Jeff Hamlin

In a conference as deep as the Central Conference, any road softball win feels like a true accomplishment.

On Tuesday night, the Orange softball team did it the old fashioned way at Southern Alamance. They earned it.

Sophomore Hayleigh Hammond looped a RBI single to centerfield to score Katie Carden, pushing Orange ahead for good in a 5-4 win over the Patriots in Graham.

The win ended Southern Alamance’s 34-game conference winning streak. It was their first league loss since March 17, 2021, which was actually their season opener against Southwestern Randolph in the Mid-Piedmont Conference. That was the pandemic-shortened year where the Patriots wound up winning the 3A State Championship. The past two years, Southern Alamance played as a 4A team in the DAC-VII Conference, where they won 24 straight games and consecutive league crowns.

Senior pitcher Caden Robinson handled the lead for the final two innings as Orange won its seventh straight game. The Patriots got leadoff batter Brianna White aboard after a walk, but Robinson struck out Savannah Strickland. After Abagail Holt moved White to second with a sacrifice bunt, Macyee Tickle drew a walk. Hammond ended the inning when she caught a fly ball hit by senior Kayla Wilson.

The Lady Panthers (6-1) haven’t lost since dropping its opener against Wakefield on February 26. They are now tied with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference at 2-0. Orange hosts Eastern Alamance on Tuesday in Hillsborough.

Robinson struck out nine to earn her sixth win of the season, allowing only four hits.

Orange never trailed against the Patriots, but the Patriots tied the game twice. Robinson lined a double to the right field gap. Allie Carden followed with a bloop that fell between three Patriots in right for a base hit to score Robinson.

After Robinson retired the Patriots in order in the first inning, Hammond led off the second when she belted a hanging curveball to the left field fence for a double. Hammond advanced to third following a groundout by Mia Leathers to first base. Natalie Roberson laid down a bunt that rolled past first baseman Peyton Carter. Wilson, playing second, backed her up and tagged out Roberson, but Hammond easily scored to increase Orange’s lead to 2-0.

Southern Alamance struck for two runs in the second to tie the game. After Carter was hit by a pitch, Gracie Shoffner belted a line drive that sailed over the head of Hammond in centerfield. Freshman Avery Dobbins sent a high bouncer to shortstop, which Delanie Shaffer knocked down but couldn’t make a play with. Carter scored to cut the Orange lead in half. Then Shoffner scored off a groundout by White to tie the game.

Orange immediately grabbed the lead back in the third inning. Robinson lined a single through the hole into left field. Allie Carden took a 2-2 fastball and parked it just shy of the scoreboard in centerfield. her second home run of the season.

The Patriots evened things up with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Holt reached on an error at first base. Wilson stepped up and lined a base hit to right field that nearly hit Holt running to second. Rylee Humble then sent a bouncing ball that eluded a diving attempt by Shaffer at shortstop and rolled all the way to the royal blue fence to score Holt and Wilson. With Morgan Edmunds running for Humble at second and one out, Robinson struck out Carter. Shoffner grounded out to Katie Carden to keep the game tied 4-4 at the end of three innings.

Katie Carden opened the fifth inning by getting hit by a pitch. Allie Carden went opposite field with a diving liner that hugged the right field line, sending Katie Carden to third, leading to Hammond’s game-winning hit.

Orange will host Cedar Ridge on Thursday night.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior basketball forward Freddy Sneed. With no limits to his versatility, Sneed could help the Orange men’s basketball team in any number of ways. As Coleman Cloer and Kai Wade handled most of the scoring load for the bulk of a championship season, Sneed became a valuable presence defensively. Early in the year, Cloer was sidelined with an ankle injury. Sneed stepped up on offense. He scored 16 points in Orange’s season-opening win over Hillside. Sneed also stole an inbounds pass that led to the game-winning 3-pointer from Malakai Poole. Sneed finished the game with 16 points, five steals and four rebounds. Sneed proved to be a valuable presence throughout the season as Orange won its first regular season championship since 2017 and its first postseason conference tournament title since 2016. Against Eastern Alamance on February 16, Sneed totaled ten points, seven rebounds and six steals. In the Central Conference Tournament championship game, Sneed finished with eight points and six rebounds. Sneed has been a member of the varsity since his freshman year under the direction of head coach Derryl Britt and will continue to be a vital part of Orange basketball into his senior year in 2024-2025 as the Panthers look to repeat as conference champions.

