Jeff Hamlin

Every September 1st, each Major League Baseball roster expands to 40 players. On Saturday, Bryse Wilson returned to the show.

Wilson was promoted by the Atlanta Braves to the parent club, one of seven players added to the active roster. The move came 12 days after Wilson made his Major League debut with Atlanta in a start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Wilson threw five shutout innings against the Pirates, striking out five while yielding just three hits with three walks.

Wilson is just one of a corps of young guns that the Braves franchise is building on for the future. Also on Saturday, Atlanta called up 20-year-old Touki Toussaint from the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League. They also recalled outfielder Michael Reed from Gwinnett.

The day after the Pittsburgh start, the Braves sent him back down to Gwinnett, where he remained until being called up on Saturday. Wilson hasn’t started a game since the Pirates victory. He has made two appearances out of the bullpen for Gwinnett since returning to AAA, throwing one inning against Charlotte on August 26th. On Wednesday, he made his final appearance for the Stripers in relief against the Norfolk Tides, giving up three hits and two runs in one inning of work.

Overall, Wilson went 3-0 at Gwinnett with a 5.32 ERA. He struck out 28 batters with three walks.

Wilson watched Atlanta’s 5-3 victory over the Pirates from the bullpen at SunTrust Park in a Braves uniform.

Wilson has played for four different teams since April. He started with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Single-A Florida State League in Kissimmee, Florida in April. He started five games with the Fire Frogs, where he went 2-0 with a 0.34 ERA. In 26.2 innings, he gave up just one earned run, striking out 26 while walking seven.

Less than a month after starting the season with Florida, Wilson was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League. Wilson had a lack of run support in his initial starts at the AA level. He compiled a 3-5 record with a 3.97 ERA in 15 starts. In Wilson’s last eight starts in Mississippi, the Braves failed to score more than three runs.

Wilson improved as time went on, leading all of minor league baseball in the month of July with 42 strikeouts, despite being the youngest pitcher at the AA level at 20 years old.

In his 3rd AAA start with the Gwinnett Braves, Wilson set the franchise record with 13 strikeouts against the Louisville Bats. On the very day he was named the International League Pitcher of the Week, he was called up to Atlanta.

Wilson’s return to Atlanta came with a quirk of fate. It was the same day that Wilson’s brother, Payton, was supposed to make his debut with the N.C. State football team in its season-opener against James Madison. However, Payton tore the ACL in his right knee last spring, leading to a likely redshirt this season. Payton originally injured his right knee on the opening kickoff last October’s Orange-Cedar Ridge game, ending his accomplished high school career.

Jordan Lloyd: The Brevard College volleyball team, which plays in the Division III USA South Atlantic Conference, opened its season on Friday in Memphis with the Rhodes College Tournament at Mallory Gymnasium in Memphis, TN. In the season-opening loss to Rhodes College, Lloyd led Brevard with six kills and tied for the team-lead with 12 digs. In the second match of Friday’s doubleheader against the Sewanee Tigers, Lloyd again led Brevard with seven kills. Brevard will play another doubleheader on Saturday morning, starting with Dubuque at 11AM followed by Birmingham-Southern at 1 PM.

Morgan Sellers: In Fayetteville State’s volleyball team opened the season last week against St. Andrews, where they lost 3-0. Sellers, a Cedar RIdge graduate who graduated in June, played in all three sets for the Broncos. She had an ace. Fayetteville State travels to UNC-Pembroke for a doubleheader on Saturday against UNC Pembroke and Lenoir-Rhyne.

Kayla Hodges: A freshman on the Elon women’s soccer team, Hodges came off the bench on Sunday in a 3-0 loss to #11 Duke at Koskinen Stadium in Durham. Hodges graduated from Orange in May and enrolled with the Phoenix in January. Elon played High Point to a scoreless tie on Friday night. Elon will host Richmond on Sunday night at 6PM at Rudd Field.

Chandler Compton:  Compton, another 2016 Orange graduate, started as a centerback on Monday as the Terriers fell to UNC Asheville 1-0 at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, SC. After redshirting in 2016, Compton played in two games as a freshman logging 36 minutes. Wofford travels to Winthrop for the Big South/Southern Conference Challenge on Sunday.

Rachel Shinnick: Shinnick, a 2015 Orange graduate, came off the bench for the Wofford Women’s Soccer team on Friday night in a 4-0 victory over Alabama A&M. The Terriers fired eleven shots in winning its first game of the season. Wofford is now 1-3-2. On Sunday, they host Clemson.

