When he looks at his young lineup, full of underclassmen, Ken Farrington can’t help but think about the future of Buckfield softball.

Then as an aside, he mentions, “We’re hoping to make a run at it this year.”

Nothing was more evident when the Bucks beat Richmond Monday 8-7. The Bucks rallied from a 6-0 deficit to beat the Bobcats, one of the likely contenders in Western D.

“This was a huge win for our kids,” said Farrington. “Richmond being picked to win the Western Maine championship, we’re a young team, and it meant a lot for our young girls to play and beat them.”

Richmond and Buckfield met in the regional final last year. The Bobcats lost three seniors while the Bucks graduated eight. The defending Class D state champs only returned three sophomores – pitcher Desiree Brackett, infielder Shayna Shackford and outfielder Tiffany Dunn – and one senior, outfielder Leslie Workman.

Beating the Bobcats was a significant step for this young squad.

Though Richmond built the early lead with the help of some Bucks errors, Buckfield managed to rally. Workman had a pair of hits and freshman Lindsay Neal doubled home the game-winner in the seventh.

“After we settled in, we began to get some runs and they realized that we could play with them,” said Farrington.

Brackett scattered 10 hits and the defense solidified around her. That’s been the key to the Bucks rebuilding. Brackett has pitched solidly and allowed the defense to make the plays. As the young gloves get steadier, the Bucks get stronger.

“We don’t want to get too much confidence, but we do feel good about this year.” said Farrington, whose team meets Richmond again May 25th.

To the power of three

A new wrinkle in the schedule for WMC teams has squads playing each other three times. That means rivals St. Dom’s and Sacopee get an added helping of each other.

Those two clubs have met in the regional final the last three years.

With Waynflete dropping its program, it left in void in the schedules. St. Dom’s now plays Sacopee and Traip three times.

Sacopee has an extra game with St. Dom’s and NYA.

“Do we want to play them three times?” said St. Dom’s coach Dan Samson. “We have to play them three times. It has its disadvantages. You have to play heads up all the time.”

The last few years, the two clubs have expected to meet in the postseason and often tinkered with their lineups so as to give their foes different looks. Of course, the Hawks and Saints have played so often the last few years, there aren’t many secrets left.

“I’ve always said we could coach each other’s teams,” said Sacopee coach Tim Vacchiano.

The fact that both St. Dom’s and Sacopee are starved for quality competition at times, the added meeting provides each another meaningful game.

The Saints won the first game 6-2 Wednesday.

The two meet again next Tuesday in South Hiram and again May 21 in Auburn.

“We’re looking for any competitive game that we can at this point,” said Vacchiano.

Back in the hunt

Sacopee’s playoff hopes got a significant boost with pitcher Michelle Libby’s return to action.

She tore her ACL in the offseason and was expected to miss much of the season. Libby was a Sun Journal First Team All-Star last year as a freshman after pitching the Hawks to the Class C state title.

“She’s doing great,” said Vacchiano.

“She can move more than she does. but we’ve told her not too. There’s no reason too. It’s not worth it. She can throw harder, and she can throw better but because of therapy, we’ve told her not to. We’ve just said throw the ball and work your corners.'”

Libby hasn’t been hitting or running the bases, leaving a significant void in the order. Still, having her on the mound puts Sacopee back in the Western C hunt.

“She’s one of our better hitters, but she’s not going to hit,” said Vacchiano. “She’s not going to run the bases. If the doctor says she can hit, than I’m going to let her hit, but I’m not going to make that determination.”