Month: June 2021

A 15-game hitting streak and being the most reliable presence behind the plate for Orange baseball since Brad Debo has to count for something.

For Davis Horton, it has led to being named the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year.

The junior was officially honored after a vote of the Big 8’s coaches at the conclusion of the regular season last Friday. Horton, who transferred to Orange from Riverside last summer, led the Panthers in three offensive categories in 2021. He had a .490 batting average with 24 hits and 15 RBIs. Horton also tied for the team lead with six doubles.

Horton had a base hit in every regular season game. It started with a three-run homer in his second at-bat as a Panther against East Chapel Hill on April 27, an 15-5 Orange win in six innings. In his first game with Orange, Horton went 3-for-5 with 5 RBIs with two doubles and the home run.

Horton’s hitting streak, which ended in last week’s opening round loss in the 3A State Playoffs at Asheboro, actually extended all the way back to his freshman year at Riverside. In the final game of the 2019 season, Horton went 2-for-3 as the Pirates defeated Southern Nash 18-0. In 2020, Horton played in two games before the season shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He had hits against Wake County Home School and Green Level.

This season was Horton’s first full season as a catcher at the varsity high school level. He proved to be a steady presence for Orange pitchers Ryan Hench, Pierson Kenney, Jordan Underwood, and Joey Pounds. Horton didn’t concede a passed ball all year and only committed one error.

Horton supplied consistent offense throughout the season for the Panthers, who stormed out to a 5-0 start to secure a birth in the state playoffs for the 19th consecutive year. In a 19-9 win over Cedar Ridge on May 5, Horton reached in each of his first three plate appearances. In the first inning, he singled to left field to score Jackson Berini. Usually, senior Jacob Jones was the courtesy runner for Horton, which limited Horton’s total output to four runs. Horton went 2-for-4 against Cedar Ridge.

In Orange’s 10-1 win over Northwood in Hillsborough on May 7, Horton went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. The Panthers immediately took control with five runs in the first inning, which included Horton knocking in Conner Funk with a single down the left field line. In the second, Horton lined to right field to bring in Jackson Berini. Horton finished the night with a two-run single in the fourth.

Against Chapel Hill on June 4, Horton had a single in the first inning, which led to Jackson Berini scoring off a throwing error. Horton rounded the bases off another throwing error to put Orange ahead 2-0. They would go on to win 3-2.

There were three games where the hitting streak was in jeopardy with Horton was down to his final at-bat. In Chapel Hill on June 23, Horton was 0-for-3 when he had a two-out single, which later led to Jones scoring off a hit by Hench. Against Northwood on June 1, Horton was 0-for-2, but reached on an infield single to lead off the 7th inning. In the regular season finale against Northern Durham, Horton singled to right field in the sixth inning against the Knights’ Matthew Lombard, the co-Big 8 Pitcher of the Year.

Horton is the second consecutive Orange player to earn Big 8 Player of the Year honors. In 2019, shortstop Joey Berini earned the honor after he hit .541 with 33 hits, 26 RBIs and 12 doubles. Berini, whose younger brother Jackson starts at shortstop for the Panthers, now plays for the East Carolina Pirates.

The last Orange catcher to be named Big 8 Conference Player of the Year was Brad Debo in 2016. Debo, who would go on to play at N.C. State for four seasons, hit .446 with 29 hits and 24 RBIs in his senior season.

Phillip Berger: The Elizabethton River Riders of the Appalachian League, now a summer, wooden-bat collegiate league, faced the Burlington Sock Puppets on Tuesday night at Burlington Athletic Stadium. It was a near-homecoming for former Cedar Ridge pitcher Phil Berger, who now pitches for Elizabethton, as well as with William Peace University in Raleigh. The Rivers Riders defeated the Sock Puppets 4-3 on Tuesday. The two teams will play again tonight. Elizabethton is 7-9 and Berger currently is 3-0. Last Tuesday, Berger picked up his team-leading third win of the year when the River Riders cruised past the Kingsport Axmen 6-1 at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, TN. Berger relieved starter Drew Gillespie and threw two innings. He gave up one run on three hits with two strikeouts and one walk. On Saturday, the Bristol State Liners defeated the River Riders 9-4. Once again, Berger relieved the starter, Andy Quintana, in the bottom of the second inning. In two-and-one-thirds-innings, Berger gave up two hits and one run with one walk and one strikeout. In five appearances this season, Berger has a 3.00 ERA in nine innings pitched. He has eight strikeouts and three walks. After leaving Burlington on Wednesday, the River Riders will continue its six-game road trip against the Pulaski River Turtles on Thursday.

