There wasn’t a Central Conference Baseball Tournament this year because the coaches didn’t want to wear out their pitcher’s arms going into the state playoffs.
It was just as well. Turns out, the opening two rounds of the 3A State Playoffs will essentially be a mini-Central Conference Tournament with the winner advancing to the round of 16. And the biggest grudge match imaginable will comprise one end of the bracket in Hillsborough.
On Monday, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the field of 64 in the 3A State Playoffs. Orange received a #12 seed and will face crosstown rival Cedar Ridge at Panther Field on Tuesday night. The winner will face either Southern Alamance, who received a #5 seed, or Eastern Alamance on Friday.
Orange, who claimed a share of the Central Conference championship with Southern Alamance after they each finished with a 9-3 league record, was supposed to face the Patriots on Saturday to determine the league’s #1 seed. Once both teams showed up to Southeast Alamance to play, the rain started coming down and didn’t really ease up. It was determined that Southern Alamance had earned the #1 seed after they swept a two-game series from Williams, who finished third in the conference. Orange split the series with Williams.
The loss to the Bulldogs on April 12 turned out to be costly. The Panthers finished #2 in the 3A East Region RPI, behind only J.H. Rose. Instead of a #2 seed in the East Region, Orange got a #12.
And they will face a Cedar Ridge team playing its best baseball of the season and craving a win over Orange. The Red Wolves have lost ten in a row to the Panthers. They haven’t won at Orange High Field since 2012.
That’s enough to make the matchup juicy as it is. Then there was the matter of the April 2nd game that Orange won 10-4 at Cedar Ridge that left plenty of hard feelings on both sides. It led to coaches from both teams being suspended, complaints by parents to the county administrative offices and more spice to a rivalry that already has plenty of animosity.
It may also be the last time that Cedar Ridge and Orange meet in the state playoffs in any sport. In August 2025, the NCHSAA will expand from four classifications to eight. If realignment is based on enrollment, it’s possible that Cedar Ridge and Orange will be in the same conference, but it looks unlikely they will be in the same classification.
Currently, Orange has 1,272 students. Cedar Ridge has 1,141.
That won’t be the only wrinkle of finality. It will almost certainly be the final home game for eight Orange seniors, including pitcher Cross Clayton, who earned his 20th career win last week. He became the first Panther with 20 wins since Bryse Wilson in 2016. Orange regularly starts six seniors, including centerfielder Cameron Guentensberger, who has become the team’s closer with four saves in its last six games. There’s also first baseman Ryan Honeycutt, who missed the first six games of the season after breaking his right thumb playing Cedar Ridge in basketball last February.
Cedar Ridge arrives into the state playoffs under head coach Bryson Massey with six straight wins. The Red Wolves started April with six straight losses, then started a rebound with a victory over Eastern Alamance in Mebane. Junior Quinn Finnegan has won his last two starts, including a 3-2 victory over Chapel Hill on April 24. Last week, Cedar Ridge senior Mason Cates earned the win in his final home game in an 8-2 victory over Knightsdale. The Red Wolves swept a two-game series from Western Alamance to conclude the regular season.
It’s the third straight year that Cedar Ridge has reached the state playoffs.
Cedar Ridge will go for its first postseason win since 2019, when they defeated Southern Alamance 10-2 in Hillsborough.