Defining moments can happen suddenly in high school baseball.
In college, the minor and major leagues, a reliever has an ample amount of time to prepare for a save that can decide a team’s fate.
On Tuesday night, Caige Clayton had all of one minute to prepare to save the Orange Panthers’ season.
Panthers starter Will White was cruising along, leading Northwood 4-0 in the sixth inning. He had scattered only three hits through five shutout innings, striking out four.
Then he felt something pop in his right shoulder blade while throwing to Chargers catcher Jake McNeil, who doubled to right. White thought the pain would wither away with time, only to have Trey Romel double in the next at-bat to end the shutout. White motioned for head coach Dean Dease to come out of the dugout. He had to leave the game.
The dilemma was multifold. Dease had no one warming up to replace White. As the infield gathered around Dease at the pitcher’s mound, the coach pointed to Clayton, who had been playing third base.
The stakes were huge. Northwood is the defending Big 8 Champions who made the 3A state quarterfinals in 2017. Orange had lost four straight and dropped all three of its games in last week’s Hilltop Invitational, the only team in the field to go winless. A win would put Orange in a logjammed Big 8. A loss would put them at 4-3, putting the Panthers in a three-way tied for 4th in a league that has only four guaranteed playoff spots.
Northwood’s Decue Powell laced a triple to right to bring in Romel, and Powell would later score off a single by UNC-commitment Davis Palermo to bring the Chargers within a run at 4-3 But Clayton struck out Tyler Johnson and Zizzy Newell. Northwood shortstop Bryce Davis flew out to end the sixth.
In the seventh, Clayton finished the game with consecutive strikeouts of Romel and Powell to earn his first career save and preserve a 4-3 Orange win.
The Panthers defeated the Chargers for the fifth straight time in Hillsborough in a rivalry that has grown with time. The tension at game’s end continued into the postgame handshake where several players had to be separated after exchanging words, which wasn’t a first-time occurrence between the two sides.
In the early innings, it appeared Orange would continue falling into the same trap that’s hampered them throughout this season. After going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in a 2-0 loss to First Colonial (VA) on Friday, the Panthers loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, only to have Palermo strike out three consecutive Panthers to escape the inning.
Orange finally broke through in the third, but not before more adversity. Senior 2nd baseman Jason Slaughter singled to left. Clayton laced a 2-1 fastball to the right field power alley. Slaughter tried to score from first, but was tagged out at the plate by a great cutoff throw from Northwood 2nd baseman Michael Posse. Cooper Porter, who became the 4th Orange player to start at catcher this season, scored Clayton with a single to center. It was Porter’s 2nd RBI of the season.
Orange broke through for three runs in the fourth. Trey Clayton looped a single to centerfield, followed by a walk from right fielder Colin Guentensberger. Naz Powell replaced Clayton as a pinch-runner and advanced to third following a wild pitch from Palermo. After Jaydin Poteat walked to load the bases with one out, sophomore Joey Berini grounded an RBI fielder’s choice to Davis. After Poteat was forced out at second, Berini barely beat out the double play throw to first, scoring Powell.
Orange increased its lead to 4-0 when Clayton laced a two-run single to left center to bring in Berini and Guentensberger. Porter nearly had another RBI single, but Slaughter was tagged out at the plate on a gorgeous throw from centerfielder Max Hundley.
Orange travels to Northwood on Friday night at 6. That game will be broadcast on Hillsboroughsports.com.