This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior softball shortstop Carson Bradsher. This season, Bradsher was the leading hitter for the Orange softball team with a .596 batting average. On May 2, Bradsher went 3-for-4 with two RBIs as the Lady Panthers defeated Eastern Alamance, the defending 3A State Champions, 9-4 on May 2. The first time Carson was interviewed for Hillsboroughsports.com, it was in November 2019 when she attended a college signing ceremony for Jaden Hurdle inside the Orange Media Center. She said, aside from her family, the thing she was most thankful for was softball. Three years later, Bradsher had her own signing ceremony inside the media center for USC-Upstate in the Big South Conference. In her Orange high career, Bradsher won a Big 8 Conference championship in 2021. She was a member of an Orange team that finished undefeated in the regular season. For her career, Bradsher had a .612 batting average in 38 career games. She had 85 hits and 45 career stolen bases. After missing most of her junior season with an injury, Bradsher had base hits in 18 of Orange’s 19 games this season. Her Orange career ended on Tuesday night in a loss to West Carteret in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. The daughter of Wayne and Shannon Bradsher, Carson served as a mentor to younger players like Katie Carden this season. Her base running and slap hitting ability at Orange will be missed as she stakes her considerable talents to Spartanburg, SC.