Orange Softball

There are stories that the Orange softball class of 2023 will tell teenagers in 30 years that may seem like something from the planet Mars.

For Carson Bradsher, Serenity McPherson, Kelsey Tackett, Savannah Wynne, Brianne Foster, and Apryl Terrell, they lost almost all of their freshman season because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Bradsher, McPherson, Wynn and Tackett won a conference championship together during a 2021 season that was greatly scaled down, limited to only 13 games. Yet the Lady Panthers became the first team in school history to go undefeated during the regular season.

While that season ended in a disappointing playoff loss to Southwestern Randolph, Wynne will forever have the tale of finishing the game despite suffering a broken nose in the 1st inning when a ball hit her in the face in left field. Afterwards, Wynne walked into the emergency room at a nearby hospital with her uniform on, then walked out and went back to class the next day because–well, because she’s a softball player.

Last spring, the seniors joined a new conference together that increased the competition level to an incredibly high level, one that Orange is still working to meet night in and night out.

The Lady Panthers went into spring break after a 4-2 road win over Person, who reached the State Quarterfinals last year. After a week off, Orange struggled to find the same form in a home loss to Falls Lake and a flat performance in a 10-3 defeat at the hands of defending 3A State Champion Eastern Alamance in Mebane.

On Thursday night, the six Orange seniors were honored against their crosstown rival, Cedar Ridge. Even after the Lady Panthers won 4-1 to improve to 7-4 overall, first-year coach Rachel Peel still desired more with the second half of the season here and now.

“As long as our bats are coming through, our defense has been great this season,” Peel said. “We just have to make sure we’re hitting line drives and we’re making solid contact. Right now, we’re just hitting a lot of pop-ups. We run-ruled Cedar Ridge the last time we played them. It was way too close for comfort tonight.”

Junior Caden Robinson had a career-high 16 strikeouts to improve to 5-1 with a 1.86 ERA.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Charlotte Lowry had a strong overall performance. She limited Orange to four hits in the final six innings and finished with three strikeouts.

McPherson put Orange at ease early with a solo homer in the first inning that sailed over the left field wall. It was her second dinger of the year.

Bradsher, who finished 3-for-3, stroked a single to centerfield in the next at-bat. Robinson sprayed a 0-1 fastball opposite field to the left field corner, Bradsher raced around the bases with blinding speed to score, then Robinson followed after the Cedar Ridge outfielder missed the cutoff lady on the relay.

Cedar Ridge opened with back-to-back hits from Mia Best and Reagan Simmons. Then Robinson settled in and retired 16 consecutive Red Wolves, strikeout out 12 of them. She struck out the side in the fourth.

Simmons, a sophomore, struck back in the sixth with a solo homer that went a long way over the right field wall. It was Simmons third home run.

Once again, Bradsher was responsible for an insurance run in the third. With two out, Bradsher beat out a throw on an infield single, went to second on a passed ball. Robinson reached on a hard grounder to Simmons and shortstop. As the Red Wolves tried to throw out Robinson, Bradsher never stopped moving around the bases and slid in feet-first into home plate to put Orange ahead 4-0.

Orange will have a rematch with Person on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Peel hopes that the lessons from two weeks ago will come in handy in a crucial rematch against the Rockets.

“I learned last week that we need to make Spring Break practices mandatory,” Peel said. “We just came off a long break sort of cold. We went into back-to-back games without practicing. A bunch of girls enjoyed themselves on Spring Break and weren’t ready to play. It hurt us bad.”

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior softball pitcher Caden Robinson. This season, Robinson has been the top pitcher and has averaged seven strikeouts a game. In addition, she leads the team with 18 RBIs, five doubles and four home runs. She has a 4-1 record with a 1.97 earned run average in ten pitching appearances. On March 6, Robinson struck out eleven and had an RBI double as Orange defeated Roxboro Community School 8-1 in Hillsborough. Two nights later in a rematch in Roxboro, Robinson had a two-run single as Orange defeated the Bulldogs 6-4. On March 24, Robinson had her most complete performance against Person in Roxboro. She struck out eleven with no walks as Orange won 4-2 over the Rockets. Robinson added a solo home run in the seventh inning. Robinson has played on the varsity since her freshman season. She has committed to play at Lees-McRae for college, but still has another season with the Panthers before she moves on. Orange will continue its season on Thursday against Northern Durham at Orange Softball Field. On Friday, they will face Cedar Ridge on Senior Night. Seniors Carson Bradsher, Serenity McPherson, Kelsey Tackett, Savannah Wynn, April Terrell and Brianne Foster will be honored in a pregame ceremony. First pitch will be at 6:30.

