Orange High School

Joey Berini: The former Orange High shortstop had his first college base hit for #11 East Carolina in its 11-10 win over North Carolina at Clarke-LeClair Field in Greenville on Tuesday night. Berini pinch-hit for Zach Agnos to lead off the 7th inning, when the Tar Heels were ahead 10-6. Berini reached on a single to left field. He advanced to second on a wild pitch with two out, but the inning ended after a flyout to centerfield. The Pirates rallied with five runs in the 8th and 9th innings to improve to 18-5.

Cooper Porter: On Saturday, Porter had the biggest day of his young college career in Pensacola State Junior College’s 15-5 win over Chipola College. Porter went 2-for-3 with 5 RBIs with a home run in the second game of a doubleheader. Chipola won the opening game 10-5. Porter went 1-for-3 in the opener. Last Thursday, Pensacola State defeated Chipola 8-4, where Porter went 1-for-4. Pensacola State Junior College’s baseball team defeated Tallahassee Community College 6-2 on Tuesday. Porter went 1-for-3 for the Pirates. He has increased his batting average to .250 and is now on a four-game hitting streak. Pensacola State is 14-13 overall, 4-2 in the Panhandle Conference.

Bailey Lucas: The Division III Meredith volleyball team split a doubleheader against Greensboro College on Saturday. Inside Hanes Gym in Greensboro, the Avenging Angels won the first match in five sets 25-22, 20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 16-14. Lucas started and finished with 31 assists, three kills and 12 digs. Greensboro won the final match 3-1 on scores of 25-19, 25-17, 25-27 and 25-23. Lucas also started the second match for the Avenging Angels and registered two kills, 19 assists and four digs. Meredith is 5-4 overall, 3-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference. They host Methodist on Saturday in its final two home matches of the regular season.

Grace Andrews: Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute swept a doubleheader from Catawba Valley Community College on Tuesday in Lenoir. Caldwell took the first game 5-1 and captured the nightcap 7-2. Playing shortstop for Catawba, Andrews went 2-for-3 with a walk in the opener. In the nightcap, Andrews finished 1-for-4 with a run scored. Andrews, who extended her hitting streak to five games, leads Catawba Valley with a .486 batting average. She also leads the team with 35 hits. Catawba Valley is 15-7. Caldwell Community College now leads Catawba Valley by two games for first place in the Western Division of Region 10 in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Ivy Garner: Garner spent her freshman year at Cedar Ridge, where she was a part of the Red Wolves’ tennis and soccer teams. She transferred to Eno River Academy at the beginning of the 2018 academic year. Garner hasn’t played high school sports since, but has played with the North Carolina Courage’s U-17 team. Garner recently announced her commitment to play at N.C. State.

Kayla Hodges: Wake Forest defeated Elon 3-0 in women’s soccer on Sunday at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem. Hodges, who was named the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week last week, had one of nine shots fired by the Phoenix. On Thursday, South Carolina defeated the Phoenix 3-0 at Rudd Field. Hodges started as a wingback. The Phoenix are 2-3 overall, 1-1 in the CAA. Elon will travel to the College of Charleston on Saturday.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer program shut out Meredith 1-0 on Saturday at Meredith Athletic Field in Raleigh. Former Cedar Ridge center back Brittany Daley helped Pride goalkeeper Lauren Rodriguez secure the shutout as Greensboro improved to 4-1-1 in the USA South Athletic Conference. This was also the regular season finale for Greensboro. The Pride will host one of the USA South Division semifinals on Saturday.

Jordan Rogers: Methodist defeated Division III William Peace women’s soccer team on March 24. Rogers, who graduated from Orange, started at wingback for the Pacers. Peace is 3-5 overall, 2-4 in the USA South Athletic Conference. The Pacers wrap up the regular season against Mary Baldwin University on Friday. If Rogers plays, it will be her 40th game for Peace.

Two Orange lacrosse seniors responsible for the most successful season in school history have been honored accordingly.

Orange longstick midfielder Duncan Grant has been named the Conference 9 Player of the Year. Grant’s classmate, Ryan Merrill, was named the Conference 9 co-Offensive Player of the Year. Merrill shared the award with Cedar Ridge’s Roman Oguntoyinbo.

Grant is Orange’s first-ever Conference Player of the Year.

Orange sophomore Jake Wimsatt was named the Conference 9 co-Defensive Player of the Year. Wimsatt shared the honor with Cedar Ridge long stick midfielder Dov Bearmann.

