Tri-Eight baseball champion Apex survived a first-round playoff scare against Broughton on Friday. The Cougars scored two runs in the seventh to prevail 5-4.

“I think everybody will say sometimes the first round game is the hardest,” said Apex coach Mike Valder. “It’s really easy to forget your one and done and your season is over. For us, Broughton came in, put three up in the first inning, and that was probably a good wake-up call for us.”

After Broughton took a 3-0 lead in the first, Apex tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the second. After a Houston Hawley single, Will Yeatts pinch ran. He stole second then scored on a double by Ryne Francoff. After a Theo Bacot bunt, Derek Carlyle smacked a two-run double to tie the game.

The Capitals took a 4-3 lead in the sixth when Jonathan Redd crushed a towering home run.

In the seventh, Carlyle led off the inning with a walk, and Yeatts came on to pinch run. Corey Thompson hit a single up the middle to put the go-ahead run on first. Sean Buchanon entered as a pinch runner for Thompson. Next, Chris Diaz laid down a bunt, and Yeatts and Buchanon scored on a throwing error.

The Cougars (17-5) were to play their second-round playoff game on Tuesday against Fayetteville Cape Fear (19-6) at Apex.

Pinecrest 4, Middle Creek 3

With the bases loaded, no outs and the heart of the batting order due up in the top of the seventh, Jeremy Thompson thought his Middle Creek baseball team was about to upset Southern Pines Pinecrest.

But the Patriots shut down the heart of the Mustangs’ lineup and prevailed 4-3 in the opening round of the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs.

“We were right there at the end,” Thompson said. “We had the chance there at the end and unfortunately we couldn’t quite get it done. I was extremely proud of the effort.”

Southern Pines led 2-0 through three innings, but Middle Creek tied it 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Leslie Blalock hit a single, and after moving to second on a passed ball, he scored on a single by Robert Speight. Speight moved to third on a throwing error, and then scored on a Josh Powell single.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth, Lawson Thomas belted a solo home run to give the Patriots a 3-2 lead, and they tacked on one more run in the inning.

In the seventh, Middle Creek’s Brett Burnette led off the inning with a walk. Then Landon Adams reached base on an error and Jason Turpin hit a single to load the bases.

After Blalock struck out, Burnette scored on a wild pitch and Adams and Turpin moved up a base. But Pinecrest pitcher Chais Beloso struck out the next two batters to end the Mustangs’ chances.

Thompson had no complaints when it was all over. The Mustangs (13-11) played an error-free game, turned two double plays, threw a runner out at the plate and demonstrated how far they grew throughout the course of the season. After starting the year 3-5, Middle Creek won 10 of its final 16.

West Johnston 4, Green Hope 2

The Green Hope baseball team eked into the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs after a one-run win over Lee County on May 6, and the Falcons were eliminated from postseason play by a similarly slight margin.

Green Hope lost 4-2 at West Johnston in their first-round matchup on Friday.

“They hit the ball a little bit and found the right spots,” said Green Hope coach Mike Miragliuolo. “No one’s been hitting Dylan [Kipp] all year. He was on. They just found a couple holes at the right time.”

Kipp pitched six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits to go along with 10 strikeouts.

Green Hope (12-12) went up 1-0 in the second when Kipp led off the inning with a triple. Pinch runner Adam Boghosian scored on a single by Jeff Weygandt. The Falcons took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on David Teter’s RBI single that scored Brent McLeroy.

But West Johnston scored three in the bottom of the fourth and tacked on one more in the sixth to finish off Green Hope’s season.

New Bern 6, Holly Springs 3

Holly Springs dropped its opening-round playoff game at New Bern 6-3 on Friday, but coach Rod Whitesell saw it as a valuable experience.

“It was good to get exposure to a playoff atmosphere and a face a team from another area,” Whitesell said. “It was a good opportunity to see where we need to grow.”

New Bern scored twice in the bottom of the first. Holly Springs answered with a run in the top of the second when Hayden Williams, who reached base on a single, scored on a passed ball.

In the sixth, Wes Conover hit a two-run single to score Bryson Edwards and Kyle Byrd to cut the Golden Hawks’ deficit to 6-3. But they could not get any closer.

Holly Springs finished the season 13-10 and was third in the Greater Neuse River Conference.