Orange High School

Photo by Will Okun 

The Orange Men’s Soccer team will go into the Labor Day weekend on a three-game winning streak.

Drew Jagentenfl scored a goal and two assists while senior Levi Anderson added a goal and an assist as Orange defeated Person 4-0 on Thursday night at Orange Soccer Park. Jo Sanchez and junior Brandon Guzman also notched goals for the Panthers, who improve to 3-2-1 on the season.

Anderson also had an assist for the Panthers, who will host Riverside on Tuesday night at 6:30. The Panthers fired 23 shots on net in the game and 32 shots overall. Anderson finished with seven shots, while Jagentenfl, sophomore Jason Franklin and Rohan Kasthrui each had four shots.

Goalkeeper Francisco McKinley earned the win in net.

On Tuesday night, Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 4-2. Jagentenfl, Sanchez, Anderson and R.J. Pherribo all scored for Orange, while sophomore Leif Mahaney, Luke Phillips, Sebastian Rios and Kasthrui all had assists.

Orange will play its Big 8 Conference opener against East Chapel Hill at Orange on Wednesday night.

VOLLEYBALL

In other events from Thursday night, the Orange volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Northwood in Pittsboro. The Panthers are now 6-3 overall, 2-2 in the Big 8 Conference. Next week, Orange will have two home matches, starting with power Chapel Hill on Tuesday. The Tigers are tied for 1st in the Big 8 with East Chapel Hill at 4-0. On Thursday, Orange hosts Southern Durham.

Meanwhile, the Northern Durham volleyball team defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1 at Poe Gymtorium in Durham. The Red Wolves, who have dropped five straight, are now 2-6 overall, 0-4 in the Big 8 Conference.

Cedar Ridge got off to a good start in winning the first set 25-23. Northern captured the final three sets 25-15, 25-18 and 25-15. Senior Sarah McCuiston led the Red Wolves with 12 kills, two assists and five digs. Junior Emma Downing had eight kills and one block. Senior Juliann De Jesus had six kills, two blocks. Senior Macy Henry led Cedar Ridge with 25 assists. Senior libero Rachel Tucker had 12 digs. Junior Celeste Pasley finished with four kills.

The Red Wolves will play three matches next week. They host East Chapel Hill on Tuesday night, followed by a nonconference home match against Jordan of the Triangle 6 Conference on Wednesday. The Red Wolves travel to Hillside on Thursday.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Coming off a disappointing loss to Cedar Ridge on Wednesday, the Orange Women’s Tennis team bounced back to finish the week with a 5-4 victory over South Granville at Panther Tennis Courts. Orange, which doesn’t have a senior on the team, earned wins from freshman Jera Hargove at #1 singles, Natalie Marochak at #3, Sydney Allison at #5 and Gaylaw Eh at #6 singles. Allison and Eh earned Orange’s 3rd team match win of the season with a doubles victory. Orange, which is 1-2 in the Big 8 Conference, ended the week 2-1 after a win on Monday over Hillside. Orange will continue the season on Tuesday at Northwood.

Meanwhile, Cedar Ridge will try to capitalize on the momentum of the Orange victory when they travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday. The Red Wolves will host East Chapel Hill on Thursday.

Entering its season opener on Wednesday night, the Orange junior varsity football team hadn’t lost a game in over three years.

The streak is still alive…barely.

Orange defeated Athens Drive 13-12 at Auman Stadium in the first of ten games this season for the Panthers. The Jaguars had a chance to win with just 1:45 remaining after scoring a touchdown. Athens went for a 2-point conversion on the point after, but Orange held them out of the end zone by roughly 18 inches.

Afterwards, Zahmir Watkins, Jared Weaver and Curtis Ward discussed the Panthers 1st win of the season on the gridiron.

Watkins, Weaver and Ward Discuss the Orange JVs 13-12 Win over Athens Drive

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When Kelly Young took over the Orange volleyball program in June, she first noticed how versatile her new team was.

While she didn’t have the biggest team in the Big 8 Conference, Young was impressed in workouts with how her squad could play multiple positions. In no other game this season was that best exemplified than on Tuesday night.

Orange swept Cedar Ridge 3-0 at Red Wolves Gymnasium to improve to 5-2 overall. It was Orange’s fourth straight win over the Red Wolves.