Jordan Rogers: Barely three months after playing her final game at Orange, Rogers was in the starting lineup on Friday night for the William Peace University women’s soccer team in its season debut against Southern Virginia.  Rogers, a freshman, played wingback in the Pacers 2-0 loss to the Knights at Knight Stadium in Buena Vista, VA. William Peace will continue its season on Sunday with a game against Agnes Scott University at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Rogers was an All-Big 8 Conference selection for Orange last spring and led the Lady Panthers in scoring.

On Saturday, there will be lots of former Orange and Cedar Ridge products continuing their college football careers. Among them:

Trent Gill: A former kicker for Cedar Ridge, Gill redshirted for the N.C. State Wolfpack last season. He’s listed as a punter. N.C. State opens its season at Carter-Finley Stadium against James Madison on Saturday at noon.

Ryan Sellers: The former Orange defensive end is a walk-on with East Carolina as a freshman. The Pirates open its third season under head coach Scottie Montgomery on Saturday night against North Carolina A&T in Greenville.

Stone Edwards: A 2017 Orange graduate, Edwards redshirted for Vanderbilt last season. He will be in uniform when Vandy opens its season against Middle Tennessee on Saturday in Vanderbilt Stadium.

Adam Chnupa: Elon starts its season at South Florida on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Chnupa, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June after starting in baseball and football, is listed as a defensive back for the Phoenix.

Eryk Brandon-Dean: Brandon-Dean will start his third season as a running back at Guilford College on Saturday against Huntingdon. Last season, Brandon-Dean appeared in six games as a reserve running back and on special teams. He had 106 rushing yards, third-best on the team.

Jackson Schmid: A 2017 Orange graduate, Schmid will suit up for Division III Wheaton College when they face Monmouth. Last season, Schmid appeared in two junior varsity games.

Photo by Will Okun 

The Orange Men’s Soccer team will go into the Labor Day weekend on a three-game winning streak.

Drew Jagentenfl scored a goal and two assists while senior Levi Anderson added a goal and an assist as Orange defeated Person 4-0 on Thursday night at Orange Soccer Park. Jo Sanchez and junior Brandon Guzman also notched goals for the Panthers, who improve to 3-2-1 on the season.

Anderson also had an assist for the Panthers, who will host Riverside on Tuesday night at 6:30. The Panthers fired 23 shots on net in the game and 32 shots overall. Anderson finished with seven shots, while Jagentenfl, sophomore Jason Franklin and Rohan Kasthrui each had four shots.

Goalkeeper Francisco McKinley earned the win in net.

On Tuesday night, Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 4-2. Jagentenfl, Sanchez, Anderson and R.J. Pherribo all scored for Orange, while sophomore Leif Mahaney, Luke Phillips, Sebastian Rios and Kasthrui all had assists.

Orange will play its Big 8 Conference opener against East Chapel Hill at Orange on Wednesday night.

VOLLEYBALL

In other events from Thursday night, the Orange volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Northwood in Pittsboro. The Panthers are now 6-3 overall, 2-2 in the Big 8 Conference. Next week, Orange will have two home matches, starting with power Chapel Hill on Tuesday. The Tigers are tied for 1st in the Big 8 with East Chapel Hill at 4-0. On Thursday, Orange hosts Southern Durham.

Meanwhile, the Northern Durham volleyball team defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1 at Poe Gymtorium in Durham. The Red Wolves, who have dropped five straight, are now 2-6 overall, 0-4 in the Big 8 Conference.

Cedar Ridge got off to a good start in winning the first set 25-23. Northern captured the final three sets 25-15, 25-18 and 25-15. Senior Sarah McCuiston led the Red Wolves with 12 kills, two assists and five digs. Junior Emma Downing had eight kills and one block. Senior Juliann De Jesus had six kills, two blocks. Senior Macy Henry led Cedar Ridge with 25 assists. Senior libero Rachel Tucker had 12 digs. Junior Celeste Pasley finished with four kills.

The Red Wolves will play three matches next week. They host East Chapel Hill on Tuesday night, followed by a nonconference home match against Jordan of the Triangle 6 Conference on Wednesday. The Red Wolves travel to Hillside on Thursday.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Coming off a disappointing loss to Cedar Ridge on Wednesday, the Orange Women’s Tennis team bounced back to finish the week with a 5-4 victory over South Granville at Panther Tennis Courts. Orange, which doesn’t have a senior on the team, earned wins from freshman Jera Hargove at #1 singles, Natalie Marochak at #3, Sydney Allison at #5 and Gaylaw Eh at #6 singles. Allison and Eh earned Orange’s 3rd team match win of the season with a doubles victory. Orange, which is 1-2 in the Big 8 Conference, ended the week 2-1 after a win on Monday over Hillside. Orange will continue the season on Tuesday at Northwood.

