Marvin Jones: A former Cedar Ridge track and field star, Jones finished second for North Carolina Central at the Raleigh Relays at N.C. State University on Saturday. Jones had a jump of 2.05 meters in the high jump. Virginia’s Brenton Foster captured the high jump championship. It was Jones’ first event since the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in February 2020, where he came in 3rd in the high jump. Jones’ personal best is 2.10 meters.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson was optioned by the Atlanta Braves to an alternate training site on Friday. The move came after Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said the Braves wouldn’t use a fifth starter for the first few weeks of the season. Wilson was in contention to be the fifth man in the rotation. So far in spring training, Wilson is 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four appearances with three starts. He has struck out nine batters in 13.2 innings.

Landon Riley: The Liberty baseball team won its 13th straight game with a 5-2 win over Bellarmine on Friday. Riley threw one-and-two-third innings, once again not allowing a run. He walked one and struck out one. Liberty’s winning streak ended with an 8-7 loss to the Knights on Saturday, but the Flames captured the series with a 5-1 victory on Sunday at Knights Field in Louisville, KY. Liberty will make another trip to the Triangle on Tuesday. They face Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Joey Berini: #8 East Carolina defeated Elon 15-0 at Latham Park on Friday. Berini came in as a reserve shortstop and went 0-for-2. The Pirates are 17-5.

Phillip Berger: Berger took a no decision as Division III William Peace defeated Averett University 4-3 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary on Saturday. Berger worked seven innings and surrendered ten hits, but only two runs. He struck out five and walked two. This season, Berger is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in eight appearances. The Pacers have won four in a row after sweeping the weekend series from Averett.

Mia Davidson: Davidson is now eighth in career home runs in Southeastern Conference history. On Sunday, Davidson hit a solo homer in the sixth inning against #12 Arkansas, giving her 60 career dingers. Davidson is already the all-time home run hitter in Mississippi State history. Arkansas swept the weekend series against Mississippi State. On Saturday, Arkansas held off the Bulldogs 8-7. where Davidson hit another home run. She went 0-for-3 in a 2-0 loss on Friday. Through 29 games, Davidson is hitting .337 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. She’s tied for the team lead with 30 hits and leads the squad with seven doubles.

Montana Davidson: Montana started all three games against the Razorbacks at third base. She went 1-for-4 on Saturday. Montana has started all 28 games for Mississippi State and is hitting .287.

Jaden Hurdle: Patrick Henry Community College’s softball team swept a doubleheader against Surry Community College in Dobson on Friday. Hurdle went a combined 5-for-7 with four RBIS and four runs scored. In the second game, Hurdle drilled a 2-run homer in the Patriots’ 15-10 win. Hurdle finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. She also doubled. Hurdle even pitched one inning, where she surrendered three runs (two earned) off two hits. She walked one and struck out one.

In the opening game, PHCC won 10-3. Hurdle finished 2-for-2 with one run scored and two walks. Patrick Henry is in 3rd place in Region 10’s West Division with a 4-4 conference record. The Patriots are 8-10 overall. Hurdle is hitting .447 with 21 hits, both the second-best marks on the team. Hurdle leads the Patriots with eleven extra base hits. She also has three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Grace Andrews: The Catawba Valley Community College softball team’s weekend series against Caldwell Community College was postponed by rain. It will be played today. Last Wednesday, the Red Hawks swept a doubleheader from the Montreat JV on scores of 11-0 and 9-0 in Hickory. In the opener, Andrews had an RBI single and finished 1-for-3 with a run scored. In the nightcap, Andrews also went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. In Division II of Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, Andrew is tied for 3rd with 25 RBIs. She’s seventh with a .492 batting average. Andrews also has four RBIs. The Red Hawks are tied with Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute for 1st place in Region 10’s Western Division with a 6-2 record.

Adam Chnupa: #20 Richmond defeated Elon 31-17 at Robins Stadium on Saturday in Colonial Athletic Association football action. Chnupa finished with a tackle for the Phoenix, who are 1-5 overall, 0-4 in the CAA.

