The Orange softball team sits atop first place in the Central Conference. On Tuesday night, the Lady Panthers used home runs from Mia Leathers, Caden Robinson and Hayleigh Hammond to defeat Eastern Alamance 8-5 in a battle of teams undefeated in conference play. Sophomore Katie Carden singled in the first inning, which allowed Sadie Cecil to score a run off an error. Later in the frame, Carden scored off a groundout by Allie Carden. After the Eagles tied the game at 2-2, Orange hit back-to-back homers. Hayleigh Hammond smashed one over the centerfield wall to put Orange in the lead for good. Afterwards, Leathers took one deep, also to centerfield. Later in the fourth, Katie Carden knocked in Addison Guentensberger with a single to centerfield to put Orange ahead 5-2. Katie Carden is hitting .378 this season and has played in all eleven games. Orange has won nine of its last ten games. Leathers has two home runs while starting at first base. On Friday night, the Lady Panthers will travel to Western Alamance, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions. It will start the second half of the conference slate for Orange. Earlier this year, Orange defeated the Warriors 16-6 in six innings in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers will host Person on Monday.