The Panthers, who captured the Conference 9 Championship, had eight players make first-team All-Conference 9. In addition to Grant, Merrill and Wimsatt, also honored were freshman midfielder Connor Kruse, senior attacker Caleb Davis, midfielder Cy Horner, senior Leif Mahaney, and defenseman Griffin Metheny.

Orange’s nine seniors were responsible for the deepest run in school history. The Panthers reached the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A/2A/1A State Quarterfinals, upsetting Northwood in the second round. Last Monday, Orange lost to eventual Eastern Regional Champion East Chapel Hill at Auman Stadium, but the Panthers led late in the third quarter. Orange’s Conference 9 Championship was the school’s first outright conference title in any sport since February 2019.

“This was a great year for our conference,” said Orange Lacrosse Coach Chandler Zirkle. “There were many deserving players as voted on by our conference coaches.”

Grant scored 15 goals and three assists, including a vital hat trick in the win over Northwood, which came only one week after the Chargers romped past the Panthers by eleven goals. Grant was second on the team with 49 ground balls and led the squad with 32 takeaways.

Merrill led Orange with 29 goals and 15 assists. He scored six goals in a 10-6 win over Cedar Ridge on February 24, which essentially ensured the conference championship. Merrill had a hat trick in the victory over Northwood and was the go-to option on offense throughout the year. Merrill added four goals against East Chapel Hill in the state playoffs, his final game at Orange. He also assisted on two goals against the Wildcats.

“Roman Oguntoyinbo and Ryan Merril both had exceptional years scoring the ball for both Cedar Ridge and Orange,” Zirkle said. “Roman lead the conference in scoring during the regular season while Ryan Merrill was the leading scorer on the conferences top team who often came out mid way through games to give JV players the chance to play.”

Davis, a senior attacker, was second on the team with 22 goals and 20 assists. He finished with five points against Northwood, including a hat trick. He finished with seven points against Vance Charter School in Henderson on March 4, which officially secured the Conference 9 title for the Panthers. Davis also scored seven points in a 19-7 win over Carrboro on March 2.

Horner scored Orange’s opening goal against East Chapel Hill last Monday. He ended the year with five goals and nine assists. He scored four points against Carrboro, and assisted on Connor Kruse’s game-winning goal against Northwood.

Speaking of Kruse, he was one of only two freshman to make the All-Conference 9 first-team. Kruse, who played at Stanford Middle School last year, finished third on the squad with 19 goals. He also had 32 points. Kruse had three hat tricks, including two in back-to-back games against Northern Durham and Carrboro. Kruse was a regular feature on Orange’s top unit in the state playoffs and figures to be a prominent player for years to come.

Mahaney ended the year with 44 ground balls, third on the team. He was also a reliable defensive midfielder with 12 takeaways, tied with Davis for second-highest on the team behind Grant.

Metheny was a strong long stick defenseman for an Orange team that allowed five goals or less four times. As Orange struggled struggled throughout the year to find a steady goalkeeper because of injuries and football defections, Metheny was one of the pillars of the Panthers’ defense.

Wimsatt was Orange’s face-off ace. In the regular season, Wimsatt won 71% of his face-offs, with 81 victories in all. He controlled the face-off circle against East Chapel Hill, where he won a majority of his attempts. Wimsatt led Orange with 86 ground balls. He also developed into a scoring threat at the year wore on, ending the season with eleven goals.

Sophomore Braden Hunt and senior Tristan Watson were named honorable mention All-Conference.

Marvin Jones: A former Cedar Ridge track and field star, Jones finished second for North Carolina Central at the Raleigh Relays at N.C. State University on Saturday. Jones had a jump of 2.05 meters in the high jump. Virginia’s Brenton Foster captured the high jump championship. It was Jones’ first event since the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in February 2020, where he came in 3rd in the high jump. Jones’ personal best is 2.10 meters.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson was optioned by the Atlanta Braves to an alternate training site on Friday. The move came after Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said the Braves wouldn’t use a fifth starter for the first few weeks of the season. Wilson was in contention to be the fifth man in the rotation. So far in spring training, Wilson is 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four appearances with three starts. He has struck out nine batters in 13.2 innings.

Landon Riley: The Liberty baseball team won its 13th straight game with a 5-2 win over Bellarmine on Friday. Riley threw one-and-two-third innings, once again not allowing a run. He walked one and struck out one. Liberty’s winning streak ended with an 8-7 loss to the Knights on Saturday, but the Flames captured the series with a 5-1 victory on Sunday at Knights Field in Louisville, KY. Liberty will make another trip to the Triangle on Tuesday. They face Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Joey Berini: #8 East Carolina defeated Elon 15-0 at Latham Park on Friday. Berini came in as a reserve shortstop and went 0-for-2. The Pirates are 17-5.

