Month: May 2023

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.

For the third year in a row, the Orange lacrosse team has advanced to the state quarterfinals of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, Orange defeated First Flight 9-4 at Auman Stadium. The Panthers avenged a loss to the Nighthawks in last year’s state semifinal match. Senior Tigh Metheny scored the opening three goals of the game, all assisted by Connor Kruse. In a critical sequence late in the first half, Orange led 3-2. First Flgiht’s Cody Keller raced down the field on a breakaway. Orange goalkeeper Katie Wolter made a huge save to keep the Panthers in the lead. Wolter has a scholarship to play at American University in Washington, D.C. Wolter and the rest of the Panther defense helped keep the Nighthawks off the board for the entire third quarter. In a span of 18:56, the Nighthawks were held scoreless. Orange scored all four goals in the third quarter to take a 9-2 lead into the final stanza. The Panthers will face Carrboro at Auman Stadium in the state quarterfinals on Friday night. If Orange wins, they will host the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game next Tuesday in Auman Stadium. Metheny is the second-leading scorer on the team with 53 goals and 68 points. Wolter has made 119 saves this season with a 51% save percentage.

During summer weightlifting sessions for the Orange lacrosse team, the score “13-7” was written on the white board beside the entrance.

Every time the players left a workout, they would see that score written in back ink that served as a less-than-subtle  reminder to the end of an otherwise successful 2022 season, when Orange hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game for the first time.

It was a moment where Orange truly arrived as a lacrosse program. Thousands of fans gathered at Auman Stadium to see if the Panthers could reach the state championship game. Yet the moment may have overwhelmed the Panthers, who once played in empty stadiums when lacrosse was an afterthought compared to the more traditional baseball and softball programs.

In the regional title game, First Flight’s defense flustered Orange into uncharacteristic mistakes. The Nighthawks held Orange to one goal over 23:26 and advanced to play for the state championship for the first time ever.

By a score of 13-7.

The First Flight team that returned to Auman Stadium on Tuesday night was the same as last year’s in name only. The Nighthawks lost nine seniors, including their top five scorers and goalkeeper Porter Smith. Jacob Gray, who scored five goals against Orange last May, was supposed to return for his senior season yet opted for the Coast Guard Academy instead.

But Orange was still facing First Flight. More importantly, they were facing the Nighthawks in the 3rd round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs.

Which made the results no less gratifying. The irony was that the key to Orange’s victory was defense.

Senior Tigh Metheny scored Orange’s first three goals, all assisted by junior Connor Kruse, while the Panthers (17-3) held the Nighthawks scoreless for 18:56 through the second and third quarters in an 9-4 victory at Auman Stadium. Orange, the #1 seed in the East Region of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs, will face Carrboro on Friday night in the state quarterfinals at Auman Stadium.

Carrboro rolled past Cape Fear 17-3 at Jaguars Stadium.

First Flight, the co-champions of the Northeastern Conference with Croatan, ends the season 8-6.

While the Panthers found its rhythm in the second quarter, they were disjointed and sloppy early. Metheny’s sidearm shot off a feed from Kruse with 6:45 remaining was Orange’s only goal of the opening quarter.

The game turned on a sequence late in the second quarter. With Orange leading 3-2 and 4:45 remaining in the first half, First Flight Captain Cam Van Lunen intercepted a clearance pass and found sophomore Cody Keller up the field for a breakaway. It appeared the game would soon be tied, but Keller opted to go low against Orange goalkeeper Katie Wolter, who kicked it away. Defenseman Braden Hunt won the subsequent ground ball and sent it into the attacking end on a feed to Kruse, who found Metheny for a pinpoint shot that hit the back of the net.

After Orange freshman Matthew Macneir won the face-off, Wimsatt passed to Kruse for another goal seven seconds later to push the Panthers lead to 5-2 at halftime.

Kruse factored into all five Orange goals in the first half, assisting on four of them.

“Katie is a Division I goalkeeper for a reason,” said Orange coach Chandler Zirkle. “That was a huge one. The fact that we were able to make defensive stands throughout the game.”

Wolter has committed to American University, where she earned a scholarship.

First Flight was whistled for four penalties in the opening four minutes of the second quarter, including an illegal stick penalty to open the frame. That led to Metheny scoring with 9:01 remaining following an unnecessary roughness penalty with 9;31 remaining for the first of Orange’s two man-up goals. Metheny would add another two minutes later off a unsportsmanlike conduct call with 10:19 left.

Orange outscored the Nighthawks 5-0 in the third quarter. Jake Wimsatt, a senior who just recently returned to action after injuring his MCL early in the season, scored his second goal with 8:50 remaining off a pass from Kruse. Josh Cowan added two more goals in a span of 31 seconds, the first assisted by Josh Crabtree. Senior Joe Cady provided the highlight reel play of the night with a behind-the-back pass to sophomore Gray Crabtree, who finished it to put Orange ahead 9-2.

