Month: April 2021

PITTSBORO–On a late April night where temperatures plunged into the low-50s in Chatham County, the Orange Lady Panthers bats were as chilly as the weather.

Until they weren’t.

Clinging to a 3-2 lead after four innings, Orange scored ten runs in the top of the fifth to defeat Northwood 13-2 at Charger Softball Field. The Lady Panthers (10-0, 6-0), with the Big 8 Conference Championship already secured, are off to its best start since the 2017 3A State Championship season.

Junior catcher Lauren Jackson launched a 3-run homer to vault Orange ahead 8-2 and chase Northwood starting pitcher Caroline Garner from the game. Freshman Delaney Shaffer, who went 4-for-5 in the Lady Panthers’ win over Cedar Ridge last Friday, led off the fifth with a double down the left field line. She was the first of eight straight Lady Panthers to reach base safely in the 5th to break the game open.

Orange’s second turn through the batting order bore no resemblance to its first. Garner alternated her fastball with a changeup and an occasional knuckleball to hold the Lady Panthers to only two hits in the first two innings. Carson Bradsher, who singled for Orange’s first hit, scored the Lady Panthers’ only run in the first inning off a double steal after Mary Moss Wirt drew a throw to second base.

Bradsher, a sophomore who leads Orange in ten offensive categories, finished 4-for-4 with a triple and 3 RBIs. In her first full season at the varsity level, Bradsher is hitting .700 with 18 RBIs and eleven extra base hits.

“Lately, we’ve been playing at a level where we’ve been just getting by,” said Orange Coach Johnny Barefoot. “I kept telling them we need to wake up and get back to playing Panther softball. It took about the third inning. Then when Delaney Shaffer got that hit, it’s like the light came on and everybody got back in the groove.”

Orange pushed its lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Bradsher singled to left field to bring in Serenity McPherson, who reached on an one-out error in the previous at-bat.

Lady Panthers pitcher Gracie Walker, who improved to 4-0, needed only five pitches to cruise through the first inning. The rest of her night was much more strenuous.

In the third, Northwood catcher Called Perchinsky sent a cue shot down the first base line that was originally foul but rolled back fair to reach first safely. Walker issued walks to Carlee Harris and Erika Seils to load the bases, which led to third baseman Zoe Hatzidakis to record an RBI groundout on a ball hit to Bradsher. Courtesy runner Giselle Fallas scored to cut Orange’s lead in half. With Harris and Seils in scoring position, Walker struck out Abi McLaurin swinging to end the inning.

Northwood centerfielder Caroline Dorshimer led off the bottom of the fourth with a line drive to the left-centerfield gap for a double. After Sue Lee moved Dorshimer to third on a sacrifice bunt, Garner grounded out to Bradsher, which allowed Dorshmier to score. Jessica Watkins, representing the tying run, walked and stole second with two out, but Walker again got a strikeout to escape the inning.

That’s when Northwood’s upset bid ended.

After Shaffer’s leadoff double, McPherson walked. Bradsher legged out an infield single on a grounder to Lee, which scored Shaffer. Then Bradsher, who has mastered the art of getting into a rundown and still winding up safe, preceded to do exactly that. As Bradsher ran between first and second, Northwood’s third baseman threw the ball into left field, which allowed McPherson to come in. Bradsher wound up at third.

After Mary Moss Wirt was hit by a pitch, Jackson sent an 0-1 fastball deep over the wall in right field, landing just shy of the Northwood batting cage. In a span of five batters, Orange turned a close game into a 8-2 margin and they were just getting warmed up.

Harris replaced Garner as pitcher, but Kelsey Tackett drilled a single to left field. Gracie Walker lined a double to the right field warning track. Courtney Watkins, starting in place of Caden Robinson, reached on an error to plate Tackett. Watkins scored next off a sacrifice fly by Savannah Wynne, the ninth batter in the inning and the first one to be retired.

Shaffer and McPherson reached on consecutive singles, which led to Bradsher’s 2nd RBI single of the inning on a looper to right. Wirt drilled a first-pitch fastball to centerfield to bring in Bradsher and McPherson.

In all, Orange sent 14 batters to the plate in the 5th inning to score ten runs off nine hits, two errors, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Watkins threw a scoreless fifth inning, striking out two, to end the game. Of Orange’s ten wins, nine have ended via the run rule (10 run lead after five innings).

Orange has scheduled Southern Durham for a senior night game on Tuesday night, where seniors Emma Puckett and Gracie Colley will be honored before the first pitch. The Lady Panthers will play its only nonconference game at Southern Alamance on Wednesday before concluding the regular season at Northern Durham next Friday.

