. With Hudson Kelly at the plate and mired in a 2-2 count, Sena scored off a wild pitch.
Cedar Ridge took the lead with three runs in the fourth inning. Carter Warren, Will Ebron and Ian McGuffey all drew walks to load the bases. John Grove skied a sacrifice fly to centerfield to bring in Warren to put the Red Wolves ahead. Ebron stole third and immediately scored after the catcher threw the ball into left field. McGuffey went to third and would score when senior Sena whacked a fastball into left field to put the Red Wolves ahead 4-1.
Velazquez replaced Ryan on the mound and retired six consecutive Stallions, striking out the side in the fifth inning. The only baserunner he allowed reached on an error to start the seventh.
The Red Wolves tacked on three more in the sixth. Hudson Kelly delivered a double, which Grant McGuffey followed with a single to right field. Ebron loaded the bases by getting hit by a pitch. With two out, Grove sent a fly ball to centerfield that was dropped, clearing the bases.
It was a bounce back win for the Red Wolves after falling to Falls Lake Academy 6-4 in Hillsborough on Tuesday.
Jacob Watson earned the win for the Firebirds with six strikeouts over four innings. Nick Denny earned the save by striking out three over three innings, allowing four hits.
Grant McGuffey, Cedar Ridge’s starting pitcher, struck out seven over three-and-two-thirds innings in his second start of the year. Of the six runs scored by Falls Lake, only one was earned. The Red Wolves committed four errors.
Falls Lake scored four runs in the second inning. Kace O’Briant drove in Denny with an RBI single to right field for the opening run. Cole Reinhard, who drew a walk earlier in the frame, scored off a RBI groundout when Owen Joines was thrown out by Velazquez at first. With two out, Jacob Watson knocked in Braydon Perkins off an infield error to put Falls Lake up 3-0. Firebirds senior Isaac Smoak singled to right field, which led to another error that allowed Joines to score.
Sena delivered the Red Wolves first hit until the fourth inning when Sena sent a grounder up the middle to score Warren, cutting the Firebirds lead to 6-1. Sena later scored on a wild pitch. Ebron, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning, cored off a double steal when Kelly was tagged out between first and second.
Trailed 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh, the Red Wolves got the tying run to first base. Tapper, Grant McGuffey and Walker Holmes all delivered singles, with Tapper scoring to make it 6-4. Falls Lake caught a line out to third base to end the game.
Cedar Ridge will travel to Orange on Tuesday at 7PM. The Red Wolves will host the Panthers on Friday.
