Through the first half of the season, Jason Knapp has had two Orange baseball teams.
The one he envisioned since the end of last season. And the one he’s had since since March 9.
Knapp knew that the top two pitchers in his rotation from 2022, Ryan Hench and Cross Clayton, would return for 2023. And that’s the way it was—for the first week.
Then Clayton suffered an injury to his pitching hand after his opening day win over East Chapel Hill on February 27 and didn’t resume pitching again until nearly a month later. Hench started his senior season in style with a dominant 11-3 win over Northern Durham, which included nine strikeouts and a powerful two-run homer in the fifth.
A week later, Hench was injured against Grimsley in Greensboro and hasn’t played since.
That impacted Knapp on several levels. First, it took the most powerful bat out of his order. Hench led Orange with five home runs and 26 RBIs in 2022. Secondly, his top two starting pitchers were sidelined for the start of the conference schedule. That meant some younger pitchers that Knapp had in mind for occasional starts during staff days would soon find themselves out there every week for games that would decide Orange’s fate for the state playoffs.
“When you lose a Ryan Hench, you aren’t just losing a quality arm and a quality bat,” Knapp said. “You’re losing an emotional leader. He brings some swag in the lineup. We had to find ourselves for a little bit.”
Despite the injuries and some offensive inconsistency, Orange will enter its two-game series against Person tonight tied with the Rockets for first place in the Central Carolina Conference with a 4-2 record. The Panthers are 11-2 overall and #3 in the 3A East RPI rankings.
Part of the reason why the Panthers have endured is pitching depth. Eight different hurlers have won games this season. That includes junior Coltin Hedrick, who earned his first win against Walter Willams in a 1-0 win on March 26. Hedrick also threw four scoreless relief innings in his first varsity appearance, a 2-1 win over Jordan on March 6. He had his first career save against Cedar Ridge last Thursday.
“Coltin pitched his tail off,” Knapp said after the Williams victory. “He’s been a real pleasant surprise.”
Junior Josiah Gibbs has stepped in as Orange’s Tuesday starter. In his second year on the varsity, Gibbs currently leads the team with three wins and 21.1 innings pitched. His ERA is 2.30.
Knapp’s vision of Utopia for the second half of the season would be to merge the younger players who have stepped up in emergency roles over the past month with a healthy Hench and Clayton back in their regular roles.
Clayton has returned to the rotation and was in midseason form against Cedar Ridge last Thursday, striking out ten over five innings in a 3-1 win.
Regardless of whose pitching, he has a reliable infield around him. Senior shortstop Jackson Berini and senior third baseman Neo Best anchor an infield that has allowed five-or-less runs in eleven of its 13 games.
“Neo found himself at third base later in the season,” Knapp said. “He’s just solid defensively. He’s a leader on the field right beside Berini. He’s always communicating and he’s always talking. He’s doesn’t get enough credit. And Berini is our field general. We expect him to make big plays. They’ve all stepped their game up.”
Person had to deal with some adversity of its own last week. After dropping a 1-0 loss to Northwood in Pittsboro last Tuesday, it appeared the Chargers would complete a two-game sweep on Friday in Roxboro. After playing a scoreless tie through seven innings, Northwood took a 2-0 lead in the tenth inning. With two outs and the bases empty, the Rockets were down to their last strike before Levi Strader stroked a double to centerfield to score Dylan England and Colin Kennedy to tie the game.
In the eleventh, England stroke a walkoff double to centerfield to score Brady Blackwell.If it wasn’t for that, Orange would be in first place in the CCC right now.
Of course, the last time the Rockets face Orange, Person upset the Panthers in the semifinals of the CCC Tournament in Hillsborough. The Rockets went on to win the championship.
The second game of the two-game set has been rescheduled for Wednesday night at Orange. Originally, it was set for Thursday but changed due to rain in the forecast.