Orange Baseball

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.

For the first time since 2016, the Orange baseball team is in first place in the Big 8 Conference midway through the season. On Wednesday night, the Panthers defeated Northwood 9-1 at Panther Field, handing the Chargers its first league loss. Designated hitter Will Walker laced a triple to right centerfield in the 6th inning and scored off a wild pitch to put the icing on the cake for Orange’s third straight win. Walker, a sophomore, is hitting .367 . He is 4th on the team with eleven hits and eleven RBIs. Orange is scheduled to face Northwood on Saturday at noon, then travel up 15-501 to face Southern Lee at 4 PM in Sanford. Orange will look to go to 7-0 in the Big 8 against the Chargers.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is 2nd baseman Dante DeFranco. In Wednesday’s 9-1 win over Northwood, DeFranco went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. He has a 17-game hitting streak extending back to last season, when he hit safely in his final seven games for Cedar Ridge. After transferring to Orange over the summer, DeFranco has had a hit in the Panthers’ first ten games this season. Hitting leadoff, DeFranco has helped Orange reach the top of the Big 8 Conference after beating Northwood in Hillsborough on Wednesday. This season, DeFranco is hitting .371 with 15 RBIs, which is actually 2nd on the team despite DeFranco leading off in all of Orange’s games. The Panthers return to action on Saturday against Northwood in Pittsboro.

Orange catcher Tucker Joseph went 3-for-4 with a double as the Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 13-3 on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Territory. It was Orange’s first win at Cedar Ridge since 2016. Joseph also had an RBI as the Panthers remained tied for 1st in the Big 8 Conference with Northwood. Joseph fills an important gap behind the plate. Last season, Cooper Porter was the starting Orange catcher for the 2nd half of the season. Now, Porter finds himself as a starting pitcher who is 2-0 on the season. On Thursday night, Joseph walked as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 13-0 to set up a showdown series with Northwood for 1st place in the Big 8. Orange will host the Chargers on Tuesday, then travel to Northwood on Friday.