Orange High School

In a sport predicated on mistakes, there wasn’t much separating Orange and Cedar Ridge on the baseball diamond Thursday night.

There were two excellent pitching performances from two players on opposite ends of the experience spectrum. Orange junior Cross Clayton, still working his way back from an early season injury, made the tenth start of his career.

Cedar Ridge junior Mason Cates started for only the third time, the first time this season. He sure didn’t look it.

Cates survived an early hiccup to allow only three hits over four-and-two-thirds innings with seven strikeouts in a superb performance.

Clayton tossed a two-hit shutout over five innings with ten strikeouts, ultimately earning his second win of the season.

Orange’s defense, whose ability separated them from the rest of the Central Carolina Conference en route to the regular season championship in 2022, once again made the difference in its ninth straight win over their crosstown rival.

The Panthers scored unearned runs in the second and fifth innings, which proved to be enough to win 3-1 on another night where the margin of error was small. Orange won despite being outhit 4-3.

Orange (11-2, 4-2 in the CCC) swept its first CCC opponent in a two-game series this season. The Panthers will go into next week’s two-game set against Person in first place in the CCC. The Rockets, 3-2 in conference play, will host Northwood in Roxboro on Friday night with a chance to tie Orange.

Cedar Ridge (6-6, 3-5) had their chances to make things interesting late after B.J. Thornton lined a single to score Cates in the sixth inning, cutting Orange’s lead to 3-1. Immediately after Cates scored, a Red Wolf courtesy runner tried to advance to third. Orange left fielder Joey Pounds sent a sharp relay throw to cutoff man Jackson Berini, who had the presence of mind to throw to Clayton at second base, trapping the runner. Third baseman Neo Best tagged out the runner to end the threat and the inning.

“I’m proud,” said Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey. “I’m proud the way my team carried themselves. That’s what we really talked about after the loss the other night was fighting and competing and being us. We’re going to play the game of baseball and we’re going to do it the right way. I felt like we did that tonight.”

Orange senior David Waitt, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs on Tuesday night, struck again in the first inning. He grooved a grounder that hopped over the mound into centerfield for a single. After Waitt stole second, Ryan Honeycutt stroked a base hit to left field and Waitt scored for the opening run.

Honeycutt, hitting in the cleanup slot in place of the injured Ryan Hench, had four RBIs in the series.

After that, Cates didn’t surrender another hit until the fourth inning.

Orange’s Wyatt Hedrick drew a leadoff walk to start the second. Hedrick moved to second on a stolen base, but Cates struck out Pounds and Clayton. Best sent a two-out grounder to second, but it was mishandled by the second baseman and Hedrick scored the first of two unearned Orange runs to increase its lead to 2-0.

“We made a few mistakes tonight,” Massey said. “But that’s going to be part of us this year. We’re going to make our mistakes now, but there are some young guys that are getting a lot of experience. Hopefully by the end of the year, we’re going to be hitting our stride. That’s the goal.”

Cedar Ridge’s first threat came in the third when Landon Dalehite reached on a dropped pop-up at first base. Isaac Anderson lined a single for the Red Wolves’ first hit with two outs. Cates sent a fly ball down the line in right. With no wind blowing to push it foul, Waitt was able to chase it down at the chalk and record the third out.

Quinn Finnegan started the fourth with a leadoff single, but Hedrick immediately turned a 4-6-3 double play to squash the Cedar Ridge opportunity.

Orange increased its lead to 3-0 in the fifth. Jackson Berini, who leads Orange with 19 runs, drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a steal and went to third after Waitt grounded out to Grant McGuffey. Connor Nordan sent a grounder to the shortstop, whose throw to first was low. Nordan collided with first baseman B.J. Thornton, which jarred the ball free. Berini scored while Nordan favored his right knee but was able to continue.

After Cates reached his maximum allotment of 105 pitches, Finnegan came in from right field to replace him on the mound. Finnegan quieted the Orange bats, setting down all seven Panthers he faced in order.

