APEX — When asked if there was one key turning point in his team’s 9-8, extra-inning loss to Hoggard High School, Apex baseball coach Mike Valder chose to plead the fifth.

The same moments that ran through his mind, however, likely haunted the dugout full of Apex players who sat long after the game, some staring at the field in disbelief and others with their heads down in tears. The game was full of clutch plays, missed opportunities and several controversial calls that could have changed the outcome.

But aside from the thrilling nature of the game, Valder chose to speak more on the accomplishments of his team over the course of the season than the tough nature of Saturday night’s 10-inning loss. He chose to mention the 13-1 record in a “tough conference,” the Tri-Eight, the Bobby Murray Invitational championship and the advancement deep into the playoffs.

“They’re going to focus on the fact that they lost the game,” Valder said of his players. “But I’m trying to get their focus, and hopefully when they step away from this, they realize all the hard work and effort that it has taken for us to get to this point. We have a lot to be proud of this year.”

Hoggard jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on four hits in the first inning, as Apex starter Houston Hawley gave up three hits to Hoggard’s first three batters. Hawley regained his composure though and allowed only one more run in his four innings on the mound.

Apex made its charge in the bottom of the fourth when trailing 4-1. Hawley blasted a double to left field to send in Aaron Prince and cut the lead to 4-2. In the next at-bat, Ryne Frankoff sent in Hawley on a single and set up right fielder Evan Oliver, who two batters later launched a two-run home run deep into right field to give Apex a 5-4 lead heading into the fifth.

In the fifth, both teams went to their dugouts, with Apex calling on Jake Milinichik to relieve Hawley, who allowed Hoggard to tie the game 5-5. Apex regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, an inning highlighted by a two-run double from Theo Bacot to put Apex up 8-5.

Milinichik gave up a home run in the sixth, and Apex turned to Zach Johnson for relief. Johnson allowed one run in the sixth inning but had an opportunity to put the game away in the seventh if he could hold off Hoggard with Apex leading 8-7.

Johnson found himself with two outs, the bases loaded and a 3-2 count facing Hoggard’s David Coleman, while the Apex entourage of fans stood in ovation as he looked to close the game. On a controversial call that may have caused Valder to plead the fifth over the game’s turning point, the umpire called the last pitch a ball, giving Hoggard the tying run to force extra innings.

“We had opportunities. We had an opportunity in the sixth to close the door, truth be said,” Valder said. “But you certainly don’t diagram it that you’re going to go this deep in terms of your pitching. You try to prepare your guys mentally each time they come out. I felt we made the right decisions at the right times.”

In the eighth inning, Apex turned to an unlikely pitcher but a star at the plate in senior slugger Corey Thompson. Prior to Saturday’s game, Thompson had pitched only once this season, for a little more than an inning against Fuquay-Varina, Valder said.

“I was really just trusting in his experience and his game experience and his leadership,” Valder said. “I felt like I had to put him out there, and obviously he did a great job.”

A motivated Thompson allowed no runs and struck out four Hoggard batters in the eighth and ninth innings, refusing to let his senior season slip out of his control.

“I wasn’t expecting to pitch tonight, really,” Thompson said. “When I was, the adrenaline just started. The first two innings I pitched, I was throwing it. For some reason, it just came to me.”

But Hoggard DH Cuffy Robinson got a hold of a Thompson pitch for a triple to lead off the 10th inning and was later sent home on a sacrifice fly for what turned out to be the game-winning run.

“There are so many things that could have happened in this game, a strike out here, a base hit here, a ground ball, pop fly,” Thompson said. “There were too many opportunities that we had and they had to win it.”

There is a bright side for Thompson and the Cougars, though. Valder, in his first season, dominated the Tri-Eight and set a standard of excellence for his tenure. Thompson, who will be missed, will go on to play at East Carolina. And though the outcome was unfavorable, as Thompson put it, “It was just an amazing game.”

“The bar is set pretty high,” Valder said. “I feel comfortable with the guys coming up and the support and staff that we’ll have.”