STANDISH – The Telstar softball team didn’t have the big hit Tuesday night.

But the sum of a few well-placed balls in play had sizable results for the Rebels.

Telstar scored four runs on three infield hits in the sixth inning to break a stalemate in the Western C championship game at Ward Field at St. Joseph’s College. The Rebels then held off the undefeated top-seeded Georges Valley Bucs for a 4-2 win.

The Rebels avenged back-to-back losses to the Bucs in the last two regional finals and advance to Saturday’s state game at noon at Coffin Field in Brewer.

“We’ve been here the last two years and lost to them each time,” said junior catcher Sam Largess. “That was the driving force. We didn’t want it again. A lot of us sat the bench last year and are really playing this year, and we really wanted it.”

Georges Valley, the two-time defending state champs, have been undefeated the last two regular seasons and won 34 straight but lost to the Rebels in the MVC title game. Danielle Frye, the MVC player of the year, struck out 33 Rebels in the two previous meetings, but Telstar managed to get runners on early and threaten in each of the first four innings.

“We had opportunities all along,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “We went in with the philosophy that we were going to put runners in scoring position. We like to hit the ball and be on the run. That inning when we scored, he brought the infield in and we hit the ball kind of between them.”

The Rebels (16-1) stranded five runners in the first four innings but sensed a breakthrough was coming.

“It was really frustrating because we knew we could do it,” said Largess. “We knew we could hit her but it was just so frustrating, but we knew it would come.”

Telstar pitcher Kayla Merrill kept the Bucs (16-1) at bay in the meantime. She struck out four and walked none. She scattered seven hits.

“We didn’t pitcher her in the MVC game, and we did that for a reason,” said Lunney. “I have great faith in Candace (Hall), but the more times you see a pitcher the more familiar you are.”

Merrill kept the Bucs at bay until George Valley fell behind 4-0 in the sixth. The Bucs managed two runs in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t muster much more offense against the sophomore hurler.

“I was nervous at the beginning when I first found out and in the (sixth) inning when they scored those two runs I was a little nervous,” said Merrill. “I decided I just had to buckle down.”

The decisive sixth inning began with one out when T.J. Cowin singled. Hannah Morin followed with another infield hit. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and Nicena Walker broke the tie when her grounder glanced off the glove of first baseman Jill Bradbury. The second baseman Bethany Snow, fielded it and came home but Cowin beat the throw.

“I was very excited,” said Walker. “I knew I hit it, but I didn’t know where it was. I didn’t know what was going on until I got to first.”

Largess followed with another hit off a glove that plated Morin. Lindsay James had a grounder to third that was bobbled as Walker raced home. A Sarah Averill fielder’s choice made it 4-0.

“We hit it between people,” said Lunney. “If that (Nicena’s) ball had been right at the first baseman, she would have caught it and looked the runner back. She had to move off the base and look to home plate. I think two went off gloves in that inning.”

The Bucs answered with a Snow RBI single and a Danielle Leavitt fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth.

“Give them credit, we throw a four-spot on them, and seven seconds later they’ve got two runs in,” said Lunney.

The Bucs got two singles in the seventh, but Merrill got a strikeout and a liner to James at second to seal it.

“We’ve only beaten these guys once,” said Walker. “It feels so good to be able to beat them again.”