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Even with Taylor Apple now pitching at East Carolina, Central Conference softball hasn’t lost very much depth.

Of the top 15 teams in the current 3A East Region RPI rankings, four are from the Central. Western Alamance lost Apple, the 2023 Central Conference Pitcher of the Year, along with seven other seniors. Yet the Warriors will almost certainly make the state playoffs.

Cedar Ridge, with just one senior starter, is battling to return to the state playoffs for the fifth time in six years, not counting the pandemic season of 2020. Last week, they used power hitting from its top two power hitters to earn consecutive wins.

On Wednesday, junior Kimber Shambley drilled her team-leading fifth home run of the season while sophomore Mia Best went 2-for-3, scoring three runs in a 10-1 win over Falls Lake at Cedar Ridge Softball Field. Sophomore pitcher Charlotte Lowry struck out four over five innings to improve to 3-1 in the circle.

Falls Lake (5-7) is the defending champion of the 1A Super Six Conference.

Best started a two-out rally in the opening inning with a single to centerfield, then advanced to second after the ball rolled under the glove of centerfielder Cora Cates. Catcher Rylee Capps laced a single to right to score Best.

Aliceann Kohler opened the third inning by getting hit by a pitch. Madeline Galindo-Woodring moved Kohler to second on a sacrifice bunt to pitcher Wynterlee Glenn. With two outs, Kohler raced to third base when a pickoff throw to second base bounced off the glove of Kayla Cash. Best sent a fly ball to right field that was dropped, leading to Kohler scoring.

Lowry retired nine of the first ten batters in the opening three innings, allowing only a walk to Cates to leadoff the second.

Leading 2-0 going into the bottom of the fifth, Shambley helped bust the game open with an RBI single to centerfield, which scored Kohler after she was hit by a pitch. After Best walked, Capps sent a deep fly ball to centerfield that landed just shy of the new, makeshift fence that easily plated Shambley and Best.

In the sixth, Victoria Matthews led off the inning when she reached on an error by Cash at second base. Shambley slammed a two-run Homer to right field to give the Red Wolves an 8-1 lead. Later, Laci Sykes would launch a two-run double to centerfield to score Best and Cameron Copeland, running for Capps.

On Friday night, the Red Wolves defeated Person 8-6 for its first-ever win in Roxboro. While Ridge had a pair of two-run leads in the opening four innings, only for the Rockets to tie things up each time.

Best led off the fifth inning with a line drive to left field for a single. Capps followed with a single to centerfield. Sykes walked to load the bases with no outs. Charlotte Lowry landed a 2-1 fastball into deep centerfield over Liberty Jones, easily scoring Best and Copeland. Matthews scored Sykes with a groundout to third baseman Camryn Clarke.

Person made things interesting with two runs in the sixth inning. Paisley Riggsbee and Clarke both scored to trip the Cedar Ridge lead to 7-6.

Cedar Ridge picked up a crucial insurance run in the seventh inning after Lowry was hit by a pitch. Matthews singled to right field and got Copeland, running for Lowry, over to third. Kohler laid down a gorgeous sacrifice bunt to score Copeland.

Person got Macey Bowes aboard in the bottom of the seventh off a walk, but Brittani Goddard retired Taryn Massey when she caught a line drive for the final out.

In the first inning, Shambley doubled down the left field line. Best followed with a two-run home run to give the Red Wolves an early lead.

Cedar Ridge (8-4) will host Southern Alamance on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Red Wolves will step out of conference play to face Northwood on Thursday, also in Hillsborough.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is men’s basketball center Harrison Perel. This season, Perel was the leading rebounder with 9.6 board per game as the Red Wolves pulled some big surprise wins. He was also the leading shooter on the team firing at 40% from the field. He was second on the team with 9.1 points per game. Perel also led the team with 1.2 blocks per game. In the Red Wolves stunning win over Person on January 2 in Hillsborough, Perel had seven points and eleven rebounds, despite the presence of the Rockets big men Lance Clarke and Romello Snow. In the Red Wolves win over Chatham Central, who entered the game undefeated, Perel had six points and eight rebounds. Against Jordan-Matthews, Perel had ten points and ten rebounds. Perel remained a steady presence throughout the course of his two years at the varsity level under head coach Mike Jones. Perel averaged 7.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in his Cedar Ridge career. His season-high came against Jordan-Matthews with 19 points on November 27 in Siler City. He also had eight double-doubles this season and played his best basketball as his career ended. Against Walter Williams, Perel had 16 points and 12 rebounds. He recorded double-doubles in three of his last four games. Perel’s younger sister, Ellamarie, is the starting goalkeeper for Cedar Ridge’s women’s soccer team.

The Orange softball team sits atop first place in the Central Conference. On Tuesday night, the Lady Panthers used home runs from Mia Leathers, Caden Robinson and Hayleigh Hammond to defeat Eastern Alamance 8-5 in a battle of teams undefeated in conference play. Sophomore Katie Carden singled in the first inning, which allowed Sadie Cecil to score a run off an error. Later in the frame, Carden scored off a groundout by Allie Carden. After the Eagles tied the game at 2-2, Orange hit back-to-back homers. Hayleigh Hammond smashed one over the centerfield wall to put Orange in the lead for good. Afterwards, Leathers took one deep, also to centerfield. Later in the fourth, Katie Carden knocked in Addison Guentensberger with a single to centerfield to put Orange ahead 5-2. Katie Carden is hitting .378 this season and has played in all eleven games. Orange has won nine of its last ten games. Leathers has two home runs while starting at first base. On Friday night, the Lady Panthers will travel to Western Alamance, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions. It will start the second half of the conference slate for Orange. Earlier this year, Orange defeated the Warriors 16-6 in six innings in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers will host Person on Monday.

Orange senior pitcher Cross Clayton improved to 13-0 lifetime against Central Conference opponents as the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 4-0 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Clayton needed only 78 pitchers for his third career complete game shutout. Clayton is now 4-0 with a 0.84 earned run average. Senior first baseman Ryan Honeycutt continued his tear by going 2-for-3 with a home run. In the first inning, Honeycutt sent a double to the left field fence to score Kayden Bradsher and Wyatt Hedrick. In the third inning, Honeycutt added a solo home run to left field. Honeycutt, who missed the first six games of the season with a thumb injury suffered during basketball season, went 4-for-7 in the series against Cedar Ridge as the Panthers swept the Red Wolves. Honeycutt, in eight games, is hitting .455 with two home runs, four doubles and nine RBIs. Including its win over Heritage on Wednesday night, the Panthers have won seven in a row. They currently sit atop the Central Conference with a 4-1 record and are looking for its fourth straight conference championship. The Panthers will travel to Walter Williams on Friday night to face the Bulldogs in Burlington. Orange will face Person in a two-game series next week to start the second half of the season. Orange is currently 11-3.

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