Orange Men’s Lacrosse

Landon Riley: Coming off a sweep of UCF, the Liberty baseball team relied on former Orange star Landon Riley to finish out a victory over #18 North Carolina at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill on Tuesday night. Riley entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Flames leading the Tar Heels 8-7. After hitting UNC’s Danny Serretti, Riley got Tyler Causey to fly out to left field for the final out of the game. Liberty improved to 7-5. Riley has recorded a save in three of Liberty’s last four games. He has not allowed a run in six relief appearances this season. The Flames host North Alabama in Lynchburg, VA for a weekend series starting Friday.

Mia Davidson: Davidson hit a home run for the #23 Mississippi State softball team in its 10-4 win against Alabama State at Barbara Williams field in Montgomery, AL on Tuesday. For Davidson, it was her 58th career home run, tying her for 9th place in Southeastern Conference history. She also recorded her 150th career RBI in the process. She’s the fifth player in school history to reach that mark. Davidson finished 1-for-5 with 3 RBIs and two runs scored.

Montana Davidson: The Mississippi State third baseman went 1-for-3 against the Hornets with a double. She scored in the 2nd inning off a triple by Anna Kate Segars. Mississippi State has won six in a row.

Jalin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team defeated Ferrum College 16-8 on Sunday at W.B. Adams Stadium in Ferrum, VA. Jones, a former Orange High midfielder, scooped up three ground balls for the Falcons, who improved to 2-1.

Kayla Hodges: Because of the pandemic, college women’s soccer season will be contested during the spring this year. Last Friday, the Elon Phoenix defeated Division III Mount Olive 2-0 at Rudd Field in Elon. Kayla Hodges, the former Orange midfielder, started her junior season by starting for Elon. She had a shot on goal. The Phoenix will play its Colonial Athletic Association conference opener against UNC Wilmington at home on Saturday.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team started its season with a 2-1 loss to Newberry. Taylin Jean, the 2019 Big 8 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year at Cedar Ridge, made her season debut in the Saints’ 1-0 win over Queens last Thursday. Jean preserved the win after she replaced starter Katie Maher in the 64th minute. Jean made two saves as Limestone improved to 1-1.

Brittany Daley: Former Cedar Ridge centerback Brittany Daley started her junior season at Division III Greensboro College last month. The Pride are off to a 3-0 start. Daley has started each game, including a 2-0 win over William Peace in the season opener at Pride Field on February 13. Greensboro defeated North Carolina Wesleyan 2-0 at Scalf Stadium in Rocky Mount on February 21. Two days later, Greensboro defeated Averett University 1-0 in overtime. The victory over the Cougars was the 40th game in Daley’s Greensboro career. The Pride will face Methodist in Fayetteville on Saturday.

Jordan Rogers: Former Orange High soccer star Jordan Rogers has started her junior season for the Division III William Peace women’s soccer team. She started in the Pacers’ season-opening victory over Shaw 3-2 at WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh on February 10. Rogers also started in the aforementioned loss to Greensboro College, where she fired her first shot on goal of the season. Peace defeated Averett 4-0 for its first USA South Athletic Conference victory of the season at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on February 21. Rogers was credited with a shot against the Cougars. North Carolina Wesleyan defeated Peace 2-1 on February 27, a game where Rogers started and had another shot on goal. Rogers also started in losses to Meredith and Davidson.

Bailey Lucas: The Division III Meredith volleyball team started its season with a doubleheader against Averett on March 6. Lucas, a former Orange star now in her junior season with the Avenging Angels, started both matches. In the opening 3-1 loss to the Cougars, Lucas had 26 assists, two kills, and nine digs. Meredith won the second match 3-0, where Lucas tallied four kills, 23 assists and three digs.

HENDERSON—One week after his father claimed his 200th win as a lacrosse coach, Chandler Zirkle has his own coaching milestone now.

Zirkle, in his third season, has led the Orange lacrosse team to its first conference championship. It came during the winter, an anomaly for a spring sport. The fact it was the rainiest winter across the Triangle in 37 years only added to the unpredictability, forcing four conference games to be canceled.

On Thursday night, Orange defeated Vance Charter 16-2 to win the Conference 9 Championship at Jaguar Stadium at Vance County Middle School, formerly the home of Northern Vance High School.

It is Orange’s first-ever conference championship in lacrosse. It’s also Orange’s first outright conference championship in any sport since February 2019, when the Panther wrestling team won the Big 8 Championship (Orange’s softball team shared the Big 8 title with Cedar Ridge in May 2019).