Dylan Boyer: The former Orange High midfielder played as a reserve for the Division II Queen’s College men’s lacrosse team last week. Queen’s defeated Coker University 12-8 at Queen’s Sports Complex in Charlotte. On Saturday, the Royals defeated Tusculum University 12-8 to improve to 5-3 overall, 5-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team drilled Averett 26-3 at Campbell Stadium in Danville, VA on Saturday. Jones scooped up a ground ball for the Falcons, who have won five in a row and are 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

After the Cedar Ridge men’s lacrosse team made its return to the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018, three Red Wolves shared Conference 9 Player of the Year awards.

In addition, six Red Wolves were named to the All-Conference 9 first-team.

Cedar Ridge’s leading scorer, Roman Oguntoyinbo, was named the co-Conference 9 Offensive Player of the Year. Senior Aiden Kehoe was named the co-Conference 9 Goalkeeper of the Year, while senior long stick midfielder Dov Bearmann was honored as co-Conference 9 Defensive Player of the Year.

Oguntoyinbo, Kehoe and Bearmann were named All-Conference 9. Joining them on the first team was Cedar Ridge junior defenseman Kellan Hepditch, senior midfielder Matt Miller, and sophomore defenseman Gavin Vukmer.

“I am thrilled with the recognition of all of them,” said Cedar Ridge lacrosse Coach Patrick Kavanaugh. “It was a tough year to get through, but they showed persistence and we ended up having a decent year despite the obstacles to practices and not having the numbers we normally have.”

Oguntoyinbo, a junior attacker, had a career-high 26 goals and 32 assists. His 58 points led the Red Wolves. Oguntoyinbo’s tallied ten points in a game twice, both against Vance Charter School. On February 22 in Hillsborough, Oguntoyinbo scored four goals and dished out six assists in a 16-1 win. In Henderson, Oguntoyinbo fired a season-high 12 shots on goal. He scored six goals against the Knights, and tallied four assists as the Red Wolves won 13-3 to sew up second place in the Big 8.

Oguntoyinbo had five hat tricks. In Cedar Ridge’s only game against Orange on February 24, he factored in on every goal. Oguntoyinbo had three goals and three assists. He added three goals and six assists in a 14-0 win over Roxboro Community School in Roxboro on March 4.

Kehoe shared co-Conference 9 Goalkeeper of the Year with Kole Walker of Roxboro Community. He made a season-high 16 saves against Chapel Hill on March 11 at Culton-Peerman Stadium. Even though Chapel Hill held the ball most of the first quarter, they didn’t score largely because of Kehoe’s work in the net.

Kehoe earned four shutout wins in 2021, including three straight against Northern Durham, Roxboro Community and Vance County (he played 24 minutes in each of those games, sharing time with Joshua Taylor in net).

“I remember the first practice of the season where Coach (Kavanaugh) said if we could get ten games in, that would be good,” Kehoe said after the Chapel Hill game. “In general, I think we can be pretty happy with how many games we played. I wish we could have played Orange at our place, but that didn’t happen. But I’m happy with how many played.”

Kehoe has played lacrosse since fourth grade, when he started with the Durham Blues of the Rival Lacrosse League. “That’s where I learned I was the quarterback,” Kehoe said. “I talk a lot. I’m loud. I try to talk my defense through everything.”

Bearmann shared the co-Defensive Player of the Year honor with Jake Wimsatt of Orange. Bearmann led the Red Wolves with 46 ground balls and six takeaways. Bearmann had a season-high eight ground balls and two takeaways against Vance Charter on February 22. Against Roxboro Community on March 4, he finished with seven ground balls.

Hepditch wound up with five takeaways, second on the team. He also wound up with 16 ground balls, including six against Vance Charter on March 9 in Hillsborough.