The Orange softball team was able to match the Falls Lake offense, but they couldn’t match their power.

Senior Kennedy Teasley hit two home runs, including a two-run blast in the third inning that put Falls Lake ahead for good as the Firebirds defeated Orange 7-4 on Monday night at Orange Softball Field.

It was a disappointing return from Spring Break for Orange, who defeated Person 4-2 in Roxboro on March 24. The Panthers outhit the Firebirds 11-9, led by Senior Carson Bradsher and freshman Katie Carden each picking up three singles.

With an important conference game against Eastern Alamance slated for Tuesday, Orange coach Rachel Peel opted to limit starter Caden Robinson to three innings. Falls Lake catcher Ashbee Standridge lined a single to right field with one out in the third inning. Madison Primm followed with a double that got past a diving Serenity McPherson, who got up limping and eventually left the game. Strandridge came in to score and tied the game. Teasley followed with a home run that landed just before the scoreboard in left field.

Orange, who scored in the opening inning when McPherson slid in safely on a double steal with Bradsher, struck back with two in the third to tie the game. McPherson reached on a single to centerfield. Robinson slammed a fastball off the left field wall to bring in McPherson. After Delaney Shaffer concluded an 11-pitch at-bat with a walk, Carden lined a single up the middle to score Robinson and tie the game.

Brianne Foster entered the game as Orange pitcher in the fourth. Reagan Yancey, the 9th-batter in the Firebirds order, blooped a two-out single to right field that appeared harmless at the time. That changed when Standridge sent a double off the centerfield wall, bringing in Yancey. Primm launched a double off the fence in right field for another RBI, scoring Strandrige and increasing the Firebird lead to 6-3.

Bradsher had two leadoff singles in the latter innings. In the fifth, she legged out an infield single. She reached third after a groundout by Delaney Shaffer. Carden lined a comebacker to pitcher Jolie Sensenig, who couldn’t throw Carden out. Bradsher never stopped running and slid into home plate safely.

Teasley canceled out that run with her second home run, a solo blast to centerfield aided by the wind that was blowing out toward the wall all night.

Teasley threw the final two innings to earn the save.

Orange (6-3) will travel to Eastern Alamance tonight.

Men’s Tennis: Williams 5, Orange 4

In Burlington, the Orange men’s tennis team’s dual match against Walter Williams came down to doubles before the Bulldogs secured a victory.

Orange’s Nathan Pavalonis won at #3 singles in the only match of the night that went three sets. Pavalonis defeated Andrew Brasington 6-4, 0-6, 10-2.

Orange senior Brendon Kassler and freshman Quincy Stanley also won their singles matches to even the dual match 3-3 going into the three doubles matches.

Kassler and Stanley won the only doubles match for Orange, prevailing 8-3. Orange is now 5-5 overall, 1-4 in the CCC.

Men’s Golf: The second CCC dual meet of the season was held at Occoneechee Golf Course in Hillsborugh on Monday afternoon. Walter Williams came in first as a team with a collective score of 154.

Cedar Ridge finished third as a team with 172 strokes. Brad Monschein and Dylan Frochling each shot an 88 over 18-holes. Frochling had a 40 on the front nine. Ward Mann, Rowarn Baker, Eric Swanson and Bryson Koehler also competed for Cedar Ridge.

Orange finished fourth in the team standings. Senior Thomas Loch was the top finisher for Orange with an 83, including a 40 on the front nine. Cooper Zinn carded an 87. Josh Roberts had an 89. Connor McMurtry, R.J.Roemmich and Logan Scarantino also competed for the Panthers.

Christos Katsoudas of Walter Williams was the top individual finisher with a 75.

