Cedar Ridge High School

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior pole vaulter Ender Buchanan. On Friday, Buchanan won the 3A State Championship in the pole vault at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. Buchanan cleared 14 feet, beating out Croatan’s Logan Carlson for the championship. Buchanan started as a pole vaulter just two years ago after competing as a distance runner in middle school. At the end of his freshman year, he began working with Coach Thomas Fowlkes, the father of Cedar Ridge’s last state champion in track and field, Carolina Fowlkes. One day while Buchanan was practicing for the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in track & field, he got curious about the workouts that Coach Fowlkes conducted and checked it out. Since then, he has been immersed in pole vaulting. Even before he started as a pole vaulter, he was enamoured with the sport watching the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In February, Buchanan finished 2nd in the 3A State Indoor Championships at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, his best-ever showing up until Friday. Last week, Buchanan won the Mideast Regional championship at UNC Pembroke by clearing 13-feet. Buchanan is the tenth men’s track and field state champion in Cedar Ridge history and the first since 2013. He is the first man to win a state championship at the 3A level in school history and will probably be the last one since the North Carolina High School Athletic Association is expanding to eight classifications.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Ender Buchanan

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior pole vaulter Ender Buchanan. On Friday, Buchanan won the 3A State Championship in the pole vault at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. Buchanan cleared 14 feet, beating out Croatan’s Logan Carlson for the championship.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior softball first baseman Kimber Shambley. A commitment to Western Carolina University to play softball, Shambley was second on the team with a .452 batting average, playing in all 25 games. She led the team with seven home runs and was tied for second with 27 RBIs. She was also second on the team with 33 hits. one of just three seniors, Shambley was a leader on a. team that finished 17-8, their best record since the 2019 season. Against Walter Williams on April 28, Shambley hit two home runs and drove in four runs in a 19-1 win in Hillsborough. In her final game at Red Wolves Softball Field, Shambley went 2-for-2 with an RBI in Cedar Ridge’s 12-1 win over West Johnston. It was Cedar Ridge’s first state playoff win in six years. Shambley had eleven multi-hit games this year. Against Orange on April 28, Shambley had a 2-run double in Cedar Ridge’s 15-14 win in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. On April 17, Shambley went 3-for-4 as the Red Wolves edged Orange 5-4, which was head coach Allan Byrd’s 100th career win. Shambley finished her career with 105 RBIs, just four short of Takia Nichols all-time school record. Shambley will start play in Cullowhee next winter after a distinguished career at Cedar Ridge where she helped return the Red Wolves to elite status.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Kimber Shambley

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior softball first baseman Kimber Shambley. A commitment to Western Carolina University to play softball, Shambley was second on the team with a .452 batting average, playing in all 25 games. She led the team with seven home runs and was tied for second with 27 RBIs.

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For the first time since 2019, the Cedar Ridge softball team has advanced to the second round of the 3A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves made quick work of West Johnston, beating the Wildcats 12-1 in five innings in Hillsborough. In her first postseason game since her freshman year, Reagan Simmons finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs. In the third inning, Simmons hit a three-run home run. Simmons drove in the initial Cedar Ridge run with a double to right field, knocking in Mia Best. Despite missing several games due to injury, Simmons has 25 RBis in 16 games. She is second on the team with six home runs. Her presence behind the plate makes a huge difference for the Red Wolves defensively. Simmons is third on the team with a .456 batting average. It was the first time that Cedar Ridge hosted a state playoff game since 2019. The Red Wolves have won 17 games this season, the most for this current four-year class. Just like six years ago, Cedar Ridge will venture to eastern North Carolina for the second round of the state playoffs. In 2019, it was a win over West Carteret. On Thursday, it will be the Richlands Wildcats. First pitch at Richlands will be at 6PM.

Cedar Ridge softball catcher Reagan Simmons discusses playoff win vs. West Johnston

For the first time since 2019, the Cedar Ridge softball team has advanced to the second round of the 3A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves made quick work of West Johnston, beating the Wildcats 12-1 in five innings in Hillsborough.

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Two wins over the Central Conference regular season champions and its first win at Orange since 2012 will be enough for the Cedar Ridge baseball team to host a state playoff game for the first time under head coach Bryson Massey.

On Monday, the Red Wolves received a 16-seed for the 3A State Playoffs from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Cedar Ridge, which finished in third place in the Central Conference with a 7-5 record, will face the Hunt Warriors from Wilson out of the Quad County Conference.

