Orange High School advanced to the fourth round of the 3A state playoffs on Wednesday night with a 6-3 victory over South Johnston High School.
The Panthers scored six runs, four of them unearned, on four Trojan errors to take a 6-3 lead into the third inning and South Johnston was never able to bounce back.
Orange was held to just four hits and left 11 runners stranded, but head coach Dean Dease said his Panthers got the job done.
“We are fortunate tonight to be able to get some runs off of their miscues,” he said. “We told [the team] this week its not whether you win the game or not. In baseball, sometimes, its whether you lose the game and sometimes you lose more than you win. I felt like they probably lost the game and we took advantage of it.”
The Trojans took no time to start scoring, picking up two runs in the top of the first inning. Orange responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the first, but South Johnston tied the game at three runs apiece in the top of the second. The Panthers then scored another three runs in the second to take a 6-3 lead and neither team was able to muster a run for the remainder of the evening.
Senior Bryse Wilson dazzled on the mound for Orange, in what may have been his final home outing for the Panthers. He pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on six hits, while walking only one batter and striking out 13.
“When he gets the ball, he has another gear,” Dease said of his right-handed ace. “He’s very team oriented and when his team needs him, he wants the ball.”
Wilson himself recognized the gravity of a single-elimination playoff game.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “Also a scary feeling knowing that you could go home anytime. But it is a great feeling, great confidence booster making it this far. We have another game to go and we are very happy about that.”
Senior Chandler Compton had two RBIs in three at-bats while sophomore, leadoff hitter Jason Slaughter went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Panthers.
The Trojans finish the season with a 16-9 record while Orange will look to add a few more wins to its 21-6 record. The Panthers play at home at seven o’clock Friday night in the next round of the playoffs hosting Topsail.