The Orange softball team went into Spring Break with real momentum after a come-from-behind win over Person on March 24. Sophomore Rhiley Crabtree hit the game-winning single as the Lady Panthers twice in the sixth inning to defeat the Rockets 4-2. Earlier in the inning, Savannah Wynn knocked in Sadie Cecil with a line drive to left field. It was another big game for junior Caden Robinson, who homered in the seventh inning for insurance. Robinson also had eleven strikeouts. She threw a complete-game four-hitter as Orange improved to 6-2 overall, 3-2 in the Central Carolina Conference. Senior Carson Bradsher, who has committed to play at USC-Upstate, finished 1-for-4. Freshman Katie Carden has become a regular starter at third base as Orange continues to battle some of the best teams in the state in their own conference. On March 20, Orange battled Western Alamance to ten innings in Hillsborough. The Warriors wound up winning 6-2, but Orange had the game-winning run just 60 feet away in the seventh inning. Orange will have a busy week coming up. They will face Falls Lake on Monday night at 6, then travel to Mebane on Tuesday to face Eastern Alamance, the defending 3A State Champions.

Everything the Orange softball team has earned this year, they’ve taken the hard way.

The Lady Panthers are waging battle in a Central Carolina Conference so steep with talent, it might as well be called the PAC-12 East. There’s Eastern Alamance, the defending 3A State Champions, who lost starting pitcher Kenna Raye Dark to UNC after graduation last summer and is still a threat to win the league. Western Alamance has Taylor Apple, an East Carolina commitment who is one of the best all-around players in the state.

Last year, the Warriors lost in the third round of the state playoffs to Person, who return another top pitcher in Delaney Glover, a commitment to Binghamton University. The Rockets would eventually reach the state quarterfinals, where they fell to the Eagles 4-3 despite taking an early 2-0 lead against Dark.

In 2022, six of the seven CCC teams made the state playoffs. It would happen again now if the season ended today.

For Orange, a week that started in disappointment amid frigid temperatures against the top team in the league ended with their second straight come-from-behind win in Roxboro on a 70-degree day last Friday, nearly breaking a century-old record.

Sophomore first baseman Rhiley Crabtree lined a single down the right field line to score Savannah Wynn in the top of the sixth inning to pull Orange into the lead, while pitcher Caden Robinson added insurance with a solo blast in the seventh inning to push the Lady Panthers past Person 4-2 on Friday in Roxboro.

Robinson earned her fourth win of the season in the circle with eleven strikeouts. She allowed only four hits. After Person’s Liberty Jones drilled a two-run homer in the bottom of the third for the night’s opening runs, Robinson only allowed one more baserunner for the rest of the game. No Rocket touched second base after the third inning.

Going into spring break, Orange is tied with Person for third place in the CCC with a 3-2 league mark. The Lady Panthers will travel to Eastern Alamance on Tuesday.

For new Orange softball coach Rachel Peel, she’s had to deal with several spinning plates in her first months on the job. A former Orange player who went on to suit up at Furman and Meredith College, Peel has blended new starters like freshman Katie Carden and Crabtree with seniors like Carson Bradsher, Serenity McPherson, Kelsey Tackett and Wynn while dealing with the challenging CCC slate.

“We have so much competition at first base in general,” Peel said. “We have three players we could play there who have shown up. Rhiley has played well, but she can’t afford to let down because she has several people breathing down her neck. We have Mia Leathers and Natalie Roberson ready to step in. Mia had a great hit tonight. They’re all showing up and competing. That competition is breeding excellence.”

Trailing 2-0 going into the fifth inning, Crabtree led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. With Brianne Foster at the plate, Crabtree advanced to second on a wild pitch. McPherson laced a line drive to the left field fence, which brought in Crabtree and cut Person’s lead in half. Glover ended Orange’s threat when she retired Bradsher and Robinson on consecutive infield pop-ups.

Orange quickly built another threat in the sixth when Sadie Cecil led off with a single to left field. Delaney Shaffer laid down a bunt to move Cecil to second. Wynn sent a screamer to left field, scoring Cecil and tying the game at 2. Crabtree followed with the game-winning hit on a single that dropped in front of right fielder Kaiden Hawkins to plate Wynn and give Orange its first lead of the night.