It wasn’t just another edition of the Hillsborough Derby between the Orange and Cedar Ridge women’s soccer teams at Red Wolves Stadium. It was possibly the highest scoring game ever between the two teams. Orange scored three goals in the opening six minutes, then got the Elliana Sullivan Gaddy scored the game-winning goal for the Lady Panthers with 38:54 remaining in regulation as Orange won 7-5 over the Red Wolves. Sullivan Gaddy finished with four goals, bringing her total to nine on the season. Senior Ella Wimsatt finished with two goals and two assists. Cedar Ridge junior Fleury Nicholson finished with four goals, including a penalty kick in the second half that brought the Red Wolves within one goal. Wimsatt cashed in the final goal for Orange with 46 seconds remaining on a goal from Cora Bailey. Senior Makayla Davis earned the win as the goalkeeper for Orange. There was solid defensive play by freshman Kaylen Crayton, who plays on the backline with her sister, senior Lily Crayton. Orange’s Caroline Cathey scored a goal to put the Lady Panthers ahead 2-1 early. Orange is now 4-2, 2-1 in the Central Conference. They will face Southern Alamance in Graham next Monday. Cedar Ridge will host Northern Durham on Wednesday night at Red Wolves Stadium. 

Midway through the season and the Orange lacrosse team is off to its best start in team history. The Panthers are 10-0 after beating Southern Alamance last week in Graham. This week, the Panthers will face a stiff test in Holly Springs, a 4A team that beat the Panthers 16-4 last year. Orange has already beaten three 4A teams this year. Last month, Orange journeyed to Pinehurst and came away with a wild win over Pinecrest 10-9 in overtime. Sophomore Brandon Williams scored the game-winning goal off an assist from Connor Kruse. Orange trailed 9-5 with 11:48 remaining in regulation, but Williams led a comeback. He scored four goals, Josh Crabtree tied the game with 1:04 remaining in regulation when he scored off a rebound from a shot fired by Kruse. Orange overcame three penalties in the final minute of regulation and got strong defensive play from defenseman Sascha Van Praag and goalkeeper Jackson Runkle, who played in the fourth quarter and alternated with starter Katie Wolter. Kruse assisted on four goals. On Friday night, Orange will return to conference play to face crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. Orange is going for its fourth consecutive Mid-Carolina Conference championship and is currently ranked the #1 team in the East Region in the 3A/2A/1A classification.

Olivia Aitkin: Former Cedar Ridge centerfielder Olivia Aitkin hit her first college home run in the second game of a doubleheader for Division III Amherst against Wesleyan (Connecticut) College at Amherst Softball Field on Friday. Aitkin hit a three-run blast during a five-run third inning as Amherst won 9-8. Aitkin went 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Aitkin started in centerfield in the opening game, which Wesleyan won 9-0 in five innings. Aitkin is second on the team with a .318 batting average through ten games, nine of which she has started. She is tied for second on the team with five RBIs. Amherst is 4-9 overall, 1-1 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Tori Dalehite: Dalehite hit the game-winning, three-run home run for the UNC Greensboro softball team in its 5-3 victory over Furman on Friday in the opening game of a doubleheader at UNCG Softball Stadium. The Spartans trailed 3-2 before Dalehite lined a first-pitch blast to left centerfield. UNCG swept the three-game series. They won the second game 5-3 in eight innings. Dalehite went 1-for-3 in Saturday’s 6-1 win. She started in right field. UNCG is atop the Southern Conference at 6-0, 22-14 overall.

Takiya Nichols: The North Carolina Central Eagles dropped two out of three games against Coppin State over the weekend. The Eagles won the opening game of the doubleheader 5-0 at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary. Nichols went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Coppin State won the second game 7-1 in the second game of the doubleheader on Friday. Nichols, started as the designated player, walked twice. Coppin State won the final game 9-3 to take the series. Nichols went 1-for-2. Last week, Campbell swept a doubleheader from the Eagles at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium in Buies Creek. Nichols drew two walks in the opening game, an 8-0 Camels win in five innings.

Mary Moss Wirt: Elon swept a three-game series from the College of Charleston at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Wirt entered the game as a pinch-hitter and was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning. Wirt scored two runs off two walks in the Phoenix’s 14-6 win over the Cougars on Friday. She started at catcher. Wirt also started in a 9-1 loss to East Carolina in six innings last Tuesday in Greenville where she faced former Western Alamance pitcher Taylor Apple.

Lauren Jackson: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne Bears defeated UVA Wise in a doubleheader in Wise, VA on Friday. Jackson blasted a two-run Homer to right field to complete a 9-0 win in five innings. Jackson finished the second game 2-for-3 as the designated player. The Bears won the opening game 8-4. Jackson finished 1-for-4 and scored in the second inning off a double by Lora Beth Wood. Jackson also homered in a loss to Catawba last week during the opening game of a doubleheader. The Indians defeated the Bears 9-6. Catawba swept the doubleheader with a 3-2 victory. Jackson finished 1-for-3 with a walk. This season, Jackson is hitting .287 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 20 games.

