Cedar Ridge Baseball

Cedar Ridge RF had a walkoff single last Friday when the Red Wolves defeated East Chapel Hill 5-4. Last week, the Red Wolves ensured a spot in the 3A state playoffs for the second straight year by sweeping Hillside in a two-game series. On Thursday, Zehnder hit two doubles as the Red Wolves won 10-0. On Friday in a 11-1 win over the Hornets, Zehnder went 1-for-3. On Saturday, Cedar Ridge defeated Eastern Guilford 8-2 in Gibsonville. Zehnder earned the win on the mound, striking out seven in five-and-two-thirds innings. He gave up just three hits as Cedar Ridge won its eighth straight game. 

Orange Baseball Coach Dean Dease is already in exclusive company solely from remaining as the head of the Panther baseball program since 1988.

On Friday, he goes for his 500th career victory when Orange hosts Southern Durham for a doubleheader starting at 5. Once Dease earned his next win, he will move into even more exclusive company.

How exclusive?

According to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, there are only seven members of the 500-win club among North Carolina high school baseball coaches.

The most recent totals were updates to the NCHSAA in 2013, according to spokesman James Alverson. At the time, three coaches had reached the 500 win plateau. Since them, four more have joined the club. The most recent was Charles Davis, who retired from C.B. Aycock in 2016 with 512 career wins.

The all-time leader is Ronald Vincent of J.H. Rose, who won his 900th game last season.

What are the playoff implications going into the final week of the regular season?

Of greater importance for Dease is Orange’s standing for the state playoffs. After Cedar Ridge’s 10-0 win over Hillside on Thursday night, the Red Wolves are in sole possession of 2nd place in the Big 8 Conference with a 8-3 record, one game behind first-place Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves travel to Durham on Friday.

If Orange sweeps Southern Durham, they will be 8-4 in conference play, placing them in no worse than a tie for 3rd place. On Friday afternoon, Northwood travels to East Chapel Hill. The Wildcats, were started last week tied for 1st with Chapel Hill, have lost three in a row and are tied with the Chargers for 4th at 7-4. Next week, Chapel Hill will face East to wrap up the regular season.

What are Cedar Ridge’s chances of trying for the Big 8 Championship? 

Average. As mentioned before, Cedar Ridge played the toughest part of its schedule in the opening five weeks of the season when they faced Northwood, Chapel Hill, Orange, East Chapel Hill and Northern Durham. If the Red Wolves win its final three conference games, they have to hope Chapel Hill loses two of its final three league games. Chapel Hill will face Northern Durham on Friday before starting the East Chapel Hill next week. Cedar Ridge and Chapel Hill split its season series, with Cedar Ridge winning 3-1 on March 19. Chapel Hill took the rematch four days later. If the Red Wolves and Tigers finish tied, the tiebreaker would greatly depend on where Northwood and East Chapel Hill finish in the league standings, which won’t be determined until the regular season ends next Thursday.

Adam Chnupa has signed his letter of intent to play college football at Elon University of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Phoenix will host its spring game this Saturday, and Chnupa will miss Cedar Ridge’s baseball game against Eastern Guilford to be in attendance. Last season as a linebacker, Chnupa had 36 tackles and a fumble recovery. Before he leaves for Elon, Chnupa has some business to finish with the Cedar Ridge baseball team, which is only one game behind first-place Chapel Hill in the Big 8 Conference with four league games remaining. Cedar Ridge will host Hillside on Thursday, then travel to Durham to face the Hornets on Friday. This season, Chnupa has been a regular starter in right field while hitting two home runs.

With every passing week of the Big 8 Conference baseball season, it’s clear that the race for the league’s four state playoff spots may not be decided until the final day of the season.

That would appear to be good news for Cedar Ridge, who has the toughest part of its schedule in the rear view mirror.

On Friday, the Red Wolves completed a two-game sweep of Northern Durham with a 9-1 win at Knights Stadium. Cedar Ridge starter Phil Berger earned the win, throwing his 2nd complete game of the season to improve to 4-2. Berger is 3-1 in Big 8 starts this season and is the only pitcher in the league to beat Chapel Hill in 2018.

Berger also homered in the first inning. In the third, Berger put Cedar Ridge ahead 2-0 after an RBI double to center that scored Matthew Kahn.

After the Knights scored its only run in the 2nd, Cedar Ridge responded with three in the 4th. Chris Cox hit a leadoff infield single, went to second on a balk by Northern pitcher Jordan Snow, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cooper Lamb.

After Kahn doubled to center, Adam Chnupa ripped a two-run home run over the left field wall. It was Chnupa’s 2nd home run of the season.