The Orange softball team remains undefeated after beating Northwood 13-2 in five innings on Friday night in Pittsboro. It was actually a tight game going into the fifth inning. The Lady Panthers led 3-2. Then Delaney Shaffer led off the 5th with a double down the left field line, the first of eight straight Lady Panthers to get on base. Lauren Jackson punctuated the explosion with a three-run homer over the right field wall. It was her second home run of the season. Orange now goes into the final week of the regular season with its best start since the 2017 3A State Championship season. On Tuesday, Orange will commemorate senior night against Southern Durham, the final game that will count in the Big 8 Conference standings this year. Seniors Gracie Colley and Emma Puckett will be honored before first pitch.

84 goals. And counting.

When Emerson Talley started training at Cedar Ridge in 2017, she told then-head women’s soccer coach P.J. Michaelson that she would score 100 goals in her high school career. Even when the pandemic limited her junior year to only four games, and restricted her senior season to 14 (with Vance County and Southern Durham scheduled for next week), she has still nearly backed her lofty boast.

“I’m going to give you a pass only because of Covid,” Michaelson told Talley on Thursday night. “As I got to know Emerson, I knew that 100 would be way too low for her. If we didn’t have COVID, she would have had 125 based on how talented she is.”

Before becoming the all-team leading goal scorer in Cedar Ridge history, there were endless miles of summer road trips with the Mebane Youth Soccer Association. Playing with the North Carolina Fusion out of Greensboro starting in middle school, there were treks to San Diego, Indianapolis, Seattle, New Jersey and Miami, not to mention all the home games.

It all finally led to a special ceremony at Cedar Ridge High School on Thursday night in front of family and friends.

Talley formally signed to play with Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory. With a table adorned in bright red to match the school colors, Emerson was joined by her father, Randy, and mother, Dawn, for the ceremony in the new J-wing at Cedar Ridge High School. She became the first athlete to sign a scholarship in the wing, but certainly not the last.

Cedar Ridge Athletic Director Andy Simmons presided over the signing, joined by Principal Dr. Carlos Ramirez, current head coach David Jones and assistant Randy Sears.

Talley will become the fourth member of Cedar Ridge’s 2018 team to play college soccer. Centerback Brittany Daley is currently a starter for Division III Greensboro College, which recently won the USA South Athletic Conference East Division Tournament Championship. Taylin Jean, the 2019 Big 8 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, is now at Limestone University in Gaffney, SC.

Another member of that squad, Ivy Garner, transferred to Eno River Academy after her freshman season at Cedar Ridge. Garner has been a member of the North Carolina Courage Academy and has signed to play at N.C. State.

Cedar Ridge’s 2018 squad advanced to the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Talley, as a freshman, scored a goal and an assist as the Red Wolves defeated West Carteret 3-0 in Morehead City in the opening round. They were the first team to shut out the Patriots that season. It was a win that brought profound joy for Michaelson, who had gone 0-8 against West Carteret when he coached at South Central High in Winterville.

“I thought about that game the other day as I was reminiscing,” said Michaelson, who is currently the men’s soccer coach at Graham High. “We relied on her so much. She created so many special moments and she’s going to create more at Lenoir-Rhyne. It’s not a surprise that the moments she had her freshman year have translated to her senior year and to college.”

Talley was All-Big 8 Conference her freshman and sophomore year. She will almost certainly be named All-Conference again when the teams are released next month. In 2019, she was All-Region and was named Most Valuable Player of the team.

This season, Talley has scored 24 goals. That included six goals in a 7-6 win over Northern Durham on March 24 in Hillsborough. On April 6 against Vance County, Talley registered six goals in a 9-0 win.

As a sophomore, Talley scored 35 goals, including eight hat tricks. At one point, she had a four-game streak of scoring three goals or more. Twice in that span, the Red Wolves defeated archival Orange.

Talley’s talent was apparent from the very beginning to David Riley, the Director of Coaching with the MYSA

“We have a team called the Force,” Riley said. “Once you’re a part of the Force Family, you’re always a member of the Force Family. Emerson has been a part of that. She’s more like another daughter to me than a player.”

Talley, who also has a 3.8 grade point average, ran track at Gravelly Hill Middle School. That was where her mother realized that Emerson could be more than just another soccer player at Cedar Ridge.

“I knew she could be a college player at Gravelly Hill,” Dawn Talley said. “That’s when she starting owning her talent and developing. I always envisioned this. I’m not sure if Emmy always did, but we did. She’s a bit timid, but she worked hard for this for four years.”