Emma Clements and Libby Jones had seven kills each, while senior Liz LaNier had six kills, two assists and a block. Freshman Lydia Wood and senior Sarah McCuiston paced the Red Wolves with six kills each. Junior Celeste Pasley had four kills.

Orange never trailed in any of the three sets, earning the win on scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-16.

“Anyone I put in, they did their job,” said Young. “They wanted to win. They want conference wins. We’ve set some high goals for this team and they’re working for them.”

Cedar Ridge dropped its fourth straight and fell to 2-5, 0-3 in the BIg 8 Conference. The Red Wolves were coming off a three-game road trip that ended with a match last Thursday against Chapel Hill, the two-time defending 3A Eastern Regional Champions.

Orange was coming off a five-set loss against Person in Roxboro on Monday night, an effort that Young was proud of.

“They worked their tails off (against Person),” said Young. “They wanted to win.”

The same can’t be said about Orange’s opening Big 8 match last week, a 3-0 loss to East Chapel Hill.

“We played awful,” said Young. “It wasn’t like one or two people wasn’t on. The majority of us weren’t on. I don’t think we outpsyched ourselves. We just couldn’t get any momentum going. We definitely were not playing our normal play.”

With Clements serving, Orange jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start the second set. During the run, Clements had a kill and an ace. Cedar Ridge narrowed the deficit to 7-6 following an ace from Pasley. Orange pushed their advantage back to 16-12 following a block from LaNier and an Celements kill assisted by Kaitlyn Werden who finished with a team-high 14 assists. Jones wrapped up the set on a kill assisted by Werden.

The third set was the most competitive with Cedar Ridge tying it three times, including at 8-8  after Colby Rabelais scored a kill off an assist from Macy Henry. Orange went on a 6-1 run to take control of the set, which included two kills from Natalia Ruble. The Lady Panthers closed with the final six points to close out the win.

Cedar Ridge’s last win over Orange in volleyball came on September 1, 2016 at Red Wolves’ Gymnasium. It’s a long way from the 2013-2015 under former head coach Charlie Oakley, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange five consecutive times.

Orange will travel to Northwood on Thursday night. Cedar Ridge will journey to Poe Gymtorium to face Northern Durham on Thursday. Northwood and Northern Durham will enter their respective matches in a three-way tie for third place in the Big 8 with 2-1 records.

For the fourth straight time, the Orange volleyball team defeated the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves on Tuesday night. In a 3-0 sweep, senior Libby Jones finished with seven kills and two digs. The Panthers never trailed in any of the three sets. Just one night removed from a five-set loss to Person in Roxboro, the Panthers improved to 6-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange travels to Northwood on Thursday night. 

Orange Volleyball Senior Libby Jones Discusses Win over Cedar Ridge

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Our 2nd Orange Panther of the Week for 2018 is Orange Soccer midfielder Cam Michalski. Last week, Michalski scored a goal as the Panthers earned its first win of the season over Person 5-1 in Roxboro. On Tuesday night, Michalski scored in a 2-2 tie with Eastern Alamance. On Monday, Orange handily defeated Eastern Alamance in a rematch at Orange Soccer Field 4-2. When he isn’t playing soccer for club teams, Cam likes rooting on Chelsea in England’s Premier League and hopes the Blues won’t have a repeat of the 2017 season. Orange returns to action on Tuesday night to face Person in Hillsborough. 

Orange Panther of the Week: Cam Michalski

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After coming close in the opening four games of the season, the Orange Men’s Soccer team earned its first win of the season in convincing fashion.

Junior Rohan Kasthuri scored two goals and an assist as the Panthers defeated Person 5-1 on Wednesday night in Roxboro. Cam Michalski, Johannes Sanchez and Drew Jagentenfl also scored for Orange, who are now 1-2-1. Jagentenfl assisted on two of the goals, while Sanchez assisted on another.

On Tuesday night, Orange traveled to Eastern Alamance and played to a 2-2 tie with the Eagles. Francisco McKinley, the new Orange goalkeeper replacing Noah Miller, came up with some important stops to keep the game even. Jo Sanchez scored two goals for the Panthers, while Michalski came up with an assist.

