APEX - Apex batter Elizabeth Margagliotti ran down first base, turned and looked back to home through the pouring rain. What she saw had the whole team smiling: teammate McKenzie Randall, with both hands high in the air, ran across home plate and into the arms of her teammates near the dugout entrance.

After a shaky start, Apex found a soaking, but sweet, 5-4 come-from-behind, walk-off victory Tuesday night in the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A softball playoffs against visiting Richmond County.

Richmond, the 3-seed out of the Southeastern Conference, appeared to have a strong lineup after the game's first half-inning. Against starter Ashley Winters, the Lady Raiders brought 10 batters to the plate and drove in all four of their runs.

But Apex quickly responded.

"We all just came together and knew what we had to do," Margagliotti said.

In the bottom half of the first inning, the Cougars got RBI singles by shortstop Sam Slade and Margagliotti. A throwing error by the Richmond catcher on a pick-off attempt at third base sailed into the outfield, allowing Slade to trot in for Apex's third run of the game.

Apex changed pitchers for the second inning, bringing up Lindsey Hodge, and Richmond's bats went cold.

Hodge struck out just one batter over the final six innings, but stellar defensive play by Slade, first baseman Brooke Perry and third baseman Kayla Johnson all kept the Raiders off the board.

Richmond didn't do itself any favors in the final two innings, as the rain went from drizzle to steady precipitation to downpour. The Raiders hit into two double-plays, including one rundown with the bases loaded in the seventh.

"We kind of got in a hole after that first inning but they battled back," Apex coach Bonnie Hodge said. "We were putting the ball in play and made quite a few plays in the field that kept us in it."

Richmond's pitcher needed a new, dry ball almost every other pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but play continued. If the contest were postponed but did not resume that same day, Richmond would be given a 4-3 win because the game had already gone five innings.

With no signs of the incoming rain stopping, there was never a discussion on trying to postpone play.

With her team still trailing, Apex's ninth hitter in the lineup, Perry, drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. Randall singled to put runners on first and second before Alicia Jongleux barely beat a throw to first for an infield single that gave the Cougars the bases loaded with no outs.

With the rain driving into the batters' faces, Slade lifted a fly ball deep to left-center field for a RBI sacrifice fly to bring in the tying score, which was followed by Margagliotti's game-winner.

"We got our momentum going in the second inning and we just kept it up," Randall said. "We knew it was raining pretty hard so we knew that her pitchers were going to be everywhere. We just had to be smart and execute."

Apex, the 3-seed from the Tri-Nine Conference, will play at Wake Forest-Rolesville Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be held at the Wake Forest Boys and Girls Club, located at 136 W. Sycamore Ave. in Wake Forest.