Regardless of whether you wear the burgundy, black and grey of Cedar Ridge or the orange and black of the Orange Panthers, there will be something for every baseball fan tonight.

Cedar Ridge will host Orange in baseball at Red Wolves Stadium tonight at 6 PM. In a benefit for Vs. Cancer, Cedar Ridge baseball coach Bryson Massey has worked exhaustingly to compile a lengthy list of items that will go to people holding a lucky raffle ticket.

Cedar Ridge joined forces with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Vs. Cancer program in an effort to defeat childhood cancer-the deadliest disease affecting children in the United States.

Among the items that will be up for bid tonight will be signed baseball from several Baltimore Orioles, including Cedric Mullins, Freddy Galvis, Ryan Mountcastle, Shawn Armstrong and Darren Holmes.

Mullins is a native of Greensboro who has played with the Orioles since 2018. Just last month, Mullins had his first two home run game against the New York Yankees.

There will also be several game-worn items up for raffle. That includes cleats worn by current Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jeff Hoffman, who was the 9th overall selection in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. Massey knew Hoffman from their days at East Carolina University, where Massey was a student manager for three years.

Also available for raffle will be a signed camouflage hat worn by Baltimore Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini, who knows about battling cancer firsthand. Mancini had a malignant tumor removed from his colon last year. In November, Mancini announced he was cancer-free and returned to the Orioles lineup this spring.

There will also be a signed, orange and black Baltimore Orioles hat from current Baltimore Orioles Matt Harvey and Paul Fry. Harvey is a former UNC standout who was an National League All-Star selection in 2014 with the New York Mets.

Other items up for raffle is a signed hat by Baltimore pitcher Shawn Armstrong, a native of New Bern who also played for East Carolina; plus another autographed hat by Baltimore pitcher John Means.

There will also be lots of gift cards from facilities and restaurants across Hillsborough and Durham. That includes: a $25 gift card from El Patron Mexican Restaurant in Durham; a $25 gift card from Home Depot; three $10 gift cards from Chik-Fil-A; a $25 Domino’s Pizza gift card; two $25 Subway gift cards; two $25 gift cards with choice of the Longhorn Steakhouse or the Olive Garden; two $25 gift cards from the Cracker Barrel; a $75 gift card from the Wooden Nickel in Hillsborough.

There will also be a gift card from Panciuto Italian Restaurant in Hillsborough, as well as a gift card from Bradsher Grading and Septic Tank in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge selected the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Children’s Center to receive a portion of the funds for tonight’s game. Thanks to the generous support from of friends, family and fans, the team is well on its way to meeting its fundraising goal.

You can make a donation at this link.

Vs. Cancer was started by pediatric brain cancer survivor and former college athlete Chase Jones. Vs. Cancer empowers any sports team, any athlete, and any community to help kids with cancer. As a signature fundraising campaign of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Vs. Cancer proceeds help fund child life programs in local hospitals, financial assistance funds for families experiencing a pediatric brain tumor diagnosis and groundbreaking research to cure pediatric brain tumors.

Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 19-9 earlier this month. Last Friday, the Red Wolves defeated Northwood in Hillsborough. This will be the final meeting between the two teams, in any sport, this academic year.

Going into the 3A Mideast Regionals at Eastern Guilford High School next month, two Cedar Ridge wrestlers maintain undefeated individual records after a tri-meet in Yanceyville.

On Wednesday night, the Cedar Ridge wrestling team improved to 11-5 after sweeping a tri-meet from Bartlett-Yancey and Burlington Cummings. The Red Wolves rode a key pinfall win by James Rosati-Brown to a 33-30 win over the Buccaneers. Competing at 152 pounds, Rosati-Brown pinned BY’s Logan Church in 3:09. It was Rosati-Brown’s 70th career win. Later in the night against Cummings, Rosati Brown would earn a forfeit win to go to 16-0 on the season.

At 160 pounds, freshman Kaden Tatro pinned Christian Smith in 1:30. Thomas Bradley secured the dual match win for the Red Wolves with a 10-8 decision over Jakoby Casselman.

Fernando Martinez, Kady Watkins and Daina Pritchard earned forfeit wins for the Red Wolves against the Buccaneers.

Pritchard moved to 16-0 on the year as Cedar Ridge defeated Cummings 47-30 in the final match of the night. At 145 pounds, Prichard earned a technical fall over Elijah Collins 18-3. It was one of only two matches that didn’t end in a forfeit. In the other, Cedar Ridge heavyweight Aidan Kearns pinned Cummings’ Wesley Reese in 37 seconds. Two female wrestlers for the Red Wolves, Watkins and Zoey Moreno, picked up forfeit wins. Watkins has ten victories this year. Also winning via forfeit against the Cavaliers were Rosati-Brown, Martinez, Tatro, and Bradley. Martinez, a sophomore, now has a career record of 49-14. He will go for his 50th career win tonight when Cedar Ridge faces Greensboro Grimsley and Montgomery Central in another tri-meet.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 8, Cedar Ridge 1; Orange 9, Vance County 0

The Orange women’s tennis team has won four consecutive matches, as well as seven of its last eight. For the second year in a row, the Lady Panthers swept the season series from crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. On Wednesday, Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 8-1.

