Orange Baseball

Mia Davidson: This week’s Mia Davidson update may be the most impressive one yet. Mississippi State won all five games last week against Boston College, Illinois and UMass-Lowell. In those contests, Davidson hit .571 with three home runs, eight RBIs, three doubles and nine runs. Davidson now leads the SEC and is 17th in the country with eight home runs. As a freshman, Davidson leads the Bulldogs in runs (28), hits (33), doubles (8), RBIs (23), total bases (69), batting average (.440), slugging percentage (.920), and on-base percentage (.488). She has started all 24 games as Mississippi State has started 21-3 after going 36-22 last season.

Brad Debo: Now a sophomore catcher at N.C. State, Debo went 6-for-10 in a doubleheader against Boston College. In the opener, Debo went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs, scoring twice as the Wolfpack defeated the Eagles 13-7 to take the series. In the nightcap, Debo hit his first homer of the season as the Eagles salvaged an 11-3 win.  Last week, the Wolfpack went 3-1, taking two of three against the Eagles and grabbing a midweek victory at Campbell (a Tuesday game against UNC Wilmington was canceled). Debo went .352 for the week with a home run, four RBI, three runs scored and two doubles. Debo is now hitting .340 (3rd on the team) with 12 RBI and four doubles.

Mackenzie Cates: The Lenoir-Rhyne softball team is now ranked #12 in Division II with a 19-4 record, having won nine in a row. Cates, a senior catcher from Orange, had a tremendous doubleheader against Converse on Saturday, going five-for-6 with two home runs, 9 RBIs, a double and four runs. Last week, the Bears swept doubleheaders against Converse and Davis & Elkins. Cates is hitting .338 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. The Bears start South Atlantic Conference action next weekend against Tusculum.

Stephen Tanner: The former Cedar Ridge lacrosse goalkeeper earned two more wins in net for Division III Greensboro College last week. Tanner made nine saves as the Pride defeated the University of Dallas 14-8 on Saturday in Atlanta. On Friday, Greensboro defeated Hilbert College 7-6 at Pride Field. Tanner made four saves to improve to 6-3 on the season with 79 saves. Tanner is 3rd in the South Atlantic Conference in saves, 4th in Goals Against Average.

Brandon Andrews: The former Cedar Ridge pitcher and centerfielder threw one inning in Nicholls 21-6 win over Sacred Heart. The Colonels had a three-game winning streak on Saturday with a loss to Northwestern State. Nicholls is 4-12, 1-2 in the Southland Conference.

Rachel Peel: Peel, a catcher for Meredith College, appeared in three games last week for the Angels in games against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Aurora and Salem College. Meredith is 10-9, 3-3 is USA Softball’s South Division.

Jordan Toney: Toney threw an inning of scoreless relief in UNC-Pembroke’s 15-5 win over Coker. Toney is a junior for the Braves after transferring from Pfeiffer in 2017.

Bowen Collins: Collins now plays for Lenoir-Rhyne’s men’s lacrosse team. He played in the Bears’ 10-4 win over Belmont Abbey last week. Lenoir-Rhyne is 7-1 after beating Wingate in its South Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday. This season, Collins has scored two goals and an assist in four games.

After a disappointing opening week of the season where the bats were quiet and the pitching was inconsistent, the Orange baseball team returned to its winning ways at a place where they’ve grown used to success.

In Sanford.

For the third straight year, the Panthers won at Southern Lee 4-1 on Saturday afternoon behind a three-hitter from senior Dalton Brown. Not only was it Brown’s first complete game in his varisty career, it was also his first win. Last season, Brown mainly played left field and pitched in seven games.

Last May, Orange upset the Cavaliers 2-1 in the 2nd round of the 3A state playoffs, just a week after Southern Lee won the Cape Fear Valley Conference Championship. In 2016, the Panthers held off the Cavaliers 12-10 in a game where Orange jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Cavaliers tied by the bottom of the fifth inning.

The panthers were held to five hits, but sophomore shortstop Joey Berini laced two double and drove in two runs as Orange jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Senior centerfielder Jaydin Poteat scored twice and had two stolen bases. Just four games into the season, Poteat already has ten stolen bases.

Caige Clayton, who was the catcher, finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

Orange started the week with a 10-1 win over Morehead in Hillsborough on Thursday, avenging a 10-3 loss to Morehead from the prior week.

Orange senior Will White picked up his first win of the season, allowing three hits in five innings. White struck out six and walked three. Luke Riley finished the game with two shutout innings.

After going hitless again Morehead in the first meeting, Poteat went 2-for-3 with three runs and five stolen bases. Clayton hit his first home run of the season and went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a double. Senior Jason Slaughter also had a three-run homer in the third inning as the Panthers piled up a season-high eight hits.

In his second start of the season, sophomore Cooper Porter went 1-for-3 with a RBI triple in the fifth inning.

Orange is slated to start Big 8 Conference action on Tuesday against East Chapel Hill in Hillsborough. However, that game may be in jeopardy due to the possibility of snow forecast for Monday afternoon. The Panthers are slated to travel to East Chapel Hill on Friday.

Also this week, the Cedar Ridge baseball team will start conference action at Northwood at 6 o’clock Tuesday night. The Red Wolves are 2-0 after a wild 10-9 victory over Riverside last week, a game where the Pirates rallied from a 9-4 deficit by scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie, only to have the Red Wolves score the game-winning run in the bottom-of-the-seventh.

The Chargers will travel to Hillsborough on Friday.

Coming off a 17-7 season, the Cedar Ridge Baseball team got strong performances from its senior leaders in taking its season opener.

Senior Chris Cox homered while junior Phil Berger took the win on the mound as the Red Wolves defeated Roxboro Community School 13-3 in six innings on Saturday afternoon in Person County.

Berger, who went 8-2 with three complete games and a 1.73 ERA last season, also went 2-for-2 at the plate. Eric Zehnder, Sailor Ramos, Cooper Lamb and Matthew Kahn each had two hits for the Red Wolves, who defeated RCS for the second straight season.

For Cox, it was the 2nd home run of his career. His swatted a dinger in his sophomore season. Last season, Cox hit .389 with 22 RBIs.

Cedar Ridge continues its season this afternoon when they face Carlisle in Martinsville, Virginia. The Red Wolves home opener is slated for Wednesday, also against Carlisle.

Also on Saturday, Morehead defeated Orange 11-4 in Eden. Morehead lit up Orange pitching for seven runs in the 3rd inning. Orange was held to four hits. Caige Clayton had a two-run double in the 4th inning, the only extra base hit for the Panthers through its first two games.

Orange (0-2) will face Morehead against on Wednesday in Hillsborough. On Saturday, the Panthers travel to Sanford to face Southern Lee.