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In its first Big 8 meet of the season, the Cedar Ridge boys and girls cross country teams each captured their respective races.

Running against a partial team from East Chapel Hill and a full team from Hillside on Tuesday afternoon at Cedar Ridge, the Red Wolves’ boys finished first with 15 points. The Wildcats came in 2nd with 55 while Hillside recorded 76 points.

The Cedar Ridge girls team finished with 6 points while Hillside had 44. East didn’t field a girls team for Tuesday’s meet.

In the boys race, Cedar Ridge had the top seven finishers. Senior Brian Finch continued his strong season, finishing the 5,000 meter course in 19:22. Alistar Stewart came in 2nd at 19:44. Junior Rory Legg-Bell cross the finish line 3rd at 20:09. Junior Eli Tilley was 4th with a time of 20:49. Zach Crane was 5th, ending his run at 21:02. Senior Joshua Goularte was sixth at 21:14, and Evan Paisley came in 7th at 21:28. Cedar Ridge sophomore Noah Draughon rounded out the top ten with a 10th place finish with a time of 21:32. Freshman Zach Gary’s was 11th.

Competing against only Hillside in the girls race, Cedar Ridge had its first four runners cross the finish line, as well as eight of the top ten. Three of them were freshman, including Anne Morrell, who set the pace with a time of 24:47. Cedar Ridge junior Abby Averette finished second at 25:07. Freshman Ariana Solis came in third at 26:20. Senior Noa Berman was 4th with a time of 26:26.

Red Wolf freshman Jill Myles finished sixth, completing the course at 26:50. Sophomore Sydney Reavely was 8th at 27:28. Finishing tenth was senior Alexandria Wirth at 27:58.

Another freshman, April Hunt, came in 11th at 28:03.

The Orange Panthers nearly broke the stranglehold that teams from southern Orange County have had at the top of the Big 8 standings on Tuesday night, but not quite.

East Chapel Hill held off Orange 3-2 at Wildcat Gymnasium on scores of 25-8, 17-25, 25-14, 19-25 and 16-14.

Senior Bailey Lucas had a strong all-around performance for the Panthers, finishing with twelve kills, 16 assists and eleven digs. Sophomore Emma Clements had four aces, 14 kills and 21 digs. Emma Clements had two aces, two kills, one block, 26 assists and eleven digs.  Libero Faith Foushee also had 21 digs.

With the win, Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill maintain the top two spots in the Big 8. The Tigers are 7-0 in conference play while the Wildcats are now 7-1, 11-6 overall.

Orange falls to 8-6, and is now in fifth place in the Big 8 with a 3-5 record.

There are some sports where the additions of Northern Durham, East Chapel Hill and Hillside in the Big 8 Conference that are affected more than others. East Chapel Hill’s biggest influence will be felt in girls tennis.

The Wildcats have captured nine girls state championships under former coach Lindsay Linker. Now back at the 3-A level, it’s clearer than ever before than this year’s Big 8 Championship will be decided by the two Chapel Hill schools.

The Wildcats defeated defending Big 8 Champion Cedar Ridge 6-0 on Wednesday.

Savannah Bright, Stella Joksimovic, Isabel Green, Ingrid Mast, Ellie Kim and Sarah McClanahan all won singles matches for the Wildcats. The doubles matches weren’t contested because of rain.

Cedar Ridge falls to 4-3, 2-2 in the Big 8. The loss to the Wildcats ends the Red Wolves’ two-match winning streak. CRHS defeated Orange and Northern Durham last week.

Former Orange High and Chapel Hill coach Nicky Walker is now coaching the Wildcats. East improves to 7-2, 4-0 in the Big 8.

Cedar Ridge will try to rebound on Wednesday against Hillside in Hillsborough.

After winning six of its first seven matches, this week was one to forget for the Orange volleyball team.

Following conference losses to Northwood and Chapel Hill, the Panthers were swept by Roxboro Community School 3-0 on Friday night, and only the final set was close. The Bulldogs claimed its seventh straight win on scores of 25-9, 25-14 and 25-23.

Emma Clements finished with two aces, five kills, two blocks and seven digs. Libby Jones had five kills, two blocks and one dig. Faith Foushee had nine digs for the Panthers. Bailey Lucas finished with ten assists.

Orange hosts Jordan on Monday in Hillsborough, then travels to Southern Durham on Tuesday.

The Orange and Cedar Ridge volleyball teams became the first squads to play against the new Big 8 Conference on Thursday night, and the evening didn’t go as they wanted.