Junior Coltin Hedrick, who earned the win last week in relief against Walter Williams, picked up his first career save. He replaced Clayton in the sixth. Cedar Ridge had one more threat in the seventh after McGuffey drew a walk with two outs. Dalehite sent a fly ball to right field that Waitt nearly overran towards the line, but made the catch on his knees for the final out.

Outdoor Track and Field: After winning the 3A State Cross Country championship in November, Orange’s Gabriel Schmid is looking to return to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships.

Last week during the Raleigh Relays at Paul Deer Track at N.C. State University, Schmid qualified for the Mideast Regionals in the 3,200 meters, an event that he finished 2nd in last year during the state championships. Schmid finished 2nd in the relays at 9:06.93. That was the top time among competitors from North Carolina among 20 runners. Jake Liebert of Wando, South Carolina finished first.

Since winning the state championship, Schmid has competed all over the country. Earlier this month, he finished seventh overall in the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Armory in New York City. Running in the 2-mile championship, Schmid finished seventh overall at 9:09.46, which broke the school record. Schmid placed second in his heat.

Schmid finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters in the 2022 Eastern Regional Championships at Franklinton High School last May. He finished behind his teammate, Spenser Hampton, who graduated a month later.

In addition, two members of the Orange women’s track and field team qualified for the regional championships. It happened during Orange’s twi-meet against Person and Walter Williams at Auman Stadium on March 23. Junior Grace Pell won the high jump clearing 5-feet-two inches. Her teammate, Kathryn Scully, cleared 5-feet and tied for second. The NCHSAA minimum regional qualifying standards are 5-feet.

Scully also finished first in the triple jump at 31-feet, 8.5 inches.

Men’s Tennis: Orange 5, Cedar Ridge 4

On March 13, Orange held off Cedar Ridge at Panther Tennis Courts. The deciding match came at #3 doubles, where Brendon Kassler and Quincy Stanley won 8-5.

Cedar Ridge won the opening three singles matches. Josh Mayhew, who has reached the 3A State Singles Championship match for the past two years, won the #1 singles match 6-0, 6-0. Cedar Ridge’s Lev Bearman earned the victory at #2 singles 6-1, 6-2. The Red Wolves’ Walker Richards-Baker defeated Nathan Pavalonis 7-5, 5-7, (10-7).

Orange’s Brendon Kassler took another three-set match at #5 singles, winning 3-6, 6-0, 10-3. Panthers senior Cameron Foster prevailed at #4 6-2, 6-1. Stanley, a freshman, gained a split of the six singles matches with a 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.

Mayhew teamed with Leonidas Finley to win at #1 doubles 8-3. Orange evened the match at #2 doubles where Porter Pelphrey and Cameron Foster won 8-4.

Cedar Ridge 5, Walter Williams 3: On March 22, Cedar Ridge won its third overall match of the season in Hillsborough. Mayhew defeated Ty Lagana 6-0, 6-0 as the Red Wolves won four of the six singles matches. Richards-Baker, Colin Fulcher and Landon Richards also earned singles wins. Fulcher captured over Luke Williams 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).

Mayhew teamed with Bowen Wood to clinch the dual match win at #1 doubles with a 8-2 victory over Lagana and Andrew Brasington.

Orange 6, J.F. Webb 3: Orange swept all six of its singles matches to defeat the Warriors in a nonconfernece match on March 15. Porter Pelphrey, a sophomore, won at #1 singles 6-2, 7-5 over Ace Currin. Senior Joseph Clark defeated Aidan Bowen 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Cameron Foster won over Josh Tomas 6-0, 6-0. Ryan Jouannet captured his match at #4 6-0, 6-0. Tristian Plummer won at #5 while Murilo Lopez won at #6. The Panthers are 5-4 on the season.

It’s spring break this week across Orange County Schools and Jason Knapp could use the rest.

To say he doesn’t sleep well after conference losses would be inaccurate. Usually, he doesn’t sleep at all.