Miller completed the season with 13 goals and four assists. He had two hat tricks, starting in the season-opener against Walter Williams on January 29 in Burlington. In Cedar Ridge’s first win of the season against Northern Durham on March 1, Miller added three more goals. He had a pair of four-point games, against Vance Charter School on March 9 and against East Chapel Hill in the opening round of the state playoffs on March 15.

In nine games, Vukmer had 19 ground balls. Possibly his best game came against Chapel Hill, where he scooped up five ground balls as the Red Wolves held the Tigers to three goals in the first half.

Backup goalkeeper Josh Taylor and midfielder James Clayton were named honorable mention All-Conference.

Cedar Ridge finished 5-4 overall this season, 2nd in Conference 9 with a 3-1 mark. Its was their best finish in conference play since 2017, when they captured the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship and faced Weddington for the state title at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.

PHOTO BY SIMON BARBRE

PITTSBORO: Anyone who ever said a kicker isn’t a football player never saw Aidan Laros.

On a muggy night where the turf at Charger Stadium was in tatters after months of rain and night after night of games from five different sports, it was Laros who scored all the points for the Northwood Chargers, who defeated Orange 10-7.

Northwood defeated Orange in Pittsboro for the first time since the two teams became Big 8 Conference rivals in 2013. The Panthers had won three straight in Charger Stadium.

Northwood now owns the tiebreaker over Orange and Chapel Hill for the second and final automatic playoff spot in the Big 8 Conference. The Chargers haven’t seen the postseason since 2017.

Orange’s two-game winning streak was snapped, a period where the Panthers frequently gambled on 4th downs and opened the Northern Durham win with an onside kick. Some of those gambles have resulted in boxcars. Against Northwood, Orange rolled snake eyes.

Leading 7-0 on its opening drive of the second half, Orange running back Elliott Woods gained eleven yards on a 3-and-13. Facing a 4th-and-two, Orange coach Van Smith opted to go for it at his own 28-yard line.

“I was playing to win,” Smith said. “We talked about that during this short, COVID season. We’re just happy to be playing football. Everything we do, we’re going to be playing to win. We’re going to be taking chances.”

Initially, quarterback Jayce Hodges tried a hard count to get Northwood offside. When that didn’t work, he gave the ball to fullback Nate Hecht, who was held to one yard by Northwood defensive linemen Michael Anthony and Christopher Poston.

After Northwood’s defensive stand, Laros easily kicked a 29-yard field goal to cut its deficit to 7-3. On the subsequent kickoff, Laros directed it to the Northwood sideline. It appeared the ball went out of bounds, but the official ruled it touched an Orange player before it went over the boundary, which forced the Panthers to start the drive at its own 6-yard line.

The Panthers went backwards and Darius Satterfield had to punt two feet in front of the goalposts. Northwood took over at the Orange 17-yard line. After junior running back Jalen Paige ran for 12 yards, Laros took a handoff from backup quarterback Cam Entrekin, cut to the inside off a block from George Gilson and crossed the goal line for the game’s only offensive touchdown.

Orange’s only points came from its defense with 4:18 remaining in the first half. Senior linebacker Elliott Woods picked off a Northwood pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Satterfield’s extra point gave Orange a 7-0 lead going into halftime.

The Panthers squandered an impressive defensive performance. Of Northwood’s five first half drives, four ended without a first down. Orange started its first two possessions in Charger real estate, but came up with nothing. Orange’s first possession ended off a dropped pass on a 4th-and-six. Later in the first quarter, J.J. Torres picked off a pass and returned it 29 yards to the Northwood 23-yard line. In the midst of muck and mud, Satterfield lined up for a 37-yard field goal, which was easily swatted away by Poston.

With Northwood running the power-I formation and Orange’s recent transition into the double wing, the game had all the makings of a defense struggle. Sure enough, Northwood won despite not completing a pass. As was the case in its 7-6 win over Chapel Hill, Laros made the biggest plays in the end. He finished with 35 yards rushing, as well as making several tackles as a linebacker.

