CARY - The Middle Creek softball team lost a doubleheader to Tri-Nine Conference opponent Lee County on Thursday in a key battle for playoff positioning.

Both the Mustangs (6-9, 5-7) and the Yellow Jackets (8-5, 8-5) are chasing the fourth and fifth playoff spots that come from the conference, along with Athens Drive.

Lee and Middle Creek needed to first finish a game from a month ago which was stopped because of rain with the score tied 3-3 after five innings. The Yellow Jackets trailed 6-5 going into the seventh but pulled out a 7-6 win thanks to a two-RBI single by Tiffany Cox.

Lee picked up where it left off in the second game and scored four early runs en route to a 7-3 win and sole possession of fourth place in the Tri-Nine. The Yellow Jackets have already doubled their win total from last season, with three games still left to play.

“We needed to keep our momentum and jump out, which was huge,” said Lee coach Miles McCaskill. “We have a lot of young players who work really hard.”

Middle Creek coach Robbie Wray was surprised with the Mustangs lack of energy during the second contest.

“We came out flat, and didn’t have the energy or excitement we normally do,” Wray said. “We made two or three mistakes which gave [Lee] a lot of confidence and it went downhill from there.”

Mustang junior pitcher Shelby Caulk took both losses. Lauren Panella (two RBIs, run) and Lexi Garrett (RBI) drove in runs for Middle Creek in the later innings, but by that point the Mustangs were trailing 7-0.

“We hit the ball hard all day, but it was right at them and they made the plays,” Wray said. “We’ve got to come out and battle the rest of the season.”

Emily Franks (run), Panella (3-for-4) and Garrett posted multiple hits for the Mustangs.

Yellow Jacket pitcher Tyler Lett helped her cause with a two-RBI single in the fifth inning, while Nikki Hoover (two RBIs), Katie Cockerhan (RBI), Felicia Ray (RBI), Caley Thomas (two runs) and Chandler Patterson (RBI) also contributed to the Lee victory.

Softball will resume the week of April 25th following the spring break.