FRYEBURG — It was the kind of inning that might just induce panic in most teams,  but Fryeburg Academy just calmly shrugged it off.

Down three runs in the first inning was a mere speed bump Saturday for the Raider’s return to next week’s regional softball championship, especially after falling behind by five runs the day before against Lisbon. The comeback kids barely blinked at the early deficit and rallied to beat Gray-New Gloucester 5-4 in a Western B semifinal.

“We’ve battled back a lot all season,” said senior outfielder Brylie Walker. “We’d be down and just come back. I know one through nine, we can all battle. That’s what we did.”

The two-time defending champs graduated a wealth of seniors, including almost the entire infield, but are back in the regional championship. Fryeburg plays Maranacook at St. Joseph’s College on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

“It’s exciting,” said Walker, whose team beat GNG last year in the regional final. “We have a few girls that have won a state championship, but most of the girls haven’t seen it or haven’t been there.”

Down 3-0, the Raiders fought their way back and rode the solid pitching of Charlotte Lewis and an errorless defense. Fryeburg turned a pair of double plays and got some fine plays in the field by outfielders Kelsey Sheehan and Walker, as well as Ariel McConkey at first and Michelle Rascoe at short.

“I like our defense,” Fryeburg coach Fred Apt said. “I think we have the fastest outfield in the league. We can run down balls, no doubt about it.”

When the pitching and defense settled down after the first, the Patriots were held to one run and eight hits the rest of the way, stranding six runners. That allowed the Fryeburg offense to chip away. Maggie McConkey had three hits and drove in the tying run in the fourth and the winning run in the sixth. Walker and Ariel McConkey each had a pair of hits as the Raiders totalled 12 hits off GNG pitcher Laura Getchell.

Maggie Chaplin had two hits and drove in three runs for GNG (15-3).  Getchell, Kassie Wilson and Alicia Valente also had two hits each.

Walker helped set up the winning run in the sixth with a leadoff hit. She hit a grounder to third, but beat the throw with great hustle.

“I knew I just had to make contact,” Walker said. “I’ve been pitched outside by Getchell all season. I just wanted to make contact and get on any way I could. I was just running and praying to God that I got there before the ball did.”

Walker then stole second and advanced on an Ariel McConkey fly ball.  Maggie McConkey followed with a chopper toward first. It took a high bounce over the fielder’s head for a single.

“I was thinking that we have to win this game,” said McConkey. “I knew I had to do what I could do. I knew I had to get a base hit. When I saw it go toward first, I was like, ‘Oh no,’ and then it bounced and I was like ‘Yes!'”

The Patriots had one more at-bat in the seventh. With one out, Abby Ryan singled, but Rascoe made a nice catch on a Valente liner and completed the double play at first to end the game.

GNG coach Dave Getchell declined to talk about the game afterwards.

The Patriots took the 3-0 lead in the first when Wilson singled in Alex Thompson and Chaplin doubled home Ryan and Valente.  GNG had other chances, but stranded five runners in the first three innings. The Raiders also helped their cause with a double play in the first with the bases loaded.

“I thought that was a big play when Ariel went home on that play,” Apt said about the double play that nearly enabled Fryeburg to escape the first down 1-0. “We just built off that defensively. That got our momentum going.”

Fryeburg got one run back when Rascoe singled in Walker in the second, but a RBI single by Chaplin made it 4-1 in the third. In the bottom of the inning Ariel McConkey’s two-run homer made it 4-3.

“Her home run really added enthusiasm and got everyone pumped up, but I think we knew all along that we could come back,” said Walker.

Fryeburg tied it in the fourth by loading the bases. Maggie McConkey hit a dribbler toward Wilson at third. She tried to come home for the force, but nice hustle and a diving slide by Carla Tripp scored the tying run.

“I give the kids credit,” said Apt. “17-1, I bet out of the 300 people here, there’s not five people that thought that was going to happen. I was not among that five, but these kids just worked their butts off.”

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