Orange lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to East Chapel Hill in Hillsborough on scores of 26-24, 23-25, 16-25, 25-16 and 15-9. It was the first loss of the season for the Panthers, who were playing its third match in four days.

Senior Avery Riley finished with 13 kills, two blocks and two digs for the Panthers (3-1, 0-1 in the Big 8), Sophomore Emma Clements registered two aces, eleven kills and 25 digs. Senior co-captain Caroline Compton had three aces, two kills, 22 assists and 13 digs. Co-captain Bailey Lucas came up with four aces, four kills, one block, 17 assists and seven digs.

Meanwhile in Pittsboro, Northwood remained undefeated by beating Cedar RIdge 3-1 on scores of 25-15, 25-22, 24-26 and 25-20. The Red Wolves fall to 3-2, 0-1 in the Big 8, while Northwood is 5-0 after its initial conference game.

On Monday, Cedar Ridge has another three-game week. It starts Monday with a road trip to Jordan, followed by a home game against Chapel Hill the following day. The Red Wolves finish the week at archrival Orange on Thursday night.

Orange travels to Eastern Alamance on Monday, then plays its second conference game at Hillside on Tuesday.

Going on the road after a tough 2016 season, Cedar Ridge found a way to grind out a 5-set thriller in the Bull City to start the new year.

The Red Wolves defeated Durham School of the Arts 3-2 on Monday night at Sykes Gymnasium.

Junior Sarah McCuiston finished with ten kills, three aces and two blocks. Macy Henry, who was limited last season because of injuries, made a solid return, registering 36 assists, six digs and a block. Alexa Pagnanelli had 15 digs. Tionna Carter, the shortstop for the Cedar Ridge softball team, finished with seven kills and three digs in her varsity debut Junior Juliann De Jesus ended up with ten kills.

Cedar Ridge will take a 1-0 record into its home opener on Wednesday against Eastern Alamance. The varsity match starts at 6 PM.

The path to Orange’s 1st Regional softball championship was one where logic didn’t apply.

On May 26th, West Brunswick wheeled into Hillsborough riding an 18-game wining streak, fresh off an 8-5 win over Orange in Shalotte in the opening game of the best-of-3 Eastern Regional Series. Torrential rain throughout the week and North Carolina High School Athletic Association guidelines forced the series to end on May 26th, which meant Orange had to beat WBHS twice in one night.

How could a team lose twice in one night when they hadn’t lost once in two months?

Because logic didn’t apply here.

Logic would dictate that the player most responsible for Orange’s success, Mia Davidson, would play the largest role in overcoming the daunting task of winning twice in one night against the Mideastern Conference champions.

Yet Davidson labored through the worst slump of her high school career, going 0-for-6 with two walks. She was hit by pitches three times.

The most important at-bat of the series came in game 2 from sophomore Olivia Ruff, who launched a grand slam to cap a five-run 1st inning.

It was the first home run of her career. Not just in a high school game, in ANY game.

Because logic didn’t apply here.

When West Brunswick fought back to narrow the Orange lead to 5-4, sophomore Alisha Pettiford pounded a two-run homer to left, ensuring a third and deciding game.

It was Pettiford’s second career home run. Because you know how that goes.

Logic would imply that, in the third game, an Orange senior would step up in a crucial role, which proved true.

Except Enzyah Holt didn’t start. She was a courtesy runner who came in whenever pitcher Kristina Givens got on base.

In two separate instances, Holt drew throws from West Brunswick’s catcher that wound up in the outfield, and scored each time. That, and Givens’ arm which logged 230 pitches on the night, was enough to carry Orange to a 5-1 win.

That’s only a partial list of the dramatic, quirky, strange and downright funny events that comprised Orange’s run to its first 3A State Championship, which ended with a 4-1 victory over Piedmont on Saturday at Dail Softball Stadium at N.C. State in Raleigh.

If the heroes of the regional series against West Brunswick were underclassmen, the state title series was carried by Orange’s three senior captains.

Piedmont outplayed Orange in game 1 on Friday night. They had nine hits, while Orange had half of its six hits in the sixth inning. After freshman Jaydin Hurdle knocked in senor Abby Hamlett in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, the Panthers were limited to one baserunner in the next four innings.

By the time the sixth inning rolled around, Piedmont led 2-1 off an RBI groundout by Gracie Rape which scored Avery Bellai.

Sophomore Hayley Funk lined the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth into left field. After Grace Andrews moved Funk to 2nd with a sacrifice bunt, Davidson came to bat.

