This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior shortstop Joey Berini. On Tuesday night, Berini hit a grand slam as the Panthers won its Big 8 Conference opener over East Chapel Hill 9-4. Berini has had an outstanding career at Orange. He started at shortstop since his freshman year. Since then, he has started in 80 of Orange’s 82 games. Last season, Berini was the Big 8 Player of the Year after he hit .541 with 33 hits, 35 runs scored and 26 RBIs. He also led the team with 12 doubles. This season, Berini has hit lead off as the Panthers got off to a 2-2 start before the hiatus caused by the Coronavirus. Last November, Berini formally signed with East Carolina to play baseball. His younger brother, Jackson, has played in all four games for Orange and will be the next generation of the Berini family to play in Hillsborough. Fittingly, Joey hit his first career grand slam on the night his younger brother got his first start. In fact, Berini knocked his younger brother in on the grand slam. If Orange doesn’t return to action this year, it will go down as Berini’s 84th and final hit for Orange.