Triad baseball notes: Orange restocks for postseason

Ledford, Randleman, Southern Alamance, Northwest Guilford show strengths

HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA – Orange’s baseball team is on the verge of a 20-win season with a make-up game remaining and then a reduced conference tournament.

And the Panthers are just getting all their key parts back in place. So this team could be looking like a contender in Class 3-A.

Ryan Hench, a University of North Carolina signee, returned to the mound for the first time in almost seven weeks for a game last week.

“He was a little amped up early,” coach Jason Knapp said. “Then he settled in and did well.”

Hench hadn’t pitched since sustaining a shoulder injury while batting in a March 8 game. He went three innings in his return at Eastern Alamance, throwing 40 pitches.

Ryan Hench / Bob Sutton photo

The only hit allowed by Hench was a lead-off double to UNC Asheville signee Cole McGinnis in the first inning. He later worked out of a jam in the third.

Hench also homered and scored three runs. Josiah Gibbs was the winning pitcher to improve to 6-1.

Next time, Hench could have a longer outing, Knapp said.

He’s not the only Orange pitcher back after an absence. Junior right-hander Cross Clayton is 5-0 with a 1.19 earned run average since making his season debut March 24.

The timing for the Panthers becoming whole in May might be working out.

“That’s the game plan,” Knapp said.

Orange (19-2) has won its third consecutive conference championship, including two straight in the Central 3-A Conference. The Panthers own a 12-game winning streak going into this week’s make-up game with Eastern Alamance and then a conference tournament shortened to a semifinal round and final.

Coach Jason Knapp has directed the Orange baseball team to a conference championship and a potential high seed for the Class 3-A state playoffs.  / Bob Sutton photo

Here’s a look at some other potential baseball state contenders from select leagues around the Piedmont Triad:

** In the Piedmont Athletic Conference, two-time defending Class 2-A state champion Randleman (18-4, 10-2) finished with a two-game edge on Uwharrie Charter Academy and Trinity.

The most notable part of that might be that Randleman’s 38-game winning streak in conference competition across parts of five seasons coming to an end with a 3-2 loss to Providence Grove on April 11. A week later, Trinity topped the Tigers by the same score.

“Coming out of spring break, I think the guys had a little adversity,” coach Jake Smith said. “That’s part of the game. But they ended up finishing the job.”

In both cases, Randleman avenged the losses later in those weeks. The team has won conference championships in 14 consecutive season.

Overall, three of the four defeats for the Tigers came by one run.

Randleman has been relying on pitchers Seth Way and UNC Greensboro signee Austin Lemons. Junior left-hander Drake Purvis, a North Carolina State commitment, has been out since offseason ulnar collateral ligament surgery (described as a partial Tommy John surgery). Purvis threw a no-hitter last June in Game 1 of the state championship series vs. Whiteville.

Smith said Purvis has been throwing and could be ready for game action in a couple of weeks.

“We would love to have him. He’s a game changer,” Smith said. “We’ve been without him all year. If we get him, that’s a bonus.”

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** In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Ledford won the regular-season title for the second year in a row, both times with a 9-1 league mark in the Class 3-A league.

This year, Ledford endured only three regular-season losses and two of those were on consecutive visits to Randolph County late in the season.

There was a 5-2 loss to Uwharrie Charter Academy, which is coached by ex-Ledford coach Rob Shore, and a 5-4 setback to Asheboro.

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Southern Alamance senior pitcher Nathan Teague, who’s bound for Vanderbilt, eclipsed the 100-strikeout mark for the year in the regular-season finale by fanning 12 Durham Riverside batters in a 6-0 victory. That pushed his season total to 111 as his record improved to 9-0.

“That’s very comforting having him out there,” coach Jason Smith said.

Still, Southern Alamance (13-9, 9-3) ended up a game behind Chapel Hill (19-3, 10-2) in the DAC-VII Conference (Class 4-A) regular-season standings.

Because some teams were having trouble finishing the regular season, the conference tournament for this week has been reduced to four teams with semifinals Wednesday and the final Thursday.

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Northwest Guilford is the champion of the Metro Conference for Class 4-A teams.

The Vikings (19-5) have suffered two of their losses to out-of-state teams. One of those and a late-season setback to Southeast Guilford came in extra innings.

Northwest Guilford’s resume includes victories against 2022 state champions Randleman (NCHSAA Class 2-A) and The Burlington School (NCISAA Class 2-A). Another win came against Westchester Country Day School, which was state runner-up to The Burlington School.