APEX — Throughout Purnell Swett’s baseball season, senior pitcher Isaiah Oxendine patiently waited for his opportunity behind starters Jonathon Jacobs and Keithyn Hunt.

“Keithyn stepped up and assumed that (No.) 2 role and (Oxendine) was kind of the guy left out,” Purnell Swett coach Jeff Lamb said. “I just told him, ‘Isaiah, when we get in the playoffs, the second game is yours son. We need you to keep working, and it’s yours.’ It worked out — three weeks later, the second game, he was ready. You can’t ask for any more. He could’ve easily got discouraged, because he wasn’t (getting to pitch), but he kept working and his day came.”

Oxendine struggled through the first inning Thursday, with even the three outs coming from hard-hit balls. But he was strong over the next five innings, leading the Rams to a 7-4 win over Middle Creek in the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A state playoffs.

The Rams will make the program’s first third-round appearance when they play Ashley Saturday in Wilmington.

“It means everything,” Oxendine said. “I’ve been waiting for this a while. With Keithyn (Hunt) and Jonathon (Jacobs) throwing complete games, those guys are shoving it, I was just waiting for this moment right here.”

In the first inning, Oxendine walked Middle Creek (11-5) leadoff batter Mike Venditti before catching a line drive and doubling off that runner, but then gave up a single to Chace Chaplin and a two-run homer to Tanner Hunley.

He didn’t allow another hit until the fifth inning.

“I was a little shaky at first; I just had to realize I had to throw it in there and let my defense work,” Oxendine said. “That next inning that’s what I tried to do, just let the defense make plays and get us out of there.”

“He gets stronger as the game goes; the nerves sometimes get to him, and then as he settles in, he gets stronger,” Lamb said. “He battled.”

Oxendine allowed two runs on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts over his six innings. Will Brooks gave up two runs in the seventh, but got the final three outs.

“I talked to him before the game and he was locked in; I knew he could do his job,” Ashton Scott said. “He’s done it all season and he came up big for us — clutch.”

Scott, like Oxendine, is another Rams senior who’s waited for the opportunity for a big contribution; the starting shortstop has often been substituted for in the batting lineup by the designated hitter. Thursday he was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI hits.

“I knew my chance would come and when it came, coach told me to do my job,” Scott said. “We’ve just got to accept the win and play baseball, play my kind of baseball, keep my head down and do my job. If it helps the team, that’s what I do.”

“That’s what it’s about,” Lamb said. “These seniors, it’s their last go at it, and that’s who I’m going to. This is theirs; we’re done when they decide we’re done.”

Trailing 2-0 after the first-inning homer, Purnell Swett (11-5) tied the game on Scott’s RBI double in the fourth. Jacobs was hit by a pitch and Chris Baker singled before Mason Locklear drove in Jacobs for the Rams’ first run with a bloop two-out single. Scott followed with a hit down the left-field line to plate Baker and make it 2-2.

“My first at-bat, I was anxious swinging at the first pitch, so the next at-bat I knew I had to take some pitches,” Scott said. “I did that, battled and had two strikes on me and just knew I needed to put something in play, so that’s what I did.”

After Oxendine kept posting scoreless innings — though he never had a perfect inning due to walks and a fourth-inning Rams error — Purnell Swett took the lead in the sixth after three different Mustangs pitchers struggled with control in the inning. Ethan Wilkins walked and Chris Baker and Mason Locklear were both hit by pitches to lead the bases; Zac Strickland walked to give the Rams a 3-2 lead.

Hunt then drove in Baker and Locklear with a pinch-hit single for a 5-2 lead.

“Offensively, we generated runs,” Lamb said. “We got the starter out of there, and we did a better job of two-strike hitting tonight in some key situations and we drew some walks. We could probably have scored some more; we were kind of aggressive in some situations and ran ourselves out of some innings, but when you’re up you can do those things, keep the pressure on them.”

Purnell Swett padded its lead in the seventh when Jacobs scored on a wild pitch and Scott got his second RBI with a single to score Wilkins.

Middle Creek didn’t go quietly against Brooks in the seventh. Charlie Lytle, who pitched into the sixth and took the loss, walked to start the inning and Venditti reached on a bloop single; both scored on a double by Jonah Oster. When Chaplin reached on an error it brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but Brooks induced a flyout before striking out the final batter to clinch the win.

“We’re always going to make it interesting,” Lamb said. “But we overcame it, and that’s what we’ve been talking about is be bigger than the moment, and we were.”

Baker had two hits and he and Wilkins each scored twice. Venditti had two hits for the Mustangs.

As the Rams continue playing, they’ll do so deeper into the playoffs than any Purnell Swett baseball team before them.

“We’re showing what we can do,” Oxendine said. “We play Swett baseball. When we get together, we’re a family, bond strong, we play like a family and do damage.”

“The big thing is just getting over the hump; after that the kids can relax,” Lamb said. “Winning that first one was big for us, and now they can just go out and play. They’re not done — I’m proud of them.

“A lot of people could’ve written us off — but we’ve got more baseball to play.”