STANDISH – A Buckfield-Richmond regional championship softball game is a bit like Maine weather. If you wait just a minute, the outlook is bound to change.

The Bucks and Bobcats had their annual see-saw battle at Ward Field at St. Joseph’s College on Wednesday. This one was as topsy-turvy as many of the previous meetings.

After eight innings of nail-biting, hair-pulling and heart-stopping play, Buckfield emerged with a 6-4 victory over Richmond to claim a third straight regional title.

It took a late rally by the defending Class D state champs to force extra innings and advance to Saturday’s 11 a.m. game in Brewer against Bangor Christian.

“I thought I’d lost three times,” said Buckfield coach Ken Farrington. “This is a typical game with them.”

The Bucks were up by two, then down by one before tying the game. Then the Bucks fell behind again before rallying in the sixth and winning in the eighth.

“You’re never sure of the lead at all,” said Richmond coach Rick Coughlin, whose club has lost to the Bucks three straight years in the regional game. “They’re a good team, no doubt about it.”

The Bucks (12-3) got the game-winner in the eighth inning. Riding the momentum of a late rally in the previous inning, Ashlee Hamann led off with a single. After a stolen base and a fly out, Kasey Farrington drilled a single to right. It was misplayed in the outfield allowing Hamann to score.

“Before the inning started, I told Ashlee, ‘This is your time. You’ve got to get on base. You know you’re going to score,'” said senior pitcher Kasey Farrington. “She was like, ‘You have to promise me you’re going to get a hit.’ I was like, ‘I promise.’ After I got that hit, we pointed at each other. It was kind of saying ‘This is our game, and they’re not going to take it from us.'”

Freshman Alicia Patrie followed with another single to right. Samantha Jones, running for Farrington, scored on a relay throw back to the infield.

“I can’t say enough about that team,” said Ken Farrington. “They will never give up.”

Richmond (15-2) had one last try, but Farrington struck out the side, giving her seven straight Ks to finish the game. She hurled a one-hitter and struck out 14.

“It seems like I have to have the pressure on my shoulders,” said Kasey Farrington, who only pitched in one of the two losses to the Bobcats in the regular season.

“Every time we play Richmond it’s like this. I kept telling myself on the mound that ‘This is our game and my time. It’s my senior year.’ In the end, I finally pulled it out.”

Richmond took a 4-3 lead in the sixth when Amy Russell scored on a wild pitch, but the Bucks avoided defeat in the top of the seventh with a tying run. LeAnn Abbott led off with a single. She stole second and advanced on a Brittany Wiley sacrifice. Then with two strikes, senior outfielder Amy Reuter grounded to first to plate Abbott. The original plan was to have her bunt.

“I totally missed that sign,” said Reuter. “I don’t know how. I tried it a second time, and it didn’t work. So I just knew I had to hit it.”

Buckfield was aggressive from the outset and used its baserunning to build a 2-0 lead in the first. After Hamann singled with one out, she advanced on a fielder’s choice and a stolen base. After Farrington walked, courtesy runner Jones took off for second. Trying to catch Hamann off third, Richmond’s Shelby Hurley threw the ball away, allowing Hamann to score and Jones to take third. Another error on a ground by Patrie allowed Jones to score.

Richmond got those back and more in the second. The Bobcats took advantage of two Bucks errors, two walks and a hit batter to take a 3-2 lead. Buckfield got out of the inning only because third baseman Ally Martin had no play at first on a grounder by Melanie Schanck. She threw to Alyssa Henderson at home, who tagged out Danielle Bunikis for the final out.

The Bucks threatened in the fourth, but Richmond’s defense bailed the Bobcats out. Farrington led off with a single. Jones advanced on a wild pitch and error but was tagged out at home when Russell relayed the throw to Hurley on a bunt by Patrie.

Patrie was later thrown out trying to steal.

The Bucks tied it in the fifth when Melissa Taylor’s grounder plated Wiley, who had reached on an error. Buckfield had two runners on with Farrington up with two outs, but Hamann was caught stealing third.

“We probably played sometimes more aggressive than I should have, but I knew we had to manufacture runs,” said Ken Farrington. “We had to push the envelope.”