Cedar Ridge put the game on ice in the seventh inning with four runs. Jake DeFranco led off with a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly by his younger brother Dante DeFranco. Sailor Ramos and Cox hit back-to-back singles, followed by a walk by Lamb. With Eric Zehnder at bat, Ramos scored on a passed ball. Zehnder then singled to plate Cox and advance Cox to third. Kahn hit an infield single to score Kahn.

Cedar Ridge is now 8-5, 5-3 in the Big 8 with a critical two-game series against East Chapel Hill starting Tuesday. The Red Wolves travel to Burlington to face Walter Williams on Monday, then head to Wildcat Stadium to face the Wildcats on Tuesday.

Going into the East Chapel Hill series, Cedar Ridge is tied for 3rd in the Big 8 with Orange at 5-3. After sweeping Hillside last week, East Chapel Hill is tied with Chapel Hill for 1st place at 7-1. Northwood is tied with Northern Durham for 5th at 4-4. Those two teams start their. Own two-game series on Thursday in Pittsboro.

The Cedar Ridge baseball team is in the hunt for a state playoff birth for the 2nd year in a row. Sailor Ramos is a big reason why. The senior centerfielder went 2-for-3 with a triple on Tuesday night in the Red Wolves’ 7-0 victory over Northern Durham. On Friday, Ramos went 2-for-3 in Cedar Ridge’s 5-3 win over Wake County HomeSchool in the Hillltop Invitational. On Thursday, Ramos went 3-for-3 with a home run against Jordan. Cedar Ridge is 7-5, 4-3 (tied for 4th in the Big 8) in the Big 8 Conference with a road trip to Northern Durham set for Friday. 

Bryse Wilson: 2016 Orange graduate Bryse Wilson was assigned by the Atlanta Braves organization to the Florida Fire Frogs of the Class A Florida State League to start his 2nd full professional season. Wilson was supposed to make his Florida debut on Friday against the Daytona Tortugas, but the game was rained out. The Florida State League is High-A baseball in the minor league structure, a step up from the South Atlantic League, where Wilson played with the Rome Braves in 2017. Last year, Wilson went 11-8 with a 2.20 ERA through 32 starts. Wilson had 168 strikeouts with 45 walks.

Mia Davidson: In the last two weeks, the Mississippi State Bulldogs have faced #10 Texas A&M and #6 Georgia. MSU, ranked #22 as of last week, went combined for a 1-5 record against the Bulldogs and the Aggies. Davidson, a freshman catcher, hit .263 against Georgia and Texas A&M with two doubles and a home run. Davidson currently leads the SEC in slugging percentage (.843), is 2nd in home runs (13), 3rd in hits (52), 5th in runs scored (38), 5th in doubles (12), 9th in batting average (.409) and tied for 12th in RBIs (34). The Bulldogs are currently 29-11 with an 4-8 SEC record.

Mackenzie Cates: Lenoir-Rhyne swept a doubleheader against Mars Hill on Sunday, winning 6-5 and 10-1. It was the Bears Senior Day. Former Orange High catcher Mackenzie Cates combined to go 2-for-6 in the doubleheader with a double, a triple, two runs scored and an RBI. Cates is hitting .353 with nine home runs (3rd in the South Atlantic Conference) and 30 RBIs (9th in the SAC). The Bears are ranked #12 in Division II, has won ten in a row and is 20-0 at home this year. The Bears have also won 34 of their last 36 contests and maintained their four-game lead in the SAC.

Brad Debo: The former Orange catcher appeared as a pinch-hitter on Friday and Saturday in the Wolfpack’s series against Louisville. This season, Debo has played in 25 games and is hitting .264 with one home run and 13 RBIs. N.C. State, 25-6, has reached #2 in the country in the Baseball America, Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball polls, matching the highest ranking in school history.

Brandon Andrews: The 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate threw an inning of mop up duty against #17 LSU on April 3rd, giving up only one hit. So far in his freshman season, Andrews has pitched in eight games, throwing nine innings with a 7.00 ERA. Andrews has struck out five and walked two.

Rachel Peel: The Meredith catcher went 1-for-3 against Ferrum in sweeping a first-round USA Conference Series on Friday. Meredith advanced to face Covenant on Friday. In 19 games this season, Peel has hit .280 with one home run and seven RBIs.

Stephen Tanner: The former Cedar Ridge goalkeeper earned the win on Sunday as Greensboro College defeated Randolph College 9-7. Tanner made nine saves. Tanner is 8-8 for the Pride this season. Tanner is third in the USA South Atlantic Conference (Division III) with 150 saves and is 5th with an 8.96 goals against average.