Orange (6-1, 4-0) will make the state playoffs for the third straight time under Zirkle. In 2019, the Panthers defeated Northside-Jacksonville for its first postseason victory in four years.

Last year’s team almost certainly would have made the state playoffs, but the season was halted because of the pandemic with Orange sporting a 6-0 record, the best start in school history.

Last week, Zirkle’s father Franklin captured his 200th win at Leesville Road High. Franklin Zirkle, who has served as a college and high school official, captured the 2006 North Carolina Lacrosse Association State Championship at East Chapel Hill, several years before the North Carolina High School Athletic Association sanctioned men’s and women’s lacrosse as a sport.

Orange played its second game in as many days. On Wednesday, they rolled past Northern Durham 14-0 at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

Facing Vance Charter for the first time didn’t make for a dramatic matchup. After Orange rolled out to a 12-0 lead by halftime, leading scorer Ryan Merrill played sparingly in the second half. Merrill notched the first goal when he scooped up a ground ball on the thick grass at Jaguar Stadium and tossed it over the shoulder of Knights’ sophomore goalkeeper Lucas Satterwhite.

Merrill, who scored six goals against Cedar Ridge last Wednesday, finished with four goals and an assist. Cy Horner scored the final two goals of the first quarter, including one off a feed from Merrill to send Orange ahead 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Caleb Davis also had a hat trick for the Panthers. Davis assisted on goals from freshman Connor Kruse and Merrill in the second quarter, a frame where Orange added six more goals.

Longstick midfielder Duncan Grant tallied a goal in the first quarter. Kruse added two goals and an assist.

The entire second half was played with a running clock. Tigh Metheny scored on the doorstep off an assist from Joshua Crabtree for the Panthers’ first goal of the third quarter. Jake Wimsatt got a goal off an assist from Metheny.

Joe Cady and Noah Cunnngham scored for Orange in the fourth quarter.

Gavyn Sandlin registered both of Vance Charter’s goals in the fourth quarter.

While Orange’s run to the Conference 9 championship was filled with blowouts, Zirkle has been in the same boat as many other coaches in various sports dealing with defections because of the unusual sports calendar forced by the pandemic. Orange’s top goalkeeper, Ethan Fortner, hasn’t played lacrosse this winter because he’s practing for football. At times, Orange has played Katie Wolter, the younger sister of former Orange goalkeeper Tyson Wolter, between the pipes.

Freshman Kruse and Jace Womble, who played at Stanford Middle School last season, are getting regular minutes.

With the regular season set to expire next Friday, Zirkle spent part of this week arranging non-conference games to prepare his squad for the 3A/2A/1A/ State Tournament. The Panthers will travel to Northwood on Monday, then host perennial power Chapel Hill on Wednesday. There’s a possibility for a game against East Forsyth if everything aligns correctly.

For now, the Panthers can rest knowing that, in two weeks, they will host a state playoff game for the first time since 2016.

The Orange men’s lacrosse team captured its first conference championship in program history on Thursday night. The Panthers dominated Vance Charter 16-1 at Jaguars Stadium in Henderson to finish Conference 9 play 4-0. Orange accomplished winning the league despite losing some of the top players in program history last season, including Wyatt Jones and Caleb Jones. Freshman Connor Kruse, who played at Stanford last season, finished with two goals and an assist. Cy Horner finished with two goals. Because of the rainiest winter since 1984 in the Triangle, Orange has had numerous postponements and cancellations this season. Next week, the Panthers will play two non conference games to prepare for the 3A/2A/1A State Tournament. They will start with Northwood on Monday. Orange will also face Chapel Hill, and possibly East Forsyth if Mother Nature will cooperate.

Phillip Berger: Berger, who won 21 games in his Cedar Ridge pitching career, captured the victory in relief as Division III William Peace defeated the University of Lynchburg 4-3 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary on Saturday. Berger threw two-and-a-half innings of perfect baseball with three strikeouts. It was his first win of the season. It helped the Pacers sweep the doubleheader from the Hornets.

On February 21, Berger made his season debut against Roanoke College. Berger started and threw five innings in a no decision. He struck out three while conceding six hits, two runs and four walks. The Maroons defeated the Pacers 6-5. Peace is 5-1 and travels to Averett University on Tuesday.

