Photo Credit: Brianna Hales[/caption]Wednesday, October 8, the OHS varsity women's tennis team competed against the other six schools in the Big Eight Conference in the 2014 conference tournament held at Orange High School. The team took only a few players, including Beth Bryan, Leila Andrews, Laura Hegemann, Brooke Asbury, Ezra Tennant, Michaela Shriner, and Hannah Link. The players competed individually or as a doubles team against the other schools in the conference in randomly decided brackets.
Doubles team Tennant and Asbury and singles player Leila Andrews, all sophomores, lost their first matches against Cedar Ridge and Northern Vance, respectively, knocking them out of conference play and ending their 2014 season for Orange. However, Laura Hegemann won her first round of singles in a very close tie-breaker game with a score of 8-6 over Chapel Hill to advance into the quarter-finals where she lost 5-10 to Jenna Proctor from Cedar Ridge. Doubles team Bryan and Shriner won their first and second matches over Northern Vance and Northwood to advance to the semi-finals in conference and to secure a spot in the regional tournament.
Photo Credit: Orange Baseball website http://www.orangepanthersbaseball.com/id4.html.[/caption]The baseball team has had a fantastic season so far, winning all of their games except one against East Chapel Hill. They split series, winning the first game 5-2 but losing the second 4-5. Currently their conference record is 3-0 and overall record is 7-1.
The team played Northern Vance in the Big 8 opener which they won 6-0. Bryse Wilson and Jonah Neville both pitched and only allowed one hit. Wilson struck out nine players on the opposing team. Brad Debo had a triple. They won the next game against Northern Vance 15-0. Joe Piscitelli, Matthew Crabtree, and Debo all got three hits. Debo had four runs and Wilson had three runs.
The Panthers then played Cardinal Gibbons and won 8-5. The next game played against Cardinal Gibbons was suspended due to rain and darkness. The game ended with a tie, 4-4 in the fourth inning. They plan to finish the game April 9 at Cardinal Gibbons at 4:30.
The Hilltop Tournament starts April 3 and continues until April 5. The first two days will be held at Jordan High School but the third day is TBD. April 3, they will play Holly Springs High School but the other two days are TBD who Orange will play.
The severe ice storm that Orange and surrounding counties encountered left the baseball field at OHS in pieces, literally.
The ice storm hit Orange County with an unexpected combination of low temperatures, freezing rain, and snow. Without much of a heads up, there was no time to prepare.
Over the duration of the storm, ice accumulated on the net behind the backstop. After enough of the ice had built up, it started to pull on the support poles, causing them to snap. Since the support poles fell, they brought down the fence that they were also holding up. The chain link fence, brick wall, and the PA system were all damaged.
At the moment, the baseball team isn't doing anything to fix the damage, but it plans on repairing it all around the middle of April.
Photo Credit: Brianna Hales. Corey Johnson (right) hits a forehand. Lee Oechsle is patiently waiting for the ball (left). [/caption]As the men’s tennis season comes into full swing, the team is off to a good start with a record of 3-3 in the overall season and 2-2 in the Big Eight Conference. The team this year has played Eastern Alamance (9-0), Cardinal Gibbons (0-9), Northwood (5-4), Voyager Academy (1-8), and Northern Vance (7-2). But it is still the very beginning of the season, and the players and Coach Webb remain optimistic about the rest of the season. With a strong starting team and a new member coming onto the team, the boys are more ready than ever to play every game with hopes of a win.
The boys had a very decisive first victory over Eastern Alamance High School and swept a clean 9-0 win. Starters included Jaden Vines, Jabari Hargrove, Corey Johnson, Lee Oechsle, Ben Pickard, and Grayson Caudill.
The men’s tennis team fell 0-9 to Cardinal Gibbons, one of the best teams in the conference and the state, the following week playing at Orange. They played this match as a double header and lost both matches. Despite their 0-9 losses to Cardinal Gibbons, Coach Webb remains optimistic about the season and the players. “So far the team has been performing very well,” he said. When asked specifically about things going well this season, Webb bragged about his second-positioned player Jabari Hargrove. “Jabari Hargrove is having a great sophomore year, only losing singles matches to Cardinal Gibbons.”
[caption id="attachment_4462" align="alignright" width="360"]
Photo Credit: Brianna Hales. Jaden Vines runs to hit a volley.[/caption]Friday night, the Panthers hosted Voyager Academy in their sixth match of the season. Even though they lost with a final score of 1-8, Webb is still excited for the rest of the season.
“I'm looking forward to the team improving as the season goes along,” Webb said when asked what he is most excited about for the rest of the season. “We really need to improve our doubles play to close out matches when they are close.”
“We need to win the matches we are expected to win and then steal a win when we have an opportunity to do so,” Webb said when asked how someone could expect them to do the rest of the season. The boys are in a very tough conference and have a hard season ahead of them, but it won’t stop the players and coach from remaining optimistic.