Freshman Danny Gardill had two goals for the Nighthawks, including one in the fourth quarter. Junior Bert Waddington also notched a goal in the final quarter, a frame where Orange was more content to run the clock out that scoring.

The Panthers have reached the state quarterfinals for three straight years and are one win away from hosting the Eastern Regional Championship game for the second straight season.

“First Flight plays so hard,” Zirkle said. “The nice thing we have is depth. It helps when you can put a freshman out (Brett Clark) at the end of the first half to replace tired players. Realistically, he’s not supposed to be playing heavy minutes right now, but he’s able to go out on the field and give us some good ones. That’s a big difference maker.”

Jason Knapp’s latest state playoff win as Orange baseball coach was unlike any he’s had before.

It wasn’t a first round nail bitter that went nine innings against Cedar Ridge.. It wasn’t decided in the late innings like last year’s thriller against Terry Sanford.

Instead, the Panthers went about business against Croatan thoroughly, efficiently and best of all, quickly.

Orange scored eight runs in the second inning, capped by a three-run blast by junior centerfielder Cameron Guentensberger, en route to an 16-2 win in five innings over Croatan in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Orange, the #2 seed in the East Region, advance to host Triton on Friday night.

Triton defeated Scotland County 12-2 in six innings on Tuesday night.

Orange is 23-2, their most wins in a season since 2013, when they reached the 3A Eastern Regional final series with freshman Bryse Wilson.

Ryan Hench threw five innings to earn his third win of the season. Hench, who missed 12 games because of an injury suffered against Grimsley on March 9, struck out eight in only five innings. He allowed just two hits. Both runs he surrendered were unearned.

“Ryan looked great,” Knapp said. “He’s coming right back into form. He commanded the strike zone well. He had them out front with his slider. It looked the same old Ryan we’ve had forever.”

Croatan ends the season 12-13.

Hench finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs and a solo homer that led off the bottom of the fourth, which put Orange ahead 9-2.

Orange took control of the game going station-to-station in the second inning until, before you knew it, they had eight runs. It started when Ryan Honeycutt drilled a double down the left field line. With Ty Walker serving as a courtesy runner, Ryan Horton reached on a booted grounder at third base. Neo Best’s soft liner to right field loaded the bases. Cross Clayton drove in the opening run with a base hit that floated over second base into the outfield. Senior Jackson Berini, who went 2-for-3, lined a single up the middle to bring in Horton.

Senior David Waitt sent his team-leading 31st hit of the season through the 3-4 hole for another RBI single. With Orange leading 3-0, Hench ended a six-pitch at-bat with a liner to left field to score Clayton and Berini, leading to Croatan starter Broderyk Miller getting pulled.

Guentensberger poked a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence, which Knapp labeled”a classic Orange High home run,” for a three-run blast to score Waitt and Joey Pounds. It was the first home run of Guentensberger’s career.

The Cougars fought back with Owen Woodruff scoring off a sacrifice fly in the third inning hit by Nathan Michalowicz. Ben Boyette, who reached on an error in the outfield, reduced Orange’s lead to 8-2 off a squeeze play bunt by Nathan Griffin.

After Hench’s leadoff homer in the fourth, Connor Nordan had a single. Guentensberger was hit by a pitch, and Horton walked to load the bases. Best drove in Nordan and Guentensberger with a sharp liner to left field. Clayton put the game in run-rule territory with a seeing eye grounder that reached right field that brought in Horton. After Berini walked, Waitt knocked in Best with an RBI fielder’s choice where Berini was thrown out at second. Hench drilled a doubled on a ball that just missed getting out of the ballpark, plating Waitt and Clayton. With Pounds running for Hench, Nordan drove in his 37th run of the season with a single to centerfield.

Hench has home runs in three of Orange’s last four games.

It was Orange’s first run-rule victory since they defeated Cedar Ridge 12-2 on March 28.

“The guys were loose and focused,” Knapp said. “I have a lot of these guys in my weight training class and I saw it early today. They were feeling good and it came out right on the field. It was a lot different than last year.”

The Orange Middle School Chargers men’s lacrosse team captured its seventh consecutive Orange Person Athletic Conference Northern Division championship on Monday afternoon. At Charger Stadium, the Chargers defeated Stanback 10-4 to clinch the title and advance to the Orange Person Athletic Conference championship game. The Chargers got the opening goal from Kaiden Wallace with 6:14 remaining in the first quarter on an assist from Braden Pfeiffenberger. Dylan Herndon scored a hat trick for the Chargers. Pfeiffenberger scored four goals and finished with six points. Renn Vanhoose had a goal and won several key face-offs for the Chargers. Stanback got two goals from Penn Cochran, who finished with three points on the day. Jeremy Holquist and Joseph Drive also had goals for the Bulldogs. Stanford will journey to Chapel Hill on Tuesday to face Culbreth. The Cougars won the Southern Division championship and defeated the Chargers earlier this year. Stanford will be going for its seventh straight OPAC Championship.