When a Berini hits for power, they make it memorable.
The last time someone hit a grand slam for the Orange baseball team, it was Joey Berini against East Chapel Hill on March 10, 2020. It was the first grand slam of his career–and also his last at-bat in his four-year Orange career. The pandemic shut down the Panthers’ season, along with everyone else’s, two days later.
On Wednesday night, Jackson Berini became the first Orange player to hit a grand slam since his younger brother did it two years ago. With two out in the third inning against Person, Berini took a 1-2 pitch and pulled over the right field fence at Panther Field, where the ball vanished into the bushes above Person outfielder Drew Mangum.
Berini’s first career home run vaulted Orange into a 8-1 lead, and the Panthers would go on to win 9-1. Orange (8-6 overall, 4-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) remains tied in the loss column with Eastern Alamance for first place in the CCC. The Eagles, who are 5-1 in conference play, will face Cedar Ridge in a doubleheader in Mebane on Friday.
Orange’s offense, which has been inconsistent during the first half of the season, finished with 12 hits, one shy of its season-high.
Junior Ryan Hench, which has lacked run support through his first seven starts, earned his second win of the season. Hench retired the first seven Rockets in order before 1st baseman Carter Stacy got aboard on a bunt single in the third inning. Hench finished with six strikeouts over six innings. He scattered five hits and one run. Joey Pounds threw a perfect seventh inning to close out the win.
Berini’s grand slam came after designated hitter Connor Nordan lined a leadoff single to right field. After Cameron Guentensberger moved Nordan to second with a sacrifice bunt, Connor Funk drilled a single to right. Cross Clayton loaded the bases with a walk, leading to Berini’s blast.
Orange scored three runs in the first inning. Berini led off with a single to left center. With right fielder David Waitt at the plate, Berini moved over to second on a wild pitch. Waitt drilled a double to the porch in left field, bringing in Berini. After Waitt moved over to third on a groundout, Nordan knocked in Berini with a ground ball that rolled into left field. Guentensberger kept the inning alive with an infield single, then Funk reached on another hit, which led to Nordan scoring when Person’s second baseman threw the ball into the Orange dugout.
The Panthers increased its lead to 4-0 in the second inning when Waitt hit a one-out single to right field. Waitt stole second, leading to catcher Davis Horton lofting a base hit over the head of 2nd baseman into right field. Waitt crossed home plate following Horton’s team-best 12th RBI of the season.
Funk started the fifth inning by beating out a throw following a cue shot that rolled left of the mound. Orange’s Cesar Lozano sent a bouncing ball up the middle for an infield hit which slipped off the glove of the shortstop, advancing Funk to third. Clayton laid down a bunt for a suicide squeeze play to score Funk.
Orange will finish the two-game series with a trip to Roxboro Friday night.
Cedar Ridge 14, Apex Friendship 5 After a disappointing loss to East Chapel Hill in the final game of the Hilltop Invitational, the Cedar Ridge baseball team had a resounding win in Wake County on Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Wolves scored a season-high 14 runs to defeat Apex Friendship 14-5 in Apex. The Patriots entered the game with an 8-4 record, but the Red Wolves jumped out with four runs in the first inning and never wavered in security its sixth win of the season.
Cedar Ridge loaded the bases in the first inning after senior Aidan McAllister walked, Cristian Macias reached on an error and Efrain Morales walked. Mason Cates leveled a first-pitch grounder to left field to score McAllister. Senior Garrett Ray lined a two-run single to centerfield to plate Macias and Morales. Ray stole third, then stole home to put the Wolves ahead 4-0.
B.J. Thornton increased Cedar Ridge’s lead to 5-0 in the second inning. Thornton was hit by a pitch. McAllister doubled to right field to send Thornton to third. Morales knocked in Thornton with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
The Red Wolves strung together ten hits.
In the third, the Red Wolves added two more runs. Carlo Garay drew a one-out walk, followed by a single by Will Tippin. Senior Brian Flores, the starting pitcher, drove in Garay with a line drive single to centerfield. Tippin scored off a sacrifice fly by Thornton.
Morales, who cranked a solo homer into the teeth of a 25-mile-per-hour wind in the second inning against East Chapel Hill on Friday, finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored and a walk. Cates went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Ray finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Flores earned his second win of the season on the mound. Flores threw the opening two innings and allowed only three hits. Thornton closed out the game with a perfect seventh inning, striking out two.
Quinn Finnegan threw the sixth inning for Cedar Ridge, allowing only one hit. Macias and Joe Garbee threw middle relief on what was a staff day for Red Wolves head coach Bryson Massey.