Month: June 2021

A combination of strong pitching and timely pitching carried Orange to its first win over Northwood in Pittsboro since 2016 on Tuesday night. The Panthers prevailed 9-4. Catcher Davis Horton extended his hitting streak to 12 games, dating back to his freshman year at Riverside High School. Horton continued the streak with an infield single in the 7th inning. He would go on to score off a sacrifice fly by Will Walker. Orange junior third baseman Cesar Lozano led off the third inning with a double that one-hopped the wall in left field. Lozano would go on to score off a bunt by Tyler Lloyd. In addition, Lozano was voted the consensus best kickball player on the team during a recent practice to work on base running at Orange softball field. Orange has won two in a row. Its their first season sweep of the Chargers since Bryse Wilson was a senior. Orange will play its final home game of the year on Friday night against Chapel Hill. The Panthers are 8-3. They will also travel to Cedar Ridge to continue the suspended game from last Friday. The makeup date is next Tuesday at 5 PM at Red Wolves Territory.

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a ball thrown away at the Ronald Horton Baseball Complex at Northwood.

At most ballparks, there are fences along the first base line to help fielders whenever an errant throw gets past them.

There’s no fence at first in Pittsboro. There’s just a very big hill, which can lead to chaos on seemingly ordinary ground balls and two-to-three base errors more commonly than you would expect.

It’s also been a house of horrors for Jason Knapp.

Take 2019, for instance. In his first game against the Chargers as Orange coach, Knapp felt confident as his Panthers went into the bottom of the sixth inning with a 5-1 lead.

Then everything fell apart.

The Orange bullpen surrendered four hits and five walks in the final two innings. After trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Chargers scored three runs, including the game-winner of a bases-loaded walk, to escape 6-5.

It may have been bowling shoe ugly, but the Orange baseball team rode away from Pittsboro much happier on Tuesday night.

In a game with a combined 12 errors, the Panthers rode the strength of its offense and sophomore starting pitcher Ryan Hench to a 9-4 win at the Ronald Horton Baseball Complex on Tuesday. Hench allowed only one run off two hits with six strikeouts.

Senior centerfielder Jaren Sikes drove in the Panthers’ first run, scored by Hench, off a triple to left field in the bottom of the second inning off a fly ball hit over the head of left fielder Nate Ortiz.

Orange catcher Davis Horton extended his hitting streak to twelves games with an infield single in the seventh inning. Horton, who started the streak with two hits against Southern Nash during his freshman year at Riverside in 2019, also had a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning for his team-leading 14th RBI of the year.

It was Orange’s first win at Northwood since 2016, when Bryse Wilson was a senior.

“Anytime you can come down here and get a win, it’s a good thing,” Knapp said. “It’s a tough place to play, but it was an ugly game on our part. I’ve been coming down here since 2000, and every time I come here, it’s tough. The score wasn’t indicative of how hard Northwood fought. Coach (David) Miller has done a great job and they’ve improved a lot since the first time we met.”

Northwood shortstop Mason Bae struck first after being drilled on the second pitch Hench threw. Catcher Luke Smith blooped a single to shallow centerfield, and Bae went to third went the ball got past an outfielder. After sophomore third baseman Zach Barnes walked to load the bases, Ortiz reached on a throwing error to score Bae.

Following Sikes’ double in the second inning, Orange took the lead with three runs in the third inning. Tyler Lloyd drew a leadoff walk, followed by a liner to right field by Jackson Berini. Junior David Waitt doubled down the left field line to score Lloyd. Berini came in next off Horton’s sacrifice fly. With two out, Will Walker drove in a single to left field to plate Waitt.

Third baseman Cesar Lozano, who has been precipitously close to a home run throughout the season, nearly parked a fastball over the left field fence to leadoff the third. Instead, it one-hopped the wall and Lozano settled for a double. After Sikes walked, Lloyd laid down a bunt that was thrown into right field by the pitcher, and Lozano scored the first of several unearned Orange runs.

Sikes moved to third base off a Berini sacrifice bunt, which led to Twitter-caliber comedy. Waitt hit a fielder’s choice to Barnes at third base, who caught Sikes in a rundown at the plate trying to score. Sikes ran back to third, only to find Lloyd standing at third. Lloyd, who was nearly called out for sharing the same base, dashed to second. Sikes wound up being safe at third, and Northwood’s attempt to nab Lloyd during his retreat to second wound up with the ball thrown in the outfield. That allowed Sikes to score to put Orange ahead 7-1.

Following his 7th inning single, Horton ran for himself (usually Jacob Jones serves as his courtesy runner). After a errant pickoff to the death area at first, Horton took second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Horton, who has started every game, would score his second run of the year off a sacrifice fly from Walker to centerfield.

