Orange Baseball

This Week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore pitcher Cross Clayton. In March, Clayton became a permanent part of the Panthers’ starting rotation. That was one of the moves that led to Orange winning the Central Carolina Conference regular season championship. In his first year at the varsity level, Clayton leads the team with eight wins, the most by an Orange player in a single season since Bryse Wilson won ten in 2016. On Tuesday night, Clayton came on in relief and got the victory over Cedar Ridge in nine innings. Clayton is 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA this season. Clayton has a 23-inning scoreless streak that spanned four games, starting on April 8 against Person when he shutout the Rockets in a 10-0 win. He’s also made his presence with his bat. On April 12, Clayton hit a solo home run against Northwood. In the eighth inning of that game, Clayton hit the game-winning single off the fence in centerfield. On Thursday, Clayton earned the start in the Panthers’ 8-5 victory over Terry Sanford in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs. Clayton has been an instrumental part in the winningest Orange team since 2016. 

At the conclusion of the film Wall Street, a wise character named Lou Mannheim tells Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen: “A man looks into the abyss, finds nothing staring back at him. At that moment, a man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.”

Twice this week, the Orange baseball team had moments where their season hung precariously by a thread. It would be easy to say that Orange found its character when they trailed Cedar Ridge 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night. Or during the sixth inning of Thursday’s game with Terry Sanford, when it appeared the Bulldogs were set to take its first lead of the game.

The truth is Orange has spent its season building its character. Starting with its season-opening win over Northern Durham on March 1, to losing a four-run lead late against Middle Creek to a forgettable day against Perquimans in Wilson at midseason. Losses against New Hanover and Ashley all paved the way for several defining moments that paid off handsomely by senior Conner Funk on Thursday night.

Funk knocked in the game-winning run in the sixth inning, then completed his first win of the season by striking out Brady Gore for the final out to lead Orange past Terry Sanford 8-5 in the 2nd round of the NCHSAA 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough. The Panthers advanced to face J.H. Rose, the defending 3A State Champions, on Tuesday night in Greenville.

It’s the first time that Orange (18-8) advanced to the Round of 16 in the state playoffs since 2017.

Terry Sanford, the champions of the 4A/3A All-American Conference, ends the year 19-7.

“Conner comes through in all the crucial situations,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “Just look throughout his career the last two years. Every crucial play, he puts his stamp on it.”

Funk, who started the game at second base, was called in to pitch by Knapp with one out in the sixth inning–a time when the Bulldogs had a tidal wave of momentum. They had just tied the game after catcher Andrew Kittinger sprayed a fastball to the right field line that landed two feet fair in front of a sprinting David Waitt. Nathan Townsend scored to even the game 5-5 after the throw to the plate went over catcher Davis Horton’s head, which allowed Gehrig Hodges to advance to 3rd base and Kittinger to second with one out.

Inheriting two runners in scoring position, Funk calmly threw to Nathan Brown, who sent a soft pop-up back to the mound. After Funk made the catch, he struck out Alex Smith to end the inning and keep the score tied 5-5.

“Those were the biggest outs of our season,” Knapp said of Funk’s clutch pitching. “That kept the score tied and it gave us a chance to go ahead. No better guy I’d rather have the ball in that situation than him”

Jackson Berini walked to start the bottom of the sixth, which turned out to be the final batter for Brown, the Bulldogs’ starter. After Waitt bunted Berini to second, Ryan Hench sent another fly ball to right field that dropped in for a single. With Berini at third, Funk bopped a Baltimore chop over the head of third baseman Cameron Seagroves and into left field to score the game-winning run. Sophomore Cameron Gunetensberger lined a single up to the middle to bring in Hench and increase Orange’s lead to 7-5. Connor Nordan popped up a fly ball to foul ground in right field. Instead of letting it drop foul, Gore opted to catch it, which allowed Funk to score on a headlong, joyous dive to home plate for another insurance run as Funk celebrated with a joyous group of Orange reserves.

On a unseasonably cool mid-May night with overcast skies and occasional soft rain, the play was often just as peculiar as the weather. There were no less than three Baltimore chop base hits, including Funk’s game-winning RBI.

“It was probably the field maintenance guy’s fault,” joked Knapp, who obsesses over Orange’s field like Michael Myers does Haddonfield, Illinois. “The ball was hitting the front lip of the infield and it got some elevation.”

There were several pop fly balls to right field that ordinarily would have been comfortably caught that instead dropped harmlessly to the ground.

Orange bolted out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. After Berini led off the first with a single, Ryan Hench hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season over the infamous Panther porch in left field. In the second, Nordan drew a leadoff walk. Horton reached on an error at second base. With one out, Orange third baseman Neo Best sent the first Baltmore Chop of the night to the left side of a drawn-in infield, where it floated over the head of shortstop Brent Smith. Nordan scored to increase Orange’s lead to 3-0. With two out, Waitt grounded a single into left field to bring in Elijah Santos, a courtesy runner for Horton.