Also on Wednesday night, Graham defeated Cedar Ridge 2-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. The Red Wolves are now 2-1 after its second consecutive win. Cedar Ridge falls to 0-3-1. On Saturday, Cedar Ridge will travel to Wilson Hunt. Next Wednesday, Cedar Ridge will return home to face Southern Alamance.

The momentum from starting 4-0 for the first time since 2010 didn’t carry over for Orange in its Big 8 Conference opener.

East Chapel Hill, under new head coach Rachel Kline, defeated the Lady Panthers 3-0 at Wildcat Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The Wildcats swept the Lady Panthers on scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 25-21 to improve to 4-0. Over the summer, Kline replaced longtime head coach Michelle Wood at East Chapel Hill.

Orange, who suffered its first loss of the season, had eight kills from junior Emma Clements. That pushed Clements to a team-leading 61 kills through the first five games of the season. Senior Libby Jones and Natalie Ruble each had five kills. Senior Liz LaNier finished with two aces. Junior Grace Ducharme had ten assists and senior Meg Gattis finished with 12 digs. Vale Serge led Orange with 15 digs.

Through the first five games, Jones has 42 kills, eleven blocks and 19 digs. LaNier has 38 kills, six aces, and a team-leading 22 blocks. Clements also leads the squad with 97 digs, while Gattis has 85 digs and Serge has 51. Junior Kaitlyn Werden has 80 assists, including a season-high 23 in last Thursday’s 3-1 win at South Granville in Creedmoor.

The Lady Panthers are now 4-1, 0-1 in the Big 8 Conference. They aim to bounce back with a home game on Thursday night against Hillside. After Thursday, Orange will play three consecutive games on the road, including a nonconference match against Person in Roxboro on Monday night. They also travel to Northwood next Thursday.

Also on Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge dropped its first Big 8 Conference game to Northwood 3-0 on scores of 25-11, 25-14 and 25-12. The Red Wolves were only credited with five kills. Senior Sarah McCuiston led the team with three kills. Rachel Tucker had eight digs. Macy Henry finished with all five of the Red Wolves assists.

On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge suffered a disappointing loss to Eastern Alamance 3-2 in Mebane. Last week, the Red Wolves defeated the Eagles 3-1 in Hillsborough.

It won’t get any easier for Cedar Ridge on Thursday night. They travel to Chapel Hill, the two-time defending 3A Eastern Regional Champions. The Tigers are 6-1 under head coach Ross Fields after losing to Marvin Ridge 2-0 last week during the Best of the Best Tournament at Davidson College. The Tigers won its conference opener over Hillside on Tuesday 3-0.

Through the first five games of the season, McCuiston and freshman Lydia Wood lead the Red Wolves with 20 kills each. Sophomore Haylee Cothran has three aces. McCuiston has a team-leading 15 blocks, while Henry has 14 blocks and Emma Downing had 13 blocks, along with 16 kills. Tucker has 50 digs. Marlee Rakouskas, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, has 27 digs.

After playing three road matches this week, Cedar Ridge will return home on Tuesday to host Orange.

Elsewhere around the Big 8 Conference, Northern Durham is 3-0 after winning its Big 8 opener against Southern Durham. The Knights also won at South Granville on Monday 3-1 and opened the season with a 3-0 sweep of the Durham School of the Arts at Poe Gymtorium. Northern will host East Chapel Hill on Thursday night. The Knights finished 17-7 in 2017 and finished in a three-way tie with Northwood and East Chapel Hill for 3rd place.

After winning his big league debut with the Atlanta Braves on Monday night, Bryse Wilson has been optioned back to the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League.

Wilson, who had his contract purchased by the Braves on Monday afternoon, was sent back down as Atlanta recalled outfielder Michael Reed from Gwinnett. The move was expected as Braves manager Brian Snitker inserted Wilson as the starter against the Pirates after veteran infielder Ryan Flaherty was designated for assignment on Monday. Flaherty had only four starts in the previous 91 days.

Wilson threw five shutout innings in earning the victory in his Major League debut against the Pirates at PNC Park, allowing three hits, striking out five with three walks. Wilson became the third 20-year-old pitcher to start a game for the Braves this season, joining Mike Soroka and Kolby Allard. The last Major League team to use three starters before their 21st birthday was the 1965 Kansas City Athletics. As fate would have it, another North Carolina native was one of the A’s in that trio, Hertford-native Catfish Hunter, along with Don Buschhorn and Ron Tompkins.