Meanwhile, Cedar Ridge will try to capitalize on the momentum of the Orange victory when they travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday. The Red Wolves will host East Chapel Hill on Thursday.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore wingback Eh Kaw Hso. Just two years ago, Hso started playing soccer in middle school to lose weight. Now, he’s a starter for the Cedar Ridge Men’s Soccer team. This week, Cedar Ridge defeated Bartlett Yancey and Southern Alamance for its third consecutive win. When he isn’t playing soccer, Hso volunteers during the summer at Main Event Staples in Chapel Hill, where he helps with kids and animals. Next week, Cedar Ridge starts Big 8 Conference play against Chapel Hill, the defending NCHSAA 3A State Champions. 

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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore wingback Eh Kaw Hso. Just two years ago, Hso started playing soccer in middle school to lose weight. Now, he’s a starter for the Cedar Ridge Men’s Soccer team. This week, Cedar Ridge defeated Bartlett Yancey and Southern Alamance for its third consecutive win.

Entering its season opener on Wednesday night, the Orange junior varsity football team hadn’t lost a game in over three years.

The streak is still alive…barely.

Orange defeated Athens Drive 13-12 at Auman Stadium in the first of ten games this season for the Panthers. The Jaguars had a chance to win with just 1:45 remaining after scoring a touchdown. Athens went for a 2-point conversion on the point after, but Orange held them out of the end zone by roughly 18 inches.

Afterwards, Zahmir Watkins, Jared Weaver and Curtis Ward discussed the Panthers 1st win of the season on the gridiron.

Watkins, Weaver and Ward Discuss the Orange JVs 13-12 Win over Athens Drive

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Frank Orellana’s name wasn’t in the box score for Cedar Ridge’s win on Tuesday night, but it should have been.

Orellana was fouled three times in the penalty box in the first half for the Red Wolves. Each time, Gavin Hughes scored on a penalty kick. Hughes wound up with a hat trick in the first half and Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 3-1 at Red Wolves Stadium.

It was Cedar Ridge’s third consecutive win. The Red Wolves defeated Wilson Hunt 3-1 on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge scored six goals in the second half to defeat Bartlett Yancey 6-1 in Yanceyville.

“Frankie had great balls play to him from the midfield,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Chris Walker, whose team is now 3-3-1. “Frank did a great job controlling the ball and made a couple of plays coming in.”

Hughes opened the scoring goal on a penalty in the sixth minute after Orellana was tripped by Southern Alamance’s goalkeeper.

“The guys got focused,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Chris Walker. “They came in early today and was focused. For several games during the three losses, we had sporadic play. Last night, it carried over into tonight. That’s what we need.”

Southern Alamance’s Lucas Khorosov nearly evened the match in the 14th minute after taking a pass across the box from Dylan Myers, but Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Peter Molmar dived on the ball from the near post. Two minutes later, South Alamance’s Jose Martinez ran back on a quick counter following a Cedar Ridge corner, but his blast from 25 yards went wide.

In the 17th minute, Martinez even the match after he chipped in a cross in from Braden Mackey inside the near post.

Cedar Ridge had a free kick from 23 yards with 17:15 remaining in the first half, but Brandon Garcia’s placed the shot high.

The Red Wolves broke through for the go-ahead goal when Eduardo Garcia fed an entry pass to Orellana. It led to Orellana sending A pretty through ball to Reese Weaver, who was tripped in the box by Southern Alamance’s Cam Honeycutt. Hughes tucked the penalty kick into the left corner with 16:24 remaining in the first half to put the Red Wolves back in front.

On the subsequent kickoff, Weaver stole a pass between the centerbacks and charged in on a breakaway, but his shot from 15 yards rattled off the bottom of the crossbar. The Red Wolves nearly added when Eh Tah played a gorgeous through ball to Hughes, whose shot was stopped at the box by Southern Alamance’s Edwin Lopez, who dove on the ball before it could leave Hughes’ right foot.

Cedar Ridge’s Noel Garcia drew another penalty in the box off a throw in from Eduardo Garcia-Sanchez. Hughes notched the hat trick with another goal from the spot with 3:49 remaining to put CRHS ahead 3- 1.

Southern Alamance opened the second half with a free kick from 20 yards, but Loyola’s shot was stopped by a sliding Molmar. With 32:43 remaining, Myers earned a penalty after being brought down in the box, but Molmar stopped the shot diving to his left.

Khorosov blasted a free kick with. 26:34 remaining from 23 yards, but Molmar made another diving save.

With 13:05 remaining, Erickson Thole’s header off a cross from Garcia Sanchez sailed over the net.

The Cedar Ridge’s girls tennis team best performance of the young season couldn’t have come at a better time. On Wednesday, the Red Wolves swept archrival Orange 9-0 at Red Wolves Tennis Courts. It was Cedar Ridge’s first win of the season. Olivia Ward captured her match at #1 singles, while Alana Lutz won at #2 singles. Nora Sauers and Bri Cellini also won in singles action for the Red Wolves, who improve to 1-5. Cedar Ridge has defeated Orange in seven consecutive matches. 

