Just like their baseball counterparts, the Tri-Nine Conference did well in the first round of the NCHSAA softball playoffs, winning three of their five first-round game.

A few runs here or there could’ve easily made the conference 5-0 or 4-1.

Apex 10, Durham Hillside 0

The Tri-Nine champs wasted no time in advancing to the second round. The Cougars (16-3) defeated Hillside in five quick innings.

Pitcher Natalie Klemann not only tosssed a two-hitter, she led her team with four RBI.

Apex will host a familiar foe in the second round, Fuquay-Varina.

Holly Springs 3, Lumberton 2

The Golden Hawks scored three runs in the first two innings, and that was enough to hold off Lumberton on Tuesday.

Pitcher Erica Nunn picked up the win and ripped a RBI double. The Pirates scored one in the top of the seventh before Nunn shut the door.

Holly Springs (17-3) has a long road trip in the second round – at Person County.

Millbrook 5, Middle Creek 2

The Mustangs softball team hosted Millbrook on Thursday as soggy field conditions caused the game to be pushed back two days.

When the teams finally met, it was Millbrook that advanced to the next round by a 5-2 score.

Middle Creek (16-10) needed to win an extra conference game against Fuquay-Varina to break the tie for the conference’s 3-seed.

Fuquay-Varina 2, Leesville Road 0

In one of the bigger upsets in the East region’s first round, Fuquay shut down the second-best team from the Cap-7.

Freshman pitcher Alissa Dean posted a two-hitter as the Bengals (14-11), a participant in last year’s NCHSAA softball Final Four, will now play Apex for the third time this season in the second round.

Apex swept both prior season meetings.

Wake Forest-Rolesville 2, Athens Drive 1

Athens Drive nearly pulled off a first-round shocker.

The Jaguars (10-13) lost in extra innings to local powerhouse Wake Forest-Rolesville. Athens out-hit the Cougars eight to five.

However, WF-R got the most meaningful hit in bottom of the eighth to seal the win.

Former Holly Springs assistant wrestling coach Brandon Inge will be the Hawks' head wrestling coach next season.

Holly Springs will have a familiar face leading its wrestling program next year. Brandon Inge, an assistant with the team for the previous three seasons, will replace Greg Tuttle as the head wrestling coach.

After leading the Golden Hawks to its second straight 20-win campaign and trip to the NCHSAA dual-team playoffs, Tuttle stepped down in February. Holly Springs went 41-13 over the past two seasons.

Inge teaches science at Holly Springs.

"It'll be good for our kids. There'll be some continuity there," Wheeler said. "He's been a big part of our wrestling program and I think he'll do a great job."

Tuttle still plans to stay at the school but will not continue coaching.

Five Tri-Nine teams will advance to play in the NCHSAA softball playoffs, slated to start on Tuesday. The top three seeds will host, while the bottom two will hit the road against Wake County teams.

Apex won the conference outright, its two losses coming to Holly Springs and Middle Creek. Holly Springs had losses to Apex, Fuquay-Varina and Lee County (how the..?) in its 13-3 Tri-Nine record. Middle Creek and Fuquay-Varina tied for third and played an additional game to sort out the seeding. Middle Creek won that game 9-8 and finished the conference schedule with a 12-5 record. Athens Drive clinched the fifth spot on the regular season's final day with a 3-2 win over Green Hope. Green Hope finished just shy of a wild-card spot in this year's playoffs.

Tuesday's games (weather permitting) are as follows:

1-Apex (15-3) vs Durham Riverside (6-14)

2-Holly Springs (16-3) vs Lumberton (10-13)

3-Middle Creek (16-7) vs Millbrook (16-9)

4-Fuquay-Varina (13-11) at Leesville Road (14-8)

5-Athens Drive (10-12) at Wake Forest-Rolesville (23-2)

Six Tri-Nine baseball teams took the field on Friday night, and a
majority of them won. Four conference teams in all will be playing in
the second round, scheduled for Wednesday. Even fifth-seed Lee County,
which needed a win on the last night to get into the playoofs, and
Apex 

1- Holly Springs 4, Person County 0

Carlos Rodon got the start for the Golden Hawks (18-5) and didn't disappoint. The Rockets were shutout — the fifth Holly Springs opponent held scoreless this year. Carlos Rodon led the way in the one-hitter and picked up the win. Mike Roach homered. In the next round, Holly Springs will host Wakefield.

2- Middle Creek 2, Hoke County 8

The first round of the baseball playoffs were full of upsets, and this is the only one that ended the year for a Tri-Nine team. Hoke County was the fourth-seed in a talented Southeastern Conference, and they upended the Mustangs (19-7) in a road win.

3- Athens Drive 6, Leesville Road 5

Athens Drive came back to score five unanswered runs to overcome an early 5-1
deficit and advance past Leesville at home on Friday. Chris Williams (pictured above) picked up the win, which means in all likelihood Blair Betts will get the call on Wednesday against... well, keep reading.

