APEX — When the Middle Creek softball team gathered for the first day of practice Feb. 12, among the goals it set was getting to Walnut Creek Softball Complex for the final weekend of the season.

After Friday’s 4-1 win over Tri-Eight rival Apex in the NCHSAA 4-A quarterfinals, the Mustangs punched their ticket to the double-elimination state championship tournament this weekend. The Mustangs will play Durham Riverside on Friday.

“It’s amazing, no words to describe it,” said Middle Creek second baseman Sally Poole.

“It’s unbelievable,” said catcher Heather Harris.

Like they had all throughout the playoffs, the Mustangs (24-2) took an early lead Friday. In the bottom of the first, Heather Robb (3-for-4, RBI, two runs) scored on pitcher Beth Anne Kleekamp’s two-out triple.

Apex (17-5) got the run back in the third . Melanie Kirchoff’s single drove in Kelsey Mancini.

The Cougars had a chance to take the lead in the fourth, an inning that typified how Apex, the No. 3 seed out of the Tri-Eight, marched through the first three rounds of the tournament.

With two outs, Amanda Higgins, Rebecca Pink and Samantha Slade legged out infield singles to load the bases. Unlike the last three games, the Cougars were unable to capitalize. Mancini worked the count full and then sprayed two line drives just left of the third-base line before Kleekamp blew a fastball by her to end the threat.

“It was stressful. I didn’t really know what to do,” said Kleekamp, who finished the night with 14 strikeouts. “But we worked through it.”

In the fifth inning, Ariel Tarpey stepped in as a pinch hitter and set the tone for the inning. She crushed two pitches out of play and then smacked a third that looked like it might be a home run. But it curled foul before reaching the left field fence.

Though Tarpey’s at-bat ended with a groundout, she gave her team the spark it needed. Krystal Coleman followed with a single and later scored on Robb’s third hit of the day. After Kleekamp was intentionally walked, Ashley Watkins singled to right field, scoring Robb. And Kleekamp later scored on a throwing error, giving Middle Creek a 4-1 lead.

In the seventh, Apex’s Jordan Barkes walked with one out, which gave the Cougars a runner on base in every inning. But she was stranded at second, the 12th runner Apex left on the basepaths.

“Any time you have runners on and you can’t move them in, it’s a letdown,” said Apex coach Bonnie Hodge.