Such was the case last Tuesday when his Orange baseball team dropped a 1-0 decision to Walter Williams in Burlington. The Panthers mustered two measly hits and only got one runner to third base. Despite a road trip back to Hillsborough, by 6 o’clock the next morning, Knapp was mowing his infield with bleary eyes and in no mood to mince words during his weight training classes later that day.

“I was in a bad mood and I was probably a little hard on the guys on Wednesday,” Knapp said. “I have a lot of them in weight training class and I was just not a happy camper. I have a lot of my players in my classes and I was cranky.”

His players responded by taking the final contest of a two-game set with Williams on Friday, with Orange winning a 1-0 decision in another game where offense was as scarce as finding the good parts in a Maroon 5 song. The Panthers again mustered only two hits, but Jackson Berini scored off a dropped fly ball to left field hit by Connor Nordan in the fourth inning.

On Tuesday night, the Panther bats came alive against its crosstown rival.

Senior David Waitt went 3-for-4 with four RBIs while junior catcher Ryan Honeycutt had his first varsity home run as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 12-2 in five innings at Orange High Field.

Cedar Ridge’s B.J. Thornton went 2-for-3, including an RBI single in the fifth that actually reduced the Panthers lead to 5-2. Orange scored seven runs in the bottom-of-the-fifth to earn its third run-rule win of the season.

Cedar Ridge hasn’t won at Orange since 2012. The Panthers have won eight straight in the series overall.

Orange (10-2, 3-2 in the Central Carolina Conference) is now tied with Person for first place in the CCC. On Tuesday night in Pittsboro, Northwood defeated the Rockets 1-0 off a walkoff single by Jacob Garrett.

The Panthers played without senior Ryan Hench, who missed his eighth straight game. Junior Josiah Gibbs earned his third win, striking out six over four innings. The Red Wolves mounted its biggest threat when they loaded the bases in the fourth with Orange leading 3-0. Quinn Finnegan and Thornton each lined singles to left field. Grant McGuffey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out. Third baseman Will Tippin sent a hard grounder to third that was misplayed, leading to Finnegan scoring. The bases remained loaded with no outs, but Gibbs struck out the next two batters. Orange centerfielder Cameron Guentensberger caught a flyball for the final out and contained the damage to one run.

Waitt, in his third year as a starter in right field, had the game’s biggest moments early. Moments after Nicholas Aitkin turned a 6-4-3 double play for Cedar Ridge, Waitt reached on a cue shot to third base. With Nordan at the plate, Waitt advanced to second off a passed ball, went to third off a wild pitch and scored when Nordan legged out an infield hit on a grounder hit to the hole in left field.

in the second, Cross Clayton was hit by a pitch. After Joey Pounds moved Clayton over to second with a sacrifice bunt, Jackson Berini reached on a fielder’s choice where Cedar Ridge’s Grant McGuffey threw out Neo Best at second for the second out. Elijah Santos walked and Waitt sent a worm burner to left field for a two-run single that plated Clayton and Berini and increased Orange’s lead to 3-0.

Before Cedar Ridge loaded the bases in the fourth, Gibbs struck out four Red Wolves over the first three innings. In the second, McGuffey walked and reached third after a single by Will Tippin. The Red Wolves tried to bring in McGuffey on a double steal, but Berini threw a strike to Honeycutt at the plate to retire McGuffey.

Cedar Ridge returned the favor in the bottom of the third. Cameron Guentensberger reached on a leadoff single, he reached third on a wild pitch. Cross Clayton sent a chopper to Tippin, who trapped Guentensberger in a rundown where catcher David Schoof tagged him out at the plate.

Orange increased its lead to 5-2 in the fourth with more station-to-station ball. Neo Best drew a leadoff walk against Thornton, stole second, went to third following a groundout by Berini to McGuffey. Santos sent a flyball to centerfield that was snagged by Isaac Anderson to score Best off a sacrifice fly. Once again, Waitt came up big with two out. He reached on an error and stole second. Connor Nordan laced his team-high 21st RBI to left field to make it 5-1 Orange.

