Cedar Ridge Softball

A long trip down east paid off for the Cedar Ridge softball team on Friday night. The Red Wolves defeated West Carteret 6-3 to advance to the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Tori Dalehite blasted a two-run homer in the 3rd inning. Takia Nichols drilled her team-high eighth home run of the season in the 4th. Tionna Carter laced a two-run double in the sixth with two out. Senior Kara Wagoner lined a RBI single in the 1st inning to score Taylor Ruhl. Kymberlie Thacker made several big plays at the plate and didn’t conceded a wild pitch. Pitcher Taylor Barnes earned her 18th win of the season, the most by any Cedar Ridge pitcher in school history. The Red Wolves won’t have to travel nearly as far for its next state playoff game. They will take a 10-minute drive to Mebane on Tuesday night for a showdown against Eastern Alamance, the Mid State Conference Champions. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com at 6:25.

In the longest playoff game in Cedar Ridge softball history, senior shortstop Tionna Carter laced a single to centerfield to score Taylor Ruhl in the bottom of the 11th inning to push the Red Wolves past West Johnston 4-3 on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Territory in the opening round of the 3A State Softball Playoffs. Carter’s single ended a long defensive stalemate where neither team scored for eight consecutive innings. The Red Wolves advance to Friday, where they will face West Carteret in Morehead City. Last season, the Red Wolves defeated West Carteret 10-0 in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough.

The Cedar Ridge softball team captured a share of the Big 8 softball championship on Tuesday night, beating Northern Durham 12-6. In her final regular season game at Cedar Ridge, catcher Kymberlie Thacker went 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBIs. Thacker is hitting .425 this season. In January, she formally signed with Brevard College. Earlier this year, Thacker suffered a concussion against Cardinal Gibbons, forcing her to miss six games. Regardless, the senior returned behind the plate. In her ten games since her return, Cedar Ridge has scored in double figure runs eight times. Next week, the Red Wolves will start action in the state playoffs, where they hope to be the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference. On Wednesday night, Orange hosts East Chapel Hill. If the Lady Panthers win, they will face Cedar Ridge in a one-game playoff for the Big 8’s top seed on Thursday.

For the 2nd year in a row, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves have won a share of the Big 8 softball championship. On Wednesday night, they defeated Northern Durham 12-6 at Knights Softball Field in Durham to finish the regular season 18-2. Senior pitcher Taylor Barnes threw a complete game for her 15th win of the season. Barnes also went 2-for-4 with a double. On Monday night in Cedar Ridge’s 12-2 win over the Knights, Barnes went 3-for-3 and scored three runs. Barnes is hitting .462 this season. After playing twice in two days, Cedar Ridge will sit back and watch crosstown rival Orange on Wednesday night. The Panthers host East Chapel Hill. If Orange wins, they will Cedar Ridge on Thursday for the #1 seed in the Big 8 Conference in the upcoming 3A State Tournament.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is softball junior right fielder Emma Roby. This season, Roby is hitting .438 and has 21 hits. Earlier this season, Roby was forced to play catcher for six games after starter Kymberlie Thacker suffered a concussion against Cardinal Gibbons. Cedar Ridge went 6-1 in those games, including a 11-1 victory over Orange at Red Wolves Territory. Roby has had four consecutive multi-hit games, including going 3-for-3 at East Chapel Hill on April 10. She went 4-for6 against Hillside last Tuesday. Cedar Ridge opened this week with a win over Vance County on Monday night in Hillsborough. 

The final week before spring break was an active one for the Cedar Ridge softball team. On March 28, they routed crosstown rival Orange 11-1 at Red Wolves Softball Territory. Freshman 3rd baseman Takia Nichols hit a two-run homer to deep center in the 4th inning. Junior 2nd baseman Tori Dalehite went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including the walkoff single to score Taylor Ruhl and Tionna Carter in the 5th. The following night, Cedar Ridge scored a wild 11-10 win over Person where the lead changed four times. Dalehite had the game-winning hit in the 7th. Cedar Ridge is tied with Orange for 2nd place in the loss column of the Big 8 Conference. Next week, Cedar Ridge resumes its season with a two-game series against East Chapel Hill, a squad that made the 3A state playoffs last year.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman pitcher Olivia Aitkin. In Cedar Ridge’s 18-15 victory over Cardinal Gibbons on March 5, Aitkin came in at pitcher and earned her first varsity win. She threw five-and-one-third innings, allowing only two earned runs. She entered the game with Cedar Ridge trailing 10-4. The Red Wolves recovered to score ten runs in the final three innings to beat the Crusaders 18-15.In addition, Aitkin went 2-for-3 at the plate, with two doubles and scoring twice. Aitkin has become a steady second option in the pitching circle for head coach Allen Byrd behind starting pitcher Taylor Barnes. After Cedar Ridge defeated Orange 11-1 on Tuesday, they will host Person on Wednesday in Hillsborough. First pitch will be at 6.