RALEIGH - Three starts into his baseball season, Athens Drive pitcher Chris Williams finally claimed his first victory. But it’s not for a lack of quality starts.

The N.C. State-bound Williams shut down 10 batters in a complete game to push his strikeout total this season to 26 as the Jaguars beat Cary 8-2 Tuesday in a Tri-Nine Conference home game.

“It’s been a tough start, but I had command of everything today,” Williams said. “I could put it where I wanted to. I gave up a couple of fastballs over the plate when they got some hits, but then I regained it later.”

With the win, Athens Drive improved to 2-1-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference. Cary dropped to 0-6 and 0-5.

In Williams’ first two starts, he struck out nine in a 3-0 loss to Green Hope with all three runs unearned and he whiffed seven in a 2-2 tie with Middle Creek that was suspended after eight innings for darkness.

Against Cary, Williams was throwing a high-sweeping curve that had batters leaning back before the pitches broke across the plate for strikes and a faster curve that had batters swinging at the ball in the dirt.

“He was giving them a different look with his curve ball,” Athens Drive coach Joey Bell said. “That’s a benefit for a pitcher because the hitters don’t know what to look for.”

Of Williams’ 10 strikeouts, six batters went down swinging and four looking. He struck out Cary’s top five hitters in the lineup at least once and three batters in a row at least twice.

The different curve balls are something Williams said he has spent time perfecting this year.

“I’ve been told by the State pitching coach that ideally you want a curve ball for a first pitch that you don’t throw as hard and try to get in the strike zone,” Williams said. “But with a 0-2 count you want something with more velocity you can bury in the dirt when you have the hitter looking for a fastball.”

In Athens Drive’s earlier games, the Jaguars were plagued by the lack of clutch hitting. They started that way again when they stranded five runners in the first two innings.

But in the third, they scored five times on five hits. Matt Proctor knocked in two runs with a single. Andrew Mitchell scored one with a double. And Patrick Mason earned an RBI on a single. Another run scored when Blake Seaton, who was 2-of-4, brought home Mitchell on a ground-ball out.

Despite another loss, Cary coach Michael Sasscer said he saw improvement from his team that opened the season with 12-3 and 15-0 losses.

The Imps scored in the fifth inning when Doug Thompson hit a single to get on base, advanced on Luis Vasquez’s single and scored on Matt Ratley’s hit. Vasquez then scored on a ground-ball out.

“Every game is a learning opportunity,” Sasscer said. “I thought we competed better today. Our pitching was better, but we have to be more aggressive at the plate. We have to put some pressure on the defense.”