Following Thornton’s RBI single, Orange broke the game open in the fifth inning. It started with a thunderous shot by Ryan Honeycutt over the left field fence that nearly hit the football/lacrosse field house across the caraway. Clayton followed with a double that hugged the third base line, which led to the first of three pitching changes in the fifth.

After reliever Mason Cates notched a strikeout, Best walked. Berini was intentionally walked after Clayton got to third base on a passed ball. Santos drew a bases loaded walk to score Clayton. Waitt groves a line drive single to drive in Berini (who leads the team with 18 runs) and Santos. Nordan, who finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, lined a single to left to bring in Santos. With two out, Honeycutt narrowly missed his second home run of the inning with a fly ball that landed just shy of the fence. It was good enough for a two-run double to end the game.

Orange will travel to Cedar Ridge on Thursday night at 6PM to complete the two-game series.

Everything the Orange softball team has earned this year, they’ve taken the hard way.

The Lady Panthers are waging battle in a Central Carolina Conference so steep with talent, it might as well be called the PAC-12 East. There’s Eastern Alamance, the defending 3A State Champions, who lost starting pitcher Kenna Raye Dark to UNC after graduation last summer and is still a threat to win the league. Western Alamance has Taylor Apple, an East Carolina commitment who is one of the best all-around players in the state.

Last year, the Warriors lost in the third round of the state playoffs to Person, who return another top pitcher in Delaney Glover, a commitment to Binghamton University. The Rockets would eventually reach the state quarterfinals, where they fell to the Eagles 4-3 despite taking an early 2-0 lead against Dark.

In 2022, six of the seven CCC teams made the state playoffs. It would happen again now if the season ended today.

For Orange, a week that started in disappointment amid frigid temperatures against the top team in the league ended with their second straight come-from-behind win in Roxboro on a 70-degree day last Friday, nearly breaking a century-old record.

Sophomore first baseman Rhiley Crabtree lined a single down the right field line to score Savannah Wynn in the top of the sixth inning to pull Orange into the lead, while pitcher Caden Robinson added insurance with a solo blast in the seventh inning to push the Lady Panthers past Person 4-2 on Friday in Roxboro.

Robinson earned her fourth win of the season in the circle with eleven strikeouts. She allowed only four hits. After Person’s Liberty Jones drilled a two-run homer in the bottom of the third for the night’s opening runs, Robinson only allowed one more baserunner for the rest of the game. No Rocket touched second base after the third inning.

Going into spring break, Orange is tied with Person for third place in the CCC with a 3-2 league mark. The Lady Panthers will travel to Eastern Alamance on Tuesday.

For new Orange softball coach Rachel Peel, she’s had to deal with several spinning plates in her first months on the job. A former Orange player who went on to suit up at Furman and Meredith College, Peel has blended new starters like freshman Katie Carden and Crabtree with seniors like Carson Bradsher, Serenity McPherson, Kelsey Tackett and Wynn while dealing with the challenging CCC slate.

“We have so much competition at first base in general,” Peel said. “We have three players we could play there who have shown up. Rhiley has played well, but she can’t afford to let down because she has several people breathing down her neck. We have Mia Leathers and Natalie Roberson ready to step in. Mia had a great hit tonight. They’re all showing up and competing. That competition is breeding excellence.”

Trailing 2-0 going into the fifth inning, Crabtree led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. With Brianne Foster at the plate, Crabtree advanced to second on a wild pitch. McPherson laced a line drive to the left field fence, which brought in Crabtree and cut Person’s lead in half. Glover ended Orange’s threat when she retired Bradsher and Robinson on consecutive infield pop-ups.

Orange quickly built another threat in the sixth when Sadie Cecil led off with a single to left field. Delaney Shaffer laid down a bunt to move Cecil to second. Wynn sent a screamer to left field, scoring Cecil and tying the game at 2. Crabtree followed with the game-winning hit on a single that dropped in front of right fielder Kaiden Hawkins to plate Wynn and give Orange its first lead of the night.

In the seventh, Robinson padded Orange’s lead with a laser to centerfield that cleared the fence. It was her fourth home run of the season.