Connor Funk was hit by a pitch, and Hench reached on a throwing error. With Mason Thompson replacing Hench as a courtesy runner, Lozano was hit by a pitch. Sikes reached on an infield throwing error to score Thompson.

Despite scoring nine runs, no Panther had a multi-hit game. Sophomore Joey Pounds recorded the final two outs, including taking care of a bunt by Andrew Johnson on the last play of the game. He also had a strikeout.

Orange will host Chapel Hill on Friday night at 6 for its final home game of the year.

With the Big 8 Conference Championship already secure, the Orange wrestling team maintained its undefeated record with little trouble in Yanceyville.

In a tri-meet, Orange swept Bartlett-Yancey 60-18 and Walter Williams 64-12 on Tuesday night. It happened a week after Orange defeated Chapel Hill to clinch the Big 8 title and finished 7-0 in conference action.

Against the Buccaneers, Orange senior Henry Joubert-Stanzel scored his team-leading seventh pin of the season after he finished off Jakoby Casselman at 170 pounds. Joubert-Stanzel got a forfeit win against Williams and is now 13-0.

Senior Elliott Woods, who made All-Big 8 Conference for football, earned his first pinfall of the season with a win over William Caldwell at 182 pounds. Another All-Conference football player, Hayden Horne, pinned Jada Davis at 220 pounds. At 160 pounds, Nate Hecht pinned Christian Scott. Dillon Heffernan pinned Paul Vogel at 113 pounds.

Joshua Dunn, Jared Hutchins, Kessel Summers, Avery Clark, and Matthew Smith-Breeden earned forfeit wins against the Buccaneers.

Summers improved to 15-0 on the season with a 13-1 major decision over Williams’ Sam Sturgill.

Against Williams, who will be a conference rival for Orange starting in August, the Panthers had three pins. Avery Clark defeated Saul Segura-Alejandrez to go to 12-3 on the season. At 152 pounds, Samuel Crawford defeated James Hurst. Crawford is now 8-3. Brendon Worsham pinned Treyvon Cousins at 182 pounds to bolster his record to 11-2. It was Worsham’s fourth pin of the year.

Smith-Breeden, Heffernan, Dunn, Hutchins, Hecht, Joubert-Stanzel, and Horne all had forfeit wins for Orange against the Bulldogs.

Orange’s next dual match is scheduled against Hough High School next Tuesday. The Panthers will conclude its regular season in a tri-meet against powerful Cardinal Gibbons and Enloe on June 9.

Women’s Tennis: Northwood 6, Orange 3; Northwood 7, Orange 2

The Orange women’s tennis team honored five seniors during a lengthy evening at Orange High Tennis Courts on Tuesday.

The Northwood Chargers completed a suspended match that started on May 5 that was interrupted by rain, then won the regular scheduled match against Orange 7-2.

Orange seniors Halle Boroski, Ashley Behinger, Lindsey Jouannet, Morgan Gwinn, and Emma Williamson were honored before the match by head coach Justin Webb.

Freshman Grace Pell won in straight sets for Orange in singles play.

The Lady Panthers will finish the regular season at Chapel Hill on Wednesday.

Track and Field: Last Tuesday, the Orange and Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in a tri-meet at Northwood High School in Pittsboro. Cedar Ridge senior A.J. Richmond finished 1st in the 100 and 200 meter dash. Richmond had a new personal best with a time of 12.14 seconds in the 100. In the 200, Richmond finished at 24.24 seconds. In addition, Richmond finished second in the high jump with a leap of 5-feet.

For Orange, senior Erin Mink qualified for the Mideast Regionals in the pole vault. Mink cleared 10-feet, six inches to finish in first place. It was the huge day for Mink, who finished first in three different events. She won the long jump at 14-feet, eight-inches. She also captured the triple jump at 31-feet, nine inches.

Sophomore Abby Hengsterman won the 400 meter dash, crossing the finish line at 1:09.44. In the 300 meter hurdles, junior Samantha George finished first with a new personal best of 54.54 seconds.

For the Orange men, Spencer Hampton continued his strong season with victories in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Hampton, who has already qualified for the regionals, won the 1,600 at 4:24.10. In the 3,200, Hampton crossed the finish line at 9:53.60.

A week after winning in the 400 meter dash against Northern Durham and Vance County on Senior Day, Jeffrey Faulkner finished 1st in the 400 meters again at 53.24 seconds. Keanu Mims, who competed in the state championships as a sophomore on the 4×100 relay team, came in second at 54.24 seconds.

Orange captured three more events. In the high jump, Devin Goss finished first with a leap of 5-feet, 2-inches. Junior Caelin Sampey won the long jump at 15-feet, 6-and-a-half inches. Sampey also won the triple jump at 31-feet, 8.25-inches.