Bryse Wilson: On Sunday, Wilson made his first start for the Atlanta Braves since May 22. He struggled in a 9-1 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals at Truist Park in Atlanta. In four inning, Wilson surrendered five runs on eight hits. He had four strikeouts. This season in Atlanta, Wilson is 2-3 with a 5.35 ERA. After the game, Wilson was reassigned back to Gwinnett of Triple-A East. On June 15, Wilson earned the win for Gwinnett in a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Sounds at Coolray Field in Gwinnett, GA. Wilson struck out nine batters in six innings. He gave up just one runs on five hits with one walk. Wilson threw 86 pitchers, with 57 of them strikes. This season with the Stripers, Wilson is 4-1 with a 4.36 ERA with 29 strikeouts and ten walks. Wilson could return to action this weekend for Gwinnett’s road trip to Norfolk.

Joey Berini: After East Carolina’s season ended in the Super Regionals of the NCAA Baseball Tournament against #4 Vanderbilt, Berini ventured into the Coastal Plain League, another summer collegiate, wooden-bat league. Berini will spend the summer with the Asheboro Copperheads, which call McCrary Park home. Ironically, McCrary Park is where Berini’s high school team, the Orange Panthers, has its season end against the Asheboro Blue Comets last week. Berini has come out of the gates strong for the Copperheads with hits in each of his first four games. He’s hitting .615. On Tuesday, Asheboro defeated the High Point-Thomasville HiToms 4-2. Berini had an RBI single in the second inning. Berini opened the season in a doubleheader against the Martinsville Mustangs at Hooker Field in Martinsville, VA. In the opening 4-2 loss, Berini went 2-for-3 with a stolen base. In the nightcap, the Copperheads won 6-5. Berini started at second base and went 3-for-4 with a double. On Monday, Asheboro defeated Martinsville 16-7. Berini went 3-for-6 with a double and four RBIs. After hitting 9th against the Mustangs on Sunday in the closing game of the doubleheader, Berini led off on Monday. Asheboro will return home to face the Forest City Owls at McCrary Park Thursday night.

Grace Andrews: The Catawba Valley Community College softball team announced its year-end awards after the completion of its first full season. Andrews, a freshman who played second base for Orange, was presented with the Silver Slugger Award. This season, Andrews finished with a .442 batting average, a .750 slugging percentage, 53 hits and 41 RBIs.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior runner Spencer Hampton. On Saturday, Hampton captured the 3A Mideast Regional Championship in the 1,600 meters at Southern Lee High School. Hampton finished at 4:22.10, a full six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. He became Orange’s first regional champion in outdoor track and field, regardless of gender, since 2018. Hampton also qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 3,200 meters after a 4th place finish at Southern Lee. This season, Hampton has ten 1st place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters as a individual runner. He also has finished first as a member of various Orange relay teams. The 3A State Track and Field Championships will be held on Saturday at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro on the Belk Track. Hampton will look to become Orange’s first state champion since Jamar Davis in 2018 and only the second in the past decade.

For someone who has run commonly over the past year, the Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School stood out for Spencer Hampton.

Not just because it was the hottest weather he’s ever competed in. But also because he claimed his first regional championship.

Hampton, a junior, finished first in the 1,600 meters to take the regional title in Sanford. He crossed the finish line with a time of 4:22.10, a full six seconds ahead of the runner-up, Northern Guilford’s Jack Dingman. Going into the race, Dingman was the only runner in the Mideast region to have a better time than Hampton during the regular season.

Instead, Hampton will go into Saturday’s 3A State Championships at Belk Track inside North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro with the top time regional time in North Carolina. Mount Tabor junior Will Soule captured the Midwest Regional Championship at 4:23.17.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Hampton said. “Jack Dingman is a great runner, but he had an off day in the 1,600 meters. It was about 93-degrees when it was finally my turn to run. I tried to stay in the shade as long as I could until I had to run.”