Freshmen started in two singles spots for Orange Coach Justin Webb. Grace Pell won at #2 singles 6-1, 6-1. At #3 singles, Finley White captured her match 6-1, 6-0. Halle Boroski and Emma Williamson also had singles wins for the Lady Panthers.

Cedar Ridge captured the #1 singles match. Freshman Cameron Mayhew won 6-0, 6-2 to improve to 3-2 in single play this year. Mayhew is the younger sister of Josh Mayhew, who became the first Cedar Ridge player to reach a state championship tennis final earlier this month in the 3A men’s championships at the Burlington Tennis Center.

Orange junior Jinkie Andrews won at #4 singles 6-2, 6-2. Later in the day, Andrews teamed with senior Morgan Gwinn to win at #1 doubles 8-4. Boroski & Williamson won at #2 doubles. Tea Jones and senior Lindsey Jouannet finished the day with an 8-3 victory in #3 doubles.

In what will likely be the final head-to-head matchup between Orange and Vance County in any sport as conference rivals, the Lady Panthers two dual matches over the Vipers on Thursday afternoon. Orange won 9-0. The Vipers, who brought three players in from Henderson, forfeited the final match.

Andrews started at #1 singles and won 8-0. Jouannet won at #2 singles. Sophomore Madelyn Horn captured her #3 singles match. Isabelle Lynn and Ashley Behringer won the only doubles match that was contested 8-0.

Orange is now 7-3 overall, 6-3 in the Big 8 Conference. The Lady Panthers will host senior day against Northwood on Tuesday. First, the two teams will complete a suspended match from May 5 that started in Pittsboro. The Chargers led 4-3 at the time of the stoppage. Orange and Northwood will then play its regularly scheduled match.

Cedar Ridge will host Northern Durham on Tuesday. The Red Wolves defeated the Knights 9-0 on May 5. Cedar Ridge is also scheduled to face Vance County on June 7.

The Big 8 Women’s Tennis Tournament is scheduled for June 11. The 3A Mideast Regionals will be held at the Burlington Tennis Center on June 18.

As classes wound down at Orange High this week, the women’s tennis team continued a winning streak. On Wednesday, the Lady Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 8-1 at Panther Tennis Courts. Junior Jinkie Andrews captured her singles match 6-3, 6-2. Andrews teamed with senior Morgan Gwinn 8-4 to win in #1 doubles. On Thursday, Orange won two dual matches over Vance County. Andrews started at #1 singles against the Vipers and won 8-0. It was her Andrews’ eighth win of the year. Earlier this month, Gwinn’s younger brother, Brandon, went to the 3A State Tournament in doubles play. Gwinn teamed with Colin O’Hagerty after they finished 4th in the Mideast Regionals. This season, Gwinn has started at #1 singles for Orange. On Tuesday, Gwinn and classmates Halle Boroski, Ashley Behringer, Lindsey Jouannet and Emma Williamson will be honored before the resumption of a suspended match against Northwood for Senior Day. After the completion of the earlier match, which was suspended in Pittsboro because of a thunderstorm, Orange will have its regularly scheduled home match against the Chargers. Orange has won four in a row and is 7-3 overall, 6-3 in the Big 8 Conference.

The Orange wrestling team captured the Big 8 Championship on Tuesday night. The Panthers defeated Chapel Hill 45-22 at Tiger Gymnasium on Tuesday night to finish 7-0 in the Big 8. Orange senior Hayden Horne had the most exciting match of the night. Competing at 220 pounds, Horne defeated Bryan Ramirez in sudden victory 8-7. Later in the night, Horne pinned Jordan’s Pablo Araujo Cruz in 2:57 to improve to 8-0 on the season. He has two pins. Horne was a starting right tackle for the Orange football team and was named All-Big 8 Conference earlier this month. In a new look double wing offense installed at the beginning of the second week of the season, Horne anchored the offensive line that relied heavily on the run throughout the season. He helped Orange gain 250 rushing yards against Vance County, 270 yards against Cedar Ridge and a season-best 373 yards in the season-finale at Chapel Hill. Horne will graduate next month and attend East Carolina this August. Horne will return to action on Tuesday for the Orange wrestling team in a tri-meet against Bartlett-Yancey and Walter Williams.