Olivia Ward, Alana Lutz, Nora Sauers & Bri Cellini Discuss Cedar Ridge’s 9-0 Win Over Orange

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When Kelly Young took over the Orange volleyball program in June, she first noticed how versatile her new team was.

While she didn’t have the biggest team in the Big 8 Conference, Young was impressed in workouts with how her squad could play multiple positions. In no other game this season was that best exemplified than on Tuesday night.

Orange swept Cedar Ridge 3-0 at Red Wolves Gymnasium to improve to 5-2 overall. It was Orange’s fourth straight win over the Red Wolves.

Emma Clements and Libby Jones had seven kills each, while senior Liz LaNier had six kills, two assists and a block. Freshman Lydia Wood and senior Sarah McCuiston paced the Red Wolves with six kills each. Junior Celeste Pasley had four kills.

Orange never trailed in any of the three sets, earning the win on scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-16.

“Anyone I put in, they did their job,” said Young. “They wanted to win. They want conference wins. We’ve set some high goals for this team and they’re working for them.”

Cedar Ridge dropped its fourth straight and fell to 2-5, 0-3 in the BIg 8 Conference. The Red Wolves were coming off a three-game road trip that ended with a match last Thursday against Chapel Hill, the two-time defending 3A Eastern Regional Champions.

Orange was coming off a five-set loss against Person in Roxboro on Monday night, an effort that Young was proud of.

“They worked their tails off (against Person),” said Young. “They wanted to win.”

The same can’t be said about Orange’s opening Big 8 match last week, a 3-0 loss to East Chapel Hill.

“We played awful,” said Young. “It wasn’t like one or two people wasn’t on. The majority of us weren’t on. I don’t think we outpsyched ourselves. We just couldn’t get any momentum going. We definitely were not playing our normal play.”

With Clements serving, Orange jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start the second set. During the run, Clements had a kill and an ace. Cedar Ridge narrowed the deficit to 7-6 following an ace from Pasley. Orange pushed their advantage back to 16-12 following a block from LaNier and an Celements kill assisted by Kaitlyn Werden who finished with a team-high 14 assists. Jones wrapped up the set on a kill assisted by Werden.

The third set was the most competitive with Cedar Ridge tying it three times, including at 8-8  after Colby Rabelais scored a kill off an assist from Macy Henry. Orange went on a 6-1 run to take control of the set, which included two kills from Natalia Ruble. The Lady Panthers closed with the final six points to close out the win.

Cedar Ridge’s last win over Orange in volleyball came on September 1, 2016 at Red Wolves’ Gymnasium. It’s a long way from the 2013-2015 under former head coach Charlie Oakley, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange five consecutive times.

Orange will travel to Northwood on Thursday night. Cedar Ridge will journey to Poe Gymtorium to face Northern Durham on Thursday. Northwood and Northern Durham will enter their respective matches in a three-way tie for third place in the Big 8 with 2-1 records.

For the fourth straight time, the Orange volleyball team defeated the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves on Tuesday night. In a 3-0 sweep, senior Libby Jones finished with seven kills and two digs. The Panthers never trailed in any of the three sets. Just one night removed from a five-set loss to Person in Roxboro, the Panthers improved to 6-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange travels to Northwood on Thursday night. 

Orange Volleyball Senior Libby Jones Discusses Win over Cedar Ridge

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The Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior volleyball outside hitter Colby Rabalais.

In the Red Wolves’ season-opener against Bartlett Yancey, they were only three points away from a loss after dropping the first two sets. Rabalais came up with two big aces as the Red Wolves captured the set, and eventually captured the match on scores of 21-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-22 and 15-12.

On Thursday, Cedar Ridge defeated Eastern Alamance 3-1. Rabalais came away with seven kills and one block. In Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to Durham School of the Arts, Rabalais had six digs.

“She really rose to the occasion against Eastern Alamance,” said Cedar Ridge Volleyball Coach Anna Seethaler.”She just really got the crowd moving and really took a lead position. “She is a great comeback player. She shows a lot of fire and is ready to play wherever we are. That’s the type of player you want to have on your team.”

Last season as a junior, Rabalais had 78 kills, 18 aces, and 90 blocks. This is her third varsity season. As a sophomore, she started two games.

On Tuesday night, Rabalais and her teammates will attempt to defeat archrival Orange. The first of two meetings between the crosstown rivals takes place at Cedar Ridge. Last season, the Panthers swept the Red Wolves. Orange won the first match on August 31^st 3-1 at OHS. On September 26^th, Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 3-0.