In the seventh, Robinson padded Orange’s lead with a laser to centerfield that cleared the fence. It was her fourth home run of the season.

Person still had six outs to mount a comeback, but Robinson wouldn’t allow them to even get a baserunner. She retired the final 12 Rockets she faced, including a strikeout to Allie Carden to end the game.

Orange (6-2) will host Falls Lake on Monday at 6PM at Orange Softball Field. Following the trip to Eastern Alamance, the Lady Panthers will play Northern Durham on Thursday at 6 PM in Hillsborough.

It’s Thursday, but it’s already been a long week for the Orange softball team. On Monday night, the Lady Panthers played into the tenth inning against Western Alamance. With temperatures dipping into the upper-30s as the game crept past the three-hour mark, the Warriors came up with four runs in the tenth inning to win 6-2. Orange had the game-winning run only 60 feet away in the seventh inning after Carson Bradsher stole second base, then took third base off a throwing error. Less than 24 hours after the Western Alamance game, Orange turned right back around and defeated Cedar Ridge 14-3 at Red Wolves Softball Field. Junior second baseman Delaney Shaffer went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Freshman Katie Carden, who has become a regular at third base in her young career, finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Carden laced a triple to left field with two out in the second inning and scored off a passed ball. Orange is 5-2, 2-2 in the Central Carolina Conference as they prepare for a crucial matchup just before spring break. On Friday, they travel to Roxboro to face Person, who the Lady Panthers defeated last year.

Orange 13, Northwood 0: A night after suffering its first loss of the season, Orange (4-1, 1-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) bounced back with a dominant 11-1 victory in five innings over Northwood at Orange Softball Field on Wednesday night.

Junior Caden Robinson earned her fourth win of the season in the circle with ten strikeouts. Robinson also hit a two-run homer in the first inning to dead centerfield. Senior centerfielder Serenity McPherson added a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to stretch the Lady Panthers lead to 10-0.

Robinson added a triple in the second inning to plate Natalie Roberson and McPherson. Orange added another run in the third when Hayleigh Hammond laced a leadoff triple to left field. Delaney Shaffer doubled in Hammond with a fly ball to centerfield. Natalie Roberson singled in Shaffer.

Robinson has had double-digit strikeouts in three games this season for Orange. She struck out eleven against Roxboro Community School. In the season opener against Eastern Guilford, Robinson fanned 13.

Cedar Ridge 23, Seaforth 1: Sophomore Kimber Shambley hit her first career home run for Cedar Ridge as the Red Wolves won in its first trip to Seaforth in Pittsboro.

Shambley, who finished with four RBIs, ended the scoring on the night with a two run homer to centerfield, also scoring Cierra Copeland. Shambley, the daughter of former Orange High centerfielder Kevin Shambley, had an RBI single in the first inning to bring in Rylee Capps.

Cedar Ridge catcher Reagan Simmons opened the game with a double to right field. Laci Sykes scored Simmons on a RBI groundout. Capps drove in Charlotte Lowry with a triple to centerfield.

Freshman Mia Best earned the victory in the circle with a compete game. She struck out ten and surrendered only five hits. Anaya Carter went 2-for-4, while Best went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Western Alamance 4, Orange 0: Western Alamance pitcher Taylor Apple was in top form as the Warriors maintained first place in the Central Carolina Conference on Tuesday night in Elon.

Apple, who has committed to East Carolina, struck out eleven in a two-hit shutout. Caden Robinson’s, Apple’s counterpart in the circle, got Orange’s only two hits of the game. Robinson was the only Lady Panther to touch second base the whole night.

Apple hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Payton Rainey was hit by a pitch with one out and scored off the dinger.

In the 5th, Lela Kate Baker hit a leadoff double to centerfield. Baker moved to third after a sacrifice bunt by Kasidy Allen. Ryan Justice lined an RBI single to center to score Baker and increase the Warriors lead to 3-0. Robinson allowed eight hits in the circle in a complete game.

Person 12, Cedar Ridge 1: Person, which was denied the CCC Championship by the eventual 3A State Champion Eastern Alamance last year, maintained its share of first place with a win over Cedar Ridge in Roxboro on Monday night.