Landon Riley: #10 TCU swept the Liberty Flames baseball team at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, TX over the weekend. On Sunday, Riley finished the game on the hill for the Flames. Riley threw one shutout inning with two strikeouts and one walk. Liberty, 2-5, returns home to host Radford in Lynchburg, VA on Tuesday.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team competed in the Lone Star State Invitational across three different cities over the weekend. On Friday, the Bulldogs split a doubleheader against Texas State at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, TX. They dropped the opener to the Bobcats 4-3, but captured the nightcap 6-2. Mia Davidson, a 2016 Orange High graduate, combined to go 3-for-6 in the doubleheader. In the second game, she hit a three-run homer to left center in the 4th inning. In the opener, she singled for the first hit of the game and scored off a double from Fa Leilua. On Saturday at the University of Texas in Austin, TX, Mississippi State defeated Houston 3-0, but lost to Texas 8-7. Against the Longhorns, Davidson went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run, scoring twice. At that point in the Invitational, Davidson was 7-for-13. In the win over the Cougars, Davidson went 1-for-3 with a double.

On Sunday, Baylor defeated Mississippi State 10-6. Davidson hit her 57th career home run, extending her hitting streak to seven games. She recorded a hit in all of the Bulldogs’ games last week and hit .471 in the Invitational, including three home runs.

Montana Davidson: In her senior season, Montana Davidson leads Mississippi State with a .421 batting average through 12 games. Montana went 2-for-4 against Texas, her fifth multi-hit game of the year. She also went 2-for-4 against Baylor. Mississippi State is 8-4. They will start Southeastern Conference action against Alabama on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa.

Tori Dalehite: The 2018 Big 8 Conference Hitter of the Year at Cedar Ridge made her college debut for UNC Greensboro over the weekend. Dalehite entered the game as a pinch runner as the Spartans defeated North Carolina A&T 11-2 in the second game of a doubleheader. Dalehite scored off a home run hit by Jordan Gontram. UNCG swept the three games against the Aggies to improve to 4-4.

Grace Andrews: Another series, another home run for the 2020 Orange High graduate. On Thursday against the Montreat JV team, Catawba Valley Community College swept a doubleheader on scores of 3-0 and 6-2 at the Highland Park Community Center in Hickory. In the opener, Andrews went 1-for-3. In the nightcap, Andrews hit a solo homer in the 3rd inning, her second of the season. Andrews finished 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs. She added a double in the bottom of the fifth inning. Catawba Valley had doubleheaders scheduled against Camp Community College and Bryant & Stratton College in Virginia over the weekend, but they were all rained out.

Catawba Valley is 7-3. Andrews has played in all ten games. She’s the top hitter on the team with a .533 batting average and a team-high 16 hits. Andrews is tied for the team lead with ten runs scored. She also has nine RBIs.

Adam Chnupa: The #24 Elon football team fell to Gardner-Webb 42-20 at Spangler Stadium in Boiling Springs on Saturday. Chnupa played linebacker and recorded two tackles for the Phoenix, including one-half tackle for loss. Elon opens its Colonial Athletic Association schedule against James Madison next Saturday at Rhodes Stadium.

Dylan Boyer: The former Orange High men’s lacrosse star assisted on a goal as Queens University of Charlotte defeated Newberry 12-10 at Setzler Field in Newberry, S.C. on Saturday. Boyer assisted on the Royals’ final goal of the first half, scored by Tyler Ewen that put Queens ahead 6-3 with 4:00 remaining in the second quarter. Boyer also had two shots, one of which was on net. It was the first win of the year for Queen’s.

Josh Mauer: Mauer, who took the drive-thru graduated from Orange last June, is now a midfielder for the Division II Mount Olive men’s lacrosse team, which is ranked #9 in the country. On February 16, Mauer made his college debut for the Trojans in a 10-8 victory over Coker. Mauer had two ground balls against the Cobras. He also played in a 12-3 win over Catawba on February 16.

Jaylin Jones: Southern Virginia defeated the Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team 22-19 at Knight Stadium in Buena Vista, VA on Wednesday. Jalin Jones, a former Orange High star, scooper up two ground balls for the Falcons in the loss. Pfeiffer (1-1) travels to Ferrum on Sunday.

Whenever the Orange lacrosse team holds team reunions years from now, there will always be a certain amount of mystery surrounding the 2020 team.

On paper, it was the most talented team in Orange history with plenty of firepower. In practice, it sure looked that way, too.

