With two runs already across the plate, no outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, the Cougars just needed one run to tie the game against Fuquay-Varina's No. 2 team.

Instead, Apex's next batter grounded into a force out at home while another Cougars player got caught in a run-down between second and third.

With runners on just second and third with two outs, Fuquay got Apex to ground out to shortstop to end the game with the score 4-3.

It ended Apex's CCSSL season 14-5 overall in the second round of the playoffs.

"I said to the kids, 'If we're going to finish it, we're going to finish it by fighting,' " Apex coach Mike Valder said. "Overall, I'm proud of the effort we've put out throughout the summer.

"We definitely got better. We've got a better idea of where we stand from top-to-bottom."

One of the things Valder said he liked about the summer league was being able to see what his returning players could bring to the table.

It was a rare high school season for Apex in the spring, in which the Cougars missed out on the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.

"I saw some advancement out of some kids," Valder said.

One such player was Keaton Oaks.

The rising senior had arguably the best pitching performance of any CCSSL pitcher all season in the Cougars' first-round playoff game against Winterville's South Central High.

Oaks pitched 62/3 innings, striking out 16 and did not allow a run in a 2-0 win.

He had played mostly catcher over the last two seasons on Apex's varsity.

"Probably 30 minutes before the game he was not my starting pitcher," Valder said. "That's a pretty special game that he threw tonight.

"I don't think his teammates or the people here understand what they saw tonight - you don't see a high school kid strike out 16 batters in six and two-thirds."