Moments after Orange’s Koren Mangal put the Panthers ahead on a goal with :37 remaining in the fourth quarter on Thursday night, Panther goalkeeper Tyson Wolter made a save with :02 remaining, ensuring Orange’s 7-6 win, the first victory for new Orange Lacrosse Coach Chandler Zirkle. In a defensive battle, Wolter made 18 saves.
After setting the bar along the defensive line for three conference championship teams, Orange senior Ryan Sellers is now undaunted.
He will be an East Carolina Pirate.
On Thursday night, Sellers released a statement saying he will continue his career at East Carolina next fall. Sellers will start in Greenville as a preferred walk-on, not on scholarship.
Sellers was contacted by an East Carolina assistant coach after basketball season ended. He received offers from Division II Methodist University and Division III Randolph-Macon College, but felt playing under Scottie Montgomery at ECU offered him an opportunity to shine in the American Athletic Conference.
Listed at 6’0, 220 pounds, Sellers was the defensive end that recorded 32 sacks in three varsity seasons. During his junior season, Sellers was a star on possibly the greatest Orange defense in school history. Playing alongside current Vanderbilt defensive end Stone Edwards, Noah Rodgers and future N.C. State linebacker Payton Wilson, Sellers recorded 15 sacks and 27 tackles for loss. In 2016, Orange allowed only three offensive touchdowns during an 11-0 regular season, the first undefeated regular season at OHS since 1978.
In his senior season, Sellers led the team with eleven sacks and 24 tackles for loss. He also had the only interception of his career and recovered two fumbles.
Sellers has also been a varsity basketball player for three years, where he was a key reserve during Orange’s run to the 2016 Big 8 Tournament Championship and the 2017 regular season title. This winter, when Mitch Portman was in concussion protocol after suffering a knee to the head against Hillside and sophomore Mechai Holt broke his left foot, Sellers served as the team’s point guard for the duration of the season.
In what figures to be a deep Big 8 Conference, Orange and Cedar Ridge starting their league campaigns on the wrong foot.
In mid-40 degree temperatures in Pittsboro Wednesday night, defending Big 8 Conference Champion Northwood routed the Red Wolves 19-7.
Things couldn’t have started much better for the Red Wolves. Adam Chunupa led off the game with a solo homer to center field. Cedar Ridge pushed the lead to 2-0 after catcher Connnor Lamb double to center to score Matthew Kahn, who reached on a walk.
From there on, it was total Northwood domination. The Chargers scored seven runs in the second inning, six in the third and six more in the fourth. Northwood (4-2, 1-0 in the Big 8) batted around in three consecutive innings, pounding out 17 hits.
Charger shortstop Michael Posse, a freshman who transferred from Georgia during the summer, hit two doubles in the 2nd inning. He led off the 2nd with a two-bagger, which was followed by a single from Deuce Powell. After Zack Sipe walked to load the bases, David Palermo hit an RBI single to left. Zizzy Newell lined an 0-2 fastball down the left field line to score Powell and Sipe. Second baseman Bryce Davis grounded a seeing-eye single over the middle to bring in Palermo and Newell.
Trailing 13-2 in the fourth, Cedar Ridge did score five runs. Landon Badgeett lined a one-out single to left. After Chnupa reached on a fielder’s choice, Jake DeFranco walked to load the bases. Dante DeFranco followed with a double to the left field fence. Chris Cox followed with a three-run homer to reduce the Northwood lead to 13-7.
Dante DeFranco finished 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBI. Badger went 2-for-2, while Lamb went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Cedar Ridge will host Northwood on Friday in Hillsborough.
On Thursday, East Chapel Hill’s Jeb Byerley’s double scored Bryce Jeske and C.J. Di Benedetto in the fifth inning to help East Chapel Hill defeat Orange 7-5 at Panther Field.
Orange (2-3, 0-1 in the Big 8) battled back from a 4-0 deficit to breifly take the lead in the 4th. Collin Guentensberger doubled down the left field line. Jaydin Poateat sent a grounder to shortstop, where Di Benedetto tried to throw out Guentensberger at third, where he was called safe. In the midst of East players arguing the call, Poteat raced over to 2nd. After Joey Berini walked, Jason Slaughter drew a based-loaded walk. After East inserted Brad Rice to pitch, Caige Clayton singled to left field to score Poteat and Berini to give Orange a 5-4 lead, but it didn’t last long.
East’s Ryan McGlinn singled to start the fifth, and Jeske was hit by a pitch while trying to bunt. Di Benedetto walked, leading to Byerley’s two-out double.
Orange starter Will White needed only 15 pitches to get the first five outs, but East scored four runs off five hits in the second inning, all with two outs. Benton Copeland had the game’s first hit on a cue-shot infield single. Rice singled to right to score Copeland. McGlinn followed with a line drive to left to score Harris. Jeske delivered a double to the right center power alley that plated Rice and McGlinn.
East will host Orange to conclude the two-game series on Friday afternoon at 4:30. That game can be heard on HillsboroughSports.com.
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.
In theory, the defending 3A State Champion that returns six starters from last year wouldn’t have to face very much adversity.
Then there’s reality, which is what the Orange softball faced nose-to-nose to start its season on Wednesday night.
As they’ve done so often over the past three years, the Lady Panthers found a way, thanks to a game-winning hit from a freshman catcher in her first varsity at-bat——who wasn’t even supposed to be called up from the JV team until the day before.