Piedmont coach Jason Phelix had no intention to pitch to the most prolific home run hitter in state history with a state championship on the line. He instructed Rape to pitch around Davidson, who still took a cut on a 1-0 fastball.

Then Rape made the mistake of coming too close to the plate with a 2-1 fastball. Davidson placed it almost 300 feet over the centerfield wall, nearly hitting a shed that stores a tractor for the N.C. State ground crew.

Orange led 3-2. They never trailed again in the series.

“I had been in a slump,” said Davidson. “I told myself to relax and do what I gotta do. I finally did.”

Game 2 on Saturday was your typical early summer playoff game. It was 88 degrees, about three degrees above normal in Raleigh. On the field, the heat index was 95.

Heat was the latest obstacle for an Orange team that has dealt with adversity through a variety of settings, but it was something that anyone with summer softball experience deals with regularly. Many of the Orange players, along with Piedmont, journey throughout the southeast playing on travel teams.

The players know in advance that heat of the day playoff games means more than just suburns and excess sweat.

After four innings, Orange led 2-1.

And Givens got lightheaded in the dugout.

“She felt like she was going to throw up,” said Davidson.”

Fortunately, the Orange training staff found the right ingredients to push Givens through the final three innings: cold towels, carbonated beverages and…breath mints.

“You have to remember you aren’t playing for yourself, but everybody else,” said Givens, who will focus on a medical career in college. “When you state think about that, you stop thinking about how you feel.”

“She’s the best pitcher in 3A softball,” said Davidson. “That’s more heart than any kid I got. Pitching isn’t about throwing the right pitches and throwing hard. It’s about enduring, overcoming and persevering.”

Givens led the defense. On offense, Hamlett went 4-for-7 in the series, scoring twice. In the top of the seventh, she lined a single to left, scoring Funk and Davidson, putting Orange ahead 4-1 and starting a raucous celebration for the Orange fans along the 1st base line.

It was the final time Hamlett would swing the bat in an Orange uniform, a fact that wasn’t lost on her afterwards.

“I’m glad this was how I was able to go out,” said Hamlett with tears in her eyes. “It’s sad, honestly. I’ll never step foot on a softball field again.”

“She was really the key who brought it all together this year,” said Davidson. “She came to me before practice one day and said she would move to shortstop so she could cover Mia’s throws. I said ‘Let’s do it.’ She’s been clutch.”

“Our three captains all did something for us to win this weekend,” said Davidson.

Davidson’s biggest chore for next year is the unenviable task of replacing his daughter, possibly the greatest female athlete in Orange history. He’ll also need a new pitcher, a role that Hurdle may assume.

Those are problems for tomorrow. For now, he can look back on his team’s incredible run through the state tournament, and a state championship that will last forever.

How much good news was there for Cedar Ridge baseball on Wednesday night?

For starters, they won their first state playoff game ever as a 3A school,  beating Nash Central 4-1 at Red Wolves Field in Hillsborough in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Playoffs. It was their first overall playoff victory since the 2007 2A state playoffs, when they advanced all the way to the fourth round, losing to eventual Eastern Regional Champion North Lenior.

On top of that, the Red Wolves (17-6) will host Saturday’s second round game. Eastern Alamance, a 31st seed with an 11-14 record, stunned Coastal Conference Champion West Cartaret in Morehead City 11-8. West Cartaret became the highest seeded team to lose in the first round of the 3A playoffs.

Just as he did when he threw a one-hitter against Orange last Wednesday, sophomore pitcher Phil Berger kept Nash Central’s batters off balance. He gave up only three hits, just one in the final five innings.

The Red Wolves scored all four of its runs in the bottom of the third, starting with freshman third baseman Matthew Kahn grinding out an eight-pitch at-bat that ended with a single to left. After Jake DeFranco walked, senior Brandon Andrews hit a hard grounder up the middle to score Kahn and give Cedar Ridge a 1-0 lead It was the second of Andrews’ three hits on the night.

With the Bulldogs’ infield playing in, sophomore Dante DeFranco sent a liner off the shortstop Drifton Padgett’s glove, which scored Jake DeFranco. Andrews moved over the third, but Dante DeFranco was thrown out trying to advance to second. After Chnupa was hit by a pitch, junior Chris Cox lined a two-run single to centerfield for his 21st and 22nd RBIs of the year.

Berger finished with his third complete game in his last four outings, striking out five, surrending only three hits and one earned run in the seventh. He improved to 8-2.

Nash Central, who finished tied for fourth in the Big East Conference, ends the season 15-11.