4- Green Hope 3, Wakefield 4 

The Falcons' red-hot tear at the end of the season didn't quite translate over to the playoffs. Green Hope (13-11) held a 1-0 lead at the end of three and a half, but was down three heading into the final inning. The Falcons got two runs but it wasn't enough on the road. Wakefield will move on to face Holly Springs.

5- Lee County  14, Millbrook 4

I know Lee isn't in our "coverage area" but how 'bout those Yellow Jackets repping it for the Tri-Nine. Aside from Smithfield-Selma's stunning loss to Wilmington Laney, this was the biggest upset in the East. It's not enough that Millbrook is good (they were a fourth-round team last year and the back-to-back Cap-7 champs) but Lee beat them by the mercy rule after five innings! Huh? Lee will play at Richmond
County in the next round.

WC- Apex 9, Durham Riverside 0

Easily the biggest upset — well, it wasn't easily the biggest upset. That honor goes to SSS, my favorite to win the East, losing in the first round to Laney. The next biggest upset was Millbrook falling to Lee. So, as weird as it seems, wild-card Apex knocking off the PAC-6 champs and their N.C. State-bound pitcher D.J. Thomas is only the third-best upset. And guess where Apex will travel next? That's right — Athens Drive.

Final thought:
We can end the debate on what Triangle conference was the best. The Greater Neuse went 1-4. The Cap-7 went 2-2. The PAC-6 went 0-4 (do the math and that's 3-10 combined). The Tri-Nine's 4-2 mark easily punks all three. But that doesn't mean it was the best conference in the East. The Mideastern Conference (that's Wilmington schools plus Greenville Rose and New Bern) gets that award after going 4-1 and the Southeastern Conference was close behind at 3-1 (Pinecrest, Richmond County, Hoke County... only loser was 2-seed Lumberton).

Six Tri-Nine teams will play this Friday in the first round of the NCHSAA baseball playoffs after Apex was announced as the wild card team for the East region. Here are their first-round match-ups.

1-Holly Springs (17-5) vs 4-Person County (8-14)

2-Middle Creek (19-6) vs 4-Hoke County (15-9)

3-Athens Drive (17-7) vs 3-Leesville Road (15-10)

4-Green Hope (13-10) at 2-Wakefield (16-8)

5-Lee County (12-10) at 1-Millbrook (16-8)

WC-Apex (11-11) at 1-Riverside (17-6)

J. Mike Blake of the Cary News checks in with the latest in Tri-Nine
baseball as Holly Springs wrapped up the Tri-Nine Conference with a
resounding 12-2 win over Athens on the regular season's final day.
Athens and Middle Creek, both tied for second, will play at Apex on
Mondayfor the rights to the second spot.

Holly Springs (pictured left) wrapped up the Tri-Nine Conference with a resounding 12-2 win over Athens on the regular season's final day. Athens and Middle Creek, both tied for second, will play at Apex on Monday for the rights to the second spot.

Rounding out the other two spots are Green Hope, which won seven of its last eight Tri-Nine games (only loss came to P.C.) and Lee County clinched the final spot with a 3-1 over Fuquay-Varina on the final night.

Apex, which lost 1-0 to Middle Creek on Friday, will have the best chance at a wild-card spot thanks to its .500 overall record. The Cougars have played in the third round of the playoffs in three straight years. Fuquay, another perennial power, could also get in as a wild-card. 

Tri-Nine Conference Baseball Standings

1. Holly Springs 17-5, 13-3

T-2. Middle Creek 18-6, 11-5

T-2. Athens Drive 17-6, 11-5

4. Green Hope 13-10, 10-6

5. Lee County 12-10, 8-8

6. Apex 11-11, 7-9

7. Fuquay-Varina 11-13, 6-10

8. Cary 7-15, 4-12

9. Panther Creek 6-18, 2-14

Here are the team scores and individual scores from the 4-A Mideast Regional held on Monday at Anderson Creek Country Club. The top three teams and a few individuals qualified for the state championship this upcoming Monday and Tuesday at Pinehurst No. 8.

By team...

Apex: Andy Knox, 74*; Patrick Davey 80; Zach Smith 82; Joe McCormick NC; Zach Oplinger 80; Matt Sawaia 93

Fuquay-Varina: Matt Hancock 79;  Cameron Pratt 85; Tyler Hall 79; Mitch Webb 88; Dylan Frank 91; Adam Fecteau 89

Green Hope: Michael Cromie 70; Andrew Fowler 83; Ryan Gilbert 81; Nathan Pevyhouse 80; Owen Murphy 76; Will Thomas 74

Holly Springs: Jake Stone 75; Grant Houser 75; Nick Zurowski 80; Houston Stodghill 80; Andrew Lowe 88; Nick Binz 92

Other notable individuals...

Micah Lawrence, Lee County -- 74*

Alex Ehlert, Athens Drive -- 75

Brian Turner, Cary -- 79

Kevin Nagy, Cary -- 81

With Green Hope's 7-3 win over Holly Springs in Tri-Nine baseball on Wednesday, the stage is set this Friday for a de facto conference championship game between Athens Drive and Holly Springs.