The Red Wolves last hosted a state playoff game in 2018, when they defeated Southern Alamance 10-2 in the opening round. At the time, Cedar Ridge was coached by Jamie Athas, who would leave for Walter Williams a month later. That was also the last time the Red Wolves won a state playoff game.

Hunt emerged on the short end of a tight battle for the Quad County Championship, wound up in a three-way tie with West Johnston and South Johnston for first place, all finishing at 11-3. South Johnston earned the top seed from the Quad County. Both of Hunt’s games against South Johnston were decided by one run. The Warriors defeated the Trojans 5-4 on April 29. South Johnston took the opening meeting 2-1.

Cedar Ridge won its final regular season game over Western Alamance 3-2 in Elon last week. Aidan Ryan earned the win for the Red Wolves, who scored all of its runs in the first inning. Noah Heckman, running for John rove, scored the game-winning run off a groundout by Austin Brown. Hudson Kelly earned the save by throwing two shutout innings, allowing just one hit.

The winner of Cedar Ridge-Hunt will face the winner of #1 seed J.H. Rose vs. #32 seed Walter Williams.

On the other end of town, Orange will face Central Conference rival Eastern Alamance in the opening round. Orange just swept the Eagles in a two-game series last week.

Orange finished the regular season 13-11, its fewest amount of wins for a regular season in a year not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2019. Counting Jordan, West Johnston, Grimsley and the two-game series against Southern Alamance, the Panthers’ RPI benefitted from playing five games against teams that won its conference championships.

It will be the sixth meeting between Eagles and the Panthers since last May. Since the two teams became conference rivals in 2022, Orange is 9-0 against Eastern Alamance. Last season, the Eagles stunned Southern Alamance 13-8 in the opening round of the state playoffs. Three nights later, Orange crushed the Eagles 19-1 in five innings.

It’s the 21st consecutive season that Orange has reached the state playoffs, not counting the pandemic year of 2020. It will be the seventh state playoff game that Orange has hosted since 2023.

Orange received a #15 seed. The winner of Orange-Eastern Alamance will face the winner of #2 Terry Sanford vs. #31 Dixon. Terry Sanford and Orange faced each other in the state playoffs in 2022 and 2024. Three years ago, the Panthers defeated the Bulldogs 8-5 in Hillsborough after Orange scored three runs in the sixth inning. Connor Funk, in his final game in Hillsborough, drove in Jackson Berini with an RBI single and added another off a sacrifice fly hit by Connor Nordan.

Last year, the Bulldogs defeated the Panthers 4-0 in the third round in Fayetteville.

Southern Alamance wound up winning the Central Conference after a bizarre final two weeks of the season. On April 14, the Patriots led Person by three games for first place with four games remaining. Southern Alamance lost three of its last four, including the two-game sweep by Cedar Ridge Remarkably, Person had a chance to tie Southern Alamance for a share of the conference title on Friday, the final night of the regular season. Yet Walter Williams, who came into the game 1-10 in conference play, upset the Rockets 4-3 in Roxboro.

That win was enough for the Bulldogs to leap frog Croatan for the 64th and final spot in the state playoffs.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior softball pitcher Charlotte Lowry. This season, Lowry has been an instrumental piece of Cedar Ridge’s most successful season since 2019. Lowry has logged hundreds of pitches through her 17 starts in the circle. She has compiled a 12-3 record with a 3.59 ERA as Cedar Ridge completed the regular season 16-7. They finished 2nd in the Central Conference with a 10-3 mark. Lowry is also a constant presence in Cedar Ridge’s batting order with a .371 batting average with two home runs and 15 RBIs. In the Central Conference Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, Lowry threw eleven strikeouts in a win over orange. Against Western Alamance on March 25, Lowry earned the complete game with ten strikeouts as Cedar Ridge defeated the Warriors 3-0. Lowry has thrown three shutouts in 2025. Lowry is in her second year as the Red Wolves’ starting pitcher. Last year, she went 6-1 in the circle. Charlotte is second on the team with eight doubles. Her sister, Ava, won a conference championship with Cedar Ridge in 2019. Lowry threw 151 pitches in a 10-9 win over Roxboro Community on March 27 in Hillsbrough. Against Orange last Tuesday, she threw 137 pitches in a walkoff win. This Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will host a state playoff game for the first time since 2019, a tribute to how hard Lowry has worked to build the Red Wolves back to an elite level.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Charlotte Lowry

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior softball pitcher Charlotte Lowry. This season, Lowry has been an instrumental piece of Cedar Ridge’s most successful season since 2019. Lowry has logged hundreds of pitches through her 17 starts in the circle.