Clayton retired the first seven Bulldogs in order on just 17 pitches. Alex Smith reached on a single to right field in the third inning. With two outs, Brent Smith drew a key walk, which led to Seagroves sending a three-run homer to left field to cut Orange’s lead to 4-3.

“We weren’t shaken after that,” Knapp said. “We have dealt with adversity all season long. We’re seasoned for tough guys. Nothing shakes these guys confidence because that’s why we play these games in the regular season. To put ourselves in a position to win. When they hit that three-run bomb, we weren’t shaken one bit.”

Funk reached second to lead off the bottom of the third with another fly ball to right field somehow dropped between three Bulldogs. After Nordan walked, Horton singled to right-centerfield, but Funk was held at third. With the bases loaded, Codey Snipes was hit by a pitch, bringing in Funk.

Townsend sent the first pitch of the fourth inning down the left field line, where he landed fair by five feet across from the fair pole. Once again, Orange’s lead was cut to one run at 5-4.

Clayton, who earned the win in Tuesday’s win over Cedar Ridge after throwing two innings of relief, was going for his team-leading eighth win of the year. He came away with a no-decision in five-and-one-thirds innings.

J.H. Rose, the #1 seed in the 3A East Region, defeated Southern Lee 10-0 in five innings on Thursday.

It’s hard to narrow down the clutch plays that Conner Funk made for the Orange baseball team on Thursday night. Suffice it to say, if Thursday’s win over Terry Sanford was Funk’s final game at Orange High Field, he truly saved his best for last. On the mound, Funk replaced starter Cross Clayton in the sixth inning with the Panthers tied 5-5 against the Bulldogs. Funk entered the game just moments after Terry Sanford’s Adam Pittinger tied the game with a double down the right field line, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd base with only one out. Funk forced an infield pop-up for the second out, then struck out Alex Smith to keep the game tied 5-5. In the bottom of the sixth, Funk chopped a fastball over the third baseman’s head into left field to score Jackson Berini, which turned out to be the game-winning run. For good measure, Funk scored the game’s final run on a sacrifice fly to right field hit by Connor Nordan. Funk earned his first win of the season in the seventh inning, closing the game with a strikeout of Terry Sanford’s Brady Gore. Orange will travel to Greenville to face J.H. Rose, the defending 3A State Champions, for the third round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday. It will be Orange’s first trip to the Round of 16 in the state playoffs since 2017. 

If the first-ever meeting between Orange and Cedar Ridge in the state baseball playoffs had been anything less than a classic, it would have been viewed as a disappointment.

Instead, the hundreds of people who gathered in the grandstands, around the fences and along the back row of Auman Stadium beyond centerfield Tuesday night were treated to a game they won’t forget anytime soon.

By the time extra innings rolled around, the only thing for certain was that one team would move on to the round of 32 in the 3A State Playoffs. The other team would have a group of seniors hurting badly after a painful loss.

There was so much to gain for Cedar Ridge. It’s first playoff win since 2018. It’s first win at Orange since 2012. Ending a six-game losing streak to its archival.

All of it was two outs away.

For the second straight year, Orange would find a way to pull an improbable escape in the 7th inning. After the Panthers trailed for most of the game, sophomore Cameron Guentensberger bunted David Waitt home for the game-tying run with one out in the bottom-of-the-seventh inning.

The game eventually went nine innings, the longest for both teams this season. In the ninth, senior Davis Horton lined a bases-loaded single to score Conner Funk and push the Panthers past Cedar Ridge 3-2. It was Orange’s first playoff win since 2018. It was also the first time that Orange won a home playoff game since 2016, when they defeated South Johnson it what turned out to be Bryse Wilson’s final victory before he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves a month later.

Orange (17-8) will host Terry Sanford in Hillsborough in the second round. The game is scheduled for Friday but may be moved to Thursday due to the threat of rain.

Cedar Ridge (13-11) held a 2-1 lead after the third inning off a strong pitching performance by freshman Quinn Finnegan, who scattered only five hits in six innings. Finnegan was replaced by B.J. Thornton in the 7th inning after he reached his maximum allotment of 105 pitches allowed by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

“When I brought him into my office today, I said ‘Hey dude, you’ve earned every bit of this,'” said Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey, clearly emotional after a season-ending postgame meeting with his team. “I said ‘You’ve got four years of this, so go get it.’ He earned it. He showed his resilience all year. We had no doubt that he was going to go out there and pitch the way he did.”

Orange had its own redemption story. Last June, Asheboro defeated the Panthers off a walkoff double in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs at McCrary Park. Horton’s walkoff single gave the Panthers another day as a team after they stared into the abyss of its season ending.

