Cedar Ridge Baseball

Landon Riley: The 2017 Orange High graduate continues to flourish as a middle reliever at Liberty University. Over the weekend, Liberty won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in Conrad Park in DeLand, Florida. In a double-elimination tournament, Liberty played six games in a span of five days. After losing to Jacksonville 9-6 in ten innings on Thursday, the Flames reeled off four straight wins for their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Championship. In Saturday’s 5-2 win over Jacksonville, Riley earned his 2nd win of the season, replacing starter Garrett Price in the fifth inning. With Liberty needing a long relief effort to save up its pitching, Riley entered the game with Liberty trailing 2-0. He delivered four-and-one-thirds shutout innings. Liberty responded by scoring all five of its runs in the sixth inning for a 5-2 win and advance to the championship. The Flames defeated the host team, Stetson, twice to take home the title. Hours after the Jacksonville win, Liberty defeated Stetson 6-3 on Saturday, then beat the Hatters on Sunday 4-3.

It was Liberty’s first conference championship since 2013. On Monday, Liberty was placed in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Flames will face Tennessee on Friday night at 7 o’clock inside Boshamer Stadium. The top-seed in the Chapel Hill Regional is ACC Champion UNC, who will face UNC Wilmington on Friday afternoon to open the weekend. Tennessee defeated Liberty 7-1 on February 26 in Knoxville. Liberty is 7-3 against ACC teams this season, including two wins over Duke and Virginia Tech, and another against UNC.

Riley, a sophomore, now has 21 appearances this season. He is 2-0 with a 2.51 ERA with one save in 32.1 innings. 

Jamar Davis: Less than a year after graduating from Orange High, Davis has qualified for the National Track & Field Championships as a member of N.C. State. On Saturday in the NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville, FL, Davis set the personal record on his second attempt in the triple jump. Davis’ leap of 51-feet, five inches ranks eighth all-time in N.C. State history. It earned him his fourth top-ten finish in the triple jump during an event this season. The NCAA Championships will be held June 5-7 in Austin, TX. 

Brad Debo: Another 2017 Orange High graduate, Debo had a two-run single in the top of the ninth innings of N.C. State’s 6-5 win over Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Thursday night. The win ensured the Wolfpack would advance to the ACC Semifinals. Against the Demon Deacons, Debo went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs, including a RBI double in the 7^thinning. In Saturday’s 9-2 loss to Georgia Tech, Debo went 1-for-1 with three walks. The Wolfpack has made the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in ten seasons. On Friday, they will face Campbell in the Greenville Regional at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The other half of the regional matches up East Carolina against Quinnipiac. The Wolfpack defeated the Camels 10-1 on February 27 in Buies Creek, but the Camels edged the Wolfpack 5-3 on May 7 in Raleigh. 

In 57 games this season, Debo is hitting .242 with four home runs and 39 RBIs. 

Marvin Jones: The Cedar Ridge graduate recently completed his sophomore season with the North Carolina Central Track and Field team. On May 2-4, Jones finished 4^thin the high jump in the MEAC Track & Field Championships. On May 12, Jones finished first in the high jump in the Mount Olive Final Qualifier with a leap of 2.04 meters. Jones had four first place finishes in the high jump this season and was named the MEAC Field Athlete of the Week on March 21. 

One day after winning his 21st career game at Cedar Ridge, Red Wolves pitcher Phillip Berger formally signed with William Peace University out of Raleigh. Berger, who has been a varsity pitcher for four years, was joined by several of his former coaches during the ceremony at Red Wolves Gymnasium. That included Jamie Athas, who was the baseball coach at Cedar Ridge until last summer. Current Red Wolves coach Mitchell Frazier presided over the ceremony. Ironically enough, one night earlier, Berger defeated the Williams Bulldogs, where Athas is now the coach. Former Cedar Ridge football coach Scott Loosemore, who coached Berger in the fall of 2017 when he was a quarterback, drove up from Laurinburg for the ceremony. This week, Berger will complete the regular season with two games against Northern Durham and a make-up game against East Chapel Hill.

Baseball is a numbers game. It’s 511 wins by Cy Young. Or 73 home runs by Barry Bonds in a season. Getting 20 wins in a high school career isn’t easy, but it’s a plateau that Cedar Ridge senior Phillip Berger reached last week in a 13-1 win at Hillside in Durham. Consider that Berger has only started 25 games in his varsity career and made 43 pitching appearances. Berger is now 3-4 this season in six starts. In his sophomore season, Berger earned a win in the state playoffs when the Red Wolves defeated Nash Central 4-1. Berger will wind down his accomplished varsity career over the next few weeks. He will face Southern Durham on Tuesday in a doubleheader at Red Wolves Territory.

Cedar Ridge centerfielder Jackson Strowd is the leading hitter for the Red Wolves this season with a .429 average over eleven games. Strowd leads the team with 12 hits and is tied for the team lead with eleven runs. He has three multi-hit games this season, the most recent against Eastern Guilford on March 25. Last Thursday, Strowd went 1-for-2 against Hillside in a 13-3 victory in Hillsborough. He also went 1-for-2 with a run scored in a 9-6 loss to Chapel Hill. On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will host Southern Durham in a doubleheader in Hillsborough as the Red Wolves continue their pursuit of a 4th consecutive state playoff birth. Action between the Spartans and the Red Wolves starts at 5. You can hear the game here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

The Cedar Ridge baseball team swept its first Big 8 Conference season of the year last week. They defeated Hillside 13-1 on Tuesday in Durham, then defeated the Hornets 13-3 in Hillsborough on Thursday. Chris Pearce earned his first varsity pitching win for the Red Wolves on Thursday. Pearce threw four-and-two-thirds innings, striking out five while surrendering four hits and three runs, one earned. Pearce made his first varsity start on March 6 in a loss to Carlisle (VA). This week, Cedar Ridge will look to maintain its momentum when they face Southern Durham in a doubleheader in Hillsborough on Tuesday. That doubleheader will be broadcast live here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior pitcher Phillip Berger. On March 19, Berger earned the 19th win of his Cedar Ridge career as the Red Wolves held off Chapel Hill 3-2. Berger threw his third complete game of the season, holding the Tigers to four hits. He struck out eight as the Red Wolves won its first Big 8 Conference game of the season. This week, the Red Wolves are off for spring break. When Cedar Ridge resumes its season against East Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Berger will go for the 20th win of his career. Berger started the season with a 10-0 victory over Oxford Prep, a game where he gave up no hits in five innings.