The Northern Durham Knights will challenge the Orange Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Northern Durham took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Roxboro Community a 19-0 shutout. The high-scoring effort was just what the Knights needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.
Mason Wilkins
| 02/28/25 vs Roxboro Community | 9 |
| 04/22/24 vs Southeast Raleigh | 5 |
| 04/09/24 vs Hillside | 3 |
| 05/03/24 @ Riverside-Durham | 2 |
| 03/08/24 @ Person | 2 |
Mason Wilkins made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Northern Durham let Tanner Freeman and J.D. Williams run wild. Freeman scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while Williams scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave Freeman a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Dylan Guerrette, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Northern Durham always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .658. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Roxboro Community only posted an OBP of .211.
Meanwhile, Orange got the win against Seaforth on Friday by a conclusive 10-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.
Garrett Sawyer and Oliver Van Tiem were a major factor no matter where they played. On the mound, Sawyer pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Van Tiem didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over four innings pitched. What's more, he gave up only zero walks, the fewest he's had since back in April of 2024. At bat, Sawyer went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and two RBI, while Van Tiem scored two runs while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Kayden Bradsher and Dominic O'Keefe did most of the damage at the plate: Bradsher scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while O'Keefe scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
The win got Northern Durham back to even at 1-1. As for Orange, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Northern Durham came up short against Orange in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 7-3. Will Northern Durham have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
