It’s hard to narrow down the clutch plays that Conner Funk made for the Orange baseball team on Thursday night. Suffice it to say, if Thursday’s win over Terry Sanford was Funk’s final game at Orange High Field, he truly saved his best for last. On the mound, Funk replaced starter Cross Clayton in the sixth inning with the Panthers tied 5-5 against the Bulldogs. Funk entered the game just moments after Terry Sanford’s Adam Pittinger tied the game with a double down the right field line, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd base with only one out. Funk forced an infield pop-up for the second out, then struck out Alex Smith to keep the game tied 5-5. In the bottom of the sixth, Funk chopped a fastball over the third baseman’s head into left field to score Jackson Berini, which turned out to be the game-winning run. For good measure, Funk scored the game’s final run on a sacrifice fly to right field hit by Connor Nordan. Funk earned his first win of the season in the seventh inning, closing the game with a strikeout of Terry Sanford’s Brady Gore. Orange will travel to Greenville to face J.H. Rose, the defending 3A State Champions, for the third round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday. It will be Orange’s first trip to the Round of 16 in the state playoffs since 2017. 

After years of waiting to reach the Eastern Regional Championship game, the Orange lacrosse team didn’t reach its previously uncharted plateau with a last minute goal or a big save in the waning seconds. Instead, the Panthers simply dominated Carrboro 13-4 in the fourth round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs on Thursday night at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. Junior Tigh Metheny scored five goals. Metheny’s classmate, Jake Wimsatt, notched three goals, three assists and 16 face-off wins. Connor Kruse added two goals and three assists as the Panthers extended its school record for most wins in a season with 17. Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Wolter had four saves as the Panthers secured a spot in the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game for the first time in school history. Thus far in the state playoffs, Orange has defeated Carrboro, South Brunswick and Walter Williams by a combined score of 48-19. The Panthers will get the weekend off, then prepare to face the winner of Saturday’s other Eastern Regional semifinal game between Croatan and First Flight. Orange will host the Eastern Regional Championship game on Tuesday night at Auman Stadium. 

The term “uncharted waters” has been a term used well beyond the point of redundancy dove the past two years, mainly in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tonight, the Orange lacrosse team has a chance to reach uncharted waters in a much more beneficial way. They could become the first lacrosse team in school history to reach the Eastern Regional Championship game of the NCHSAA 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs.

On Tuesday night, the Panthers turned back to the challenge of Walter Williams 17-10 at Auman Stadium in front of the strongest home crowd of the season in the State Playoffs. Orange (16-2) defeated the Bulldogs for the third time this season to advance to the State Quarterfinals.

Junior midfielder Jake Wimsatt scored a season-high five goals and nine points, while sophomore Connor Kruse added four goals and two assists. Kruse now has 75 goals and 131 points this season.

Wimsatt, a tight end for the Orange football team, also won 22 face-offs.

Junior Joe Cady had his second consecutive hat trick in a state playoff game. Cady has scored 42 goals and eight hat tricks in 2022.

Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Wolter finished with six saves before being replaced by senior Austin Dillard in the fourth quarter.

Andrew Harris and Tigh Metheny each scored two goals for Orange. Josh Crabtree tacked on another. Josh Cowan scooped up four ground balls.

The Panthers advanced to the state quarterfinals for the second straight year. Last season, Orange knocked off Northwood in the round of 16, only to lose to East Chapel Hill to end its campaign.

Orange coach Chandler Zirkle, in his fifth season, has taken a program that was largely in the shadow of crosstown rival Cedar Ridge in 2016 and has won back-to-back conference championships and playoff wins in the last three state tournaments. His father Franklin, who won the 2006 North Carolina Lacrosse Association State Championship at East Chapel Hill and over 200 games at East and Leesville Road, joined the Orange staff as an assistant this season.

Chandler Zirkle played lacrosse for his father at East Chapel Hill, a sport that had high expectations and lots of success. Chandler also played football at East, which had low expectations and, in his own words, “terrible teams.”

But the leadership under then-East football coach Darian Harris and his staff wasn’t terrible. Harris, a former wide receiver at Hillside High School in the early 90s, introduced Chandler to a leadership council. During Chandler’s senior year, Harris worked with him on a leadership book.