The Orange wrestling team will end its stint in the Big 8 Conference the same way it left the 4A PAC-6, the 3A Five County, the 3A Carolina and the 2A/1A Mid State.

As a conference champion.

A year after its string of 16 consecutive conference championships came to an end at the hands of Chapel Hill, the Panthers defeated the Tigers 45-22 at newly renovated Tiger Gymnasium on Tuesday night to win the 2021 Big 8 Championship. With the win, Orange concludes its stay in the Big 8 Conference with a cumulative record of 52-1, dating back to the league’s formation in 2013-2014.

“The coaches are happy for these seniors to close with a conference championship,” said Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat, who secured his third conference title as a head coach. “This team has been working really hard and it was good to see that pay off. Our guys wrestled well tonight and were excited to compete.”

Orange (13-0, 7-0 in the Big 8) also defeated Jordan 66-17 in its final match of the tri-meet.

Last year in the regular season finale, Orange led Chapel Hill 30-16 going into the final three matches before the Tigers scored two pins and a major decision to pull off a stunning 32-30 victory to take the conference crown on Orange’s senior night.

“I think after a while you get into a mindset where you expect to win,” Poteat said. “Once we lost last year, it gave us something to work that much harder for.”

On Wednesday, the Panthers won its share of bonus points to reassume its spot on the throne.

With Orange leading 33-16, senior Matthew Smith-Breeden secured Orange’s 17th conference title in the last 18 years with a 9-5 decision over Chapel Hill’s Bao Dinh at 145 pounds.

The most tense bout of the night came at 220, where senior Hayden Horne went to overtime with Bryan Ramirez. In the first sudden victory round, Horne gained an escape point to win 8-7. It vaulted the Panthers into a 15-0 lead after Chapel Hill forfeited at 182 and 195 pounds (which were wins for Brendon Worsham and Elliott Woods). Horne, a starting right tackle in football who will attend East Carolina this fall, improved to 8-0 on the season.

After Chapel Hill won via forfeit at 106 pounds, Orange’s Dillon Heffernan scored his third pin of the season, finishing Jay Huang in 32 seconds.

Orange’s Kessel Summers, who captured his 100th career match earlier this month, defeated Chapel Hill sophomore Porter Brice 8-5 at 138 pounds. Last year, Brice scored the pin in the final match to win the championship for the Tigers. Summers is 13-0. It was the first time this year he’s been extended to a decision victory.

Senior Henry Joubert-Stanzel ended the dual match with a pin of Chapel Hill’s Danny Miranda in 2:26. Joubert-Stanzel, who was a member of two Orange-Person Athletic Conference championship teams at Stanford Middle School, leads the squad with six pins this season. He is 11-0.

“Henry has been working hard,” Poteat said. “He’s been helping out his other teammates. We’ve been doing a good job on focusing on a team instead of being individuals. I think that’s helped out everybody in the long run.”

Orange’s Sam Crawford edged Chapel Hill’s Jeremy Breeze 8-7 at 152 pounds.

Against Jordan, Orange had seven forfeit wins. In contested matches, Horne pinned Pablo Araujo Cruz in 2:57. Summers, who has qualified for the 3A State Championships twice, pinned Riley Daughtry in 1:40. At 138 pounds, Avery Clark pinned Landus Robertson to improve to 10-3. It was Clark’s third pin of the year.

Crawford pinned Jordan’s Marcus Schultz in 5:03.

Since the North Carolina High School Athletic Association isn’t holding a state dual tournament this year, the Panthers will now try to finish the season undefeated. They have six matches remaining this season, starting with a tri-meet against Bartlett-Yancey and Walter Williams on Tuesday.

The 3A Mideast Regional Championships will be held at Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville. The Greensboro Coliseum will host the State Championships.

It is the fourth conference championship for Orange athletics this season, joining men’s lacrosse, softball and a co-championship for baseball.

Orange Coach Jason Knapp turned to the basics to end a three-game losing streak.

A game of kickball.

Following a 8-7 loss to East Chapel Hill on Friday, Knapp didn’t have a weekend of leisure. There were a couple of sleepless nights instead, paired along with nine-hour shifts at his Orange baseball diamond that remains in meticulous shape. As he mowed the grass during a sunny Saturday, Knapp pondered ways to shore up his team’s base running flaws that led to some costly outs against Northern Durham and East. So during practice Monday, he took his players back to their days of running across blacktops and playgrounds at various elementary schools.

For the record, the best kickball player on Orange’s team is junior third baseman/designated hitter Cesar Lozano.

Whatever it was that unfolded in practice Monday, a composed and relaxed Orange team turned in its most complete performance of the season in an 7-0 victory over Walkertown on Tuesday night at Panther Field. Senior Will Walker had his best night of the season, going 3-for-3 with a double and 3 RBIs as Orange (7-3) ended a three-game losing streak.

