This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior third baseman Katie Carden. This season, Carden leads Orange with a .525 batting average. She also leads the team with 29 hits and four triples. The youngest daughter of Greg and Christy Carden, Katie signed to play softball at Queen’s University last winter. Carden opened her senior season by going 3-for-3 with a home run against Roxboro Community School on March 3. In the Big 7 Conference opener against Cedar Ridge, Carden went 2-for-4. On April 8, Carden went 3-for-3 against Grace Christian. Carden has been the starting third baseman for Orange since her freshman year, when she played alongside childhood friend Carson Bradsher, now at Averett University. On Thursday, Carden went 3-for-5 with a triple against Seaforth in Hillsborough. Against Southern Alamance in Graham on April 16, Carden went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Carden went 4-for-4 in a win over East Chapel Hill on April 9. Last season, Carden led Orange with a .482 batting average. She also paced the squad with 32 RBIs and five home runs. Softball is something that runs deep in the blood of the Carden family. Katie’s cousin, Jaden, started at first base for Orange’s 2017 3A State Championship team. Katie wears the #14 of her late cousin, Kacie Chamberlain, who pitched for Orange and whose number is honored in centerfield of Orange Softball Field.
