There’s something about playing Northwood that has brought out the best in Cedar Ridge baseball this year.

After a string of one-run losses and seven-inning rallies that fell short, Cedar Ridge cut a path to a surprisingly decisive 6-1 win over the Chargers at Red Wolves Territory on Friday night. Junior pitcher Cristian Macias earned his second win of the year on the mound as the Red Wolves (3-5, 3-4 in the Big 8 Conference) swept the season series from the Chargers for the first time ever in a rivalry that dates back to 2009.

“I credit our guys because they come out here every day and they work for one goal,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Bryson Massey. “We just try to get better every day. We can’t do anything about what’s happened the first half of the season. We’re just trying to play better each time we play.”

Northwood (5-3 overall, 4-3 in the Big 8 Conference) came into the game with wins in five of its last seven games, including a victory over Northern Durham last week. Northern captured a share of the Big 8 Conference Championship on Tuesday with a 4-0 win over Orange.

Sophomore Cedar Ridge shortstop B.J. Thornton set the right tone early with an RBI double to score junior first baseman Aidan McAllister in the 1st inning. It started a three-run opening frame for the Red Wolves that continued when Bryce Clark reached on an infield single. Thornton wound up scoring off a double steal when Clark raced for second. Garrett Ray doubled down the left field line to plate Clark.

“B.J. stepped up,” Massey said. “He’s a young guy in our lineup. We know he’s a ball player. He’s growing and maturing and we know he’s going to great things at Cedar Ridge.”

The top of the lineup pushed across three more runs for Cedar Ridge in the third inning. After Thornton took second off a dropped fly ball to start the frame, Clark lined an RBI single to left field. Macias sent a grounder to third base, which was fumbled and led to Clark scoring.

Catcher Tucker Cothran, on his senior night, lined a single to right to move Macias to third base. With Trent Kirby at bat, Northwood pitcher Zach Barnes was called for a balk, which allowed Macias to score.

After Macias was replaced as pitcher in the fourth inning, junior Will Berger had easily his best performance of the season. Berger, the younger brother of former Cedar Ridge All-Conference pitcher Phillip Berger, threw two-and-one-thirds innings of shutout baseball with three strikeouts. Senior Matt Hughes struck out the side in the seventh to conclude the Red Wolves’ most impressive game under Massey.

This season, Massey has used four different starting pitchers in seven contested games (Vance County and Southern Durham were forfeit wins). He’s coming closer to finding the top man in the rotation.

“As a coaching staff, we’ve talked about what gives us our best chance,” Massey said. “We’re going to roll out somebody every game that can compete in the first three innings. That’s where we’ve struggled. Keeping it close after three innings. We have shown that we can score runs late. But we just need to shut them down from the start. Tonight, we did that.”

Northwood scored its only run in the second inning when Jackson Shaner knocked in Walker Johnson with a sacrifice fly to left field, which was caught by Grady Ray. Johnson reached on a double to left field with one out, then moved to third off an error.

Cedar Ridge (4-5, 4-4) now ventures into an interesting stretch where they travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday before hosting archival Orange next Friday.

Before the game, the Red Wolves held a ceremony to honor seniors Clark, Cothran, Kirby, Hughes, Grady Ray, Marco Velasquez and Hunter Shingleton.

There are errors that a defense commits in baseball that turn out to be only as big as a minnow in the sea.

Orange, on the other hand, made errors against East Chapel Hill the size of great white sharks.

The Panthers, who led 5-0 at the end of three innings, registered five errors in an 8-7 loss to East Chapel Hill at Wildcats Stadium on a steamy Friday afternoon. Trailing 7-5 going into the bottom-of-the-sixth inning, East scored three runs to win it. East’s Ben Smith scored the game-winning run as he advanced to third base off a wild pitch, and the subsequent pickoff throw ended up in left field.

It was a day of wayward throws by the Orange defense, which had been a consistently competent defensive unit in its opening five games. Until Friday, the Panthers hadn’t made more than two errors in a game.

