GRAY – Hannah Hill never even expected to swing the bat.

As she stood awaiting her third at-bat of the day, the Fryeburg pitcher and leadoff hitter fully expected to be walked intentionally.

“Last time we played, they walked me,” said the Raider senior. “The first pitch was high. I knew she was going to have to come with something. The second pitch, I hit it because it was a pretty good pitch.”

Hill’s fly ball to shallow right field was deep enough to allow Desiree Ramsay to race home from third for the only run in a 1-0 Fryeburg victory over Gray-New Gloucester on Monday.

“It was a great game,” said Fryeburg coach Fred Apt, whose team blanked the Patriots earlier in the year 5-0. “They’re good, and we’re good. I knew we’d have to scrape for one run.”

The game featured a battle between two of the state’s best pitchers. Hill struck out 12 and allowed three hits, while Gray-NG’s Laura Getchell fired a two-hitter and fanned 15.

“This is the kind of game we would have had the last game if we hadn’t made any errors,” said Patriots coach Greg Eggleston, whose team finished the season 12-4..

The lone run came in the fifth inning. Ramsay, the first baseman, led off with a bunt that was mishandled by the Patriots.

“Desiree is a real good bunter,” Apt said. “She wasn’t even starting in our batting order. She was the flex player. That was the right time to put her in. She had a really good bunt. She’s a senior. She knows her role, and she does it well.”

Ramsay put herself in scoring position by stealing second and ended up on third on an error. That set the stage for Hill with just one out.

Hill had been up two previous times but had struck out against Getchell. Eggleston said he considered walking Hill, but consulted his battery first.

“We had walked her earlier in the season,” Eggleston said. “I mentioned to them that if she makes contact, the run was going to score. We had gotten her twice at that point. Laura felt confident and Abby (Ryan) felt confident. I respect that, and I let them go for it and let them do it.”

Hill got a piece of the second pitch and hit it deep enough to score the run. Brittany Adell made the catch and got the ball to the plate in a hurry, but Ramsay slid across the plate ahead of the tag.

Hill says her first two tries against Getchell prepared her well for the showdown in the fifth.

“I saw a lot of her pitches,” Hill said. “Coming up at that at-bat, I knew if we were going to get a run at some point, it was going to have to be then.”

From there, Hill struck out six of the next 10 batters. Getchell, who doubled in the first, couldn’t bat in the sixth after her left hand continued to bother her after being hit by a pitch in the fourth. Adell singled in the fifth, and Taylor Damon singled in the sixth. Damon was thrown out trying to steal by Heather Tripp. Hill also got some fine plays in the field from second baseman Ariel McConkey.

“They started off a few of the innings with the leadoff hitter on,” Hill said. “You expect them to bunt and get the runners over. I knew that once we got the lead, we had to work harder, but we have a great defense behind me.”

The Raiders had chances early to take the lead. Brylie Walker reached in the first and stole second. Maggie McConkey singled and advanced to third, but was stranded in the second. Ellen Head reached on a bunt single, but was later thrown out at third.

“They had a runner on third in the first and we shut them down,” Apt said. “We really played well defensively behind Hannah. Our defense is really playing well right now.”