Wilson’s return to Gwinnett may lead to the North Carolina homecoming he didn’t receive on Tuesday night, when the Stripers faced the Durham Bulls at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Wilson was supposed to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader against Durham before his abrupt callup to Atlanta.

Gwinnett will travel to Charlotte at BB&T Park starting Saturday, which will be a day-night doubleheader. By that point, Wilson will have had five days rest and may throw one of those games. Gwinnett also faces Charlotte at 5PM Sunday afternoon and concludes the series on Monday night at 7 PM. Gwinnett’s season ends on Labor Day.

As mentioned in previous posts, Wilson became the first Orange Panther to reach the Major Leagues on Monday night. Two other Orange players reached AAA before retiring.

Chris Maples, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers, played 78 games over two seasons with the Toledo Mudhens of the International League. In 2006, he played 13 games in Toledo, hitting .206 with two home runs and five RBIs. After starting the following season with Erie of the AA Eastern League, Maples was promoted to Toledo again. This time, Maples hit .188 with no home runs and 15 RBIs over 65 games. After a season with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League, Maples retired.

Josh Horton was selected in the 2nd round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s. He played seven professional seasons, which included three different stints with the Sacramento River Cats of the AAA Pacific Coast League. In 2013, Horton played 17 games with Sacramento, hitting .224 before he was released. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles organization, where he finished his career with the Bowie Bay Sox of the AA Eastern League, hitting .303 with one home run and two RBIs in 74 games. In 2012, Horton hit .346 for Midland of the AA Texas League with nine home runs and 54 RBIs.

Bryse Wilson won’t be pitching in Durham tonight in front of family and friends, and that’s okay.

After Monday night, no one would have it any other way.

When Wilson woke up on Sunday morning, he had no idea that his Major League baseball debut was only 24 hours away. He certainly didn’t know he would drop like a plumb from heaven in the midst of the Atlanta Braves chase for its 18th division championship. Or that he would accomplish his dream of being a Major League pitcher in PNC Park in Pittsburgh, one of the most picturesque settings in all of baseball.

Yet there he was on Monday night, the youngest pitcher in the Major Leagues and the third 20-year-old to start for the Braves this year. He started the game by striking out Corey Dickerson. Then he struck out Adam Frazier.

Wilson became the first Orange High player to pitch in the Major Leagues, but he never showed it. He went five shutout innings and earned the win as the Braves defeated the Pirates 1-0. Wilson struck out five, walked three and yielded three hits. After Dickerson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the 5th, Wilson left the game. Dan Winkler earned his 2nd save.

After starting the season with the Florida Fire Frogs in the Florida State League, Wilson was surprised to find himself pitching on Monday night with the Braves clinging to first place in the National League East by one-half game over Philadelphia.

“Never,” Wilson said when asked if he could envision being in the major leagues so soon. “I thought I would move up one step at a time. I never expected this.”

Wilson was called up to Atlanta after just three starts with the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League. On Monday afternoon, Wilson was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after breaking the Gwinnett franchise record by recording 13 strikeouts last Wednesday in the Stripers 4-3 victory over the Louisville Bats.

“I was impressed by everything about him,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “He kind of carried himself like I expected. He has a lot of confidence from everything I’ve heard about him and what little I’ve known him. That’s his makeup.”

Friends and family of Wilson were anticipating his debut at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Tuesday night. He was slated to pitch the 2nd game of a doubleheader for Gwinnett against Durham.

After spending all of 2017 with the Macon Braves of the South Atlantic League, it’s been a summer of promotions for Wilson. He started the season with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League. In five starts, Wilson went 2-0 with a 0.34 ERA. He only yielded four runs in the FSL, and only one of those was earned. He struck out 26 with no walks.

On May 7, Wilson was promoted to Mississippi of the AA Southern League. In the month of July, Wilson led all of minor league baseball with 42 strikeouts, despite being the youngest player in the Southern League at 20 years old. He finished July with a 2-0 record, throwing 32 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, seven walks and a 0.84 ERA.