STANDISH – If the Buckfield softball team should fall behind against Woodland in Saturday’s Class D softball game, don’t panic.

Because there’s a pretty good likelihood that the Bucks themselves won’t be a bit flustered. To them, what’s a 5-0 hole in the third inning or a two-run deficit entering their final at-bat?

“These girls don’t quit,” said Buckfield coach Ken Farrington. “If you’re not willing to quit, there will be a reward in effort. They’ve worked hard in practice all year. There has been times that this team could have given up for a lot more severe problems than being down two runs.”

The Bucks have succeeded in not only overcoming obstacles but erasing deficits. Buckfield rallied late to beat Richmond last year in the Western D final. A few days later, the Bucks were down to a last at-bat against a fireballing pitcher but rallied and stunned Bangor Christian. Tuesday, they overcame a 5-0 deficit and then erased an 8-6 Richmond lead in the bottom of the seventh to win a fourth straight regional title.

“We’ve come back from a lot of things before,” said senior first baseman LeAnn Abbott. “We had more innings. It wasn’t like we were down by five in the seventh inning. That would have been a crushing blow. We had time and were like ‘We’re going to do this and work through it.'”

The Bucks have been battling adversity all season. After a second straight state championship win, the team graduated three starters, including the battery. In the offseason, Ashlee Hamann, the starting shortstop, was lost to a knee injury during basketball. Another regular was lost because of studies out of state. Then came a disciplinary issue that resulted in two players suspended from the team. That totaled seven from last year’s club that were no longer there.

“We had players that came onto this team a couple weeks ago,” said Abbott, the lone senior who Farrington says has been instrumental in providing the team leadership. “They were brought up from JV and a couple of them are starting. That shows the depth of our JV program because they were getting ready for it all year.”

The day after the disciplinary action was taken, the Bucks were beaten handily by St. Dom’s. It proved to be a wake-up call, and the Bucks have been showing some fight ever since.

“That taught us that we needed to work together to overcome stuff like that,” said Abbott. “Otherwise, it will happen every game.”

The Bucks have worked on bonding, trust and building chemistry. What the team lacks in big game experience, it is making up for in perseverance.

“It hasn’t been easy,” said junior pitcher Brittany Wiley. “We had some rough practices. We just all knew that we needed to work really hard.”

The Bucks meet Woodland (16-4) in Saturday’s 4 p.m. state championship at Ward Field at Saint Joseph’s College. The Dragons have just one senior and are coming off their first regional title ever. Junior Shelby Bassett is the team’s ace. She struck out 12 and walked four, despite a slow start in the Eastern Maine final.

“We know that it’s not the best team that wins but it is the team that plays the best that day,” said Farrington.

The Bucks, with some experience in the softball state game atmosphere, might have an edge on the Dragons in that regard Saturday. What Buckfield has learned and shown on and off the field when down could be an even bigger advantage.

“After the state game last year, anything’s possible,” said Wiley. “I know we can win it if we fight hard enough. Even if we’re down, we always manage to comeback somehow.”