Jeff Hamlin

The Orange men’s tennis team defeated Roxboro Community School at Orange Tennis Courts on Thursday. Playing at #1 singles, junior Justin Conover earned his third win in his last four singles matches. Also earning wins for Orange were Colin O’Hagerty, Brandon Gwinn, Joseph Clark, Nathan Pavalonis and Tristian Plummer at singles. Conover has amassed a 4-3 singles record this season for the Panthers. he also defeated Northwood’s Jo Sumogod 6-4, 6-4 on March 24. Later this month, Conover will be Orange’s representative in the Big 8 Conference singles tournament, which will determine who will make the 3A Mideast Regionals at the Burlington Tennis Center. On Friday, Orange will host crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves defeated the Panthers earlier this year in the western end of Hillsborough.

Kayla Hodges: On Thursday afternoon, the Elon women’s soccer team surprised top-seeded Hofstra 1-0 in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in Towson, MD. Hodges, who was named the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season, started for the Phoenix on defense. Claire Broderdop scored the game’s only goal in the 78th minute. It’s the first time that Elon ever defeated Hofstra. The Phoenix is now 5-3 and will face UNC Wilmington for the Colonial Athletic Association championship on Sunday afternoon.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team came to an end with a 1-0 loss to Queen’s University in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament last Thursday. Jean, a goalkeeper, didn’t play against the Royals. She earned the victory in net during Limestone’s final win of the season, a 2-1 win over Lincoln Memorial on April 5.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace women’s soccer team had its season end against Mary Baldwin on March 26. This season, Rogers started in all eight games for the Pacers. She played 443 minutes. Peace finished 3-5 overall, 2-4 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Bailey Lucas: The Meredith volleyball team’s season came to an end on Wednesday in the semifinals of the USA Southeast Division Tournament. Averett defeated the Avenging Angels 3-1 on scores of 26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20 inside the Grant Center in Danville, VA. Lucas ended her junior season by starting the final game of the season. She compiled 16 assists, 15 digs and one kill. Lucas led the team with 314 assists this year. She was fourth in the squad with 108 digs. Meredith ends the year 9-5.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team won both of its midweek games this week. The Bulldogs defeated Samford 8-5 in Birmingham, AL on Tuesday. Davidson went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the 7th inning. On Wednesday, Mississippi State edged Southern Miss 3-2 in eight innings at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS. Davidson went 1-for-3 with a single in the 1st inning, and eventually scored.

Montana Davidson: Montana hit an RBI single in the fourth inning for Mississippi State against Samford. In the third inning, Montana scored in the third inning off an RBI single by Fa Leilua. She finished 1-for-2 with an RBI against Samford. Against Southern Miss, Montana went 0-for-2 with a walk. Mississippi State is 22-16 and will travel to Missouri this weekend searching for its first Southeastern Conference win of the season.

Brandon Andrews: The former Cedar Ridge pitcher made his debut for Jacksonville State last month. In one-thirds of an inning, Andrews gave up three runs off two hits as the Gamecocks lost to Kennesaw State 12-10 at Stillwell Stadium in Kennesaw, GA on March 24. After two seasons and 37 relief appearances at Nicholls State, Andrews transferred to Jacksonville State last summer. He redshirted last season with Nicholls State. Jacksonville State is 16-15, 7-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Gamecocks will travel to Eastern Kentucky this weekend.

Kate Burgess: Burgess, a former center for the Orange women’s basketball team and cross country runner, is now a member of the UNC rowing team. On March 27, UNC’s 1V4+ quad earned its first win of the season over UCF at Virginia’s South Fork River Reservoir in Charlottesville, VA. Burgess was in the 2V4 race, joined by freshman coxswain Isabelle McGimsey, along with Gigi Maroney, Nicole Van Liew and Claire Melgard. They finished the race in 8:10.9. UCF’s team finished in 8:05.7.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team defeated Greensboro College 18-8 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer on Wednesday. Jones, who played football and lacrosse at Orange, had two ground balls for the Falcons. Pfeiffer improved to 8-1 overall, 6-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference. Pfeiffer will face Methodist in Fayetteville on Saturday.