The Panthers had senior midfielder Wyatt Jones, the first Orange player in school history to end up playing lacrosse at a Division I school at Mercer. There was also senior attacker Dylan Boyer, now at Division II Queen’s University.

Orange started 2020 with a 6-0 record with wins over 4A teams J.H. Rose and Heritage. Of course, the ending to this story is all too familiar by now. Last March, the pandemic hit, ending the spring sports season two weeks after it started. On March 13, the Orange lacrosse team defeated Roxboro Community School 15-0, but there was a sense of finality apparent when the players dosed Coach Chandler Zirkle with a Gatorade bath after a anticlimactic win at Bulldog Stadium.

It was the last time that Orange team took the field. They never got the chance to see if they were the squad that could beat one of the Chapel Hill superpowers. Or see if a deep run in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs was possible.

It was also the last high school sports event for any Hillsborough high school team for eight months.

Jones, Boyer and the rest of the 2020 Orange seniors now hang their hats elsewhere, leaving behind a group of younger Panthers learning on the job.

But Orange’s Ryan Merrill isn’t letting the past get in the way of his senior year.

In likely his final game against crosstown rival Cedar Ridge, Merrill scored six goals as the Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 10-6 at Auman Stadium on Wednesday night. Merrill opened the game with three goals as he completed the hat trick off an assist from Connor Kruse with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Cedar Ridge junior Roman Oguntoyinbo turned in a six-point night, factoring in on every Red Wolf goal. Oguntoyinbo finished with three goals and three assists to keep Cedar Ridge competitive until Orange ran out the clock in the final minutes.

It was the Panthers (2-1, 1-0 in Conference 9) fourth straight win over the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge (2-2, 2-1) had its two-game winning streak snapped.

While some players may have spent the interminable hours after the pandemic wondering what might have been in 2020, Zirkle has chosen to let the mystery be.

“Actually, I didn’t think about it at all,” Zirkle said. “It would have been really cool to finish the season, but the thing I really appreciated about the team last year was we did everything we wanted to do the way we wanted to do it. Obviously, I wished we could have finished the season, but I feel proud of what that team did.”

After Merrill’s three goals, Oguntoyinbo broke free in front of the net to score Cedar Ridge’s first goal just 56 seconds into the second quarter. Orange freshman Connor Kruse scored off an assist from sophomore Joe Cady to extend the Panther lead to 4-1, but Cedar Ridge held the Panthers scoreless in the final eight minutes of the first half. Oguntoyinbo scored his second goal with 3:04 remaining in the first half, then assisted on a Holden Neal’s only goal to cut Orange’s lead to 4-3 going to halftime.

Merrill started the second half with two unassisted goals in the opening minute. Kruse added another tally to increase Orange’s lead to 7-3. After Oguntoyinbo completed his hat trick with 8:24 remaining in the third quarter, Merrill registered his sixth goal on a feed from Kruse. Orange’s Duncan Grant widened the Panther advantage to 9-4 off an assist from senior Leif Mahaney.

With regular goalkeeper Ethan Fortner working out for the Panther football team, Malachi Bolton started in net for Orange. Katie Wolter, the younger sister of former Orange goalkeeper Tyson Wolter, played between the pipes in the second and third quarters.

Cedar Ridge’s Alex Castro notched the Red Wolves final goal of the third period. Neal provided the final Cedar Ridge tally in the fourth quarter, his second goal of the night.

The Red Wolves started senior Aiden Kehoe at goalkeeper, but also used junior Joshua Taylor intermittently in the second half.

Orange will travel to Northern Durham on Thursday. Cedar Ridge will travel to Northern Durham on Monday.

The Orange men’s lacrosse team defeated Cedar Ridge 10-6 at Auman Stadium on Wednesday night. Senior Ryan Merrill finished with six goals, including three in the opening period. Caleb Davis added two goals and an assist as the Panthers defeated the Red Wolves for the fourth straight time. it was Orange’s first game in two weeks. The Panthers were supposed to face Roxboro Community School last week twice, but both games were rained out. In 2020, Orange started 6-0 with possibly its most talented team in school history before the pandemic ended the season after a convincing victory against Roxboro Community. Now, with college prospects Wyatt Jones and Caleb Davis now playing at Mercer and Queen’s University, respectively, the Panthers are building again behind younger players like Connor Kruse and Jace Womble. Orange will travel to Northern Durham on Thursday night, then travel to Vance Charter on Saturday.