Hampton is Orange’s first regional outdoor track and field champion since Jamar Davis, who captured three regional titles (in the 300 meter hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump) in 2018.

“The first half of the race, I was just trying to stay relaxed,” Hampton said. “As I got to around 700 meters remaining, everyone else just kind of dropped off and I managed to maintain energy on to the finish line.”

In addition to the 1,600 meters, Hampton also qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 3,200 meters. He finished 4th in the regionals at 9:54.16. Dingman captured the regional title at 9:35.52.

After Orange only had four representatives in one relay event during the 3A State Track & Field Championships in 2019, they will have ten different representatives in six events for the state championships this Saturday. That includes three separate relay teams.

Orange’s 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 men’s relay teams all advanced to the state championships. The 4×400 team, consisting of senior Keanu Mims, junior Elijah Danley, senior Jeffrey Faulkner and junior Devin Goss, came in second at 3:32.77. Only Chapel Hill, at 3:29.46, was faster.

The 4×200 team, formed by Mims, Danley, Faulkner and Gesiah Drewery, finished 3rd at 1:32.55 in a close finish at the line. Chapel Hill beat out Orange by .13 seconds for second place. Southern Lee won the regional title at 1:30.98.

Orange finished fourth in the 4×800 men’s relay. The team of Hampton, junior Ethan Horton, junior Nicholas Pell and freshman Alden Cathey finished at 8:37.97.

The sole women’s state qualifier was Orange’s Erin Mink, who came in second in the pole vault as she cleared ten-feet. Northern Durham’s Bailey Tart finished first at 10-feet, six-inches. Cedar Ridge’s Phoenix Smith narrowly missed qualifying for the state championship after she cleared eight-feet, six inches, good enough for a fifth-place finish. Mink, who has competed at Orange since she was a freshman, will make her first state championship appearance.

Orange senior Kayla Brooks, in her final meet for the Lady Panthers, finished sixth in the region in the shot put. Brooks’ best throw was 28 feet, three-inches, one foot behind fourth place finisher Madison Ludlum of Gray’s Creek. Brooks, who is also a cheerleader for the Orange football team, plans to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas later this summer. She is the daughter of former Orange football player Rod Jones.

Orange junior Samatha George finished 9th in the 300-meter hurdles at 55.33 seconds. Ava New qualified for regionals in the long jump. New and Mink both qualified for regionals in the triple jump.

The power of Cedar Ridge’s baseball lineup have been named to the All-Big 8 Conference first-team.

Junior first baseman Aidan McAllister and senior shortstop Bryce Clark were honored as All-Conference selections on Friday. The official year-end honors were released after Northern Durham, the only Big 8 team to win a game in the 3A State Playoffs, was eliminated by D.H. Conley.

McAllister, in his first year as a varsity starter, looked like an All-Conference player from his very first at-bat of the season when he roped a double against Northwood in Pittsboro. He would eventually score off a single by Christian Macias as Cedar Ridge won 8-2. It was the Red Wolves first win in Pittsboro since 2014. A week later against Orange at Panther Field, McAllister led off the game with a solo homer, then followed with a two-run homer in the second inning to bring in B.J. Thornton.

McAllister led Cedar Ridge in multi-hit games. He went 2-for-3 against East Chapel Hill on June 4, 2-for-4 at Chapel Hill on May 25, 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs against Northern Durham on May 7 in Hillsborough. In the first game against Chapel Hill, McAllister scored three runs as the Red Wolves rallied from a 9-2 deficit to get within two runs at 9-7 before falling short.

On May 18, in a 7-6 loss to Bethany Community School in Summerfield, McAllister went 1-for-3 and scored after a single by Thornton in the top of the sixth inning to put the Red Wolves ahead 5-4.

This was McAllister’s first year as a varsity player. During Cedar Ridge’s three games in 2020, he was on the junior varsity team.

Clark was the Red Wolves’ starting shortstop after transferring from Orange last summer. Earlier this month, he signed with Lenoir Community College in Kinston to continue his baseball career.