Phillip Berger: Berger took a no decision as Division III William Peace defeated Averett University 4-3 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary on Saturday. Berger worked seven innings and surrendered ten hits, but only two runs. He struck out five and walked two. This season, Berger is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in eight appearances. The Pacers have won four in a row after sweeping the weekend series from Averett.

Mia Davidson: Davidson is now eighth in career home runs in Southeastern Conference history. On Sunday, Davidson hit a solo homer in the sixth inning against #12 Arkansas, giving her 60 career dingers. Davidson is already the all-time home run hitter in Mississippi State history. Arkansas swept the weekend series against Mississippi State. On Saturday, Arkansas held off the Bulldogs 8-7. where Davidson hit another home run. She went 0-for-3 in a 2-0 loss on Friday. Through 29 games, Davidson is hitting .337 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. She’s tied for the team lead with 30 hits and leads the squad with seven doubles.

Montana Davidson: Montana started all three games against the Razorbacks at third base. She went 1-for-4 on Saturday. Montana has started all 28 games for Mississippi State and is hitting .287.

Jaden Hurdle: Patrick Henry Community College’s softball team swept a doubleheader against Surry Community College in Dobson on Friday. Hurdle went a combined 5-for-7 with four RBIS and four runs scored. In the second game, Hurdle drilled a 2-run homer in the Patriots’ 15-10 win. Hurdle finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. She also doubled. Hurdle even pitched one inning, where she surrendered three runs (two earned) off two hits. She walked one and struck out one.

In the opening game, PHCC won 10-3. Hurdle finished 2-for-2 with one run scored and two walks. Patrick Henry is in 3rd place in Region 10’s West Division with a 4-4 conference record. The Patriots are 8-10 overall. Hurdle is hitting .447 with 21 hits, both the second-best marks on the team. Hurdle leads the Patriots with eleven extra base hits. She also has three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Grace Andrews: The Catawba Valley Community College softball team’s weekend series against Caldwell Community College was postponed by rain. It will be played today. Last Wednesday, the Red Hawks swept a doubleheader from the Montreat JV on scores of 11-0 and 9-0 in Hickory. In the opener, Andrews had an RBI single and finished 1-for-3 with a run scored. In the nightcap, Andrews also went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. In Division II of Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, Andrew is tied for 3rd with 25 RBIs. She’s seventh with a .492 batting average. Andrews also has four RBIs. The Red Hawks are tied with Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute for 1st place in Region 10’s Western Division with a 6-2 record.

Adam Chnupa: #20 Richmond defeated Elon 31-17 at Robins Stadium on Saturday in Colonial Athletic Association football action. Chnupa finished with a tackle for the Phoenix, who are 1-5 overall, 0-4 in the CAA.

Dylan Boyer: The former Orange High midfielder played as a reserve for the Division II Queen’s College men’s lacrosse team last week. Queen’s defeated Coker University 12-8 at Queen’s Sports Complex in Charlotte. On Saturday, the Royals defeated Tusculum University 12-8 to improve to 5-3 overall, 5-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team drilled Averett 26-3 at Campbell Stadium in Danville, VA on Saturday. Jones scooped up a ground ball for the Falcons, who have won five in a row and are 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

PHOTO BY SIMON BARBRE

PITTSBORO: Anyone who ever said a kicker isn’t a football player never saw Aidan Laros.

On a muggy night where the turf at Charger Stadium was in tatters after months of rain and night after night of games from five different sports, it was Laros who scored all the points for the Northwood Chargers, who defeated Orange 10-7.

Northwood defeated Orange in Pittsboro for the first time since the two teams became Big 8 Conference rivals in 2013. The Panthers had won three straight in Charger Stadium.

Northwood now owns the tiebreaker over Orange and Chapel Hill for the second and final automatic playoff spot in the Big 8 Conference. The Chargers haven’t seen the postseason since 2017.

Orange’s two-game winning streak was snapped, a period where the Panthers frequently gambled on 4th downs and opened the Northern Durham win with an onside kick. Some of those gambles have resulted in boxcars. Against Northwood, Orange rolled snake eyes.

Leading 7-0 on its opening drive of the second half, Orange running back Elliott Woods gained eleven yards on a 3-and-13. Facing a 4th-and-two, Orange coach Van Smith opted to go for it at his own 28-yard line.

