APEX — The Apex baseball team sure fielded like it was the first game of the year, committing five errors in the first five innings on Thursday against Millbrook. But luckily for the Cougars, first baseman/pitcher Houston Hawley refused to swing the bat like it was the season opener for a guy who had first picked up a bat the week before, driving in three of Apex's runs in a 4-3 win.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Hawley came to the plate with Theo Bacot, who was hit by pitch, on second and nobody out.

Hawley, a three-sport athlete just a week removed from basketball season, crushed a 2-run shot over the wall in dead center field, giving Apex a lead it never gave up.

The senior finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI.

"It was a great night, coming out first day and having a night like I did," Hawley said. "Sometimes it's good to get a break — just get back to the fundamentals of your regular swing, not thinking about it and just stroking it — and that's what I did tonight."

Hawley also moved from first base to pitcher in the seventh inning to get the save. Ryne Frankoff picked up the win (1-0) after giving up just one hit, no runs and striking out three in three innings of relief.

Apex coach Mike Valder said his team's strengths would be pitching and fielding this year, but the both were shaky in the first inning of the new season.

Without a single ball going out of the infield, Millbrook had a 2-0 lead after the first inning thanks to a leadoff walk, bunt single, balk and error.

"I was happy with the way we responded," Valder said. "Some of what we saw tonight was a by-product of not being on the field for most of the week and first-game jitters [also] came into play."

Millbrook took advantage of less-than-favorable field conditions — this was the first game after the March 2 snowfall — to put pressure on Apex infielders, who combined for four errors.

"The field was kind of wet, it was bad out there on the dirt," Hawley said.

As the errors piled up for the Cougars, being able to throw out aggressive Millbrook runners who had reached base became key.

Junior catcher Harry Vorhees, filling in for Parker Harrell, who was at a school function, threw out three Wildcat runners — all of which had reached on error.

"He probably won't be in that role the majority of the year," Valder said. "Harry stepped up and he's worked hard ... I was just glad to see him have a good night. You've got to have a good night with that team, they're going to put pressure on you."

Second baseman Chris Zino drove in Jake Milinichik, who started the game at pitcher, in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to center field to bring the Cougars within one.

Milinichik, who has signed to play for UNC-Greensboro next year, gave up three runs in three innings, but also recorded four strikeouts.