This past winter, Chandler dug up that book and figured it could come in handy for his 2022 Orange team that had just five seniors and lost its top scorers, Ryan Merrill and Caleb Davis, from last year.

“I really enjoyed working with Darian,” Chandler said. “I found my old book. I thought it would be worthwhile for players who hadn’t played a lot to learn their own leadership styles and how to handle it. Early on this year, we had some bickering. It’s just the growing pains of how to handle things and situations during preseason play.”

On Mondays, Zirkle led leadership development sessions with 10-12 players. They would gather on Mondays to learn end-of-game situations, how Zirkle would communicate with them, how to react when a team is down by three goals with ten minutes remaining, and how to react when they’re leading by five goals going into the fourth quarter.

“We still need to handle that part a little better,” Zirkle said.

The final four teams in the East Region in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs are Orange, Carrboro, First Flight and Croatan. First Flight defeated Cedar Ridge 14-10 in Kill Devil Hills on Tuesday night.

Tonight’s game will be Carrboro’s fourth of the state playoffs. After losing to Cedar Ridge in the regular season finale two weeks ago, the Jaguars opened the state playoffs with a first round victory over Terry Sanford 8-5 at Jaguars Stadium. In the second round, Carrboro held off Vance Charter 6-4 in Henderson.

If Orange wins tonight, they will host the Eastern Regional Championship game on Tuesday night at Auman Stadium.

After spending this season facing several Division I college pitching prospects within its own conference, the Orange softball team is used to defensive duals.

Which meant they were well prepared for its state playoff opener on Tuesday night.

In most likely her final at-bat at Orange Softball Field, senior Courtney Watkins hit a grounder up the middle to score Kelsey Tackett in the bottom-of-the seventh inning for the game’s only run as Orange defeated Franklinton 1-0 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Lady Panthers, seeded #14, will face Cape Fear in Fayetteville on Thursday night in the round of 32.

Watkins, the designated player hitting eighth, provided the game’s only RBI.

It was her second of the year.

Tackett provided Orange a glimmer of hope to end the scoreless stalemate with an one-out single on a fly ball to right. Serenity McPherson moved Tackett to second on a sacrifice bunt for the second out.

Orange sophomore pitcher Caden Robinson earned her fifth win of the season where she started dominant, but spent the final innings hanging on by a thread in the face of adversity, which coincidentally resembles the Lady Panthers’ injury-riddled season.

After Robinson set the first 12 Rams down in order, Franklinton loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth inning. First baseman Mackenzie Williams ended Robinson’s attempt at a perfect game after getting hit by a pitch. After shortstop Chelsea Jones walked, the Rams’ Kyndal Hopkins broke up the no-hitter with a soft pop-up that barely reached the edge of the grass behind second base to load the bases. Robinson, who is now Orange’s top pitcher after an injury to senior Gracie Walker suffered against South Granville, struck out Emelyn Kirby, then forced an infield pop-up by Makenzie Helton which was caught by Tackett. With two out, Orange senior third baseman Mary Moss Wirt fielded a quick hopper hit by Franklinton’s Allie Mabrey right along the line three steps in front of the bag. Instead of letting it go foul, Wirt instantly snatched up the ball and made a pinpoint throw to Tackett to end the inning.

Orange was largely devoid of scoring opportunities in the opening three frames. Wirt led off the fourth with a double that reached the left field corner, but was thrown out trying to steal third. Franklinton pitcher Morgan Strickland allowed six hits in six-and-two-thirds innings. Only two Orange players reached third base the whole game.

In the second, Tackett lined on a single to left and advanced to second after the ball got past the left fielder. Watkins drew a walk where ball four was a wild pitch, which allowed Tackett to get to third. Yet the threat immediately ended after Watkins was thrown out by Strickland trying to reach second off the walk.

A moment of hesitation may have cost Franklinton a chance to get a run across in the sixth inning. After Robinson struck out leadoff batter Kaylei Main, the Rams’ Noelle Faulkner sent a double over the head of Orange left fielder Savannah Wynne. Strickland followed with a faint liner to shallow right. Tackett, second baseman Sadie Cecil and right fielder Alexis Latta-Harshaw converged on the ball, which caused Faulkner to remain on second. The ball bounced where the infield dirt met the outfield grass and kicked into foul ground in right field, leading Strickland to get another double. But Faulkner’s brief uncertainty cost her a chance to score and was held at third. Robinson struck out Williams for the second out, then forced Jones into a groundout back to shut down another Franklinton threat.