“I was playing to win,” Smith said. “We talked about that during this short, COVID season. We’re just happy to be playing football. Everything we do, we’re going to be playing to win. We’re going to be taking chances.”

Initially, quarterback Jayce Hodges tried a hard count to get Northwood offside. When that didn’t work, he gave the ball to fullback Nate Hecht, who was held to one yard by Northwood defensive linemen Michael Anthony and Christopher Poston.

After Northwood’s defensive stand, Laros easily kicked a 29-yard field goal to cut its deficit to 7-3. On the subsequent kickoff, Laros directed it to the Northwood sideline. It appeared the ball went out of bounds, but the official ruled it touched an Orange player before it went over the boundary, which forced the Panthers to start the drive at its own 6-yard line.

The Panthers went backwards and Darius Satterfield had to punt two feet in front of the goalposts. Northwood took over at the Orange 17-yard line. After junior running back Jalen Paige ran for 12 yards, Laros took a handoff from backup quarterback Cam Entrekin, cut to the inside off a block from George Gilson and crossed the goal line for the game’s only offensive touchdown.

Orange’s only points came from its defense with 4:18 remaining in the first half. Senior linebacker Elliott Woods picked off a Northwood pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Satterfield’s extra point gave Orange a 7-0 lead going into halftime.

The Panthers squandered an impressive defensive performance. Of Northwood’s five first half drives, four ended without a first down. Orange started its first two possessions in Charger real estate, but came up with nothing. Orange’s first possession ended off a dropped pass on a 4th-and-six. Later in the first quarter, J.J. Torres picked off a pass and returned it 29 yards to the Northwood 23-yard line. In the midst of muck and mud, Satterfield lined up for a 37-yard field goal, which was easily swatted away by Poston.

With Northwood running the power-I formation and Orange’s recent transition into the double wing, the game had all the makings of a defense struggle. Sure enough, Northwood won despite not completing a pass. As was the case in its 7-6 win over Chapel Hill, Laros made the biggest plays in the end. He finished with 35 yards rushing, as well as making several tackles as a linebacker.

After falling behind 10-7, Orange got life early in the fourth quarter when wingback Eric Brooks raced around right end for a 37-yard gain before junior cornerback Jack Vain saved a touchdown. After consecutive incompletions, Satterfield attempted a 31-yard field goal that crossed the left upright. The official nearest the ball initially signaled the attempt was good, only to change the call after his colleague across the way signaled no good.

Orange got the ball to midfield after a roughing the passer penalty. Faced with a 4th-and-3, Hodges kept the ball around end and appeared to have room to get the first down, but was knocked flat up his back by Chargers’ linebacker Kentrell Edwards.

Orange will now prepare for crosstown rival Cedar Ridge next Thursday. It will be the Red Wolves’ first visit to Auman Stadium since 2015.

“I can sit back and kick myself in the butt tonight (about the 4th-and-2 call),” Smith said. “I can not sleep and regret it all week long until the next football game. I’m not going to do that at all. I play the game to win. That’s what I’ve told my team to do. That’s what I’ve told my coaches to do. And that’s what we’ve been doing all along.”

NORTHWOOD 10, ORANGE 7

ORA-0 7 0 0–7

NWS-0 0 10 0-10

ORANGE-Elliott Woods 31 interception return (Darius Satterfield kick)

NORTHWOOD-Aidan Laros 29 FG

NORTHWOOD-Laros 2 run (Laros kick)

RUSHING: ORANGE 38-144 (Eric Brooks 8-59, Woods 11-39, Nate Sorrells 4-16, J.J. Torres 5-10, Nate Hecht 6-8, Jayce Hodges 2-7, Jackson Wood 2-5)

NORTHWOOD 38-128 (Jalen Paige 12-59, Laros 10-35 TD, Hue Jacobs 6-19, William Lake 3-7, Kirk Haddix 4-5, Cam Entrekin 1-4, Ryan Hillard 1-1, team 1-(-2))

PASSING: ORANGE (Hodges 2-7 41 yards)

NORTHWOOD (Haddix 0-2 2 INT)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Sorrells 1-24, Wood 1-17)

For the past five years, the Big 8 Softball Championship has resided in Hillsborough.

In 2016, Orange shared the title with Northwood. In 2017, Orange won the 3A State Championship behind the leadership of Mia Davidson and pitcher Christina Givens. In 2018, Cedar Ridge rode the arm of pitcher Rivers Andrews and league Hitter of the Year Tori Dalehite to the most successful season in school history, ending in the 3rd round of the playoffs. In 2019, Orange and Cedar Ridge shared the crown, but the Red Wolves won the final matchup at Orange to take the top-seed into the playoffs.

