Photo by Sam Sawyer
Timing is everything in life.
The Orange baseball team that started the season seven weeks ago is radically different from the one that dominated Apex Friendship on Wednesday night.
Tyler Thompson, who earned his first complete game victory against the Patriots, was on the junior varsity squad when the Panthers lifted the lid of the 2026 campaign against Riverside on February 25. Joining Thompson on the JV squad was freshman Ben Knowles, who has started the last eight games on varsity, mainly at third base.
Kayden Bradsher, who missed the first eleven games recovering from injuries during football season, returned to the lineup against Chapel Hill in the Hilltop Invitational on March 30. Since his return, Bradsher has hit .429 with 12 RBIs and seven runs scored.
After handing South Granville its first Big 7 Conference loss of the season last Friday, the Panthers have two run-rule victories this week. On Wednesday night, the Panthers scored nine runs in the second inning, sending 14 batters to the plate in a 11-1 domination of Apex Friendship in Hillsborough.
Junior Oliver Van Tiem, who has a 12-game hitting streak, went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, two doubles and a walkoff triple that scored Allen Flores for the 11th run that sewed up a five-inning win.
Orange, which has won eight of its last ten after a 3-6 start, is a team that has parts forming but is by no means complete. Van Tiem, who has committed to North Carolina, has yet to throw a pitch.
It reminds head coach Jason Knapp of his 2022 squad, which started 4-4 including a 13-0 thumping at the hands of future 1A State Champion Perquimans in Wilson. Behind future Division I pitchers Ryan Hench and Cross Clayton, the Panthers would go on to win ten straight league games en route to the Central Conference championship and had a 4-0 lead at J.H. Rose in the third round of the 3A State Playoffs before faltering late.
“This team reminds me of 2022,” Knapp said. “I was talking to an assistant about it the other day about how the coaches are doing a great job in working with the kids. Then the kids are accepting coaching. They’re starting to see the fruits of all their hard work and willingness to buy in. It’s been very fulfilling.”
After the Patriot’s Braden Bloom scored the opening run off a single from Andrew Kimmel, Orange wasted no time in tying it up. Van Tiem ripped a single to centerfield. J.P. Rodio just beat Bloom’s throw from the outfield to the plate.
That was the last real drama of the night. In the second, Bradsher was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Cam Brown as Orange blew every fuse out of the scoreboard. Rodio cleared the bases with a doubled that faded into the left field bullpen, scoring Knowles, Bradsher and Gary Miller. Mason Bullard bounced a ground run double over the centerfield fence to bring in Rodio. Van Tiem knocked in his second run with an RBI double to left field, scoring Flores.
Brown scored twice in the second inning, reaching on a single both times. Gary Miller knocked him in with a soft line drive to right field for the ninth and final run of the frame.
Thompson struck out four in five innings, allowing six hits without a walk.
The Panthers will host Durham School of the Arts on Friday night in Hillsborough for Senior Night. Brown, Miller, Ryan Sawyer, Wren Hash, Jackson Nobles and Wyatt Nobles will all be honored in a pregame ceremony that will start at roughly 5:45.
