The Orange baseball team has the inside track on its second consecutive Central Carolina Conference championship. Last week, the Panthers defeated Person 4-3 at Rocket Field in Roxboro. Once again, the youth of the Panther pitching staff came through with a clutch performance. After junior Josiah Gibbs threw four-plus innings, junior Coltin Hedrick came in and perserved the lead to earn his second save of the season. Hedrick, who threw two-and-two-thirds innings, retired the final seven Rockets he faced, striking out four of them. Gibbs earned his fourth win of the season, a team-high. Junior Ryan Honeycutt, who was the designated hitter, scored a crucial run in the third inning off a double by Cameron Guentensberger. Honeycutt scored from first base. With senior Ryan Hench out due to injury, Honeycutt has filled in at the cleanup position. With four conference games remaining, Orange now leads Person and Northwood by two games in the loss column. This week, Orange will be away from conference action to face formidable opposition in the Hilltop Invitational. The Panthes will start tonight against Union Pines. On Wednesday, Orange will have a showdown against Lee County, which will be a matchup between two teams ranked in the top five of the MaxPreps RPI East Regional rankings. As of Tuesday morning, Ornage is #3 in the region, while the Yellow Jackets are #4. On Friday, Orange will face Wakefield for Senior Night. Seniors Ryan Hench, Jackson Berini, Connor Nordan, Joey Pounds, Neo Best, David Waitt, Kent Melvin, Ty Walker, and Ryan Doherty will be honored.