The Orange softball team has won the Big 8 Championship and it wasn’t close.

On Tuesday, the Lady Panthers rolled past Vance County 11-1 in five innings in Hillsborough to officially clinch the title.

But that’s only part of the story.

Among the ten players on Orange Coach Johnny Barefoot’s lineup card on Tuesday, there were two freshmen, four sophomores, and three juniors. The only senior was first baseman Gracie Colley, who was at first base and wasn’t even in the batting order.

The conference title may only be the beginning for a team that is still young in terms of class, but has grown wise through years of summer travel ball and success in various middle schools.

When the season started a month ago, no one was sure what to expect since it was a new chapter for Hillsborough softball. Cedar Ridge lost five seniors after the pandemic-shortened season in 2020. Orange lost six, including two starters from its 2017 3A State Championship team.

Lady Panthers Coach Henry Horn retired shortly after the season was canceled. Barefoot replaced Horn. It was his first high school head coaching job.

“A lot of people thought we were young with new coaches,” Barefoot said. “Some might have thought with a new staff, we wouldn’t do very well. But I knew what was here and I knew what was coming with me. I was praying that COVID wouldn’t shut us down because I knew we could put the chemistry together. I had it in the back of my mind that we were capable of winning this conference.”

Orange’s last outright Big 8 Championship team was the 2017 state title squad, but it was a different time. For one thing, the regular season race was a full-fledged 14-game season, not a 7-game campaign sawed in half because of a pandemic. In 2017, there were four seniors in the starting lineup, along with freshmen Jaden Hurdle and Grace Andrews. The Panthers of Eddie Davidson went 26-3, but lost a conference game to J.F. Webb. They held off Northwood 3-0 in Pittsboro.

It was a stronger league back then. Nonetheless, the 2021 Orange team (7-0, 6-0 in the Big 8 Conference) has dominated its league counterparts with all the suspense of a mid-1980s Super Bowl blowout.

They’ve won all seven games by at least ten runs. None of the contests have gone beyond five innings.

With the Big 8 Championship now in the bag, Orange finds itself in a unique position. They have four more games against league opponents that won’t count as conference games, starting with Friday’s trip to Cedar Ridge. To get a sense of what awaits Orange in the 3A State Playoffs, Barefoot has scheduled a nonconfernece game at Southern Alamance on April 28 to guard against letdown.

“I was talking to the girls about it after Tuesday night,” Barefoot said. “I told them we’re going to work hard and take the rest of this season to prepare. Anybody in our conference can come up and knock our feet out from under us. I told them that. We have got to keep practicing hard and playing hard.”

Against Vance County, Barefoot installed freshman Caden Robinson in the pitching circle, where she improved to 4-0. In her fourth complete game, Robinson struck out eight, and allowed four hits and one unearned run with zero walks.

Vance County’s Tymiah Wimbush scored the game’s opening run in the 1st inning after she reached on an error. Pitcher Blake Vick drove her in on a fielder’s choice groundout. The Vipers had only three singles the rest of the day.

Orange took the lead in the second inning with two runs. After a leadoff infield single by Mary Moss Wirt, Savannah Wynn reached on a fielder’s choice. Right fielder Gracie Walker hit a grounder up the middle that reached the fence to bring in Wynne. Designated player Kelsey Tackett, who finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored, drove in Walker with a double that reached the fence in left centerfield.

The Lady Panthers added two more runs in the third. After sophomore shortstop Carson Bradsher pushed a drag bunt to shortstop, Robinson walked. Catcher Lauren Jackson reached on a throwing error to score Bradsher and courtesy runner Courtney Watkins.