Photo Credit: Brianna Hales[/caption]Originally the men's and women's basketball games were scheduled for Tuesday, February 11 but were moved to Monday, February 10. Both JV teams played at 5:30 pm and both varsity teams played at 7 pm. The games were moved because of the speculation of snow for Tuesday night.
The women's game was at home against Northern Vance High School. This was their senior night so thank you to everyone who came out and supported your lady Panthers.
The men's team played away at Oxford Webb High School. Their senior night will be this Friday, on Valentine's Day, against Cedar Ridge High School at 7 pm. The tickets will be $5 and the game will be held in the big gym at OHS.
Photo Credit: Will Okun[/caption]On Friday, October 4 the Orange High School Panther football team earned their sixth win of the season, defeating Northern Vance 56 to 0. The team played in front of a packed crowd as the school held its annual Homecoming game. It was also the 50th anniversary of the school opening.
Orange received another efficient game from junior quarterback Garrett Cloer who threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns, while completing nine of eleven passes. Senior Patrick Pettiford accounted for three Panther touchdowns, two while rushing for 71 yards, and another receiving.
The Panthers’ defense proved strong again with their third shutout of the season, while returning a fumble for a touchdown. The Panthers also played well on special teams receiving a 67-yard punt for a touchdown from senior JD Brooks, and a blocked punt by sophomore Bryse Wilson.
The Panthers next play on Friday, October 11 against cross-town rival Cedar Ridge at 7 pm.
The team had an up and down season, but were very close to winning the majority of the games they lost. The Panthers were led by their top three scoring leaders: Shinnick, Lexi Moyer, and Devon Allen. Goalie Madison Chandler also proved to be a valuable member. There were also many back ups that played a big role throughout the season.
Freshman goalie Bethany Barbee, who when asked how it would feel to make the playoffs answered, “I would be glad to make it, to show that all of our hard work in both the preseason and regular season paid off.”
When also asked how it felt to be a freshman playing on varsity, she said “I felt like I improved a lot over the course of the season due to all the great support I got from my teammates, and felt like we accomplished a lot.”
Even though the team lost that did not affect their hunger on and off the court. For senior night the coach and parents pitched in to order pizza and make a cake for the players. Since there were no seniors on the team this year they dedicated the food to their hard work all season.
Wednesday, April 24, the top six seeded players got out of school at 10:40 am to go to Chapel Hill High School and participate in the Carolina 3A Conference Tournament. They all agreed that they were excited to get out of school early. Two of the top six seeds though were not able to go according to Samsa and some of the other players were substituted in. Jaden Vines and Jabari Hargrove lost 3-6 in doubles. Lee Oechsle won his first round in singles but then lost. Addison Andrews and Corey Johnson also lost their doubles match.
Tuesday, April 30 the first rounds of the State Duals Playoffs begin for men’s tennis.
The Orange boys soccer team played hard in their final Senior Night match against Northern Vance, Wednesday, October 24. The game ended 0-1 with Northern Vance squeaking by a goal in the last few minutes. Coach Bowman introduced the six graduating players: Jack Twomey-Kozak, Thomas Doyle, Omar Rezk, Kevin Sips, Jorge Lopez, and Edgar Asuncion. Every senior was given a flower and their parents were able to stand with them on the side of the field while Bowman talked about all the ways each player had affected the team. The bleachers and fence around the playing field was decorated with balloons, streamers, and signs for the occasion. Mr. Okun took pictures of all the seniors and their families.
The match soon began after the senior night celebration. The Panthers kept possession of the ball and made many goal attempts. At
the 19 and 26 minute marks within the first half, the men's team was very close to scoring. In the second half, the ball went back and forth between both teams until Northern Vance was able to get a goal with 4 minutes left. Although the seniors will be greatly missed, the men's team did not leave feeling defeated with three wins and three ties this season, they have high hopes for next year.
The Orange High School Panthers beat the Northern Vance Vikings on their home turf Friday, September 21. It was the Homecoming game for the Panthers and they led the team to victory by a dominating winning 48-7. OHS students showed their pride by wearing orange and black and cheering on the team.
At the beginning of the game, a moment of silence was held for senior Desean Motley's girlfriend, a student at Middle College High School at DurhamTech, who passed away after being involved in a car crash the night before. Motley told another newspaper that he was playing for her and representing her on the field.
The Panthers played so well that they barely let the Vikings score. During the first half of the game the score was tied, but later junior Patrick Pettiford put the Panthers back on top with the help of sophomore Juan Torres.
During halftime, the Homecoming Court nominees came out onto the field and the announcer proclaimed the 2012 Homecoming Queen, Emma Schmid. She was crowned by Anna Frederick, last year's homecoming queen.
Orange had a strong lead for the rest of the game. The crowd cheered and was overly excited as the Panthers dominated the field almost the entire time. The Panthers officially won the game, making their school proud.