BREWER – The Georges Valley softball team took an unconventional route to its first-ever Class C state softball championship.

The Buccaneers of Thomaston hit the ball, but created more runs through aggressive at-bats and baserunning.

They got a strong pitching performance out of freshman Danielle Frye, but she did it by relying on her changeup early in counts.

And rather than win with a group of upperclass leaders, this year’s Georges Valley squad doesn’t have one senior.

The Bucs didn’t have any big innings, but scored one run in each of the first five frames as they earned a 5-2 win over Sumner of East Sullivan Saturday afternoon in the Class C state final at Coffin Field.

The Buccaneers (17-2) were excited to be part of the program’s first appearance in a championship game.

“We set history [by winning the school’s first Western Maine title] and now we’re doing this,” said junior Ashley Geel, who drove in two of Georges Valley’s runs. “It’s amazing. I’m still jumping around.”

The game belonged to Frye, who kept the 16-4 Tigers off-balance the entire game. Sumner, which belted three home runs in the Eastern Maine title game, managed just five hits and one for extra bases.

“That was my main focus, to get past the top of their order and then throw strikes,” Frye said.

The first three batters in the Tigers’ order went 0-for-10 with two walks. No. 4 batter Hollie Stanwood had two singles.

Frye used the changeup to get a huge strikeout in the bottom of the second. Sumner had runners at second and third with two outs and Frye threw three straight changeups to get leadoff batter Ashley Pennartz for the final out.

Frye threw three straight changeups to get another out later in the game.

“It’s a tough pitch to hit once,” Bucs coach Russell “Rusty” Worcester said. “No one really expects you to throw it twice and absolutely no one expects you to ever throw it three times. In games like this, against great-hitting ballclubs, you’re going to have to do the abnormal.”

Frye finished with five strikeouts and four walks, while Sumner stranded seven baserunners including two in the bottom of the seventh.

“We worked quite a while on the changeup but had [the Sumner batters] not swung at a lot of those, I don’t know,” said Sumner coach Elwood “Bimbo” Pinkham. “We wanted the girls to let the changeup go through because she had very few that were strikes.”

The Buccaneer offense found ways to get on via errors, walks, a hit-by-pitch that leadoff batter Desiree Smith converted into the game’s first run, and well-placed hits.

Smith scored on Geel’s double. Geel added another RBI in the third when she grounded out to bring in Danielle Leavitt, who had tripled. Bethany Snow, the No. 9 batter, hit an RBI triple in the second to plate Nicole Poland (walk).

“We got the bat on the ball, and we made runs,” Geel said. “We have pretty good baserunning skills. … Everyone in the dugout who got an RBI was so excited. They didn’t even care if they got out. It meant runs on the board.”

Sumner stayed in the game with a run in the second on a Morgan Traxler single that scored Lona Sargent (double), and another in the sixth when Stanwood singled and eventually scored.

It looked as if the Tigers would mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Clarissa West drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second when Ashley Robinson reached on the only Georges Valley error of the game.

A forceout at third, a putout at first and a flyout caught by Bucs’ center fielder Poland ended Sumner’s chances.

“It was our first state championship in many, many years and I think they were kind of nervous,” Pinkham said. “That makes a difference. Late in the game we got our composure back and we gave it a good run.”

BUCCANEERS 5, TIGERS 2

Georges Valley (17-2) Sumner (16-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Smith, c 2 2 0 0 Pennartz, 2b 3 0 0

Leavitt, lf 3 1 2 1 Higgins, c 3 0 0

Geel, 1b 3 0 2 2 N. Sargent, p 4 0 0

Hall, rf 4 0 1 0 Stanwood, lf-rf 3 1 0

Worcester, 2b 4 0 0 0 L. Sargent, 3b 3 0

Watts, ss 3 1 0 0 Traxler, 1b 3 0 1

Rackliff, dh 2 0 0 0 Johnson, pr 0 0 0

Judkins, dh 2 0 1 0 Daley, ss 3 0 0

Poland, cf 3 1 0 1 West, dh 1 0 0

Snow, 3b 3 0 1 1 Leach, rf-lf 0 0 0

Robinson, cf 3 0 0 0

Totals 29 5 7 5 Totals 26 2 5 1

Georges Valley 111 110 0 – 5

Sumner 010 001 0 – 2

E-Worcester; Pennartz 2, Higgins, Daley; LOB-Georges Valley 9, Sumner 7; 2B-Geel; L. Sargent; 3B-Leavitt, Snow; DP-Smith-Geel; Daley-Pennartz-Traxler; S-Leavitt; SB-Judkins 2, Smith, Worcester, Geel, Watts

Georges Valley IP H R ER BB SO

Frye (W, 11-2) 7 5 2 2 4 5

Sumner IP H R ER BB SO

N. Sargent (L, 11-4) 7 7 5 4 4 5

HBP-Smith (by N. Sargent); PB-Smith; T-1:42; ATT-600 (est.)