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It’s a good thing the softball scoreboard at Cedar Ridge High School was installed only five years ago.

If it was any older, every fuse on it would have been blown out Tuesday night.

In the Central Conference Tournament semifinals, Orange and Cedar Ridge combined for 29 runs, 26 hits, one monstrous comeback by Orange and a game-winning RBI by Laci Sykes.

After Cedar Ridge went into the bottom of the seventh trailing 14-13, Sykes knocked in Parker Kennedy on a grounder to second base. Kennedy beat the throw from Orange’s Natalie Roberson for the game-winning run to send Cedar Ridge past Orange 15-14 in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals.

The Red Wolves will face Eastern Alamance on Thursday night in Mebane. The Eagles, who beat out Cedar Ridge by one game for first place to take the regular season crown, edged Western Alamance 2-1 in the other semifinal.

“Hats off to them, they’re one heck of a team,” said Cedar Ridge Softball Coach Allan Byrd, who earned his 100th career win against Orange two weeks ago. “They battled back and we faltered for an inning or two, kinda played sloppy. But at the end of the day, these kids came together and played as a team.”

On a zany night, Orange trailed 12-4 at the end of the third inning. Junior Katie Carden triggered a comeback with a grand slam in the fourth inning. Orange scored ten of the next eleven runs, including an inside the park home run by Karley Neighbours in the fifth, immediately followed by an RBI single from Sadie Cecil to score Hayleigh Hammond to cut the Red Wolf lead to 12-10.

Trailing 13-11 going into the top of the seventh, Cecil knocked in Hammond again with a line drive to left field. Cecil took second on the throw and advanced to third off a wild pitch. Orange freshman Molly Kate Ollis lofted a pop-up that Cedar Ridge second baseman Brittani Goddard caught on the edge of the outfield grass. Tempting fate, Cecil tagged up from third with the ball barely 80 feet from home plate, but slid in safely to tie the game. After Carden walked, Orange catcher Allie Carden drilled a double that one-hopped the wall in right centerfield, scoring Katie Carden from first base to give Orange a 14-13 lead, its first advantage since it was 3-2 in the first inning.

Facing freshman Lexi Bowes, Orange’s third pitcher of the night, Cedar Ridge remained poised. Mia Best led off with a double that banged off the black tarp along the outfield fence. Senior Kimber Shambley tied the game at 14-14 with another double that rolled to the outfield wall.

Parker Kennedy, representing the game-winning run, replaced Shambley at second base as a courtesy runner. Charlotte Lowry skied a double to left field, but Kennedy was held at third after she got a late jump. With the bases loaded following an intentional walk to Rylee Capps, Sykes grounded a ball to Roberson at second, whose throw to the plate wasn’t in time as Kennedy slid in safely to end the game at the two-hour and 51-minute mark.

Coming off a win over Person on Monday night in the quarterfinals, Orange scored three runs in the first. Cecil, with the sun setting in her eyes well beyond left field, roped a double off the fence. Cecil, Ollis and Katie Carden all touched the plate in the opening frame.

Cedar Ridge erased that with seven runs in the first inning, keyed by a grand slam by Capps. Goddard delivered a two-run double that plated Sykes and Madeline Galindo-Woodring. Goddard would score off an error.

The Red Wolves built its lead to 12-4 after five runs in the third inning, starting when Galindro-Woodring reached on a triple that edged down the left field line. Raegan Remaly, Shambley, Lowry and Capps would all drive in runs in the inning.

Eastern Alamance took two games from Cedar Ridge during a regular season that had curious timing. Cedar Ridge first faced the Eagles in its third game of the year on March 3, where the Red Wolves led 4-1 going into the seventh inning but lost 8-4 in eight innings. Their last meeting was on March 21, where the Red Wolves had a 4-3 lead going into the sixth before the Eagles scored three runs in the sixth.

“If this team hits the ball like I know we can hit the ball, we’re winning most games,” Byrd said. “We can play with anybody that we’ve played all year. We’ll travel to Mebane on Thursday and give it everything we have. We want it.”