AUGUSTA – They persevered. They endured. They survived. They were even nearly late for graduation.

By the time it was all said and done, though, the most important thing for the Leavitt softball team Friday was that they had advanced.

The Hornets edged Cony 1-0 in an Eastern A quarterfinal 12-inning nailbiter.

It was the third straight year Leavitt has eliminated the Rams.

“We knew we had to win this to go on,” said first baseman Beth Burgess. “As our coach says, We’re not ready to give up right now.’ We want to play until we can’t play anymore.”

Beth Ellis’ two-out fly to rightfield was dropped, allowing Burgess to score the game-winner. The two-time defending Class A state champions play at Brunswick Saturday at 3 p.m. It will be their third game in as many days. Leavitt lost to the Dragons in the regular season but recently beat them in the KVAC playoffs. The winner goes to next week’s regional final in Brewer.

“I just really wanted to get a hit,” said Ellis. “Because we’re graduating, I wanted to get the game over with. It felt so good to get a hit like that.”

Neither team flinched for much of Friday’s showdown. It wasn’t until the 12th that seventh-ranked Leavitt (14-4) managed to break the stalemate. With two outs, Burgess and Alanna Leonard reached on hits. Ellis followed with a shallow fly to right. Second baseman Ashley Mason raced out to grab it in front of outfielder Meaghan Stiman, but it fell out of her glove.

“I heard them arguing back and forth over who was going to catch it,” said Ellis. “It was absolutely the best feeling in the world when that ball dropped.”

Burgess was oblivious to all that. She was just running.

“I didn’t even know they’d dropped it,” said Burgess. “I looked at the third base coach, and he said Go’. He didn’t even know they dropped it. I was halfway home.”

That was all the Hornets needed to topple second-ranked Cony (15-2). Pitcher Sam St. Hilaire fielded a liner off her midsection, caught an infield fly and struck out the final batter to seal it.

“Obviously we didn’t get the job done,” said Cony coach Carolyn Neighoff. “Offensively, we had our chances and defensively, we didn’t get it done either. Today, they were the better team.”

It was a game dominated by St. Hilaire and Cony’s Amanda Lapointe. Lapointe gave up five hits and struck out eight. St. Hilaire held the Rams to four hits and struck out eight. None of the Ks were bigger than a pair in the bottom of the 10th. Cony had runners at second and third with no outs, but St. Hilaire managed to escape.

“That’s a tough spot,” said Leavitt coach Pete Higgins. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll take that kid on the mound over anybody in the state when that situation occurs. She thrives on the competition. When she gets her back against the wall, she’s a tough little character.”

With Devon Gaslin and Mason in scoring position after back-to-back singles, St. Hilaire got Chelsea Clarke to pop up to Burgess. After a fielder’s choice loaded the bases, St. Hilaire struck out two straight to end the inning.

“I wanted to pitch it and try to make some plays,” said St. Hilaire. “I was trying to get an infield pop up or something. Beth made a great play on that pop up. If she drops that we lose. The whole team did great under pressure. We made some great plays.”

The Hornets also got some fine defensive plays from Leonard at third and Pratt behind the plate. Steph Healy gobbled up everything in the infield that came her way at short.

Leavitt had its chances to take the lead earlier. St. Hilaire was stranded at third in the sixth after a two-out triple. Pratt was stuck at third in the 10th after a leadoff double.