Alaysia Sanford poked a one-out, bases-loaded infield hit behind second base to score Jayden Hurdle in the bottom of the seventh inning for the game-winning hit as Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 6-5 at Orange Softball Field on Wednesday night. It was the third time in the last three years that Orange defeated the Eagles by one run.
Earlier in the inning, the Eagles tied the game after Morgan Lawson doubled off the left field wall and scored off a dropped ball hit by catcher Haley Batista.
Sanford will go down as the replacement for North Carolina State Gatorade Player of the Year Mia Davidson, who set the state record for career home runs last season. The thing is, Sanford not only wasn’t supposed to play on Wednesday, she wasn’t even supposed to start the season at varsity.
Freshman Hunter Balog was supposed to start on Wednesday, but she was hit in the head by a practice ball inside Orange’s practice gym on Tuesday. Instead of filling the role of Davidson, Balor was placed in concussion protocol. So interim head coach Henry Horn, on the job for all of five days, called up Sanford on 24 hours notice.
It was Orange’s first game since the resignation of head coach Eddie Davidson, who informed the squad last Thursday of his departure. Three weeks ago, Davidson’s wife Christina received a promotion with the National Association of Letter Carriers, which required a relocation to Washington, D.C.
Hurdle, a sophomore who replaced starter Alyssa Hellman in the third inning, earned the victory in relief for the Panthers. Hurdle, who started the game at first base, finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Orange bolted out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Freshman shortstop Emma Puckett doubled off the left field wall. The next batter, Alysann Lloyd, also doubled into the left field corner to score Puckett. Hurdle bounced a 1-0 fastball to right field to score Lloyd. Designated hitter Alisha Pettiford floated a single to right field, plating Hurdle.
Eastern Alamance tied the game with three runs in the third inning. Madison Harley, batting ninth, led off with a double off the left field wall. Lawson singled to right and Haleigh Palmer walked to load the bases. Caris Faucette knocked in Harley with a grounder to third baseman Olivia Ruff, who tried to throw Harley out at the plate. After Lawson scored on a wild pitch, Cameron Bass singled to right center to drive in Palmer and tie the game.
In the 5th, Eastern Alamance got its only lead of the game when Batista homered to left-center off Hurdle, one of only two hits that she surrendered.
In the bottom of the frame, Orange got the lead back off of two unearned runs. Hurdle started with a leadoff walk, then Pettiford attempted a bunt, which led to a throwing error. In the subsequent at-bat, Ruff also bunted, leading to another throwing error that scored Hurdle. Left fielder Hayley Funk hit a sacrifice fly to score Pettiford and give Orang a 5-4 lead.
In her first varsity game, Puckett went 2-for-4 with a double.
Orange will travel to Mebane to face Eastern Alamance again on Saturday afternoon at 1.
It was an eventful season-opener for Orange sophomore Jaden Hurdle on Wednesday night against Eastern Alamance. Hurdle started the game at 1st base, but came on as a pitcher in the 3rd innings. Hurdle earned her third career win in relief while going 2-for-3 with an RBI double. She also score the game-winning run after freshman Alaysia Sanford drove her in with an infield single in Sanford’s first varsity at-bat in the bottom of the seven as Orange won 6-5.
Eddie Davidson’s arrival as softball coach at Orange High was the textbook definition of perfect timing. He arrived just as his oldest daughter Montana was a rising senior and his youngest daughter Mia was a junior.
It May, Eddie led the Orange softball team to the first women’s team state championship in school history.
In a perfect world, Davidson would just be planting his roots in Hillsborough and prepare for a long stay, just like his baseball coach Dean Dease has done when Davidson played right field for him in 1991 and 1992.
But sometimes life gets in the way and the timing isn’t always perfect.
Two weeks ago, Davidson’s wife Christina earned a promotion for the National Association of Letter Carriers after a vacancy suddenly opened, necessitating a move to Washington, D.C. Davidson, who has worked in the post office industry in Durham just like his father Cliff since graduating from Orange, also earned a promotion and will accompany his wife.
On Thursday, the day before Orange was slated to open its season against Eastern Alamance (who was postponed do to high winds), Davidson informed his team of his resignation.
Henry Horn, who served as an assistant at Northern Durham for three years, will serve as the interim coach.
“It was very difficult for him,” said Horn. “It was a good situation for his family at that time. He really hated to step away, but that’s when he asked me to fill that void for this season. I told him I would.”
After Horn left Northern, he had no intention of getting back into the game. He filled the time watching his daughter, Callie, play at Elon. Then Mia Davidson talked him into coming back to be a hitting coach for her Showcase Summer League team.
When Davidson asked Horn to return to high school coaching in 2017, Horn was reluctant.
”I wasn’t ready, to be honest,” said Horn. “But I really like these kids. I really like these kids. I promised him that I would stay here just to keep the tradition going.”
Davidson, who played football and baseball during his high school days at Orange from 1988-1992, leaves the softball team after two seasons as head coach. He went 49-7 with two Big 8 Championships (Orange shared the 2016 title with Northwood).
In 2016, Orange advanced to the 4th round of the 3A State Playoffs, where they lost to C.B. Aycock 7-5.
A year later, the Panthers claimed the 3A state championship by sweeping Piedmont in the best-of-three series at N.C. State’s Dail Field. Mia Davidson was named series MVP after she hit a two-run homer to dead center to vault Orange ahead 3-2 in the 7th inning to take game one.