That defensively ability seemed to wilt under the hot afternoon sun Friday, not long after the Panthers built a 5-0 lead. The Wildcats’ started its climb back when Finn Harris, who two on, blooped a single to left field. Patrick O’Connell, who led off the inning with a walk, raced for third base. The throw from left field wound up sailing over the Orange dugout and into the woods. O’Connell and Zack Wernoski, who singled to left field earlier, scored off the errant throw.

“We you have a five-run lead, you gotta bring it home,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “We didn’t do that today. Credit (East Chapel Hill) Coach (Matt) Russell and East Chapel Hill. They continued to fight and fall and they got it done.”

After East’s Chris Horne walked, Nolan Parker hit a two-run single up the middle to bring in Harris and Horne and reduce Orange’s advantage to 5-4.

Ironically, defense helped Orange surge ahead early. In the first and third innings, East put its opening two batters on base with no outs, only to have the Panthers turn 6-4-3 doubles plays each time to keep the Wildcats scoreless.

The aforementioned errant throw in the fourth inning was typical on a weird day where the rawhide seemed to have the elasticity of a super bounce ball you could purchase for a quarter out of a 1980s gunball machine from the nearby A&P Grocery. In the first inning, Orange right field David Waitt scored from second base on a wild pitch. With Connor Funk batting, a fastball from Smith wound up in the dirt, sprung off catcher Ben Buchman’s shin guard and ricocheted halfway up the third base line. In an attempt to retrieve it, Smith booted the ball near the third-base coaches box, which allowed Waitt to race home. Jacob Jones, who was at first base, was tagged out by Smith in a race to third.

Jackson Berini scored off a sacrifice fly hit by Funk to shallow centerfield in the 3rd inning. Later, with the bases loaded, designated hitter Ryan Hench drilled a double to left field to score Waitt, Jones and Will Walker and increase Orange’s lead to 5-0.

After East scored four runs in the fourth, the Wildcats tied the game in the fifth inning. O’Connell led off with an infield single, moved over to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Zach Wernoski, went to third off a single from Harris and scored off an infield error on a ball hit by Noah Daniel.

Orange retook the lead with two runs in the sixth. After Walker and third baseman Cesar Lozano were each hit by pitches, Tyler Lloyd drilled a first-pitch fastball to centerfield that went over the head of Horne. Walker and Lozano scored to put Orange ahead 7-5.

Buchman drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the sixth. Ryder Jeske drilled a ground rule double that hopped over the left field wall to send Buchman to third. Smith reached on an infield error that brought in Buchman. O’Connell evened the game on an RBI groundout to Waitt, who had moved to second base after Funk was inserted as pitcher. Jeske came home on the groudout to tie the game.

It was a disappointment for Knapp and the rest of the Panthers, who defeated East 15-5 to start the season.

“We’re absolutely capable of being better than this,” Knapp said. “We have to correct some mental base running mistakes that have been sneaking up on us lately. And we have to shore up our defense.”

The Cedar Ridge baseball team had a memorable senior night on Friday. The Red Wolves rolled past Northwood 6-1 to complete a season sweep of the Chargers in Hillsborough. Senior Cather Tucker Cothran went 2-for-3, ending a week where he hit .428 over two games. Cothran had base hits in the first and third innings. In each frame, the Red Wolves scored three runs. First baseman Aidan McAllister, a junior, has been among the most consistent hitters for the Red Wolves this season. Against Orange, McAllister hit two home runs in as many innings. The win over Northwood was the first time ever that the Red Wolves swept the season series from the Chargers since they’ve been rivals in the Big 8 Conference. Though this year’s unusual format will keep the Red Wolves from making the state playoffs, Cothran and the rest of the Cedar Ridge seniors are set to make it a memorable finish to the season. Cedar Ridge will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, then host Orange next Friday in a benefit for vs. Cancer. There will be lots of great baseball memorabilia that be raffled off, as well as great items from restaurants and shops from throughout Hillsborough.

