After clawing its way from the middle of the pack in the Tri-Eight into a share of the conference championship, the Mustangs were forced into a first round-exit of the NCHSAA playoffs on Friday by visiting Garner by a 6-4 score.

The visiting Trojans cranked out six one-run innings, jumping on the co-Tri-Eight champions in the first inning and never trailing the rest of the way.

"We didn't show the best we've shown all year long unfortunately," MC coach Jeremy Thompson said. "It's just a tough loss for us, because these guys have worked so hard and come so far. At the beginning of the season, nobody would've said 'hey, you're going to win the conference championship.'"

Mustang batters struggled to catch up with Garner pitcher Jacob Baker, who got Garner off to a hot start by striking out two batters in each of the first three innings.

Baker was pulled after five innings of work in which he struck out six, gave up three hits and allowed zero earned runs.

"Their pitcher did a phenomenal job," Thompson said. "There's a reason some D-1 guys are looking at him — because he's pretty daggone good. Our bats have been our strong suit all year long and he kept us down. When we got to the relievers, we had some good things happen for us."

A throwing error by Middle Creek catcher Ben Clark allowed Jeremy Conyers to score his third run of the night in the sixth as Garner went up 5-1. It was the second unearned run that the Mustangs allowed. But the Mustangs didn't go away without a fight.

Middle Creek brought six batters tot he plate in the bottom of the sixth and designated hitter Eric Florin notched his second RBI of the night on a one-out single that scored Trevory McKernie, cutting the lead to three.

In need of an insurance run, Garner shortshop Dillon Creech lifted a solo homerun off the scoreboard behind the left field wall and beyond the 340-foot sign to make it 6-2.

Undeterred, Middle Creek forced the Trojans to make two pitching changes in the bottom of the seventh, plating two runs and bringing the winning run to the plate with two on and two out.

But Florin couldn't extend the game any further, hitting into the 6-4 ground-out as the Trojans advanced to the next round.

A few tears were shed as teammates said goodbye to each other. Thompson said this year's group, which claimed the Tri-Eight title for the third time in the last four years, was as exciting as any he's coached at the school.

"It's one of the best teams I've ever been around as far as team bonding and everybody getting along. I just told them I'm going to miss them because I am," Thompson said. "I told them to hold their heads high because they had a great season and they're some great people."