Orange Baseball

The Orange baseball team will play for the Big 8 Championship on Monday night. The Panthers completed a three-win week on Thursday night by beating Chapel Hill 10-1, its first win at Tiger Field since 2015. Cooper Hench, in his first start of the season, earned a complete game win by allowing just three hits, striking out seven. Plus, Hench went 3-for-5 with a double. The Panthers pounded out 14 hits, eight of them doubles to improve to 13-4, 11-2 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange will host East Chapel Hill on Monday night. If Orange wins, they will take its first Big 8 Conference Championship since 2016.

Dante DeFranco didn’t have a home run in the first 14 games of the season entering Tuesday night. Then against Northern Durham, he slammed two home runs in his first two at-bats. DeFranco went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs as the Panthers defeated the Knights 9-6 at Knights Field. On Wednesday night, DeFranco went 2-for-3 with another home run to push Orange past Northern Durham 9-6 in Hillsborough. The Panthers remain in 2nd place in the Big 8 Conference, one game behind East Chapel Hill. The Panthers and the Wildcats play in Hillsborough on Monday.

Orange centerfielder Cooper Porter’s home run on Tuesday night was the hardest he’s ever hit a ball. The second he touched it, he flipped his bat and strode around the bases in the 6th inning as Orange defeated Northern Durham 9-6 at Knights Field. In addition, Porter came in from centefield to record a four-out save, the first of his Orange career. The following night, Porter earned another save in another 9-6 win over Northern. Porter will look to continue the momentum going into Monday night’s game against East Chapel Hill, which may determine the Big 8 Championship.

In Orange’s doubleheader sweep of Southern Durham on Tuesday night, 1st baseman Dayne Watkins had three RBIs. In the opening game, 10-0 Orange win, Watkins reached on an error to score Cooper Porter, part of a three-run inning. In the 2nd inning, Watkins hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Cooper Hench. In the 2nd game, Watkins roped a hard double off the left field wall during a 13-run 1st inning. Watkins has played regularly at first base this season for Orange, which is 10-4 overall. The Panthers are 8-2 in the Big 8 Conference, tied with Chapel Hill and one game behind East Chapel Hill.

On Tuesday, the Orange baseball team swept a doubleheader from Southern Durham to remain tied for 2nd place in the Big 8 Conference. In the 1st inning of the 2nd game, leadoff batter Joey Berini came up to bat three times. He hit a leadoff single and scored off a three-run homer hit by Cooper Porter. Later in the inning, he laced a two-run double to left field. Berini is Orange’s leading hitter with a .516 average. He is tied for the team lead with 18 hits and leads the team with eight doubles. Orange is scheduled to face Southwest Randolph in Asheboro on Friday night.