Talley played her final home game against East Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. She will end her Cedar Ridge career with road trips to Vance County on Monday and Southern Durham on Wednesday.

Cedar Ridge senior women’s soccer striker Emerson Talley has signed with Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory. The ceremony took place at the new J-Wing at Cedar Ridge High School. In addition to current Red Wolves women’s soccer coach David Jones, also in attendance was Talley’s former head coach P.J. Michaelson. In 2018, Talley was a freshman who scored a goal and dished out an assist as the Red Wolves defeated West Carteret 3-0 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs in Morehead City. It was a bright memory for Michaelson, who previously was the head coach at South Central High in Winterville. At South Center, Michaelson went 0-8 against West Carteret before that victory. Talley is the all-time leading scorer in Cedar Ridge history. She will become the third person from the 2018 Red Wolves team to play in college. Centerback Brittany Daley now plays for Greensboro College, while goalkeeper Taylin Jean is at Limestone. In fact, Talley will face Jean next season as the Bears and the Saints are South Atlantic Conference rivals.

Softball: Everything thrilling and frustrating about the Cedar Ridge softball team was on full display during its two-game series against Northern Durham.

On Tuesday, the Red Wolves rolled past the Knights 12-2 at Knights Field. The Red Wolves played an errorless game as they handed the Knights just its second loss of the season.

On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge committed five errors in a 15-14 loss to the Knights in Hillsborough. Northern scored eight unearned runs as they held on for dear life as the Red Wolves mounted another patented seventh inning comeback that fell just short.

In the series-opening win, Red Wolves third baseman Takia Nichols went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. In the fourth inning, Nichols drilled a three-run homer to dead centerfield to push the Red Wolves ahead 6-1. It was Nichols’ 19th career home run.

Nichols started the game with a line drive to centerfield. Ava Lowry reached on an error by the pitcher, which allowed Nichols to score the game’s opening run. In the second, first baseman Alex Matthews looped a two-run single to centerfield to score Tori Carden and Lajoan Stuart, a courtesy runner for Hayley King.

After Nichols’ home run, Olivia Aitkin singled home Ava Lowry. Marlee Rakouskas got an RBI groundout to send in Aitkin and increase the Red Wolves’ lead to 8-1. In the fifth, Nichols doubled home ShiLi Quade.

On Wednesday, both teams battled the elements on a blustery day where wind gusts reached nearly 30 miles per hour and the temperatures plummeted after first pitch. Cedar Ridge scored four runs in the first inning, including an RBI double by Nichols to score Quade. After Lowry was hit by a pitch, Aitkin laced a two-run triple to centerfield.

Northern chipped away until an 8-run fourth inning where all the runs came in with two out. Third baseman Jessica Wolter reached on an infield error to score Aubrey Clayton and Abi Walker and the Knights were off to the races. Alana Holland, who finished 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, laced an RBI single to left field. Pitcher Taylor Penne earned the win despite piling up 167 pitches.

Nichols had her 20th career home run with an inside-the-park homer in the sixth inning. With Cedar Ridge trailing 15-11 going into the seventh inning, Quade got on board via an error to lead off the frame. Quade eventually scored off an RBI single by Aitkin. Second baseman Reagan Rhul laced a line drive down the left field line for another inside-the-park home run to pull within 15-14. Northern first baseman Savannah Burton threw to Clayton for a 3-4 out for the final out.

Cedar Ridge will host East Chapel Hill on Friday.

Men’s Tennis: The Cedar Ridge men’s tennis team defeated Carrboro 9-0 on Tuesday at Jaguars Tennis Courts. Josh Mayhew, Eli Rachlin, Lev Bearman, and Walker Richards-Baker each earned straight sets singles wins for the Red Wolves. The most exciting matches for the Red Wolves came at #2 singles, where Will Ballenger defeated Joseph Lee 2-6, 7-5, 7-6, winning the third set tiebreaker 12-10. At #5 singles, Holden Rachlin defeated Tristan Reid 6-2, 5-7, 7-6, taking the 10-point tiebreaker 10-4.

Mayhew & Ballenger won at #1 doubles for Cedar Ridge. Carter Tholes and Bearman teamed together for a win at #2 doubles, while Colby Alford and Derrick Stephens captured the #3 doubles.

On Wednesday, East Chapel Hill defeated Cedar Ridge 7-1 at Lindsey Linker Tennis Courts. Mayhew won the Cedar Ridge match at #1 singles over East’s Max Winzelberg.