Robinson, who finished with seven strikeouts, set the Rams down in order in the seventh, leading to Watkins’ heroics.

Orange will face a Cape Fear team that finished second in the 4A/3A United Eight Conference behind 4A squad Purnell Swett. The Colts, the top 3A team in the United Eight, split the season series with Purnell Swett, beating the Rams 4-3 in 14 innings on March 14. Last Thursday, Cape Fear lost to Purnell Swett in the United Eight Conference Tournament Championship game 2-0.

The Colts (21-4) disposed of Northwood, from the Central Carolina Conference, 11-0 in the opening round of the state playoffs on Tuesday.

If the first-ever meeting between Orange and Cedar Ridge in the state baseball playoffs had been anything less than a classic, it would have been viewed as a disappointment.

Instead, the hundreds of people who gathered in the grandstands, around the fences and along the back row of Auman Stadium beyond centerfield Tuesday night were treated to a game they won’t forget anytime soon.

By the time extra innings rolled around, the only thing for certain was that one team would move on to the round of 32 in the 3A State Playoffs. The other team would have a group of seniors hurting badly after a painful loss.

There was so much to gain for Cedar Ridge. It’s first playoff win since 2018. It’s first win at Orange since 2012. Ending a six-game losing streak to its archival.

All of it was two outs away.

For the second straight year, Orange would find a way to pull an improbable escape in the 7th inning. After the Panthers trailed for most of the game, sophomore Cameron Guentensberger bunted David Waitt home for the game-tying run with one out in the bottom-of-the-seventh inning.

The game eventually went nine innings, the longest for both teams this season. In the ninth, senior Davis Horton lined a bases-loaded single to score Conner Funk and push the Panthers past Cedar Ridge 3-2. It was Orange’s first playoff win since 2018. It was also the first time that Orange won a home playoff game since 2016, when they defeated South Johnson it what turned out to be Bryse Wilson’s final victory before he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves a month later.

Orange (17-8) will host Terry Sanford in Hillsborough in the second round. The game is scheduled for Friday but may be moved to Thursday due to the threat of rain.

Cedar Ridge (13-11) held a 2-1 lead after the third inning off a strong pitching performance by freshman Quinn Finnegan, who scattered only five hits in six innings. Finnegan was replaced by B.J. Thornton in the 7th inning after he reached his maximum allotment of 105 pitches allowed by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

“When I brought him into my office today, I said ‘Hey dude, you’ve earned every bit of this,'” said Cedar Ridge coach Bryson Massey, clearly emotional after a season-ending postgame meeting with his team. “I said ‘You’ve got four years of this, so go get it.’ He earned it. He showed his resilience all year. We had no doubt that he was going to go out there and pitch the way he did.”

Orange had its own redemption story. Last June, Asheboro defeated the Panthers off a walkoff double in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs at McCrary Park. Horton’s walkoff single gave the Panthers another day as a team after they stared into the abyss of its season ending.

“Going into playoff baseball, anything can happen,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “These guys are resilient. Conner Funk has showed that time in and time our, against this team specifically. The guys have a no-quit attitude. They’ve been in these situations a lot this year and they know they can pull them out.”

The dramatic finish came three weeks after the Panthers swept a two-game series from Cedar Ridge by a combined score of 29-5. Anyone who knows anything about high school baseball understands that the regular season bears little resemblance to the postseason, something that the Red Wolves made clear on the very first pitch of the game when senior Aidan McCallister lined a single to left field. McAllister advanced to second after a groundout by B.J. Thornton, went to third on a wild pitch and scored off a groundout by Cristian Macias.

McAllister, in his final game at Cedar Ridge, reached base in all four of his plate appearances.

Guentensberger, whose brother Colin (a walk-on football player at Appalachian State) was among the many faces in the crowd, factored in on both Orange runs in regulation. He led off the second by getting hit by a pitch. Guentensberger went to second base after a single by Connor Nordan. After Horton flew out to centerfielder Garrett Ray, Guentensberger tagged up and went to third. Orange’s Codey Snipes lifted a fly ball to right field that dropped in and evened the game, but not for long.

