Apex Friendship hasn't had much luck against Middle Creek recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Apex Friendship Patriots will head out on the road to square off against the Middle Creek Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. Apex Friendship's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so Middle Creek's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Apex Friendship fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Holly Springs on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They wound up with the same score they had in their last game (2-1), but sadly the team found themselves on the wrong side of the score this time. The game marked their lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Apex Friendship got a good showing from Luke Hemric, who struck out six batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits.
Braden Bloom
| 03/07/25 @ Holly Springs | 3 |
| 05/02/24 @ Apex | 2 |
| 04/06/24 vs Willow Spring | 2 |
| 03/20/24 vs Cardinal Gibbons | 2 |
| 03/12/24 vs Middle Creek | 2 |
On the hitting side, Apex Friendship saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Braden Bloom, who scored a run and stole Three bases. while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance gave Bloom a new career-high in stolen bases.
Meanwhile, Middle Creek had just enough and edged out Green Hope 6-4 on Friday.
Will Tobin was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing Three bases. while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.
Middle Creek hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Green Hope struck out 12 times.
Middle Creek's win bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Apex Friendship, they now have a losing record of 2-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Apex Friendship has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Middle Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Apex Friendship's way against Middle Creek when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as Apex Friendship made off with a 15-8 victory. Will Apex Friendship repeat their success, or does Middle Creek have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