Against Orange on June 8 (the game officially started on May 4 but was suspended after two innings because of rain), Clark became the first player to hit a home run off Orange’s top starter, Ryan Hench, this season. Clark reached base in every plate appearance against the Panthers and scored three runs. In the fifth inning, he came in off a balk to put the Red Wolves ahead 6-2.

In the first game against Orange on May 4, Clark went 3-for-3 with two doubles and 2 RBIs. That included a two-out double in the sixth inning, which led to Garrett Ray driving him in with a single. In the fourth inning, Clark knocked in Braedyn Jacobson with an infield single.

Three nights later against Northern Durham, Clark had an RBI double to plate Jacobson to start a Red Wolves comeback after Northern jumped out to an 8-1 lead. Later in the inning, Ray scored Clark with a single to centerfield.

In Cedar Ridge’s 6-1 win over Northwood on May 21, Clark opened the game with an infield single and scored off a double by Ray as the Red Wolves bolted out to a 3-0 lead. In the third inning against the Chargers, Clark had a two-run single to scored Thornton.

Clark had a sacrifice fly against Northwood on April 27, which scored Thornton and put the Red Wolves ahead 4-0 and well on track for a win in its season opener.

In 2020, Clark was the starting second baseman for Orange. In four games, Clark hit .625, going 5-for-9 with three runs scored before the season abruptly ended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Against East Chapel Hill on May 11, Clark went 2-for-5 with an RBI double.

It was a season of near-misses for Cedar Ridge, who officially ended the year 6-9 (including four forfeit wins, two each against Southern Durham and Vance County). In six of its losses, Cedar Ridge either had the lead going into the seventh inning or trailed with the game-tying run on base when the final out was recorded.

A high school sports season prolonged by the pandemic has two Saturdays remaining for Hillsborough teams. For one Cedar Ridge wrestler, today will be the end of an established career.

Kady Watkins wasn’t the first female wrestler at Cedar Ridge, but she has been the most successful. When she started wrestling in middle school, there wasn’t a state women’s wrestling championship sanctioned by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. That changed during her sophomore season.

In 2019, the inaugural Women’s Wrestling Invitational brought 87 participants across eleven weight divisions. Last year, there were 182 wrestlers in 14 weight divisions, who competed at the Carolina Courts in Concord.

In 2019, Watkins became the first female wrestler from Hillsborough to compete for a state championship. A year later, she became the first female wrestler from Hillsborough to win a match in a state tournament when she won a 9-6 decision over Swansboro’s Madeline Coplen at 120 pounds. She finished 5th in the state.

This season, Watkins has been a co-Captain of a team that has already had one wrestler for qualify for next Saturday’s 3A State Tournament. Watkins has won eleven matches for Cedar Ridge this season. Today’s 3rd annual State Women’s Wrestling Invitational Tournament will be held at Kernersville Glenn High School.

Track and Field

Orange’s Spencer Hampton will have a full day today.

Hampton, a long distance runner for Orange, has qualified for three different events during the the 3A Mideast Regional Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships, scheduled for today at Southern Lee High School in Sanford.

Hampton, a junior, is in the regional final for the 1,600 meters. His fastest time of the season is 4:24.10. He has nine first place finishes in 2021. Hampton also qualified for the 3,200 meters and will join Alden Cathey, Ethan Horton and Nicholas Pell in the 4×800 relay. The Panthers’ relay team had the second fastest time in the region this year, behind only Big 8 Conference rival Chapel Hill.

Also in the 4×800 relay, Cedar Ridge’s team of Jay Cole, Levi Draughon, Roman Morrell and Harrison Park will be in the regional final field.

Orange will have another men’s relay team in the 4×200 event. Senior Keanu Mims, senior Jeffrey Faulkner, junior Elijah Danley and senior Gasiah Drewery had the second-fastest time in the region at 1:33.07. Mims is going for his second appearance in the state championships. In 2019, he was a part of Orange’s 4×400 relay team, which finished 10th in the 3A State Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.

Mims, Faulkner, Danley and Devin Goss also qualified in the 4×400 meter relay. Once again, Chapel Hill was the only school in the Mideast Region with a faster qualifying time this season.

Orange will have three competitors in the 800 meters. Cathey, Pell and Horton all have qualifying marks.

