Apex wins low-scoring affair

RALEIGH - Apex pitchers Chase Denison and Matt Tenuta combined for a three-hitter, while Athens Drive pitchers Andrew Van Genderen, Connor Chewning and Sean Rudio combined for a one-hitter.

On a day when neither team’s lineup hit as well as it would have liked to, the difference between winning and losing wasn’t who could best put the bat on the ball, but who could best decide when not to.

Athens Drive walked Apex batters eight times, including two hit-by-pitches, while Apex’s pitchers only walked two Jaguars. And that’s how Apex took a 2-0 Tri-Nine Conference road victory Tuesday afternoon.

“Today we had way too many walks,” said Athens Drive coach Ryan Westbrook. “With as many walks as we had, I’m sure (Apex) coach (Mike) Valder thought they probably should’ve scored more than two runs, and I was fortunate they didn’t.”

Apex’s only hit – though Keaton Oaks reached in the top of the fifth on an infield hit that was ruled an error in the home book – came to start the top of the fourth. Designated hitter Austin Campbell hit a soft liner to center field but reached second after a heads-up play where he saw no Jags player covering the bag during the throw back to the infield.

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