“Going into playoff baseball, anything can happen,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “These guys are resilient. Conner Funk has showed that time in and time our, against this team specifically. The guys have a no-quit attitude. They’ve been in these situations a lot this year and they know they can pull them out.”

The dramatic finish came three weeks after the Panthers swept a two-game series from Cedar Ridge by a combined score of 29-5. Anyone who knows anything about high school baseball understands that the regular season bears little resemblance to the postseason, something that the Red Wolves made clear on the very first pitch of the game when senior Aidan McCallister lined a single to left field. McAllister advanced to second after a groundout by B.J. Thornton, went to third on a wild pitch and scored off a groundout by Cristian Macias.

McAllister, in his final game at Cedar Ridge, reached base in all four of his plate appearances.

Guentensberger, whose brother Colin (a walk-on football player at Appalachian State) was among the many faces in the crowd, factored in on both Orange runs in regulation. He led off the second by getting hit by a pitch. Guentensberger went to second base after a single by Connor Nordan. After Horton flew out to centerfielder Garrett Ray, Guentensberger tagged up and went to third. Orange’s Codey Snipes lifted a fly ball to right field that dropped in and evened the game, but not for long.

Cedar Ridge senior Nick Nolan lined a single to centerfield to lead off the third inning. After Braedyn Jacobson moved Nolan to second on a sacrifice bunt, McAllister was hit by a pitch. Thornton sent a grounder through the 5-6 hole into left field to put Cedar Ridge back in the lead at 2-1.

Orange starter Ryan Hench controlled the Red Wolves for the remainder of his stint. In his final four innings, Hench retired the Red Wolves in order three times. In yet another no-decision, Hench allowed only three hits.

Strong defense by Cedar Ridge led to Finnegan getting out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings. Nordan led off the fourth with a standup double. Horton followed with a single, but defensive plays by the Red Wolves’ Carlo Garay and Thornton led to the Red Wolves maintaining its 2-1 lead.

Nordan and Horton started the sixth inning with consecutive walks. This time, Finnegan struck out Snipes while Garay tagged out Neo Best. Left fielder Mason Cates ended the sixth inning with a catch on a Jackson Berini flyout.

Orange’s seventh inning started when Waitt lofted a soft liner to shallow centerfield that went off a glove and fell to the ground. After Hench walked, Thornton replaced Finnegan. Waitt moved to third after Funk grounded to Jacobson on a fielder’s choice, leading to Guentensberger’s bunt single to push across the tying run.

Knapp inserted Cross Clayton, the Panthers’ #2 pitcher who will likely face Terry Sanford, for the eighth inning. Clayton, who got Orange’s first win of the season against Northern Durham on February 28 in relief, earned his team-leading eighth win of the season, also in relief.

In the ninth, Funk got aboard off an error in the infield. Guentensberger lofted a soft liner that floated over first base and landed fair by about three feet along the right field line. After Nordan was intentionally walked, Horton lined the first pitch he saw up the middle to give Orange its first lead of the game and send the Orange reserves flying out of the dugout in jubilation.

In the first-ever meeting between Orange and Cedar Ridge in the state baseball playoffs, anything less than a classic would have been a disappointment. On Tuesday night, the two teams delivered a memorable game at Orange High Field. After trailing 2-1 for most of the game, Orange scored a run in the 7th inning and another in the ninth to beat the Red Wolves 3-2 in the opening round of the NCHSAA State Playoffs. Cameron Guentensberger factored in on both Orange runs in regulation. After getting hit by a pitch in the second inning, Guentensberger scored off a fielder’s choice hit by Codey Snipes. In the seventh inning, with Orange’s season two outs away from being over, Guentensberger laid down a bunt that scored David Waitt to tie the game. In the ninth inning, catcher Davis Horton lined a bases-loaded single to centerfield to score Conner Funk for the game-winning run. Orange claimed its first win in the state playoffs since 2018, when they defeated Jacksonville. It was Orange’s first home win in the state playoffs since 2016, when they defeated South Johnston. Orange will face Terry Sanford later this week in Hillsborough. The game is tentatively scheduled for Friday, but could be moved to Thursday due to the threat of rain.