Grace Andrews: Carolina University lost to North Carolina Wesleyan 8-1 at Edge Field in Rocky Mount on March 25 Andrews finished 0-for-2. She started at shortstop. Wesleyan won 5-0 in the opening game. Andrews went 1-for-3. On March 20, Paine College split a doubleheader against Carolina at Wilson Park in Clemmons. Andrews went 1-for-3 in the opening game. Andrews has started 24 games and is hitting .338 with seven RBIs. Carolina is 15-9 overall.

Breezy Foster: Wake Tech Community College is 9-16 overall, 5-10 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Foster has played in 18 games for the Eagles. She is hitting .185 with three RBIs. Over the weekend, Louisburg College swept a three-game series from Wake Tech in Louisburg. This weekend, the Eagles will travel to Buffaloe Road Athletic Park for a three-game set with Fayetteville Technical Community College.

While the Cedar Ridge baseball team took a sojourn from Central Conference play during spring break, they suddenly went from being in second place to vaulting up to first.

As they return to standard life this week, it is suddenly game on in a wide open league race for the championship.

The Red Wolves took its blend of experience and youth to the Pitt County Easter Tournament at Farmville Central High School last week and got the best of both worlds in the opening game of a doubleheader against Southwest Edgecombe.

Despite a dry start offensively, Red Wolves senior pitcher Joel Davis and sophomore Aidan Ryan  held the Cougars without a hit in the final three innings as Cedar Ridge put up four runs in the fifth inning to win 5-2.

Davis earned his second win in as many weeks, striking out seven over five-and-two-thirds innings. He limited the Cougars to four hits as Cedar Ridge improved to 6-4.

Cedar Ridge went into spring break trailing Southern Alamance by one game for first place in the Central Conference. Person, who Cedar Ridge swept in a two-game series the week prior, bounced back to sweep the Patriots last week, including a 2-1 pitcher’s dual in Roxboro where the Rockets won despite registering just two hits.

The Red Wolves are now atop the Central Conference with a 3-1 league mark with a two-game series against crosstown rival Orange starting on Tuesday at Red Wolves Field. Cedar Ridge is scheduled to travel to Orange on Friday. Orange is 1-1 in league play.

The Cougars put runners in motion to jump ahead in the first inning. After leadoff batter Trent Nichols drew a walk, he stole second and third base. Right fielder Logan Webb knocked in Nichols after a Red Wolf error. After Red Wolf first baseman Mason Cates retired Parker Gay with a groundout, Webb advanced to second, then stole third. Tyler Mears hit a sacrifice fly to Quinn Finnegan to score Mears.

Cedar Ridge struggled offensively in the early going. While they did draw five walks in the opening four innings against Gay and Blayde Hinton, who came on in the second inning on the mound, the Red Wolves failed to get a hit.

Despite early hiccups, Davis contained the Cougars to just four hits over the next four innings. Cedar Ridge broke through in the fifth when sophomore Nick Aitkin drew a leadoff walk. Cates drilled a double down the left field line. Ian McGuffey sent a bouncing ball to Gay at third base, who threw it wide of first base, allowing Aitkin to score. Freshman John Grove sent an RBI single to left field to bring in Cates and tie the game. With one out, designated hitter Kevin Jones lined a single to left field to score McGuffey and Grove.

After Tyson Ayers drew a two-out walk in the sixth inning, Ryan replaced Davis on the mound and induced a pop-up from Hinton to escape the inning with Cedar Ridge maintaining a 4-2 lead.

McGuffey stroked a double to start the seventh inning. Grove sent a bouncing ball to Turner Cooke at second, allowing McGuffey to advance to third. Finnegan sent a sacrifice fly to right field to score McGuffey and extend the Red Wolf lead.

Ryan earned his first career save when Gay lined out to second baseman Grant McGuffey, who easily doubled up Logan Webb at first.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Farmville Central jumped out to a 5-1 lead and wound up winning 6-2. It ended Cedar Ridge’s four-game winning streak. Grove finished 2-for-4, including an RBI single in the third inning. Finnegan scored the opening run after a double steal from senior Landon Dalehite.

Mother Nature is taking away some of Orange baseball’s traditional mileposts.

The annual trip to Fleming Stadium in Wilson was washed away last week, canceling the Panthers rematch against Perquimans and atone from a dismal outing in 2022 when the Pirates belted Orange 13-0 on its way to the 1A State Championship.

The Hilltop Invitational is a spring break tradition where the Panthers typically play three games against no conference opposition. Once again, torrential rain got in the way, limiting the event to a lone matchup against Northern Guilford last Tuesday.

If there was a downside in the game against the Nighthawks, it was that Orange didn’t have a base hit with a runner in scoring position.