Tackett opened the fourth inning with an infield single, freshman Delaney Shaffer lined a double to left centerfield to bring in Tackett and increase Orange’s lead to 5-1. Bradsher legged out an infield single to shortstop to bring in Shaffer. After Robinson walked, Jackson lined a 1-1 fastball to right field to bring in two runs. Wirt, who moved to third base for this game, reached on an error, leading to Bree Harris, running in place of Jackson, scoring.

Orange ended the game with two more runs in the fifth to complete the run-rule victory. Tackett and Shaffer opened with singles. McPherson looped a 0-1 pitch to right field, bringing in Tackett. Bradsher plated Shaffer with a single to right field.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is center fielder Serenity McPherson. Last week, Orange gained the inside track on taking the Big 8 Championship with a 13-3 win in five innings over Northern Durham on April 6. In that game, McPherson went 3-for-4 with a triple and a three-run homer that broke the game open. McPherson also threw out a runner at the plate from centerfield. On Wednesday, the Lady Panthers defeated East Chapel Hill 17-0 in three innings at Wildcat Softball Field. McPherson went 3-for-4 with a double. As a sophomore, McPherson is hitting .520. She’s second on the team with 13 hits. Even though she’s the lead off batter, she’s still second on the squad with 11 RBIs. She’s also tied for the team lead with two home runs. Orange has wrapped up the Big 8 Conference Championship. McPherson also won an Orange-Person Athletic Conference Championship in her eighth grade year at Stanford Middle School. Orange will travel to Cedar Ridge on Friday afternoon at 5:30. You can hear that game here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

Hours after a disappointing loss to Vance County, the Cedar Ridge softball team rediscovered its defensive touch against Northwood.

After they surrendered three unearned runs against the Vipers on Thursday, either Hayley King threw a two-hitter over five innings as the Red Wolves defeated the Chargers 14-2 on Friday night at Cedar Ridge Softball Field. Three weeks earlier, the Chargers scored 17 runs against the Red Wolves in the season opener.

King, who improved to 3-3, threw the first complete game of her varsity career.

Northwood didn’t even bother pitching to Cedar Ridge’s Takia Nichols, even though she was the leadoff patter. Nichols, who already has four home runs in six games this season, was intentionally walked in all three of her plate appearances. With the bat out of Nichols’ hands, shortstop Ava Lowry hit an inside-the-park home run on a line drive to left field, bringing in ShiLi Quade and Olivia Aitkin to end the game. Lowry, who hit two conventional home runs against East Chapel Hill on March 29, finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs and three runs scored. She is now hitting .500 in 20 at-bats. She’s tied for the team lead with 14 RBIs.

Quade went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Senior left fielder Marlee Rakouskas finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a triple.

Nichols scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Aitkin in the top of the first. After Northwood tied the game off a run scored by Carlee Harris in the third inning, Cedar Ridge took the lead again after Nichols scored on another sacrifice fly by Aitkin. Quade, who reached on a bunt single earlier in the inning, was driven home by an infield single hit by Lowry. Rakouskas lined a triple to centerfield to score Lowry and Reagan Rhul and increase the Red Wolves’ lead to 5-1. Sophomore Caira Peach hit a grounder to left field for her first varsity RBI, sending Rokouskas home to conclude a six-run frame. A

After Nichols was issued her obligatory leadoff walk to start the fourth, Quade singled on a line drive to left field. Aitkin followed through with a double to centerfield to score Nichols. It was Aitkin’s third RBI of the day.

The previous day against Vance County, Takia Nichols hit two home runs. It was the 16th and 17th home runs of her career, a school record. Nichols is a junior who played only four games in her sophomore year after it was stopped because of the pandemic.

On Thursday, Vance County defeated Cedar Ridge 7-4 behind a solid pitching performance by Blake Vick, who scattered only four hits in seven innings. Quade scored the game’s first run off a double by Nichols that one-hopped the wall in left field. But Cedar Ridge didn’t have another batter touch third base again until Nichols’ solo homer in the fifth inning.