After falling behind 10-7, Orange got life early in the fourth quarter when wingback Eric Brooks raced around right end for a 37-yard gain before junior cornerback Jack Vain saved a touchdown. After consecutive incompletions, Satterfield attempted a 31-yard field goal that crossed the left upright. The official nearest the ball initially signaled the attempt was good, only to change the call after his colleague across the way signaled no good.

Orange got the ball to midfield after a roughing the passer penalty. Faced with a 4th-and-3, Hodges kept the ball around end and appeared to have room to get the first down, but was knocked flat up his back by Chargers’ linebacker Kentrell Edwards.

Orange will now prepare for crosstown rival Cedar Ridge next Thursday. It will be the Red Wolves’ first visit to Auman Stadium since 2015.

“I can sit back and kick myself in the butt tonight (about the 4th-and-2 call),” Smith said. “I can not sleep and regret it all week long until the next football game. I’m not going to do that at all. I play the game to win. That’s what I’ve told my team to do. That’s what I’ve told my coaches to do. And that’s what we’ve been doing all along.”

NORTHWOOD 10, ORANGE 7

ORA-0 7 0 0–7

NWS-0 0 10 0-10

ORANGE-Elliott Woods 31 interception return (Darius Satterfield kick)

NORTHWOOD-Aidan Laros 29 FG

NORTHWOOD-Laros 2 run (Laros kick)

RUSHING: ORANGE 38-144 (Eric Brooks 8-59, Woods 11-39, Nate Sorrells 4-16, J.J. Torres 5-10, Nate Hecht 6-8, Jayce Hodges 2-7, Jackson Wood 2-5)

NORTHWOOD 38-128 (Jalen Paige 12-59, Laros 10-35 TD, Hue Jacobs 6-19, William Lake 3-7, Kirk Haddix 4-5, Cam Entrekin 1-4, Ryan Hillard 1-1, team 1-(-2))

PASSING: ORANGE (Hodges 2-7 41 yards)

NORTHWOOD (Haddix 0-2 2 INT)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Sorrells 1-24, Wood 1-17)

For the past five years, the Big 8 Softball Championship has resided in Hillsborough.

In 2016, Orange shared the title with Northwood. In 2017, Orange won the 3A State Championship behind the leadership of Mia Davidson and pitcher Christina Givens. In 2018, Cedar Ridge rode the arm of pitcher Rivers Andrews and league Hitter of the Year Tori Dalehite to the most successful season in school history, ending in the 3rd round of the playoffs. In 2019, Orange and Cedar Ridge shared the crown, but the Red Wolves won the final matchup at Orange to take the top-seed into the playoffs.

Only three games into 2021, nothing has been settled, but one thing is clear.

Orange is the team to beat.

The Lady Panthers started the season against possibly its three biggest challengers to the throne: East Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge and Northwood.

None of the games went beyond five innings.

On Thursday, Orange (3-0, 3-0 in the Big 8) had its most impressive outing with a 18-0 win over previously undefeated Northwood (2-1, 2-1) at Orange Softball Field. The Lady Panthers scored 12 runs in the second inning to remove any drama. Sophomore Carson Bradsher went 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs. Junior Mary Moss Wirt went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in the fourth inning, ending a day that started with an exclamation point with another for good measure.

Orange’s start isn’t as much a new beginning for new coach Johnny Barefoot as much as it is the resumption of something that started two years ago across the other side of Orange’s campus.

Barefoot was the coach at Stanford Middle School in 2019, when Bradsher, Kelsey Tackett, Caden Robinson, Serenity McPherson, Savannah Wynne, Brianne Foster and Bree Harris all played for the Chargers. The Chargers romped through the Orange-Person Athletic Conference, going undefeated in the regular season and rolling past Culbreth Middle School in the OPAC title game in just three innings.

Barefoot, who was an assistant for Cedar Ridge for ten years, was set for another season to see if the Chargers could repeat. But the pandemic ended everything just one game into the season, and Barefoot thought his coaching days were over.

Or was it?

