Following a frustrating start to the season, the Orange softball team jumped out ahead and cruised to its second home win of the season.
Senior Katie Carden went 4-for-4 while sophomore Kylee Allen delivered her first home run of the season in Orange’s 15-4 victory over East Chapel Hill on Thursday night at Orange Softball Field. The Lady Panthers bounced back after suffering a tough 5-3 loss to Grace Christian Academy on Wednesday in Hillsborough.
Orange struck for nine runs in the first inning and never looked back. Sophomore Malynne Roemmich earned the win, throwing five innings for the complete game, allowing four runs off six hits. She struck out three. Roemmich is 4-1 on the year.
After senior Hayleigh Hammond sent a fly ball off the centerfield fence for a triple, Allen stroked a fly ball that sailed over the left field fence for her first home run of the season. Carden followed with an infield single. Addison Guentensberger poked a double into the right centefield gap that reached the fence, allowing Carden to score from first to push Orange’s lead to 3-0. After Payton Adams reached on a single, Lily Ward singled to centerfield to score Guentensberger. Senior Natalie Roberson, who finished 3-for-3, knocked in Adams with a single to extend the Orange lead to 6-0. Mariah Cook, who entered the game as a courtesy runner, scored off a wild pitch.
Carden, hitting for the second time in the inning, reached on a pop fly that was dropped by the East Chapel Hill pitcher. Hammond, who got on board with a walk, scored her second run.
Carden ended the game with a double to centerfield that scored Allen and Roberson to complete Orange’s third run-rule victory of the season.
The Lady Panthers, now 5-7 overall, will travel to Cedar Ridge on Friday night to start the second half of its Big 7 Conference slate.
Cedar Ridge 11, Northwood 1, five innings
Senior Mia Best earned her eighth win of the season as the Red Wolves defeated the Chargers at Red Wolf Softball Field in Hillsborough on Thursday night.
Cedar Ridge, in its first game after Spring Break, improved to 9-3 overall.
Best threw a three-hitter to earn her eighth win of the season. She struck out eight in five innings, allowing just one walk.
Best, who leads the team with a .541 batting average, delivered an RBI single in the first inning to score Madeline Galindo-Woodring. The Red Wolves added three runs in the second. After Brittani Goddard led off with a single to left field, Parker Kennedy was hit by a pitch, Galindo-Woodring reached on an error when a ground ball went off the Northwood shortstop’s glove, allowing Goddard to score. Sophomore Raegan Remaly sent a two-run single to left field, scoring Kennedy and Galindo-Woodring to push the Red Wolf lead to 4-0.
Cedar Ridge scored five runs in the third inning. Rylee Capps and Goddard started the frame with consecutive base hits. Capps scored off a groundout to the pitcher by Kennedy. Ainsley Burklin sent a pop fly that was dropped by the centerfielder, allowing Goddard to extend the Red Wolf lead to 6-0. Following a single by Galindo-Woodring, Best delivered a three-run home run over the centerfield fence.
In the fifth, Galindo-Woodring led off by reaching on an error. Remaly lined a single to right field to score Galindo-Woodring. After Best was intentionally walked to load the bases, Remaly scored off a wild pitch with senior Laci Sykes at the plate, which was the eleventh run.
Cedar Ridge remains one game behind Seaforth for first place in the Big 7 Conference lead. The Hawks are 5-0. The Red Wolves will visit Seaforth on Tuesday night in Pittsboro.
