Photo by Joe Trojanowski
Going down to the final third of the regular season, Cedar Ridge remains on track for its first conference baseball championship in modern history.
The Red Wolves rolled through three conference games in three days, getting the first perfect game in school history in a 10-0 win over J.F. Webb on Wednesday. Brody Tapper struck out eleven Warriors in four-and-two-third innings before Dominic Sena came aboard for the final strikeout. Leo Moehrig sewed up the run-rule victory in the bottom of the fifth when he scored Walker Holmes to clinch a 10-0 win in Hillsborough.
In his second career start and just his fifth pitching appearance at the varsity level, Tapper struck out 12 of the 14 Warriors he faced. The only Webb players to put the ball in play came when Seth Reavis grounded out to second baseman Jesus Velazquez, followed immediately by Thierry Ovando grounding out to shortstop Grant McGuffey.
Tapper struck out nine consecutive Warriors in the second, third and fourth innings before being replaced by Sena.
Freshman Wil Ebron drove in the game-winning run in the second inning off a triple that scored Grant McGuffey. Ebron followed with a run scored off a passed ball.
Ian McGuffey led off the third inning with a double. Junior catcher John Grove delivered a sacrifice fly to score McGuffey.
The Webb win was sandwiched between a two-game series with Carrboro. With the three wins this week, the Red Wolves are 8-0 in the Big 7 Conference. It’s the first time in school history that Cedar Ridge baseball has won its opening eight games in a league campaign. Cedar Ridge is one game ahead of South Granville for first place. Seaforth, which Cedar Ridge swept in a two-game series in mid-March, is in third place at 6-2.
The Red Wolves will face South Granville in a two-game series that starts April 28 in Creedmoor.
On Thursday, the Red Wolves defeated Carrboro 7-2 at Jaguars Field. Sophomore Jesus Velazquez, after earning the save against Carrboro in Hillsborough on Tuesday, picked up the win. Velazquez struck out six over four-and-two-thirds shutout innings, scattering four hits.
Grant McGuffey went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He started at shortstop, then finished the game on the mound replacing Velazquez. McGuffey threw two-and-one-thirds innings, striking out three.
The win over Carrboro officially makes this team the winningest in the six-year tenure of head coach Bryson Massey. In 2022, the Red Wolves went 13-11.
Cedar Ridge is 14-4 overall.
The Jaguars committed three costly errors, mistakes that the Red Wolves wouldn’t allow Carrboro to recover from. Grant McGuffey stroked a double to the centerfield fence to score Warren, who reached on an error to start the top of the third inning. McGuffey scored after Ebron grounded out to shortstop Evan Stowe.
Cedar Ridge tacked on four runs in the fourth inning. After Sena lined a double to left field, Aiden Ryan knocked a single to centerfield. With Warren at the plate, Sena scored off a double steal that advanced Ryan to second base. Grant McGuffey sent a hard grounder to Stowe and beat it out for a single, scoring Ryan. Warren would come around third and score on the throw to increase the Red Wolf lead to 5-0.
McGuffey, who stole home in Tuesday’s win over Carrboro, stole second and third base with Grove at the plate. Grove would knock McGuffey in with a single that rolled into right field.
Sena would score the final run in the seventh inning off a wild pitch.
On Tuesday, the Red Wolves will host Durham School of the Arts in Hillsborough. On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge will host Burlington Christian Academy. Cedar Ridge will close out the two-game series against DSA with a trip to Durham Athletic Park on Friday night.