In the women’s 300-hurdles, Orange junior Samantha George will participate in her first regional championship meet. George, a starting guard for the Orange women’s basketball team, ran for a personal-best of 51.70 second in last week’s Big 8 Championships.

George will also be in the 4×400 women’s relay team for Orange. She will join Abby Hengsterman, Avery Hengsterman and Sophia Schultz.

Cedar Ridge will have two qualifiers in the pole vault. Caroline Fowlkes, who qualified for the state championships as a freshman in 2019, cleared 10-feet-six inches in a tri-meet against Southern Durham and Vance County on May 6. Fowlkes also qualified for the 2020 Indoor Track & Field pole vault. Accompanying Fowlkes in the pole vault will be junior teammate Phoenix Smith, who had a personal best of eight-feet, also on May 6.

Orange will also be represented in the women’s 4×200 relay. Freshman Samiya Baldwin, Samantha George, Taia Mitchell and Katheryn Scully qualified after a time of 1:53.73 during the East Chapel Hill Friday Night Lights event on June 4 at Dave Thaden Stadium.

Orange’s Ava New surpassed the regional standard in two different events. She qualified for the long jump with a personal best of 15-feet, four inches. New will also compete in the triple jump after a leap of 31-feet, 01.50 inches.

Orange’s Erin Mink will also be in the triple jump after a season-best 31-feet, nine-inches.

Orange senior Kayla Brooks, who was a cheerleader in football last spring, has qualified for the shot put. Her throw of 29-feet, ten-inches at East Chapel Hill Friday Night Lights was enough to qualify for her first regional competition.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman tennis player Finley White. Last week during the Big 8 Women’s Tennis Tournament at Lindsay Linker Tennis Courts at East Chapel Hill High School, White and fellow freshman Grace Pell qualified for the 3A Mideast Regionals after reaching the semifinals. This season, White won six singles matches, including a 5-3 record at #3 singles. In the final dual match of the year, White defeated Chapel Hill’s Cameron Pehlivanzade 8-4. Though White hasn’t had a chance to experience a traditional academic year because of the pandemic, she has still been active. She’s played tenor saxophone with the Orange High band. She also had a perfect sore when she tried out for All-District band. Along with playing tennis, White is planning a career in music. In addition to playing saxophone, White is a singer. White and Pell will start play in the 3A Mideast Regionals on Friday morning at the Burlington Tennis Center. The top four teams in the regionals will qualify for next week’s 3A State Championships.

Hayden Horne has certainly been a quick learner. He entered his senior season with only five matches in his wrestling career. But after starting at right tackle for the Orange football team last spring, where he made All-Big 8 Conference, Horne has now qualified for the 3A State Wrestling Tournament. This season, his first as a regular starter, Horne went 13-0 wrestling at 220 pounds. On Tuesday, in the first individual wresting tournament at Orange, Horne finished 2nd at 220 pounds in the 3A East Region. He qualified for the state tournament after he pinned Northern Durham’s Tyler Kendall in 2:48. In the semifinals, Horne pinned Remington Workman of Fayetteville Westover in 1:18. Horne will be the #2 seed from the Mideast at 220 pounds for the 3A State Tournament, which will be held at Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville on June 26. In this interview, Horne was joined by Brendon Worsham, who was the starting left tackle for the Orange football team this season and also qualified for the 3A State Tournament at 182 pounds.

Orange senior Kessel Summers has had a year full of milestones. In April, he became the 48th wrestler in Orange history to win 100 matches. He was a member of a Big 8 Conference Championship team for the third time in his career this season. Then on Tuesday, Summers reached the 3A Mideast Regional final for the first time in his career. Summers got to the final after holding off Union Pines’ Andrew Clark 8-6 in the semifinals in the 132-pound division. Summers is the winningest active wrestler for Orange. He also has qualified for the 3A State Tournament for the third time in his career. Summers earned a spot in next week’s state tournament after he put away Gray’s Creek’s Dylan Rumer 13-3. Last year in the state tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum, Summers defeated Havelock’s Nate Lucia with a pin at 5:52 to advance to the state quarterfinals. Summers will return to Eastern Guilford High School, which hosted Tuesday’s Mideast Regionals, for the State Tournament on June 26 and to conclude his Orange career. Summers will move on to Bluefield College, where he will also wrestle.