STANDISH – Whatever the question about Fryeburg Academy softball the last four springs, Hannah Hill is the answer.

Saturday’s farewell tour of Ward Field was no different.

Out of all the pitchers in the state, which one would you choose to escape runners at second and third with nobody out?

Hill, yes.

With the bases empty in extra innings, is there anybody Fryeburg coach Fred Apt would rather see swinging a bat than his leadoff hitter with a propensity for line drives and speed to burn?

Hill, you say.

When you see a 9-year-old girl scampering across the playing fields of Fryeburg, Denmark or Brownfield while wearing a navy blue shirt with a deuce on the back, which athlete is she honoring?

You’re catching on. It isn’t Derek Jeter.

“She’s been so great for our program and our town,” Apt said. “All the little kids in town want to be Hannah Hill. You see kids running around with her number on their back and wanting her autograph. She makes everybody around her better. Not that they’re not great softball players, but she makes them better.”

For the second year in a row, at Medomak Valley’s expense, Hill made Fryeburg a state champion.

Hill tossed a two-hitter, amassed 15 strikeouts, played Houdini in what could have been a disastrous fifth inning, then singled sharply and eventually stomped on home plate in the bottom of the eighth to punctuate a 2-1 victory.

“It’s kind of a lot to take in right now. There’s no way I would have rather ended my high school career, especially with the team I have,” said Hill, who is bound for Seton Hall University of the Big East Conference in the fall. “I love every single one of these girls. To win a second state championship with them was amazing. It’s indescribable.”

Unlike so many of her masterpieces, Hill’s finale was a walk, two sharp hits and an infield error south of perfect.

And the biggest problem for the Raiders was that everything except the base on balls unfolded in stunning succession to start the fifth inning, erasing a 1-0 lead and giving the Panthers an unforeseen chance to break it open.

Medomak quickly learned that finding the Hill and scaling it are two distinctly different achievements. With Kayla Santheson standing ominously at third base and Kasey Benner looming at second, Hill made Kelsi Severson eyeball an 0-2 delivery that caught the corner.

Vannessa Davis popped softly to Ellen Head at shortstop. Mallory Conary waved at a fastball for strike three, out three.

The Panthers never touched first base again, with Hill dismissing the final dozen in order after the brief disturbance.

“There was no doubt. I felt comfortable. She just goes after it. She isn’t what she is for anything other than hard work and discipline,” Apt said. “She knows to stay within herself. She’s not going to panic.”

Hill suspected she might have doused all the Panthers’ embers when she put out the fifth-inning fire.

“If anything I got a little bit tougher mentally. Two runners in scoring position with no outs, every team wants to take advantage of that,” Hill said. “If you don’t allow them to score at that point, it is one of the most aggravating things as the batting team. We knew if we could get out of that, that we could take the wind out of their sails and hopefully score again.”

Hill’s one-out stroke hastened the finish.

Brylie Walker beat out an infield single when Hill’s speed negated a possible fielder’s choice at second. Heather Tripp scrambled from a 1-2 count to draw a walk that loaded the bases. And Ariel McConkey’s gapper into a drawn-in outfield still might be rolling.

“The girl knows how to swing a bat, too,” Medomak Valley coach Glenn Barbour said of Hill. “She gets up there with a confidence and vindictiveness that she’s going to hit the ball and that’s all there is to it. And she did it when she had to. I believe she was leadoff, and hey, that’s all it took. That was the one.”

Top all-around softball player in Maine? It shouldn’t be hard to answer that query, either.

“She’s probably the best, and if not she’s definitely one of them,” Apt said. “But we’re more than Hannah Hill.”

“I’m honored every time I get an individual award, but it’s so nice to get an award like this and share it with my team,” said Hill. “There’s no way we could have won this game without them.”

Or vice versa. No question about it.