As for Orange, the Panthers defeated Northwood 5-4 in Pittsboro. Justin Conover and Joseph Clark captured the double match that earned the Panthers the team victory by an 8-3 tally. Orange’s Colin O’Hagerty & Brandon Gwinn won its #1 doubles match. Conover, Gwynn and O’Hagerty also won their singles matches.

On Wednesday, Chapel Hill defeated Orange 9-0. The Panthers, 5-6 overall, will host Southern Durham next Tuesday to end the regular season. The Big 8 Conference Tournament is slated for next week.

Golf: Orange had two men’s players qualify for the 3A Mideast Regionals during the final Big 8 Conference match of the season at Umstead Golf Course in Durham on Tuesday. Senior Joshua Frank and sophomore Thomas Loch each shot an 88. However, their year-long nine hole average was enough for them to qualify for regionals. Both players averaged below a 42 for their nine-hole average.

In addition, Cedar Ridge senior Bradley Monschien also qualified for the Mideast Regionals.

The Mideast Regionals will be held at Keith Hills Golf Club in Lillingston on May 3.

Joey McMullin: Former Orange basketball guard Joey McMullin has announced his transfer to Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst. This winter, McMullin played at Bryn Athyn College, a Division III school in Philadelphia. McMullin scored over 1,000 points in his Orange career. He was a regular starter for Orange’s 2016-17 team that captured the Big 8 Regular Season Championship and advanced to the 3A State Quarterfinals. In his final win at Orange, McMullin rolled up 36 points against Northern Durham. Sandhills Community College plays in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. On Monday night, the Flyers advanced to the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Championship with a win over John Wood Community College.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team swept a doubleheader over Jackson State on Tuesday. Davidson hit home runs in both games, bringing her career total to 65. She is now tied for fourth in Southeastern Conference history with 65 career home runs. In Mississippi State’s opening 8-0 win in five innings, Davidson went 1-for-3. In the second game, Davidson launched a solo blast in the 3rd inning. The Bulldogs captured the nightcap 10-3. Davidson went 1-for-4. Also in the second game, Davidson split time at second base and at first base. She has now played every infield position for her career at Mississippi State. 10 of Davidson’s last 12 hits have left the ballpark.

Montana Davidson: Montana came off the bench to play third base for Mississippi State in both ends of the doubleheader against the Tigers. She went 1-for-2 in the opener. In the nightcap, Montana scored off a single by Chloe Malau’ulu in the fourth inning. Montana also went 1-for-2 in the second game. Mississippi State is 23-19 and will host Texas A&M for a three-game series starting Friday in Starkville.

Grace Andrews: On Monday, the Catawba Valley Community College softball team split a doubleheader against Florence-Darlington Tech at Highland Recreation Center in Hickory. In the opening game, Florence-Darlington edged the Red Hawks 3-2. Andrews went 0-for-3, which ended her nine-game hitting streak. In the second game, Andrews rebounded in the second game, going 2-for-3 with her seventh home run of the season as the Red Hawks whitewashed the Stingers 6-0. Through 28 games, Andrews leads or is tied for the team lead in four offensive categories: a .478 batting average with 44 hits, seven home runs (tied with Alleigh Himes for the team lead) and 32 RBIs. Andrews is second on the team with ten doubles.

Landon Riley: It took two-thirds of the season, but Riley finally surrendered a run for the Liberty Flames–albeit an unearned run. Duke defeated the Flames 7-0 on Tuesday at Worthington Field. It was Liberty’s first home loss of the season. In the eighth inning, Riley faced four batters. He surrendered one run off two hits and one walk. LIberty is 5-2 against the ACC this year. The Flames are still in first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference with an 11-2 mark, one game ahead of Kennesaw State. Liberty hosts Coastal Carolina starting Friday for a three-game nonconfernece series.

Kayla Hodges: After winning the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Championship on Saturday, the Elon women’s soccer team will face Milwaukee to open the 48-team tournament at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. The winner will face Florida State, the #1 overall national seed, on May 1. Hodges has started all nine of the Phoenix’s games this season and was named 2nd-team All-Colonial Athletic Association last week.

Kate Burgess: The UNC Rowing team competed at Lake Hartwell, South Carolina last Saturday. The Tar Heels competed against Clemson and Oklahoma. The Tigers won with 81 points, while the Sooners finished with 70 points. The Tar Heels registered 65. Burgess was on UNC’s 2V4 crew, which defeated Clemson’s third and fourth boats with a time of 8:11.0.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team won its eighth straight game on Sunday, rolling past Methodist 27-12 at Monarch Stadium in Fayetteville. Jaylin Jones, a former Orange High star, scooped up one ground ball for the Falcons. Pfeiffer’s eight consecutive home wins matches the school record set by the 1994 team. The Falcons host William Peace to wrap up the regular season on Friday.

