Baseball Notebook: Sawyer hits grand slam in Orange’s win in Wilson; McGuffey powers Cedar Ridge past Chatham Central
It was ironic after a difficult week, Orange would find a way to win in Wilson.
For years, Historic Fleming Stadium was a place where Orange had a terrible time winning. For a good portion of the day on Saturday afternoon, it appeared Orange’s trip to Wilson would be another trip to nowhere.
Until Garrett Sawyer came up with the swing of his life.
With Orange trailing Pine Forest 4-1 in the fourth inning, Sawyer hit the first grand slam of his career over the left field fence inside a park that has hosted minor league games. It propelled Orange into a 8-4 lead.
The Panthers would use timely hitting and another save from freshman Mason Bullard to hold off the Trojans 9-8.
Sawyer grand slam was his second home run of the season. He was also Orange’s starting pitcher, throwing two innings.
Orange junior Henry Hoffman, who is tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs, slashed a double that landed at the wall in right field to score Cam Brown and Wren Hash. Mason Bullard, who walked earlier in the inning, scored the tying run off a wild pitch with Hunter Albert at the plate.
Sawyer expanded Orange’s lead in the sixth inning with an infield hit that turned into a two-base error after an errant throw to first base. D.J. Woods, a sophomore starting his first varsity game, knocked in Sawyer with a groundout to Pine Forest shortstop Kaydyn Thomas to put Orange ahead 9-5.
The Trojans nearly got it all back in the seventh inning. Three runs crossed the plate starting with a leadoff double from Chase Mims. Ryan Geske knocked in Mims with an RBI single. Jayhlen Brown, who reached on a walk, scored off a wild pitch to cut the Orange lead to 9-7.
Bullard came in as pitcher as Geske scored off a groundout by Pine Forest’s Wade McLamb to third baseman Dominic O’Keefe. With Landon Thompson representing the tying run at third and one out, Bullard induced Rylan Ditmore into a groundout back to the mound. Thomas grounded out to shortstop Kayden Bradsher to end the game.
Person swept Orange in a two-game Central Conference series last week. It was the first time the Rockets won a regular season game against Orange since they became conference rivals again in 2022.
Cedar Ridge 11, Chatham Central 3:
Ian McGuffey drove in four runs as Cedar Ridge scored eight unanswered runs to defeat Chatham Central in Bear Creek in a nonconference game on Tuesday night.
Aidan Ryan struck out six over four innings in middle relief to earn the win for the Red Wolves. Ryan allowed only two hits and two runs, just one of which was earned.
With the game tied 2-2 going into the fourth inning, Ryan led off the inning with a single to left field. With Walker Holmes at the plate, Ryan stole second, then swiped third. After Holmes walked, Ryan would score on a passed ball with Jesus Velazques at the plate. Holmes advanced to third on the same passed ball and would score when Velazquez grounded out to first base.
McGuffey drove a double to right field. Quinn Finnegan drew a walk. John Grove sent a grounder to first that was misplayed, allowing McGuffey to score and expanded Cedar Ridge’s lead to 6-3 just before Finnegan was tagged out at third base.
In the fifth inning, Heckman line a single to left field. Heckman stole second and would score off a double by Ryan to left field. Following another single by Dominic Sena, Velasquez drilled a RBI single to left field to score Ryan
John Grove finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Ian McGuffey finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. He went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple.
Cedar Ridge will face New Hanover on Wednesday afternoon in Hillsborough at 5PM.