“The girls I knew at Stanford were already here,” Barefoot said. “I just made a comment one day that if the chance came open that I could come and take these girls and coach them through their high school years, I’d love to do it.”

Two weeks after Barefoot said that to a friend, Henry Horn retired as Orange softball coach. Barefoot was the most obvious replacement and Athletic Director Mike McCauley didn’t think twice.

Barefoot has a style that fits his team. There’s constant movement of baserunners. Bradsher, who had three steals against Cedar Ridge, scored Orange’s opening run against Northwood when she turned a single into a double on a standard grounder to left. She scored with a headfirst dive to the plate after a cue shot to the pitching circle by catcher Lauren Jackson was mishandled by the Northwood infield.

And there’s power. Lots and lots of power. Junior second baseman Mary Moss Wirt has two home runs, including a three-run blast in the first inning against Cedar Ridge, followed by another dinger against Northwood. McPherson homered against East Chapel Hill last week, and Robinson added an inside-the-park home run Thursday.

Most teams are only as good as its pitching, which may be where Orange is well ahead of its league rivals. Junior Gracie Walker earned her second win this season against Northwood. In the season-opener against East Chapel Hill, Walker struck out seven in three innings, and surrendered only two hits in three innings. On Thursday, Walker combined with Robinson and Courtney Watkins on a five-inning no-hitter. Northwood drew a two-out walk in the second inning. It was their only baserunner all day.

Tackett started Orange’s 12-run 2nd inning with a one-out liner to right field. That started a string of six straight Lady Panthers reaching safely. After McPherson was hit by a pitch, Bradsher plated Tackett with a double to the centerfield wall. Robinson cleared the bases with a two-run double that went over the left field’s head. With Jackson at bat, Robinson scored off a wild pitch. Wirt singled to left field and Wynne reached on a fielder’ choice where Bree Harris, running for Jackson, was thrown out at third. Wirt and Wynne each advanced a base on a double steal, leading to Wirt scoring off a bases-loaded walk by Walker. Tackett slapped a two-run single to right field. McPherson doubled to left center to bring in Delaney Shaffer (running for Walker) and Tackett. Bradsher then scored McPherson with a single, which was followed by Robinson’s inside-the-park homer.

Orange will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.

The Orange softball team served notice to the rest of the Big 8 Conference that they are a force to be reckoned with in this abbreviated season. The Panthers put up 12 runs in the second inning to roar past Northwood 18-0 in five innings on Thursday at Orange Softball Park. Sophomore Carson Bradsher jump started the offense, scoring the first run of the game with a head-first slide into the plate after a cue shot by Lauren Jackson was thrown away by Northwood. Bradsher finished 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored and 3 RBIs. Sophomore Kelsey Tackett hit a one-out single to right field, which led to five consecutive Lady Panthers hit. Bradsher and Tackett each had two hits in the 2nd inning, and each scored twice. Orange is 3-0 in the Big 8 and is tied with Northern Durham for 1st place in the loss column. The Lady Panthers travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night at 6, its only game next week.

It was a thrilling opening win of the season for the Cedar Ridge women’s soccer team. On Wednesday afternoon at Red Wolves Stadium, Cedar Ridge held on to defeat Northern Durham 7-6. Senior Emerson Talley scored five goals for the Red Wolves. The last time Cedar Ridge won a game, it was 2019, when the Red Wolves defeated Bartlett Yankees 9-0. On that night, Talley scored seven goals. Northern pulled within one goal with 1:06 remaining, but Cedar Ridge senior Nicole Anderson made two important clearances down the field to run out the clock and ensure the first Red Wolves win of the season. Anderson has played soccer since her elementary school years. When she was a freshman, Cedar Ridge defeated West Carteret 3-0 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. Cedar Ridge nearly advanced to the second round, but a last minute goal by D.H. Conley eliminated the Red Wolves. While this Cedar Ridge team is younger, Anderson and Talley hope to lead the Red Wolves to a solid second half of the season. The Red Wolves travel to East Chapel Hill on Monday.