ROXBORO: In possibly the most stacked softball conference in the state, the margin of error is small.
For two-thirds of this season, Orange has had that margin go against them in big games against Western Alamance and Person in the Central Carolina Conference.
On Wednesday night, fortune didn’t fall on the Panthers’ side as much as sophomore Caden Robinson earned it for them.
In her career-best game inside the circle, Robinson struck out 14 batters and threw a 4-hitter, leading to Orange upsetting Person 3-1 on the Rockets’ senior night.
Person, who came into the game ranked #2 in the 3A East Region by MaxPreps, suffered only its senior home loss of the season. Eastern Alamance, the #1 team in the East, defeated the Rockets 1-0 on Monday night in Roxboro.
Previously, Person defeated Western Alamance (currently #7), led by East Carolina commitment Taylor Apple, 4-3 on April 1 in Roxboro.
Orange, who went undefeated en route to the Big 8 Conference championship in 2021, has spent much of this season on the outside looking in at the Central Carolina Conference’s upper-echelon of Eastern Alamance, Person and Western Alamance. Behind Robinson, the Panthers finally got their breakthrough victory to remind the rest of the league that there was still a team, or two, in Hillsborough to be taken seriously for the stretch run.
“I think we’ve been overlooked this year,” said Orange coach Johnny Barefoot. “We’ve been only a play or two in some of these games from pulling off a win just like this one. It just hasn’t fallen our way. We could have beaten Western Alamance, but I’m proud of the way we played together. We were poised tonight.”
Last month in the first meeting between the two teams, Orange went into the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead, but the Rockets got three homers from Lillie Davis, Taryn Massey and Mariah McCowan to rally for a 8-4 win.
On Wednesday night, senior Kelsey Mangum was one of only two Rockets to touch third base all night. In the opening inning, Mangum took the first pitch she saw and ripped it down the first base line. Orange right fielder Alexis Latta-Harshaw chased it until it fell into a hole in foul ground, limiting Mangum to a double when she could have easily scored. After Robinson struck out McCowan and Davis, Mangum stole third and then scored as the throw went into left field.
From there, Robinson dominated. She struck out the side in the third inning and allowed just four baserunners the rest of the game.
“It was just confidence and heart,” Barefoot said of Robinson’s performance. “Confidence and heart.”
Orange also took advantage of several free bases the Rockets supplied them in the third inning. Latta-Harshaw led off with a fly ball that dropped in front of the left fielder, then rolled behind her, allowing Latta-Harshaw to move to second. Junior leadoff batter Serenity McPherson lined a double off the bottom of the left field fence to bring in Latta-Harshaw and tie the game. With no one out, shortstop Delaney Shaffer sent a grounder to the first baseman, who bobbled it. With the ball at her feet, the first baseman briefly paused, but McPherson did not, rounding third with zero hesitation and scoring to put Orange ahead without even a throw to the plate.
Robinson lined out to Davis, who doubled up Shaffer at first base for the inning’s second out. Senior catcher Lauren Jackson lined a single to left field. After courtesy runner Courtney Watkins replaced Jackson at first, senior Mary Moss Wirt took a 1-2 pitch and lined it to right field and past a diving Lindsey Melton. The ball rolled all the way to the makeshift fence and by the time Melton picked it up, Watkins had already crossed home plate.
That would be the final runs of the game. The closest Person came to scoring came in the fifth when Karter Hawkins, one of five seniors honored on Senior Night, opened the inning with a single that landed in front of McPherson in centerfield. After Hawkins stole second, Robinson struck out Kyle Gould for the second out. Mangum sent a bloop to centerfield, where McPherson made a diving catch to flat-out steal an RBI single and end the inning.
Person’s Delaney Glover reached third base after an error in the fourth inning. Robinson kept her there after inducing a groundout to the circle by Delanya Grimes, then striking out Massey.
By the time Moss squeezed the final out on a pop-up to third base, the Orange players gathered in a celebration huddle along the third base line in front of their dugout. While Eastern Alamance has put the race for the CCC Regular Season Championship to bed, Orange’s hopes for a strong run in the state playoffs are very much alive.