But who needs a hit when you can simply knock it over the fence?

Senior Ryan Horton hit two home runs and the Panthers finished with four dingers to beat Northern Guilford 8-4 at Panthers Field.

Horton became the first Panther to hit two home runs in the same game since Dante DeFranco did it against Northern Durham on April 23, 2019, which was also the last time the Panthers had four home runs in a game. DeFranco is now a starter with the Charlotte 49ers.

Orange (6-3) completed a string of two wins over two days. On Monday, the Panthers defeated Western Alamance 10-1 to gain a split of a two-game series that started on March 19.

Senior Josiah Gibbs threw four innings of relief to earn his 13th career win. In 2023, when Orange’s top two pitchers Cross Clayton and Ryan Hench battled injury woes, Gibbs led the team with seven wins.

Northern Guilford’s R.J. Smith opened the game with a leadoff walk against freshman Orange starter Oliver Van Tiem. After stealing second, Smith advanced to third off a passed ball and scored off a sacrifice fly hit to the left field fence by Conner Roy, which was caught by Kayden Bradsher.

Orange erased that quickly with a five-run first inning. Wyatt Hedrick drew a walk. Then came the start of the home run parade from senior Cameron Guentensberger, who wacked a 3-1 fastball over the centerfield fence for a two-run blast. It was Guentensberger’s second career home run.

With two outs, Horton took a 2-0 curveball over the left field fence, the most shallow part of Orange’s park that makes it a nightmare for left-handed pitchers. It extended Orange’s lead to 3-0 and they weren’t done yet.

Senior Ryan Honeycutt, in his second start of the season after suffering a broken thumb playing basketball in February, grounded a single up the middle. Van Tiem then hit his second home run in as many games, this time to the left field power ally.

The Nighthawks built a threat in the second inning with pitcher Elliott Flowers and catcher Nathaniel Lorczak drawing walks. Kevin McField came on as a courtesy runner for Flowers while Thomas Hooks replaced Lorczak. McField got to third base, but Smith grounded out to Hedrick at third base to end the inning.

Horton added his second home run over the center field fence in the bottom of the third to increase Orange’s lead to 6-1.

In the fifth, Guentensberger manufactured a run with his legs. After getting hit in the midsection with a pitch, he rounded the bases and scored off three separate wild pitches.

Second baseman Henry Hoffman led off the sixth with a walk. After going to second on another wild pitch, Bradsher moved him over with a single. Hedrick hit a fly ball off a sacrifice fly to centerfield, which was caught by Smith, to score Hoffman.

Northern Guilford’s Elijah Breedlove and Murphy Rayle both scored in the seventh inning after they each drew walks. McField knocked in Breedlove with a sacrifice fly. Roy hit a line drive single to plate Rayle.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior wrestler Kaden Tatro. This season, Tatro won the Central Conference Championship at 165 pounds at Walter Williams High School in Burlington. Tatro ended the year 49-5. He completed his career with 159 wins, the second-most in school history. This season, Tatro helped Cedar Ridge win the Central Conference regular season championship, their first team title at the 3A level and just their second regular season championship ever. He also helped Cedar Ridge beat crosstown rival Orange for the first time. Tatro won two conference championships in his career. He finished third in the Mideast Regional championships at 165 pounds. As a junior, Tatro helped Cedar Ridge win the Central Conference Tournament at Orange High School in February 2023. In his junior season, Tatro finished 54-8 and finished second at the Mideast Regional championships. He wound up finishing sixth in the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum. Tatro’s name will forever be etched in Cedar Ridge wrestling history when his name on the all-time wins list is adorned inside the team’s wrestling room on a banner. Tatro also played lacrosse during the pandemic in 2021 when the Red Wolves made the state playoffs under the direction of former head coach Patrick Cavanaugh.

It was a strong bounce back performance for the Orange baseball team in the second game of its series against Western Alamance on Monday night. After losing to the Warriors last week in Elon, the Panthers defeated the Warriors 10-1 for its first Central Conference victory of the season. Freshman Kayden Bradsher started the game with a triple to right centerfield and would score the opening run off a groundout by Cameron Guentensberger. Freshman Oliver Van Tiem hit the first home run of his Panther career with a solo blast in the second inning. Orange jumped on mistakes by the Warriors, who committed six errors. Bradsher has been the leadoff hitter for all nine of Orange’s games. He finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Van Tiem has also played in all nine games and earned the start on the mound against Northern Guilford on Tuesday. Van Tiem had two RBIs against the Warriors. Bradsher was also a starter at wide receiver for the Orange football team last fall. The Panthers are 1-1 in the Central Conference and will face Cedar Ridge on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Field. The Panthers will host Cedar Ridge at Panther Field next Friday to conclude a crucial two-game series.