This Week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior pitcher Joey Pounds. Joey earned this award after several strong performances out of the bullpen during the Hilltop Invitational at the beginning of spring. On March 30, Pounds faced New Hanover, currently ranked #2 in the 4A East Region by MaxPreps, and threw a shutout in the 7th inning with one strikeout to keep the Panthers down 2-1 going into the bottom of the frame. Two days later, the Panthers made a long trip to Wilmington to face Ashley, currently ranked #9 in 4A East. Pounds came into the game in relief of starter Cross Clayton and threw a perfect 6th inning with two strikeouts. It allowed Orange to go into the 7th down 4-3. On April 12, Pounds earned his first win of the season against Northwood in Hillsborough. In the eighth inning with the game tied 2-2, Pounds struck out two Chargers. Cross Clayton delivered the game-winning hit in the eighth inning. This season, Pounds came out of the bullpen to throw four-and-two-thirds consecutive scoreless innings. He continues to be a reliable presence for Coach Jason Knapp and has been a valuable presence for an Orange team that captured its first outright regular season championship since 2018. Pounds uncle, Larry Pounds, was a 1991 Orange High graduate and the greatest kickball player in Cameron Park Elementary School history, Orange will return to action in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday. 

More than any other sport, baseball is the game where the best team doesn’t always win.

Combine that fact and place it within the confines of a single-elimination tournament and its easy to see why there are some unpredictable results this time of year.

After the Orange baseball team ended the regular season with ten straight Central Carolina Conference wins, they faced Person in the conference tournament semifinals. The Panthers probably greeted that news like a puppy getting a new bag of Pupporoni sticks from his owner.

On paper, it was the best matchup possible for Orange. The Panthers routed Person 9-1 in Hillsborough on April 6. Two days later, Orange piled up a season-high 16 hits in a 10-0 rout of the Rockets in Roxboro, the Panthers first run-rule win of the conference season.

Really, Person didn’t have much better fortune hitting the ball in the conference semifinals on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. They also didn’t make big mistakes.

A emotionally charged Rockets team, despite not getting its first batter on base until the fifth inning, stunned the Panthers 4-0 to advance to the CCC Tournament Championship game. Person (11-13), just 24 hours removed from a 10-inning marathon against Eastern Alamance, will travel to Northwood on Thursday night for the tournament title.

It was another big surprise in a tournament that has been filled with them. On Monday, 7th-seeded Walter Williams upset 2nd-seeded Cedar Ridge 6-1 in Hillsborough.

The Rockets got a tremendous performance from sophomore Dylan England, who came into the tournament without a win on the season. On Tuesday, he earned his second victory in two nights. England closed out the Eastern Alamance win by throwing two-and-a-thirds inning of relief.

On Tuesday, England replaced starter Keegan Holmes in the third inning and threw five shutout innings, allowing only one hit.

Orange (16-8)suffered its first loss against a Central Carolina Conference team since March 18, when they felt to Western Alamance.

“That’s baseball,” Orange coach Jason Knapp, looking dejected, said afterwards. “Person was more emotionally ready than we were. They’re playing for the #2 seed and a spot in the (state) playoffs. They definitely had more motivation and more energy than we did tonight. That falls squarely on me. I have to have us ready to go and more prepared. I didn’t do a good job of that tonight.”

Going into the fifth inning, the big question in some Orange fan’s minds wasn’t “Will we win?” It was “Can Ryan Hench throw a perfect game?”

Hench, in his 11th start of the year, retired the first 12 Rockets he faced, none of whom were particularly close to getting on base. In the fifth, Hench stretched that streak to 14 straight after a gorgeous diving stop by shortstop Jackson Berini, who threw out Person Tyler White.

With two out in the inning, Berini made another diving stop on a grounder hit by Person’s Bryce Thaxton and appeared set to end the inning. The throw pulled Orange first baseman Codey Snipes slightly off the bag. Snipes appeared to have got his foot back on to retire Thaxton, but dropped the ball in the process.

That set off a firestorm. After Holmes and Drew Mangum each drew walks, Jamie Martinez sent a pop-up to shallow left field that fell down amidst three Panther fielders. Thaxton and Mangum scored and Person, who had one run in 17 innings against Orange in the regular season, led 2-0.

A.J. Terrell replaced Martinez as a pinch-runner at first base, leading to Person executing a gorgeous double steal where Holmes slid under the tag of catcher Davis Horton at home plate. England lined a single to left field to bring in Terrell.

Hench went from being seven outs away from a perfect game to suffering his second loss of the season.

Orange’s offense, which was limited to three hits in a 2-1 win in eight innings over Eastern Alamance on Friday night, was held to two hits against the Rockets. The Panthers had some threats early. In the first inning, David Waitt reached on a fielder’s choice and Hench got onboard off an error. Bradley turned a 1-6-3 double play to wrap up the inning.

In the third, Jackson Berini drew a leadoff walk and Waitt lined a single to left field, which led to England being installed as pitcher by head coach Kyle Boyette. Hench was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but England got out of the jam after a strikeout, followed by a 4-6-3 double play triggered by Thaxton.

Orange left seven men on base.

The Panthers, which will still be the #1 seed from the Central Carolina Conference going into the 3A State Tournament, will resume play on Tuesday in the opening round of the state playoffs. The Panthers haven’t won a postseason game since 2018, when they upset Jacksonville.