APEX — The core group of players that make up the Middle Creek High softball team has played against the same core group of Fuquay-Varina High players since their middle school days.

Without fail, the girls from Fuquay have prevailed, taking every single game for the last five years. That changed on Friday night at Middle Creek.

The Lady Mustangs broke through with a 3-0 win over league-leading Fuquay-Varina (17-2, 9-1 Tri-Eight). Middle Creek put together some timely hits and played airtight defense behind the strong left arm of senior pitcher Beth Anne Kleekamp (7-1).

“As a team it feels great,” Middle Creek coach Robbie Wray said of the win. He assisted Bengals coach Deborah Clarke at Fuquay-Varina before he moved to Middle Creek to start the Mustangs’ softball program in 2002. “As a coach who spent so many years with Deb over there, we’ve always wanted to get on their level. That was our goal, and to finally get over that hump was a big goal for this team and this program. It feels amazing.”

Fuquay-Varina has won at least a share of the conference championship for the last 10 years. Middle Creek shared the championship with the Bengals in 2006 and could now do the same this spring. Friday night’s win moved the Mustangs into a tie for first in the Tri-Eight with three games to go.

Kleekamp, who struck out eight and scattered five hits, and senior catcher Heather Harris said they knew early that Kleekamp was on. She has combined with sophomore pitcher Darby Pearce and the solid Mustang defense to lead Middle Creek to a 10-1 conference record (13-2 overall).

“We just stayed focused and we were in it throughout the whole game,” Kleekamp said. “We had the bats going from the first pitch and had our tough defense and it all came together.”

Middle Creek managed just four hits against Fuquay’s Alex Ryan (8-2), but they were timely. The Mustangs scored two in the second inning and added another run in the third.

Every Fuquay-Middle Creek game has been tight and tense for the last three years. The Bengals won the first meeting this spring 2-1 and last year’s series finale went 13 innings. So Wray knew his chances were good with a three-run lead on Friday, but he also knew the game was far from over. In this season’s first game, the Bengals came back from a run down and scored the winning run on a home run in the sixth inning.

“The girls were so relaxed when they came out,” Wray said. “They were just having fun. We kept stressing have fun, have fun. This week, what we wanted to do was have fun but yet maintain the focus and everybody do their individual jobs whatever that may be at the time. Nine people working to do their jobs gets the job done as a team.”