Hannah freakin’ Hill.
The Fryeburg Academy senior ace is Gray-New Gloucester softball’s Bucky Dent, its Lex Luthor. Whether it’s with her arm, bat or both, she just has the Patriots’ number.
Then again, she pretty much has every team’s number.
Hill, the two-time Maine Gatorade Player of the Year for softball, sparked a five-run sixth inning to break a tie, and held the Patriots to four hits while striking out eight to lift the Raiders to a 6-2 win in Wednesday afternoon’s Western Maine Class B championship, played at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
No. 3 Fryeburg (18-1) will look for its second straight state title on Saturday when it faces Eastern Maine champ Medomak Valley, which it defeated 6-2 for last year’s crown.
Gray-New Gloucester ends up 14-5 after going on the road in the playoffs to knock off No. 4 York in the quarterfinals, then No. 1 Maranacook in the semifinals.
Gray-New Gloucester standout junior hurler Laura Getchell was pitch for pitch with Hill through five innings, as the game was tied at 1-1 with both teams only having two hits.
But Hill led off the bottom of the sixth with a deep double to center field. Brylie Walker followed with a walk. On ball four, the pitch got to the backstop and Hill trotted to third while Walker hustled to second. Heather Tripp’s double scored both of them.
After three more hits and a pair of Gray-New Gloucester errors, the Raiders had broken the game wide open, taking a 6-1 lead.
“They hit the ball,” said first-year Patriots coach Gregg Eggleston. “It’s not like we gave them the game. They came up and they made plays. They hit it. They deserve it. They beat us today.”
Getchell, who struck out nine, said the Raiders came out swinging in the sixth.
“They started to catch up with me and they started to get around on me,” she said. “We wanted to keep trying to get first-pitch strikes to put me ahead in the count, but they were just jumping on it and there wasn’t a whole lot I could do because I didn’t want to start walking batters.”
The Patriots got one run back in the seventh as Brittany Adell walked and later scored on Natalie Tombarelli’s infield single. Taylor Damon also had a single in the seventh, her second of the game.
Fryeburg’s first run came when Hill, who will play at Seton Hall next season, walked to start the bottom of the first inning, stole second and third, then scored when a pitch got by the catcher. She also singled in the third and stole second, but was thrown out attempting to steal third to end the inning.
“Hannah’s the person,” said Fryeburg coach Fred Apt. “She says, ‘Get on my back, we’re going for a ride.'”
Hill also beat the Patriots twice during the regular season.
“I think we’re 0-for-whatever against her. It will be good to get her out of here,” Getchell said with a laugh, surely echoing the sentiments of all the Patriots faithful and the rest of the Western Maine Conference.
The Patriots took the early lead as Morgan Wilson walked to lead off the game. Getchell also walked, and both runners were moved along on Kassie Wilson’s sacrifice bunt. Morgan Wilson scored on Abby Ryan’s infield hit, making it 1-0. Rachel Clement’s sacrifice bunt again put two runners in scoring position, but Hill got a strikeout to escape further harm.
Hill made her trip around the bases without the benefit of a hit, or even a sacrifice, to tie the score in the inning’s bottom half.
“We kind of gift wrapped that first run back to them, which hurt a little,” Eggleston said. “But we played five solid innings after that – both teams did.”
Maggie McConkey led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple for Fryeburg, but Getchell fanned the next three hitters.
Hill retired 11 straight batters during a stretch in the middle of the game. The fielders behind her did not commit an error.
“I felt like we put the ball in play pretty well,” Eggleston said. “We scored two runs. Not a lot of teams can say they’ve done that against them.”
The only other game this season in which the Raiders gave up more than a run was in their lone loss, 3-1 vs. Cape Elizabeth in late May. Fryeburg avenged that loss with a 7-1 semifinal win over the Capers.
With only four seniors on the roster, Gray-New Gloucester figures to be a top contender again next season.
“I’m really proud of my girls and what they’ve been able to accomplish this season,” Eggleston said. “Hopefully we can get back here next year. That’s got to be a goal for us.”
The Patriots played the game with heavy hearts. It was moved from Tuesday so as not to conflict with the funeral of Josh Libby, a Gray-New Gloucester High School student who was recently killed in a car accident.
“We wanted to dedicate the playoffs to Josh,” Getchell said. “He’s a great friend and we really miss him, but hopefully he’s proud of us. I think he would be.”
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