Even before she graduated from Orange in June, Rhiley Crabtree had her life’s ambitions mapped out. She has been a proud member of Future Farmers of America for years and has a goal of becoming an agriculture teacher. However, she still has playing softball in her blood. In May, she formally signed to play softball at Mt. Olive College. Joining her for the ceremony was her mother Paula and father Keith. Last season, Rhiley had a .375 batting average across 19 games playing first base. She played for an Orange team that defeated Triton in the 3A State Playoffs and finished the regular season 11-10 overall, 7-6 in the Central Conference. Across 51 games, Crabtree had a .328 batting average with 27 career RBIs. In her senior season, Crabtree went 2-for-3 in a win over Western Alamance. In a 6-3 win over eventual conference champion Eastern Alamance, Crabtree went 3-for-4 with a run scored in Hillsborough. In the state playoff win over Triton, Crabtree finished 2-for-5 with an RBI. In addition to playing softball, Crabtree was also a member of the Orange women’s basketball team the past two years. Last winter, she played in Orange’s state playoff win over Swansboro. It was Orange’s first state playoff win since 2017.