Cedar Ridge senior Nick Nolan lined a single to centerfield to lead off the third inning. After Braedyn Jacobson moved Nolan to second on a sacrifice bunt, McAllister was hit by a pitch. Thornton sent a grounder through the 5-6 hole into left field to put Cedar Ridge back in the lead at 2-1.

Orange starter Ryan Hench controlled the Red Wolves for the remainder of his stint. In his final four innings, Hench retired the Red Wolves in order three times. In yet another no-decision, Hench allowed only three hits.

Strong defense by Cedar Ridge led to Finnegan getting out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings. Nordan led off the fourth with a standup double. Horton followed with a single, but defensive plays by the Red Wolves’ Carlo Garay and Thornton led to the Red Wolves maintaining its 2-1 lead.

Nordan and Horton started the sixth inning with consecutive walks. This time, Finnegan struck out Snipes while Garay tagged out Neo Best. Left fielder Mason Cates ended the sixth inning with a catch on a Jackson Berini flyout.

Orange’s seventh inning started when Waitt lofted a soft liner to shallow centerfield that went off a glove and fell to the ground. After Hench walked, Thornton replaced Finnegan. Waitt moved to third after Funk grounded to Jacobson on a fielder’s choice, leading to Guentensberger’s bunt single to push across the tying run.

Knapp inserted Cross Clayton, the Panthers’ #2 pitcher who will likely face Terry Sanford, for the eighth inning. Clayton, who got Orange’s first win of the season against Northern Durham on February 28 in relief, earned his team-leading eighth win of the season, also in relief.

In the ninth, Funk got aboard off an error in the infield. Guentensberger lofted a soft liner that floated over first base and landed fair by about three feet along the right field line. After Nordan was intentionally walked, Horton lined the first pitch he saw up the middle to give Orange its first lead of the game and send the Orange reserves flying out of the dugout in jubilation.

In the first-ever meeting between Orange and Cedar Ridge in the state baseball playoffs, anything less than a classic would have been a disappointment. On Tuesday night, the two teams delivered a memorable game at Orange High Field. After trailing 2-1 for most of the game, Orange scored a run in the 7th inning and another in the ninth to beat the Red Wolves 3-2 in the opening round of the NCHSAA State Playoffs. Cameron Guentensberger factored in on both Orange runs in regulation. After getting hit by a pitch in the second inning, Guentensberger scored off a fielder’s choice hit by Codey Snipes. In the seventh inning, with Orange’s season two outs away from being over, Guentensberger laid down a bunt that scored David Waitt to tie the game. In the ninth inning, catcher Davis Horton lined a bases-loaded single to centerfield to score Conner Funk for the game-winning run. Orange claimed its first win in the state playoffs since 2018, when they defeated Jacksonville. It was Orange’s first home win in the state playoffs since 2016, when they defeated South Johnston. Orange will face Terry Sanford later this week in Hillsborough. The game is tentatively scheduled for Friday, but could be moved to Thursday due to the threat of rain.

For the second year in a row, the Orange lacrosse team has advanced to the 3A/2A/1A State Quarterfinals. On Tuesday night, the Panthers defeated the Walter Williams Bulldogs 17-10 in the 3rd round of the state playoffs at Auman Stadium. Junior Jake Wimsatt and sophomore Connor Kruse each scored four goals for Orange, who defeated the Bulldogs for the third time this season. Katie Wolter earned the victory as Orange’s goalkeeper in front of the largest crowd of the season at Auman Stadium. Tigh Metheny, who scored eight points in Orange’s win over South Brunswick in the 2nd round of the state playoffs on Tuesday night, had another strong game. Last year, Orange defeated Northwood to reach the state quarterfinals, where they lost to East Chapel Hill. Later this week, the Panthers will face another team from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System in Carrboro, who defeated Cape Fear in Fayetteville on Tuesday night. The state quarterfinal matchup could be moved to Thursday because of the threat of rain on Friday. If Orange beats the Jaguars, they will play for the Eastern Regional Championship for the first time in school history.