The Vipers scored four runs in the third inning. Kennedy Keel started things with a one-out triple to right field, and scored on a wild pitch while catcher Malia Simmons was at bat. After a Cedar Ridge error with two out kept the inning alive, Madison Ayscue reached on an infield single on a liner that popped off the webbing of Nichols’ glove at third base. Myasia Coles then tripled down the left field line to score Richardson and Ayscue.

In the seventh, Keel hit another triple, which was followed by Simmons sending a triple to centerfield.

Quade reached on a bunt single to lead off the seventh inning, then rounded the bases and scored off a throwing error that sent the ball to left field.

Cedar Ridge travels to Chapel Hill tonight. The Red Wolves are 3-3.

ORANGE: Orange has a chance to wrap up the Big 8 Conference Championship tonight when they face Vance County in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers are 6-0, 5-0 in the Big 8 Conference. With each team only playing seven conference games, Vance County comes in with a 1-2 mark.

It would be Orange’s first outright Big 8 Championship since 2017, when they won the 3A State Championship. The Lady Panthers tied Cedar Ridge for the Big 8 title in 2019, but Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in a special tiebreaker game to determine the top seed from the Big 8 for the state playoffs.

Last Thursday, Orange rolled past East Chapel Hill 17-0 at Wildcat Softball Stadium. Freshman Caden Robinson hit her second career varsity home run. Junior catcher Lauren Jackson added her first home run of the season, her sixth career dinger.

Robinson also took the win in the circle. She threw only the first inning, striking out two.

The Lady Panthers piled up 17 hits. Sophomore Carson Bradsher finished 3-for-4 with a triple. Sophomore Serenity McPherson went 3-for-4 with a double. Jackson and Gracie Walker went 2-for-2. Junior Mary Moss Wirt finished 1-for-1, but scored three runs off two walks.

Orange and Cedar Ridge will meet at Cedar Ridge Stadium on Friday night.

The Orange women’s soccer team is off to its best start since 2015. On Monday night, the Lady Panthers rolled past Vance County 9-0 at Orange Soccer Stadium. Junior Bella Brown, the leading scorer on the team, had two goals and two assists as Orange improved to 5-2-1 overall, 3-2-1 in the Big 8 Conference. Katelyn Van Mater, Logan Rogers, Ella Wimsatt, Sydney Rogers, Lily Clayton, Kassi Scarantino and Abby Monteith all scored for the Lady Panthers. Isabel Jones added an assist. Jones has been a striker who had moved along the right wing under Coach Jackie Mignosa’s 4-1-4-1 formation. Two years ago, while many of Jones’ classmates won the Orange-Person Athletic Conference women’s soccer championship at Stanford, Jones was in Germany based on her father’s job. Orange’s Big 8 Conference season has been completed, but the Lady Panthers will try to improve its overall record. They will face Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Stadium on Tuesday night. Orange has already beaten the Red Wolves this season. The last time the Lady Panthers swept Cedar Ridge was 2015.

Our first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week to be honored this academic year is sophomore men’s tennis player Josh Mayhew. Last week, the Cedar Ridge men’s tennis team defeated Southern Durham 9-0 on Monday and edged Northwood 5-4 on Wednesday in Pittsboro. Mayhew won both of his matches at #1 singles. Just like Andrei Svechnikov stays on the ice after Carolina Hurricanes games shooting pucks into an empty net, Mayhew often stays late after Cedar Ridge practices trying to improve. Currently, Mayhew is ranked #33 in the state among players under 16 years old, and #170 in the South. Mayhew is 5-1 in singles action this year. Cedar Ridge is 5-2 this season and is hunting an at-large spot in the 3A Dual Team Tennis Playoffs. Mayhew is also going for a spot in the 3A Mideast Regionals. Thanks to Josh and congratulations to our first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week.

As an aside, we will honor athletes in all sports for the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week and the Orange Panther of the Week in the months ahead. We will flash back to the fall sports with men’s and women’s cross country, as well as volleyball. We’ll go week-by-week and present awards to each athlete dating back to November 16, which was the first week of official high school competition this academic year. We’ll do retro updates every week, starting this week, as well as honoring the athletes of the week for this spring and into the summer with baseball, wrestling, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s track and field.