This week Orange Panther of the Week is senior co-captain of the Orange women’s soccer team, Logan Rogers. This season, Rogers has led the Lady Panthers to its most successful season since 2017. Rogers is the daughter of Sonya Barnes Rogers, a member of the original Orange women’s soccer team. This season, Rogers has scored two goals in a victory over Cedar Ridge. Her older sister, Jordon, is a regular starter at William Peace University in Raleigh. Tonight, Rogers will commemorate her senior night at Orange when the Lady Panthers host defending Big 8 Champions Chapel Hill at Orange Soccer Park. After she graduates from Orange, Rogers plans to play club soccer at UNC-Charlotte this fall. Congratulations to Logan Rogers, this week’s Orange Panther of the Week.

The stages of the Orange women’s soccer team’s best season since 2017 started four years ago.

When Jacki Mignosa took over as head coach of the Lady Panthers, she brought up freshmen and had them play varsity. Against perennial state championship contenders like Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill, it was very much like getting thrown into the deep end of the pool. For Mignosa, it was development.

As the former junior varsity coach at Orange, Mignosa took over the varsity reins in 2017.

“We finally at the product of those younger players growing into varsity level play,” Mignosa said. “I think it’s been successful. We’ve had a great season. That’s been part of my strategy to develop a feeder program.”

Orange enters tonight’s home finale against Chapel Hill with an overall record of 7-3-1. Despite a disappointing loss to Northwood in Pittsboro on Monday night, the Lady Panthers are guaranteed its first winning season in four years. From a rivalry standpoint, Orange has swept crosstown rival Cedar Ridge for the first time since 2015, which was the last time the Lady Panthers reached the 3A State Playoffs.

Co-Captain Logan Rogers is a four-year member of the varsity team. Rogers is the daughter of Sonya Barnes Rogers, who was a member of the first varsity women’s soccer team fielded at Orange in the 1989-1990 season. Rogers’ older sister, Jordan, is now a midfielder at William Peace University in Raleigh. Her younger sister, Sydney, is a member of Orange’s defensive line that has been vital to this year’s success.

As Mignosa was in the midst of her rebuilding plan, the Stanford Chargers Middle School team created its own reverberations across youth soccer circles. In 2018, the Chargers stunned Phillips to win the Orange-Person Athletic Conference Championship. It was the first time ever that Stanford defeated all four members of the OPAC’s Southern Division teams (McDougle, Philips, Culbreth and Smith)

“I do feel like that’s an important aspect of how these girls get along,” Mignosa said. “They played together at the middle school level and transitioned to the high school level and they’re such a good group of girls. They get along well, yet they can still be very competitive at the high school level. Which is very important because he always say you practice the way you play. And if you’re not going to practice hard against your own teammates, then you’re not going to play hard against your own opponents.”

In the victory over Phillips in the OPAC Championship game, Madison Orange scored the game-winning goal, assisted by Lauren Garcia.

Three years later, Orange and Garcia are sophomores leading the way into a new era of Orange soccer that will take them away into a new conference next spring. It will be a league firmly entrenched away from the Chapel Hill brigade and into Alamance County, where Eastern Alamance, Western Alamance, Walter Williams and Person will join a new conference that includes current rivals Northwood and Cedar Ridge.

The aptly named Orange has notched four goals in her two-year varsity high school career.

Like a plumb from heaven, dropped in the midst of Mignosa’ rebuilding plan has been junior Bella Brown. A striker who transferred from Alamance Christian School in Graham, Brown has notched two hat tricks this season. She scored three goals against Vance County in a 9-0 victory on March 17 on Hillsborough. Against Cedar Ridge, Brown had two goals against Cedar Ridge on March 22 at Red Wolves Stadium.

“We’re connecting passes much better,” Brown said. “We moved up the field much faster rather than keeping it. We aren’t turning it over as much as we have been. I like all the teammates. They’ve welcomed me in and I like the way we advance the ball. We advance it instead of keeping it.”

Brown has been credited with a team-leading eight goals.

There’s also been a reliable backline that’s included freshman Ella Wimsatt and Channing Mahanes .

“I think one of our best things about our teams is our defensive line,” Mignosa said. “They’re really strong and they’re young. We have (sophomore) Allison Torkeiwtz and Sydney Rogers. There’s another freshman in Sydney Rogers that makes our line strong.”

Orange will conclude the regular season with road games against East Chapel Hill on Thursday and at Northern Durham next Tuesday.

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