GRAHAM–There’s a difference between hitting and timely hitting.
On Tuesday night, that was the difference between Orange and Southern Alamance. And, hence, it’s the difference in the race for the Central Conference baseball championship right now.
Each team had five hits. The Panthers largely hit for singles. The Patriots hit for power, albeit from unlikely sources.
Southern’s Janden Evans hit the very first pitch delivered by Cross Clayton over the left field fence, aided somewhat by a southwest wind, to put the Patriots ahead in the opening inning. It was Evans first home run of the season.
Southern would go on to beat Orange 3-1 at the Carroll Shoffner Baseball Complex. The Patriots now lead Orange by one game for first place in the Central Conference at 7-2. The Panthers will host the second game of the two-game series in Hillsborough on Friday. With only three league games remaining, it is likely Orange’s last hope to gain a share of the conference title.
The Panthers had plenty of opportunities on Tuesday. The Patriots committed five errors, but the Panthers didn’t make them hurt. Orange’s leadoff batter, Cameron Guentensberger, lined a single to centerfield and advanced to second when the ball was bobbled by Bradley Capps. Southern starter Braxton Cain struck out Kayden Bradsher and Ryan Honeycutt. With two out, Ryan Horton grounded a ball to shortstop to Mark King, whose throw to first baseman Cooper Partin was low. After Horton legged it out, Guentensberger attempted to score from first, but Partin immediately threw to catcher Eli Holland, who tagged out the centerfielder at the plate to close out the inning.
Clayton suffered his first-ever loss to a conference opponent, ironically in one of his best career outings. Of his 72 pitchers, he threw 58 strikes with nine strikeouts. Of the 26 batters he faced, Clayton threw a first-pitch strike to 24 of them. Clayton was going for his 20th career win, the first Orange pitcher to reach that plateau since Bryse Wilson in 2016.
After Evans stomped his foot on home plate to complete his first dinger, Holland sent a hopper that popped off third base into the left field corner for a double. It was the first in a series of failed scoring opportunities by both teams. Holland moved to third after Partin grounded out to Wyatt Hedrick for the first out. Clayton ended the inning striking out Ethan Mann and Noah Madren.
Orange designated hitter Garrett Sawyer was hit by a pitch in the second inning, then raced over to second when Cain’s pickup throw got away from Partin. King caught a soft liner by Clayton to end the frame.
Ryan Honeycutt opened the fourth with a cue shot down the third base line that Evans threw away, sending the senior to second. That’s as far as Honeycutt would go after Horton, Oliver Van Tiem and Wyatt Hedrick were retired in order.
In the sixth, Southern senior Bradley Capps sent a 1-1 fastball over the left field fence, a wall scraper that went out the most shallow part of the park. It was Capps’ first home run of the year, his seventh RBI.
With one out, Evans doubled to the right field gap. After Holland flew out to Elijah Santos in right, Evans moved over to third. Mann lined a single to centerfield to bring in Capps and make it 3-0 Patriots.
Orange’s only run came when Horton sent a diving liner to centerfield. Capps dove for the ball but missed and it rolled all the way to the fence. Horton wound up with a triple. Dominic O’Keefe replaced him as a courtesy runner. With Van Tiem at bat, Cain uncorked a wild pitch to the spacious backstop. O’Keefe scored off the wild pitch.
Cain surpassed 105 pitches when Garrett Sawyer rode out a ten-pitch at-bat that ended with a fly out to Mann in left field. Eli Gilley replaced Cain and earned the save by striking out Clayton and Santos.