Cole Churchill: Now a junior defenseman with Randolph-Macon, Churchill has seen action in nine games. Last week, Churchill got the start in the Yellow Jackets’ 10-7 at Bridgewater, Virginia.

Bowen Collins: The former Orange High midfielder fired two shots as Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Lincoln Memorial 14-11 on Saturday. The Bears are now 12-1, ranked #3 in Division II. They lead the South Atlantic Conference with a 5-0 league mark. This season in eight games, Collins has scored four goals and two assists.

Zack Wright: The former Orange attacker started and got off two shots in Mars Hill’s 19-7 loss at Queens. This season, Wright has played in three games and scored two goals.

A day after throwing an inning against First Colonial, Cedar Ridge junior Phillip Berger earned his third win of the season by beating Wake County Homeschools 5-4 on Friday afternoon in the final game of the Hilltop Invitational. Berger came two out shy of a complete game, holding the Warriors to a tournament-low four runs. Berger will prepare for Northern Durham this week as the Big 8 Conference season resumes. The Red Wolves host the Knights Tuesday at 6, then travel to Durham on Friday.

Jake DeFranco wasn’t even supposed to play in the final game of the Hilltop Invitational on Friday afternoon. But when Miguel Flores suffered an eye injury while taking infield 20 minutes before the game, DeFranco took his customary spot at 2nd base and the Red Wolves reaped the benefits. Jake went 3-for-4 with an RBI triple. At shortstop, Dante had his customary strong defensive game to help the Red Wolves come from behind and beat the Wake County Warriors 5-4.

It didn’t take Crash Davis to bust into a ballpark in the wee hours of the morning to create a rainout for the Hilltop Invitational’s planned tripleheader at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday.

All that was needed was the latest forecast for rain—and more snow.

Originally, Orange and Cedar Ridge were supposed to conclude the Hilltop Invitational on Saturday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the famed home of the Durham Bulls during its days as the Carolina League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1980-1996. Those plans changed on Tuesday night when forecasts of wet snowflakes began circulating locally with predicted lows below freezing.

Instead of a three-day event, the annual Hilltop Invitational will be two days at Orange, Cedar Ridge, East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill High Schools.

On Thursday at Orange High School, Panther Creek will face Orange at 1 to start a tripleheader. East Chapel Hill meets Panther Creek in the sandwich game at 4. Orange faces Wake County HomeSchools in the nightcap at 7.

Chapel Hill will host the other tripleheader on Thursday. Starting at 1, Cedar Ridge faces Jordan. The Red Wolves turn right back around to face First Colonial (out of Virginia Beach, Virginia) at 4. Jordan takes on Chapel Hill in the nightcap at 7.

On Friday, play continues at three separate locations. Cedar Ridge, East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill all host doubleheaders.

At Cedar Ridge, Orange hosts First Colonial at 1. Wake County Homeschools faces Cedar Ridge at 5.

At East Chapel Hill, the Wildcats will play both ends of a twinbill: they face Wake County at 1, followed by Jordan.

At Chapel Hill, the Tigers will also play two consecutive games. They host First Colonial at 5, followed by a game with Panther Creek at 7.

Unlike other Easter tournaments around the state, the Hilltop doesn’t follow a standard knockout tournament format. It’s simply a way for teams to get three nonconference games in during the crunch of conference season.

But these are not inconsequential games for Orange and Cedar Ridge. After the two crosstown rivals split their series last week, Orange is 6-5 overall and 4-2 in the Big 8 Conference, tied for 3rd with Northern Durham. After playing three games in two days in the Hilltop, Orange faces defending Big 8 Champion Northwood in a two-game set next week, starting with a home game on Tuesday.

Cedar Ridge, after beating Orange 7-3 on Thursday, is 5-3 overall, 3-3 in the Big 8. The Red Wolves are tied with Northwood for 5th in the Big 8. The good news for Cedar Ridge is the most intense part of its conference schedule is over, having faced the top three teams from the Big 8 from 2017 last month.

Cedar Ridge returns to Big 8 play against Northern Durham on Tuesday at Red Wolves Territory. It’s the first time ever that the Red Wolves and the Knights have meet on the baseball diamond as conference rivals.

First Colonial comes into the Hilltop Invitational with a 3-1 mark. Wake County HomeSchools is 10-4 and already has wins over Lee County and New Bern. They lost to J.H. Rose 7-2 last week.

Panther Creek, from the 4-A Triangle 6 Conference that is essentially the remains of the old PAC-6 Conference, is 4-6. After dropping three of its previous four games, the Catamounts defeted Sanderson 9-4 last week for its first conference win of the season.

We’ll be broadcasting Orange’s doubleheader on Thursday live here on HillsboroughSports.com.