In the midst of last Friday’s tighter-than-hoped-for playoff game, Dan Jack turned to his assistant coach.

“I said: ‘If we get through this one, it’s going to be a great lesson,'” said Jack.

The top-ranked Buckfield softball team eked out a 2-1 win over Greenville in that Western D semifinal game. Now the Bucks (13-2) take their frustration from a narrow win and hope to learn from it in today’s 3 p.m. Western D final in Gorham. Buckfield meets second-seeded Richmond (8-7) for the second straight year.

“It was a great wake-up call,” said Jack.

It is not like the Bucks played poorly against Greenville. They saw a pitcher who pitched a nice game. Her style of lofting the ball in took some adjustment for the Bucks who struggled to produce their typical offense. The Bucks still had a fine defensive game and Danielle Buswell pitched well.

“We’re not going to make a lot out of it,” said Jack. “It was one of those games where we weren’t able to score runs. Any team that’s successful, once in awhile, you’re going to have a game like.”

Still, facing a team like Richmond, a club the Bucks have handled relatively well in recent years, the Greenville game reminded them about taking anything for granted.

“We’ve talked about that all year,” said Jack. “It won’t be easy. To repeat is a hard thing to do, no matter how good you are.”

Buckfield beat the Bobcats 12-1 in last year’s final. The defending state champs then handed them 9-1 and 11-0 wins this season. One of the biggest advantages for the Bucks has been pitching edge. Buswell has dominated the Richmond bats. She’s only allowed eight runs all year against Class D foes, three earned runs. Richmond has managed just 12 hits total in its last five games with the Bucks.

“She’s a tough pitcher to score runs on,” said Jack. “She won’t give up many runs.”

If they add solid defensive play to her performance, that makes the Bucks’ offensive job that much easier. Hitters like Charlee Hayes, Colleen Violette, Emily Johnson and Lindsay Marston lead an experienced and potent lineup.

“I really hope we’ll hit the ball, and we’ll put Richmond on their heels,” said Jack.

With an abundance of seniors, the Bucks are well prepared, and after their test against Greenville, they should be ready to go.

“Overall, they’re (Richmond) a tough playoff team,” said Jack. “They always have been. Anything can happen. We’ve got to pay attention and make sure Richmond doesn’t rise above what we think they can.”

#5-Gray-New Gloucester vs. #2-Maranacook (15-2)

It is no surprise that Gray-New Gloucester is in the regional final again, especially to the Patriots.

“To be honest, we had a goal to be in the top five,” said G-NG coach John Moody. “We met that, as close as it was. We felt we had a good chance to get back to this game.

“So we’re happy to be where we wanted to be.”

The Patriots meet Maranacook in Tuesday night’s 7 p.m. final in Gorham. Gray-New Gloucester has seven players who were part of the team’s state championship team of two years ago, including seniors Hannah Beebe, Nicole Blanchard, Kristy Morrison and juniors Cait Mason, Dawn Ross, Emily Baker and Kelly Bregman.

That experience and last year’s loss to Greely has helped fuel this team.

“They’re excited, and they’re ready,” said Moody. “I think they were really disappointed that Greely beat us in the semifinals last year.”

One key has been playing tighter defense, something that plagued the team in the regular season at times.

“We have to limit our mistakes,” said Moody. “All of our losses have been because of errors. Against Wells Saturday, we didn’t make any.”

Two years ago, a trip to Florida helped lay the foundation for the championship run, and it just so happens that G-NG made a similar trip this year. They played seven games down there prior to a long regular-season slate.

“Everyone’s played a lot of softball this year, and they’re ready to finish it and win some hardware,” said Moody.

Of course, the Patriots play a Maranacook team that is no stranger to this game. The Black Bears have been in the regional final three times in the last four years. Maranacook lost to Greely, 1-0, last year on a lone run in the sixth inning.

“It sounds like they had a hard time against Lake Region,” said Moody of Maranacook, which comes off a nail-biter with Lake Region. “We played Lake Region pretty well (9-0). I feel confident that if we play our game, no one is going beat us if we play well enough.”