It may have been the best game in the career of Orange senior pitcher Ryan Sawyer. In his final regular season game, Sawyer struck out ten batters in eight-and-two-thirds innings as Orange defeated Seaforth 2-1 in Pittsboro on Thursday night. Sawyer allowed just four hits as he earned his fifth win of the season. It was the third straight game where Sawyer had double-digit strikeouts. With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the ninth inning, junior Kayden Brasher lined a single into right field to score freshman Ben Knowles for the game-winning run. Bradsher finished with two singles. Orange won both games against the Hawks in the two-game series in extra innings this week. On Tuesday, Orange also defeated the Hawks 2-1 in eight innings. In that game, Brasher drove in the opening run off a sacrifice fly to score D.J. Woods in the third inning. The road win closed a strong finish to the regular season for Orange, which won nine of its last ten conference games. After a 3-5 start to the season, Orange won 14 of its last 16 to finish the regular season 17-7. Orange will wait to learn where they will be play for the 5A State Tournament when the pairings are announced on Monday morning.