What impressed Knapp more was his pitching staff, who turned in the second shutout of the year. Jordan Underwood, in his first start of the season, earned the win after he threw the opening two innings. Pierson Kenney, in his team-high seventh pitching appearance, had his best outing of the year. Over three scoreless innings, Kenney conceded just one hit and one walk.

“A lot of guys contributed tonight,” Knapp said. “We got it done on the mound. It’s great to see (Jordan) Underwood get a start. Pierson (Kenney) looked real comfortable coming in out of the bullpen. Jaren (Sikes) just continues to get better. That’s how we had it mapped out tonight.”

It was an impressive win over a Walkertown (6-3) team that had not been shutout this season. The Wolfpack, from the 2A Western Piedmont Conference, defeated West Stokes on May 11. Three night later, Stokes edged Orange in Hillsborough.

Underwood got help from his defense early. After Walkertown leadoff batter Luke Tucker was hit on the first pitch of the game, Panther shortstop Jackson Berini triggered a 6-4-3 double play on the next Wolfpack at-bat, as he flipped a grounder to Connor Funk, who threw to Walker on the relay.

Orange’s David Waitt scored Orange’s first run. Waitt got aboard after being hit on the lower leg by a pitch. Catcher Davis Horton extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single to centerfield. After Waitt advanced to third on a wild pitch, Walker lined a first-pitch fastball to left field to bring in Waitt. Jacob Jones, running for Horton, went to third after Ryan Hench was walked. Lozano, taking every inch of the plate allowed, was hit by a pitch to score Jones for a run battered in.

“I love that out of him up there,” Knapp said of Lozano. “He’s just trying to find a way on. He’s really worked hard in practice and really proud of the effort he’s put in.”

Walker drew a two-out walk in the third inning. Hench sent a hard liner to the deepest part of the park in right center, an abyss for fielders. Walker scored all the way from first. It was Hench’s seventh RBI of the year.

Centerfielder Jaren Sikes led off the fourth with a single to centerfield. After stealing second, Berini sent a hard grounder to right for his first hit. It led to Horton lining a double into the abyss to score Berini and Sikes. Horton leads the team with 13 RBIs.

Orange pushed two more across in the seventh inning. Horton drew a walk, following by a stellar bunt single by second baseman Connor Funk down the third-base line. Walker nearly sent a 2-2 slider over the left field fence, but it bounced over for a two-run ground rule double.

It was Underwood’s first win since last season when Orange defeated Eastern Alamance in Mebane.

On the night where seven Orange seniors were honored in pregame ceremonies, the Panthers played its most complete game of the season in a 7-0 win over Walkertown. Will Walker went 3-for-3 with a ground rule double that bounced over the left field wall in the sixth inning. Walker also had 3 RBIs. Jordan Underwood earned his first win of the season. He threw two scoreless innings, ending with a strikeout. Pierson Kenney relieved Underwood and added three scoreless innings. Kenney conceded only one hit and one walk. Tyler Lloyd started in left field and had a single in the fifth inning. Centerfield Jaren Sikes hit a leadoff single in the fourth inning and scored off a two-run double by catcher Davis Horton. Jacob Jones served as the courtesy runner for Horton and scored two runs, in the first and sixth innings. And Will Crabtree came off the bench to pinch-hit in the fourth inning. Crabtree is preparing for an even bigger role in life, to serve as a fireman, which he’s actually done while attending Orange. Crabtree will attend Appalachian State in the fall, along with Sikes. Orange is 7-3 and will face Cedar Ridge on Friday.

We journey back to Thanksgiving for today’s Retro Cedar Ridge Wolf of the Week. Sophomore Cameron Lloyd has quickly racked up honor after honor after just two years at Cedar Ridge. In January, Cedar Ridge captured the Big 8 Conference Championship after they romped through the regular season with an 8-0 record. Lloyd was the team Most Valuable Player and was an All-Big 8 Conference performer. Currently, Lloyd is on the American Volleyball Coaches Association Phenom Watch List. She wasn’t aimed a Class of 2023 Outside Hitter Watch List for PrepVolleyball.com. Lloyd was the USA Volleyball District 1 Most Valuable Player and was named an AAU Junior National All-Star. On this week where Lloyd is being honored, she had 16 kills in a 3-0 victory over Northern Durham at Poe Gymtorium, which was Cedar Ridge’s third win of the year on November 24. The daughter of Joel and Sherry Lloyd of White Cross, Cameron’s older sister Jordan played volleyball at Brevard College. Cameron helped Cedar Ridge defeat Union Pines in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs, and looks to help the Red Wolves return to the top of the new Central Conference this August with new league rivals like Person, Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance. This is the second time that Cameron has been honored as Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week in her career, which means she’s in line to become among the first members of the Hillsboroughsports.com four-timers club.