Only three games into 2021, nothing has been settled, but one thing is clear.

Orange is the team to beat.

The Lady Panthers started the season against possibly its three biggest challengers to the throne: East Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge and Northwood.

None of the games went beyond five innings.

On Thursday, Orange (3-0, 3-0 in the Big 8) had its most impressive outing with a 18-0 win over previously undefeated Northwood (2-1, 2-1) at Orange Softball Field. The Lady Panthers scored 12 runs in the second inning to remove any drama. Sophomore Carson Bradsher went 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs. Junior Mary Moss Wirt went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in the fourth inning, ending a day that started with an exclamation point with another for good measure.

Orange’s start isn’t as much a new beginning for new coach Johnny Barefoot as much as it is the resumption of something that started two years ago across the other side of Orange’s campus.

Barefoot was the coach at Stanford Middle School in 2019, when Bradsher, Kelsey Tackett, Caden Robinson, Serenity McPherson, Savannah Wynne, Brianne Foster and Bree Harris all played for the Chargers. The Chargers romped through the Orange-Person Athletic Conference, going undefeated in the regular season and rolling past Culbreth Middle School in the OPAC title game in just three innings.

Barefoot, who was an assistant for Cedar Ridge for ten years, was set for another season to see if the Chargers could repeat. But the pandemic ended everything just one game into the season, and Barefoot thought his coaching days were over.

Or was it?

“The girls I knew at Stanford were already here,” Barefoot said. “I just made a comment one day that if the chance came open that I could come and take these girls and coach them through their high school years, I’d love to do it.”

Two weeks after Barefoot said that to a friend, Henry Horn retired as Orange softball coach. Barefoot was the most obvious replacement and Athletic Director Mike McCauley didn’t think twice.

Barefoot has a style that fits his team. There’s constant movement of baserunners. Bradsher, who had three steals against Cedar Ridge, scored Orange’s opening run against Northwood when she turned a single into a double on a standard grounder to left. She scored with a headfirst dive to the plate after a cue shot to the pitching circle by catcher Lauren Jackson was mishandled by the Northwood infield.

And there’s power. Lots and lots of power. Junior second baseman Mary Moss Wirt has two home runs, including a three-run blast in the first inning against Cedar Ridge, followed by another dinger against Northwood. McPherson homered against East Chapel Hill last week, and Robinson added an inside-the-park home run Thursday.

Most teams are only as good as its pitching, which may be where Orange is well ahead of its league rivals. Junior Gracie Walker earned her second win this season against Northwood. In the season-opener against East Chapel Hill, Walker struck out seven in three innings, and surrendered only two hits in three innings. On Thursday, Walker combined with Robinson and Courtney Watkins on a five-inning no-hitter. Northwood drew a two-out walk in the second inning. It was their only baserunner all day.

Tackett started Orange’s 12-run 2nd inning with a one-out liner to right field. That started a string of six straight Lady Panthers reaching safely. After McPherson was hit by a pitch, Bradsher plated Tackett with a double to the centerfield wall. Robinson cleared the bases with a two-run double that went over the left field’s head. With Jackson at bat, Robinson scored off a wild pitch. Wirt singled to left field and Wynne reached on a fielder’ choice where Bree Harris, running for Jackson, was thrown out at third. Wirt and Wynne each advanced a base on a double steal, leading to Wirt scoring off a bases-loaded walk by Walker. Tackett slapped a two-run single to right field. McPherson doubled to left center to bring in Delaney Shaffer (running for Walker) and Tackett. Bradsher then scored McPherson with a single, which was followed by Robinson’s inside-the-park homer.

Orange will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.

The Orange softball team served notice to the rest of the Big 8 Conference that they are a force to be reckoned with in this abbreviated season. The Panthers put up 12 runs in the second inning to roar past Northwood 18-0 in five innings on Thursday at Orange Softball Park. Sophomore Carson Bradsher jump started the offense, scoring the first run of the game with a head-first slide into the plate after a cue shot by Lauren Jackson was thrown away by Northwood. Bradsher finished 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored and 3 RBIs. Sophomore Kelsey Tackett hit a one-out single to right field, which led to five consecutive Lady Panthers hit. Bradsher and Tackett each had two hits in the 2nd inning, and each scored twice. Orange is 3-0 in the Big 8 and is tied with Northern Durham for 1st place in the loss column. The Lady Panthers travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night at 6, its only game next week.