Person still had six outs to mount a comeback, but Robinson wouldn’t allow them to even get a baserunner. She retired the final 12 Rockets she faced, including a strikeout to Allie Carden to end the game.

Orange (6-2) will host Falls Lake on Monday at 6PM at Orange Softball Field. Following the trip to Eastern Alamance, the Lady Panthers will play Northern Durham on Thursday at 6 PM in Hillsborough.

Braden Homsey: Homsey ended his senior season at Division III Ferrum College as the all-time wins leader in school history. Competing at the Division III National Championships at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, VA, Homsey lost his opening match in the 197-pound championship to Dylan Wellbaum of Adrian College. Homsey advanced in the consolation bracket by forfeit over Gage Linahon of Central College. Josh Harkless of Rochester Institute of Technology pinned Homsey in an elimination match. Last month, Homsey defeated Gable Crebs of Lycoming 10-2 to become the Panthers’ all-time wins leader with 110 victories.

Joey McMullin: McMullin ended a two-year stint with the Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team when the Flyers reached the National Junior Community College Division III National Championship game against Brookdale Community College on March 18. It was the third time the Flyers reached the national title game. Brookdale defeated Sandhills 90-82 in Herkimer, NY. McMullin scored six points in 12 minutes in his final game for the Flyers. He shot 3-of-8 from the field and also had two rebounds. On March 4, Sandhills won the Mid-Atlantic District championship when they defeated Butler County Community College 114-91. McMullin came off the bench to score 22 points in 21 minutes. He shot 10-of-14 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. In the opening round of the Division III National Tournament, Sandhills defeated Mohawk Valley Community College 92-85. McMullin had eight points and three rebounds. In the semifinals, Sandhills defeated Northampton Community College 88-78. McMullin had eleven points, one of four Flyers in double-figures. This season, McMullin was the second-leading scorer on the team with 14 points per game. He also averaged 3.8 rebounds per game. Sandhills ends the year 30-4 and the Region X Champions of the NJCAA.

Ashley Cowan: Cowan, who graduated from Orange in 2021, is in her freshman year as a gymnast at LSU. She made her college debut on February 10 against #5 Auburn. She registered an 9.775 on the uneven bars. Auburn was the dual meet 197.750 to 197.500. On March 10, Cowan registered a career-best 9.990 on the uneven bars as the Tigers defeated West Virginia 198.025-196.450 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rogue, LA. On March 3, during the Podium Challenge, Cowan scored a 9.850 against George Washington. The Tigers, ranked #6 in the country, finished 3rd at the Southeastern Conference championships in Duluth, GA over the weekend.

Bryse Wilson: As the regular season creeps closer for Major League Baseball, Wilson has appeared in six Spring Training games for the Milwaukee Brewers. On February 27, Wilson threw a scoreless relief inning against Kansas City. He surrendered one hit. Against Cleveland on March 3, Wilson started and threw two innings. He struck out four and allowed one hit. On March 13 against Cincinnati, Wilson threw three-and-two-thirds innings and allowed one hit. He had two walks and two strikeouts. In six games, Wilson threw 13.2 innings and had a 6.59 ERA with strikeouts and three walks. Milwaukee starts the season against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

Joey Berini: Berini is starting regularly for the #8 East Carolina baseball team this season. On Tuesday, UNC Wilmington defeated the Pirates 9-3 at Clark-LeClaire Stadium in Greenville. Berini finished 0-for-2. Over the weekend, the Pirates swept a three-game series from George Mason. Berini went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt as ECU defeated George Mason 11-3 on Friday. Berini went 1-for-2 in the Pirates’ 8-1 win over the Colonials on Saturday. Berini hit his first home run of the season on Sunday as the Pirates rolled to an 8-0 win in eight innings on Sunday. This season, Berini is hitting .318 over 23 games, 22 of which he has started. He has two home runs with nine RBIs. After he spent much of 2022 at second base, Berini is starting at shortstop, the position he played at Orange.