Once again, we go back into the time machine for this week’s Retro Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week. This time, we journey back to the week beginning January 17 for Cedar Ridge women’s basketball guard Phoenix Smith. This year, Cedar Ridge was hit hard by COVID-19 and injuries. Quite often, Cedar Ridge only had five players for games. Despite having no reserves, Phoenix started at point guard and didn’t back down. A junior, Smith was in her this season on the varsity level. Now, Smith is bringing her strong work ethic to the Cedar Ridge women’s track and field team. Smith has finished 2nd in the pole vault during a meet at Southern Durham last week. She also ran in the 100-meter dash, where she finished fourth. On Thursday at Cedar Ridge, Smith competed against East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill. She managed to establish a new personal best in the 100 meter dash. Now, Smith has a goal of reaching the regional championships next month, whether its for the pole vault or the 100-meter dash. Next week Cedar Ridge will compete against Northwood and Orange during a tri-meet at Northwood High in Pittsboro. Congratulations to a tribute in perseverance, this week’s Retro Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, Phoenix Smith.

A combination of youth and experienced has helped the Orange women’s tennis team get off to a 4-3 start this season. On Thursday, the Lady Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 8-1 at Red Wolves Tennis Courts. It was Orange’s third dual team win this week. Freshman Finley White won her match at #3 singles 6-1, 6-1. Later in the day, White teamed with fellow freshman Grace Pell to win at #1 doubles by default. Senior Halle Boroski won her fourth match of the season. Boroski won at #6 singles 6-1, 6-2. On Tuesday, Boroski won her match at #5 singles against Northern Durham 8-0. Usually, women’s tennis is a fall sport, but it’s being played in the late spring this year because of the pandemic. Last year, Orange finished with a winning record at 11-8, its best mark under head coach Justin Webb since he took over the women’s team. Despite the losses of some key players, the Orange women is aiming for another winning season. Next week, Orange will host Cedar Ridge again, this time at Orange Tennis Courts.

On March 17, the Orange lacrosse team had its biggest win in program history. Just nine days after Northwood hammered the Panthers 17-6 in Pittsboro, Orange came back and defeated the Chargers 10-9 in the second round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Seniors Ryan Merrill and Caleb Davis would score hat tricks for the Panthers. But underclassmen made major contributions. Sophomore Joe Cady had two goals and an assist. Freshman Connor Kruse would score the game-winning goal in the fourth period. Another sophomore, Jake Wimsatt, tied the game with a goal during a man-advantage in the fourth quarter. It was the first time ever that Orange advanced to the state quarterfinals in lacrosse. It also turned out to be the last week for a group of Orange seniors that excelled under head coach Chandler Zirkle. He’s a photo montage of that night with the play-by-play as heard on Hillsboroughsports.com. We thank Lynda Wileman for the photographs that bring this montage to life.

The electric atmosphere inside Orange High ballpark on Tuesday night wasn’t simply the standard vibe of a must-win game. It was the release of pent-up frustration by Northern Durham fans that had been withheld for years.

When the time is right, Northern baseball fans can created an electric atmosphere around its aging ballpark. It’s just been a long time since the time was right. About six years, to be exact.

The last time Northern Durham clinched a share of a conference championship in baseball, it was 2015. That was when Northern suited up a leadoff hitter named A.J. Bumpass, who would go on to play at the University of Cincinnati and eventually with the Cincinnati Reds organization. It was six years ago today that the Knights defeated D.H. Conley in Greenville to advance to the 4A State Quarterfinals.

It may be another six years before the throng of fans who gathered around the fences at Orange High Field on Tuesday see as brilliant a pitcher’s duel like the one they saw Tuesday.

In a game to decide the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference, neither Northern Durham senior Matthew Lombard nor Orange sophomore Ryan Hench would give in. They each threw six scoreless innings. They each registered eleven strikeouts.