Person’s Delaney Glover three a two-hitter with eight strikeouts. Simmons and Carter were the only Red Wolves to get hits off Glover. The Red Wolves did score the opening run when Simmons drew a leadoff walk. Carter lined to left field to move Simmons to second base. Lowry reached off an error by the shortstop, which allowed Simmons to score.

Person (4-1, 1-0 in the CCC) came back with two runs in the bottom of the first. Following a walk by Lindsey Melton, Liberty Jones reached on a bunt. With Taryn Massey at bat, Melton scored off a passed ball. Massey singled in Jones to keep Person ahead for good. Kaiden Hawkins sent 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Rockets. Glover, in addition to her victory in the circle, went 2-for-4. Massey went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Cedar Ridge will host Northwood on Friday night at Red Wolves Field at 6PM.

Orange 6, Roxboro Community School 4: On Monday night, Orange used power pitching and hitting to beat Roxboro Community School.

On Wednesday, the Lady Panthers utilized its finesse to beat the Bulldogs again.

Senior Carson Bradsher score three runs, aided by four stolen bases, as Orange defeated Roxboro Community 6-4 in Oak Grove on Wednesday night. Orange opened with two runs in the first and two more in the second inning to improve to 3-0 on the season.

Senior Serenity McPherson opened the game with a single to left field. McPherson rounded the bases when Bradsher grounded to the Roxboro Community shortstop, who threw the ball away. Bradsher eventually scored off a groundout by pitcher Caden Robinson. Katie Carden doubled for Orange in the first but was stranded at second.

Sadie Cecil led off the second inning with a triple that went to the centerfield wall. Savannah Wynne reached on a bunt to the pitcher. Cecil would score off a fielder’s choice by McPherson. With Bradsher at bat, McPherson advanced to third on a passed ball and would score off a wild pitch to increase Orange’s lead to 4-0.

Robinson, who struck out eleven against the Bulldogs in an 8-1 Orange win on Monday, threw the opening two innings in the rematch. Brianne Foster finished the game to earn her first career win. She gave up four runs on nine hits with two strikeouts.

Leading 4-1, Orange added a run in the fifth inning when Bradsher singled to left field, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored after Hayleigh Hammond reached on an error. Robinson, who moved to right field after Foster was inserted as pitcher, singled in Bradsher in the seventh inning.

McPherson finished 2-for-4. Robinson went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Orange is scheduled to travel to Burlington to face Water Williams for its Central Carolina Conference opener on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge 9, Cardinal Gibbons 7

Sophomore catcher Reagan Simmons went 3-for-3 as the Red Wolves scored seven runs in the opening two innings to beat Cardinal Gibbons for the second time in two days in Hillsborough on Tuesday night.

Senior Anaya Carter went 3-for-4 as the Red Wolves improved to 3-1 during a week where they have no CCC games scheduled. Freshman Mia Best earned her first varsity win inside the circle as she threw the opening three innings.

After Best retired the Crusaders in order to open the game, Simmons and freshman Laci Sykes each hit singles in the bottom of the first inning. Simmons moved over to third after a flyout by Carter, when scored off an error on a ball hit by sophomore Charlotte Lowry. Sophomore Kimber Shambley reached on an infield single to score Sykes and Cedar Ridge led 2-0 at the end of the first inning.

Gibbons tied the game with two runs in the top of the second, but Cedar Ridge responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame. Tori Carden and Grace Young each reached on singles to open the inning. Best singled to right field to bring in Carden and the Red Wolves didn’t trail again. Simmons singled to right field to plate Young. Carter knocked in Carter after an error by Gibbons first baseman Miriam Carey. Lowry delivered the big blow with a double on a line drive to centerfield to score Sykes and Carter.

The Red Wolves increased its lead to 8-4 in the fourth inning when Carter scored off a wild pitch. Carter led off the inning with a single. Carter knocked in Best in the fifth inning after Best drew a one-out walk.

The Red Wolves (3-1) will travel to Northern Durham on Thursday night. They will return to CCC action with a road trip to Person on Tuesday.