Dante DeFranco: DeFracno has played 19 games this season for the Charlotte 49ers, who are in their final season in Conference USA. He is hitting .269 with eight RBIs. On March 18, DeFranco went 5-for-5 as the 49ers defeated Louisiana Tech 14-6 at JC Love Field in Ruston, LA. DeFranco had three RBIs and a double. On Sunday, DeFranco went 1-for-4 with two RBIs in the 49ers 8-1 win over Dallas Baptist at Hayes Stadium in Charlotte. The 49ers are 11-13, 3-3 in CUSA.

Phillip Berger: The all-time winningest pitcher in Cedar Ridge history, Berger has started his junior season at Division III William Peace University in Raleigh. Berger is 5-1 with a 3.41 ERA. On Sunday, Berger earned the win as the Pacers defeated Mary Baldwin 15-3 at Moxie Stadium in Staunton, VA. Berger threw five innings and allowed three runs off six hits. He struck out four with three walks. On March 18, Berger took the win as the Pacers defeated #17 Methodist 9-7 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary. Berger surrendered only one run off four hits with three strikeouts. William Peace is 11-11, 4-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Cooper Porter: The Pensacola State Pirates of the National Junior College Athletic Association are 26-7 overall. Porter has appeared in eleven games for the Pirate and is hitting .154 with one RBI.

Will Walker: In 21 games this season for the Pitt Community College baseball team, Walker is hitting .344 with two home runs with 19 RBIs. On Saturday, Walker hit a home run and finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs as the Bulldogs defeated Bryant & Stratton College 14-3 at Minges-Overton Complex in Greenville. On March 22, Walker went 2-for-5 as Pitt edged Louisburg College 11-10 in eleven innings. Walker drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to bring in the game-tying run.

Davis Horton: The 2021 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year, Horton continues to catch regularly for the Rockingham Community College baseball team. In 26 games, Horton is hitting .293 with 20 RBIs. He has a team-high 92 at-bats. On Sunday, in Rockingham’s 4-3 win over Surry Community College, Horton went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. He started at first base. In the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Surry, Horton went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI as the Eagles won 9-8.

A long battle for the Orange women’s soccer team against crosstown rival Cedar Ridge ended with a goal in the second overtime for the Lady Panthers. Caroline Cathey fired a shot inside the six-yard box that went off a player’s leg and into the net in the 94th minute for the game’s only goal as Orange defeated the Red Wolves 1-0. Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Addie Reid turned back shot after shot against the Lady Panthers and nearly earned the draw for the Red Wolves. At the opposite goal, Orange senior Abby Monteith earned her fourth clean sheets of the season. It’s been a gratifying week for Monteith. On Monday night, Orange returned to the Burlington for the first time since the 2022 3A State Playoffs last May. Orange defeated Williams 3-2. Last May in the state playoffs against Williams, Monteith suffered a torn ACL in the second half. Since then, Monteith went through a grueling period of rehabilitation to get back in game shape for her senior year. Last year, the Orange women’s soccer team became the first team in school history to reach the third round of the 3A State Playoffs. Orange will play at Durham School of the Arts tonight in its final game before spring break.

It’s Thursday, but it’s already been a long week for the Orange softball team. On Monday night, the Lady Panthers played into the tenth inning against Western Alamance. With temperatures dipping into the upper-30s as the game crept past the three-hour mark, the Warriors came up with four runs in the tenth inning to win 6-2. Orange had the game-winning run only 60 feet away in the seventh inning after Carson Bradsher stole second base, then took third base off a throwing error. Less than 24 hours after the Western Alamance game, Orange turned right back around and defeated Cedar Ridge 14-3 at Red Wolves Softball Field. Junior second baseman Delaney Shaffer went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Freshman Katie Carden, who has become a regular at third base in her young career, finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Carden laced a triple to left field with two out in the second inning and scored off a passed ball. Orange is 5-2, 2-2 in the Central Carolina Conference as they prepare for a crucial matchup just before spring break. On Friday, they travel to Roxboro to face Person, who the Lady Panthers defeated last year.