BREWER – The Fryeburg Academy softball team hoped to do something Saturday that no other team in the school’s history had ever achieved.

To do that, the Raiders had to do something it hadn’t done this season.

“We’ve hardly been behind all year,” said Fryeburg coach Fred Apt. “We were behind in one game, and we lost that game. We we’ve never had to do this.”

Fryeburg rallied and put an exclamation point on an already impressive softball season. The Raiders claimed its first Class B softball state championship with a 6-2 win over a game Medomak Valley team at Coffin Field in Brewer. Fryeburg came from behind and broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh inning.

“This is incredible,” said Fryeburg pitcher Hannah Hill. “This is the coolest thing. I can’t think of a coaching staff or a group of girls that deserve it more. The girls just worked so hard. It shows because they eat, breathe, sleep and think about softball all the time. We all care about each other and work together. When you get a group of girls together like that, that truly enjoys each other’s company and tries their best, it’s the coolest thing to be rewarded like this.”

The Raiders (19-1) were just 1-15 in 2005 but quickly turned the program’s fortunes around to produce a dream season. The only other state championships won by girls’ teams at Fryeburg were in skiing, soccer and tennis.

“Going from a team that was just a joke to this, it’s just amazing,” said senior outfielder Jacqui Bell. “We’re the first in our school to ever do this.”

The Raiders have ridden the arm of their ace, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Maine, but Fryeburg needed more than Hill to beat the Panthers (15-6). Medomak had scored 34 runs in its four previous tournament games and had more hits off Hill than any other team this year. The Panthers rallied from a 1-0 deficit and took a 2-1 lead midway through the game.

The Raiders showed composure, solid play in the field and an offense that produce when it mattered. Junior catcher Heather Tripp had a pair of hits, including a three-run double in the seventh. Kaela Mitchel and Cerise Humphrey also drove in runs for the Raiders.

“We made some plays,” said Apt. “There are a lot of great teams, but one through nine in our lineup can hit the ball. Not many teams can say that. Not that they’re all great hitters, but they put the ball in play.”

The Raiders tied the game in the fifth. Tonya Randall singled and took second on an error. Courtesy runner Kelsey Sheehan advanced on an Ellen Head sacrifice and scored on Mitchell’s fielder’s choice. Both team’s squandered chances in the sixth to break the tie, but the Raiders didn’t waste their chance in the seventh.

Hits by Head, Mitchell and a fielder’s choice by Brylie Walker loaded the bases with one out. Hill worked a full count and then hit a grounder down to third. Tessa Dodge, who had three errors in the game, fielded the ball and came home for the force but catcher Ashley Hunt dropped the ball.

“It was a nice throw, but we couldn’t handle it at the plate,” said Medomak coach Glenn Barbour, whose team had seven errors. “Stuff like that happens. We’ve had two or three meltdowns, and we had our share of errors. We shook the errors off for a while now, but today it came back to haunt us.”

Tripp followed and added insult to injury. She drilled a Kayla Vannah pitch into the gap for a three-run double.

“It was a fastball down the center,” said Tripp. “You can’t let that pass by.”

Hill struck out two, walked one and got a game-ending pop out to Tripp to end the game. Hill finished with a five-hitter and 13 strikeouts.

“They were doing a lot of damage,” said Hill of the Panther’s postseason offensive production. “So I knew with my team behind me, I’d have to work hard. With these girls behind me, I knew we could get it down if we tried hard.”

Back-to-back errors led to a 1-0 lead for the Raiders. Walker reached after an errant throw from third on a grounder. Then a Hill grounder to short was tossed away trying to get Walker at second. After a flyout, Humphrey’s grounder to second plated Walker.

Medomak tied the game in the third. Rachel Keefe led off with a walk and stole second. She scored when Melissa Ambridge lined a hard single up the middle and off Hill’s glove. It was just the fourth earned run off Hill all year.

The Panthers took the lead in the next inning with the aid of a Fryeburg error. Kayla Santheson led off with a single and advanced on a pair of errors. Dodge followed with a triple to right for a 2-1 lead. Hill struck out the final two batters to escape the inning.

“It’s a team effort and all you can do is try not to get down on yourselves and keep yourselves up,” said Tripp. “If you bring yourself down, then you can potentially bring the team down. So you’ve got to keep a positive attitude and go out there and try harder.”