FUQUAY-VARINA — The only way Robbie Wray could have been more proud of his Middle Creek softball team after its March 25 match-up with Fuquay-Varina was if it had won.

Having lost ace pitcher Beth Anne Kleekamp, who also hits fourth in the batting order, the day before to a dislocated finger, Wray was wary about how his team would fair against the perennial conference champs.

The Mustangs played well and had several chances to swing the game in their favor, but the Bengals prevailed 2-1, thanks to Jessica Boni’s solo home run in the bottom of the sixth and pitcher Jordan Smith’s three-hit, 17-strikeout gem.

“It’s always been the case when we play them. One or two things go our way, it’s a different outcome,” Wray said. “We haven’t so far been able to make it go our way for us. That’s the way it seems to go.” Of the five runners Middle Creek had in scoring position, four of them were left on the basepaths, including two with no one out in the seventh.

“We just didn’t execute the few small things we could have,” Wray said.

Those small opportunities missed were magnified by Smith’s performance. She had a no-hitter intact through 4.2 innings, and she struck out the side three times.

“She hit her spots tonight,” said Fuquay coach Deborah Clarke. “She worked on throwing certain pitches and she mixed it up. She went after the batters she knew she could go after. She did a great job.”

Darby Pearce has pitched plenty for the Mustangs this season, and she stepped in admirably in Kleekamp’s absence against the Bengals. She allowed two runs over six innings, with five hits, four strikeouts and four walks.

The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, Heather Robb reached base after she was hit by a pitch. After Robb stole second base, Ashley Watkins kept the inning alive when she reached on an error, which allowed Robb to score from second.

“When we scored that one, it turned them over,” Wray said.

In the bottom of the second, when, Fuquay had runners at second and third with one out, Middle Creek nearly got out of the inning unscathed. Pearce flipped the ball to catcher Krystal Coleman, who tagged out Taylor Harris at the plate for the inning’s second out.

Still with runners at second and third, Pearce was one strike away from getting out of the inning. But Alexa Cannon drew a full-count walk to load the bases. Fuquay’s Alex Ryan then drew a full-count walk, which pushed in Ashley Canova to tie the game, 1-1. Pearce then struck out Camise Patterson to end the inning.

As emotionally high as they were after the first inning, Wray said his team was brought back down when the Bengals tied the game. But he conceded the inning “could’ve been worse.”

Pearce was perfect over the next three innings, and the Mustangs had a chance to score the go-ahead run in the sixth. But with runners at second and third with two outs, Smith struck out Watkins to end the inning.

Between the top and bottom of the inning, Clarke leaned into the Middle Creek dugout and mentioned to Wray she hoped the game was won on a hit, not on an error, which is sometimes the case when teams are so evenly matched.

Two pitches into the inning, Fuquay won the game on a hit. Boni belted a pitch over the fence in left-center field to give her team its first lead of the night.

“She hasn’t hit it out regularly in practice and she hasn’t it it out in the games we’ve had so far, but it was going and it looked pretty,” Clarke said. “I thought maybe it might hit the fence, but I was very happy for her.” Middle Creek had one last chance in its final at-bat.

Mattie Arthur hit a lead-off double, and Pearce dropped down a bunt for a single, which also moved Arthur up to third. After Pearce stole second, Middle Creek had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with no one out.

But Smith struck out the next three Mustangs to end the threat and the game.

“I’ve been proud of my girls a lot, but I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud,” Wray said. “I’m so proud of how the girls came together and played hard together instead of just being all to pieces. It was a good effort on their part.”