FUQUAY-VARINA — Just an out away from going into extra innings, the Fuquay-Varina softball team handed Apex its first loss of the season in a thriller on Wednesday night, 5-4 thanks to a walk-off RBI by shortstop Alexa Cannon.

Cannon delivered with a line-drive right at Apex shortstop Sam Slade. Slade, who had saved the game for Apex with her bat in the top half of the inning and had just completed a diving catch two batters earlier, dropped the easy out.

Her error allowed Bengal center fielder Camise Patterson, who had doubled earlier and was running on two outs, to score the winning run.

It capped off a furious rally for the Bengals as they were down 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.

“I’m really proud of my girls for not hanging their heads, we got down by two early in the game and we’ve been in that situation before where we had to buckle down,” FV coach Deb Clarke said.

“I hate when a game ends on an error, we’ve been burned with an error, but I told Alexa when she was up ‘listen we’ve got two outs, you’ve got to hit the ball hard and down and a line-drive and make something happen.’ And when that happens, sometimes they make mistakes.”

Perhaps it was the slight drizzle affecting the way pitchers could grip the ball, but in the sixth, Fuquay finally got to Apex pitcher Natalie Klemann.

Eight Bengal batters came to the plate and four of them came home on four hits and two walks. Freshman second baseman Natalie Budde belted a double into the left-center gap that scored the first two Bengal runs, and it served as a catalyst for her team.

On a night where Bengal batters had a hard time producing any well-hit balls, Budde’s rip gave her teammates added confidence when they stepped to the plate.

“It was a hit I knew I could take so I took it,” Budde said.

But then it was Apex’s time to take advantage of the damp conditions. Facing defeat, the Cougars (7-1, 3-1) got as many runs in the top of the seventh off Alex Ryan as they had all game.

“I thought that [Apex] hit very well throughout the entire game. I thought that I was throwing good and hitting my spots but they were also on it and on the timing,” Ryan said. “They were probably the toughest hitting team [we’ve faced] so far.”

After a two-out walk to Amanda Higgins, Slade came up big with a scorching RBI double. Slade was then driven in by a Melanie Kirchoff triple, and the game was tied heading into the bottom of the seventh.

“We don’t ever see ourselves as down,” Apex coach Bonnie Hodge said. “It doesn't matter what the score is, every time we play we’re going to play as hard as we can.”

Without Slade, the Cougars would have been on the bus headed back to Apex with a loss rather than in the field for the next half-inning. Alas, it was also Slade’s gaffe that officially ended the unbeaten streak.

With a loss in conference play, Apex is now a game behind Fuquay (8-3, 5-0) in the Tri-Eight standings, with the Bengals holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“I told them they’ve got to move on. They can’t dwell on it,” Hodge said. “They’ve got to believe in themselves and once they believe that they can play with any team then they’ll do it.”

Fuquay went on to win again on Friday, thrashing Cary 15-0.