Brittany Daley: The former Cedar Ridge soccer star started for the Greensboro College Pride against Pfeiffer on Saturday. The Pride defeated the Falcons 2-0 at Pride Field to win the USA South East Division Championship. Daley played the full 90 minutes as Greensboro ended its abbreviated spring season with a win. Daley started all eight games that Greensboro played this spring. She played the maximum 740 minutes as the Pride finished 6-1-1. Ordinarily, Greensboro would be preparing to play for the NCAA Division III Tournament, but the event was canceled this year. Daley will start her senior season with the Pride this fall when play hopefully returns to normal.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon Phoenix women’s soccer team defeated William & Mary 2-0 at the Dillard Complex in Williamsburg, VA on Saturday. With the win, Elon clinched a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association postseason tournament. Hodges started her seventh game of the season. The Phoenix is 4-3 overall, 3-1 in the CAA. Elon will face Hofstra, on Thursday in Towson, MD in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament.

Landon Riley: The Liberty baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Lipscomb at Worthington Field in Lynchburg, VA over the weekend. Riley appeared in two games and was used as a setup man instead of the closer role that had been customary so far this year. On Friday in the Flames 4-1 win, Riley faced one batter, who grounded into a double play. On Sunday in the Flames 5-4 win, Riley threw the eighth inning and allowed one hit. He retired the other three batters he faced. Liberty currently leads the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 7-1 record, one game ahead of Kennesaw State for first place.

Phillip Berger: The winningest pitcher in Cedar Ridge history earned his third win of the season for Division III William Peace on Friday. The Pacers defeated Mary Baldwin 14-2 in five innings in the second game of a doubleheader in Stauton, VA. Berger threw four innings. He struck out six and allowed two runs off four hits. Berger is 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA for the Pacers this season. The Pacers improved to 13-12.

Mia Davidson: After its weekend series against Tennessee was canceled, the Mississippi State softball team arranged a doubleheader against #1 Oklahoma and Louisiana Tech in Ruston, LA on Saturday. Against La. Tech, Davidson went 0-for-3. Mississippi State won 2-0 behind a no-hitter by pitcher Annie Willis. Against the Sooners, Davidson went 0-for-1 with a walk. Oklahoma won 9-0 in five innings.

Montana Davidson: Montana started at third base against Louisiana Tech and went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt. Against Oklahoma, Montana went 0-for-1. Mississippi State is 20-16 and will travel to Samford on Tuesday.

Jalen Hurdle: On Saturday, the Patrick Henry Community College softball team split a doubleheader with Spartanburg Methodist. Hurdle threw a three-hit shutout in the second game as the Patriots won 11-0. Hurdle struck out three over five innings and allowed only one walk. She also went 1-for-3 with an RBI single. It was the second pitching win of Hurdle’s career. The Pioneers won the first game 11-6. Hurdle finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. Patrick Henry is now 10-14 overall, 4-4 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Marvin Jones: The North Carolina Central track & field team competed in the Aggie Invitational at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro on Saturday. Jones earned a fourth place finish in the high jump with a 2.05-meter jump. Hoova Taylor of Virginia State finished first with a jump of 2.10 meters.

Bailey Lucas: The Division III Meredith volleyball team ended the regular season with a doubleheader sweep of Mary Baldwin in the Physical Activity Center in Stauton, VA on Sunday. The Avenging Angels won the first match 3-1 on scores of 25-17, 17-25, 25-18 and 27-25. Lucas came off the bench in the first match and finished with 20 assists and seven digs. Meredith swept the final match on scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-11. Lucas had three kills, 15 assists and four digs. The Avenging Angels end the regular season 9-4 overall, 6-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference. Meredith now enters the USA South East Division Championship as the #3 seed. They will travel to face second-seeded Averett on Wednesday.