Ultimately, Hench was pulled after he logged 100 pitches after six innings (the North Carolina High School Athletic Association institutes a limit of 105 pitches for any pitcher). When Hench left the game at the beginning of the seventh inning, it was all the latitude the Northern batters needed. The Knights struck for four runs in the seventh inning to beat Orange 4-0.

With the win, Northern (7-1, 7-1 in the Big 8 Conference) ensured they would share the Big 8 Championship with Orange. The Knights, who lost to Northwood last Wednesday, will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 in the state playoffs, which starts next month.

Orange (7-2, 7-1 in the Big 8) will still make the state playoffs and will claim a share of a conference title for the first time since 2016, Bryse Wilson’s senior year. But the Panthers will almost certainly travel for the opening round of the playoffs.

It was the Knights’ first win over Orange since March 8, 2017, ending the Panthers’ four-game winning streak in the series. Northern also clinched its first winning season since 2016.

“That’s as fine a high school pitching matchup as you’ll see at this level,” said Orange Coach Jason Knapp. “I was just talking about this with (assistant coach Matt) Roberts.”

Hench was at 100 pitches by the time the seventh inning rolled around, but Knapp elected to pull him in lieu of throwing to one more batter. In six innings, Hench (2-0) conceded only two hits and four walks.

After Northern got to Orange’s bullpen, the Knights scored four runs off four hits in the seventh inning alone. Corbyn Poe opened with a leadoff walk, then stole second base. Seth Lumpkin hit a dribbler to left field for a base hit to move Poe to third. With Orange’s infield drawn in, Charles McDowell drilled a 1-0 fastball to left field to break the stalemate. After Knights’ leadoff batter Caleb Greene was intentionally walked, catcher Riley Adams lofted a soft pop-up to second base that would have been caught if the infield was at normal depth. This time, it went over Connor Funk’s head and allowed Lumpin to score.

Lombard, in his final at-bat, hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in McDowell. Scoggins lined a single to right field to bring in Greene.

Orange had its chances early. They loaded the bases with one out in the first inning after sophomore Jackson Berini led off with a single. Funk reached off an error. Each man moved up 90 feet following a wild pitch with Davis Horton at the plate. But the story of the game was Lombard’s power, most prominently a fastball that reached 88-miles-per-hour. Lombard struck out Horton, Orange’s most consistent hitter, with one out. After Will Walker walked to load the bases, Lombard struck out Hench, then forced David Waitt into a groundout back to the mound to escape the frame.

Orange loaded the bases again in the third inning. Berini led off with another single. Horton lined a fastball off the leg of Scoggins at 3rd base. That would be the final Orange hit of the game. After Hench walked to load the bases with two out, Waitt popped out to Lombard.

Lombard started against Chapel Hill on Friday, a game that Chapel Hill led 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Despite having just four days rest, fatigue was not a factor for Lombard, who only conceded three walks in his final three-and-two-thirds innings of work. After Lombard eclipsed 105 pitches following a strikeout of Funk, Northern first baseman Jackson Bishop relieved Lombard and got the final out.

It was the first time Orange was shut out since losing to Wilson Fike 6-0 at Fleming Stadium on March 23, 2019.

None of which should overshadow the outstanding performance by Hench. In only his third career start for Orange, Hench allowed just one Northern batter to reach third base through six innings.

In 17 innings this season, Hench still hasn’t given up a run. He’s thrown 29 strikeouts, just five walks and conceded four hits.

With the second half of its season starting Friday afternoon at East Chapel Hill, Knapp knows his postseason fate with six games (possibly more) still remaining in the regular season. He knows he will go to the state playoffs, regardless of what his team’s final record is. Now, he’ll focus on trying to revive an offense that scored 15, 19 and ten runs in its opening three games, but has been limited to only five in its last two Big 8 games.

“We’re going to come up with some team goals tomorrow that I’ve already been thinking about,” Knapp said. “It’s going to be good because the majority of our games during the last half of the season are on the road. So that’s going to be good to prepare us for the playoffs.”