After throwing a 1-hitter against Orange on Wednesday night, Cedar Ridge sophomore pitcher Phillip Berger leads the team with a 7-2 record. He has won each of his last five starts as the Red Wolves prepare for the state playoffs next week.
Now this was a 16th birthday celebration.
Beating Orange for the first time since 2012 would have been enough for Phil Berger on his birthday. The fact that he threw a one-hit shutout and held the Panthers to only three baserunners just made the birthday cake waiting for him at home taste a little sweeter.
Perhaps it was fate or karma, but Cedar Ridge’s 6-0 win over Orange was also its 16th win this season, the most by the school this decade. They finish the regular season 16-6, 7-5 in the Big 8 Conference.
Berger has won his last five starts, improving to 7-2 with a 1.83 ERA. Even the lone hit he yielded was debatable, a two-out high chopper by Orange’s Dalton Brown to 2nd baseman Jake DeFranco, who knocked it down with his glove hand and had no chance to make a throw to first.
Aside from that, all Orange could muster offensively was Caige Clayton and Jason Slaughter reaching after getting hit by pitches. The Panthers, who had scored 28 runs in its last four games, didn’t have two runners on base all day.
The six Red Wolves players who commemorated senior night waited their whole careers to beat Orange, and their time finally came on Wednesday. It came one night after Orange pounded the Red Wolves 9-1 to end Cedar Ridge’s nine-game winning streak.
In the 2nd inning, Senior Brandon Andrews started the scoring with a single over second base that scored Sailor Ramos, who finished 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.
Cedar Ridge added two more in the fourth, again getting production from the bottom of the order. Freshman Jake DiFranco, who finished 2-for-2 with an RBI, singled. After Andrews walked, designated hitter Adam Chnupa lined a fastball off the glove of Orange shortstop Joey Berini into centerfield, scoring Andrew and DiFranco to increase the Cedar Ridge lead to 3-0.
Ramos, who led off the fourth with a walk, scored off a sacrifice fly from Jake DiFranco.
More insurance arrived for the Red Wolves in the 6th when Dante DiFranco, a sophomore who leads the team in hits, scored on a squeeze play following a perfect bunt by Berger. Two batters later, Ramos laced a single to the gap in right field, bringing in Chris Cox.
Orange finished the regular season 12-12, 8-4 in the Big 8. The Panthers will likely make the playoffs and may finish in sole possession of 2nd place in the Big 8 if Chapel Hill loses to Northwood on Thursday.
The Orange softball team finished its regular season on Wednesday night by beating Cedar Ridge, finishing tied for first in the Big 8 Conference. They will face J.F. Webb on Friday night in a tiebreaker for the Big 8 outright championship. Senior All-American Mia Davidson and classmate Enzyah Holt discussed Tuesday’s senior night victory over the Red Wolves, which featured Holt lacing a double to right field that turned into a Little League home run.
On Tuesday night, Orange third baseman Caige Clayton hit his 2nd home run of the season against Cedar Ridge, punctuating the Panthers’ 9-1 victory over the Red Wolves.
When the 3A/2A/1A playoff brackets are announced for state lacrosse on Monday morning, the road to the Eastern Regional Championship will run through Red Wolves Stadium.
For Cedar Ridge, it’s a chance to resolve unfinished business. On Friday night, they took a big first step.
The Red Wolves captured the Big 8 Championship by beating Chapel Hill 16-14 at Culton-Peerman Stadium. Senior Carter Danku set the tone early, scoring a hat trick in the first quarter. He finished with seven points.
Senior Jack Widman also tallied three goals and six goals for the Red Wolves (9-4, 8-0 in the Big 8). Attacker Sean Tobin led CRHS with four goals.
Danku scored three goals in a span of 7:28 of the first quarter to spur the Red Wolves ahead 6-3. He also assisted on a marker from Nick Bachelder with :16 remaining in the frame.
Danku assisted on second quarter goals from Tobin and Noah Upchurch.
Kelsey Acome scored twice for Cedar Ridge, while long-stick midfielder Cole Bullard added a goal.
CRHS goalkeeper Noah Berry made ten saves for the victory.
The 24-team field will be announced on Monday. It’s expected that Cedar Ridge will get a bye through to the 2nd round, which means they will play Friday. We’ll have broadcast coverage of Orange and Cedar Ridge throughout the playoffs here on HillsboroughSports.com.
The Orange girls soccer team is now in 2nd place in the Big 8 Conference after a rugged 1-0 win at Cedar Ridge on Friday night. Becca Shinnick’s penalty was the game’s only goal, which improved Orange to 9-6-1 on the season, 6-2-1 in the Big 8. The Panthers were 24 hours removed from a loss to Chapel Hill. It was the 7th clean sheet of the year for Orange goalkeeper Arianna DeBona, who made a vital save with 3:53 remaining.
Going into Friday’s doubleheader against Webb, the Orange baseball team found itself in an unusual position. Their playoff fate was, and remains, uncertain.
However, after its best offensive performance since early March, the Panthers’ chances of making the field of 64 has improved.
Orange swept the doubleheader against the Warriors, winning the opener 6-0 and the nightcap 9-1, improving to 10-11 overall, 6-3 in the Big 8.
Junior centerfielder Jaydin Poteat made six plate appearances in the doubleheader and scored runs in five of them. He finished 4-for-5 with an RBI, bringing his team-leading average up to .397.
In the nightcap, Poteat scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. Freshman shortstop Joey Berini scored on an RBI groundout by Caige Clayton to give Orange a 2-0 lead.
In the 2nd, Orange added five more runs. Rodney Brooks sliced a single to right, scoring freshman Cooper Porter. Poteat singled in Cody Evans, running for Dylan Hall, who reached on a walk. Brooks scored off a single by Berini, and Jason Slaughter hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Poteat.
Hall added his first varsity home run with a towering two-run shot to left in the third.
The Panthers head into the final week of the regular season in third place in the Big 8, one-half game behind Chapel Hill. They travel to Northern Vance on Monday to complete a game that was suspended on March 24. It will resume with the score 3-3 in the top of the 14th.
