Orange Panther of the Week: Hayleigh Hammond

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is softball centerfielder Hayleigh Hammond. This season, Hammond was named the Big 7 Conference Player of the Year. She led Orange with ten home runs. It was the most home runs by an Orange player since Mia Davidson hit 12 in the Lady Panthers 2017 3A State Championship season. Hammond opened the season by homering against Roxboro Community School on March 3 in Roxboro. On March 25, Hammond tagged two homers against Wakefield in Hillsborough. On April 28, Hammond had a magical ending for her Senior Night. She hit a walkoff two-run homer in Orange’s 7-5 win over J.F. Webb. Hammond’s final game for Orange was a victory in the 5A State Playoffs where the Lady Panthers defeated Webb 10-7. For the season, Hammond hit .319 with 25 RBIs, which led the team. She also led the team with 31 runs scored. She was tied for second on the team with 23 hits. Hammond was named to the All-District team by the North Carolina Softball Coaches Association. She was also named All-Big 7 Conference. Just days after graduating earlier this month, Hayleigh was among the players helping out at the Orange High Softball Camp. In August, Hammond will report to Franklin County and start playing softball at Louisburg College.