That’s how the Gray-New Gloucester softball team approached Thursday’s Western B quarterfinal. The Patriots had not faced Oak Hill’s Kortni Michaud before and knew very little about her. So all the Patriots could do was be concerned about themselves.

“It helped a lot,” said freshman outfielder Kaelyn Woods. “It was all new. We were going to start fresh. We didn’t know what she looked like. We didn’t know what pitches she had. We didn’t know her speed. It was good to come in fresh.”

The Patriots went to the plate ready to swing. It led to some early hits and early runs and a 6-3 win over the Raiders. Gray-NG advances to Saturday’s semifinal at Cape Elizabeth.

The Patriots (13-5) built a 6-0 lead and then held off the Mountain Valley Conference champs in the seventh.

“We definitely attacked right quick and took advantage by getting on base and advancing,” said Gray-NG coach Amanda Harmon. “I think we came focused. They had that want and they played like they wanted it.”

The Patriots finished with 10 hits, two each from Alex Thompson, Sam Wilkins, Zoe Adams and Maria Valente. The Raiders (12-4) had six hits but managed just three through the first six innings. Michaud had three hits for Oak Hill.

“We haven’t been behind in too many games,” said Oak Hill coach Allyson Collins. “Usually we’re able to come back. This time, we just came back too late. We needed to get runs on the board early, and we just didn’t do it.”

Gray-NG pitcher Steph Greaton struck out 11 and walked just two. She also got some solid defensive play. Valente made a number of nice plays, including a diving catch and scoop out of the dirt at first. Oak Hill scored 108 runs during the regular season this year.

“Coming into the game, I was a little nervous because we hadn’t seen them this year,” said Greaton. “I trusted my team behind me and I trusted my catcher (Adams) to call the right pitches.”

In the first, the Patriots got a Wilkins single with one out. Woods followed with an RBI double. She scored on an Adams triple. Then a fielder’s choice by Valente plated Adams for the 3-0 lead.

“(Wednesday) in practice my coach worked with me for like an hour with my stance,” said Woods. “It felt good. That double, I changed what I needed, and I really connected.”

Oak Hill threatened in the bottom of the inning when Kelsey Collins and Michaud each reached on singles, but Greaton escaped the jam with a strikeout.

“Coach told me that I’m basically the rock for our team,” said Greaton. “We were down against Falmouth, and we came back to win. She was like ‘You need to keep your head up and keep these seniors up.’ When the coach told me that, I knew that’s my role. I knew I needed to keep my head up so the people around me could play this game that they love.”

Michaud kept the Raiders within reach, but Oak Hill couldn’t get the spark it needed offensively.  The Raiders were hitless through the next four innings. Michaud led off with a triple in the sixth but was stranded there.

“We couldn’t get out of our heads today,” said Collins. “She did an excellent job on the mound, and they had some excellent hitters at the plate. Nothing seemed to go our way today.”

Gray-NG added three more runs in the fourth. Thompson singled in a pair and Wilkins drove in a run with a single for the 6-0 lead.

Oak Hill got on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Alyssa Rouleau doubled in a run and Michaud followed with a two-run single with two outs. Greaton fielded the final out and relayed it to Valente at first.

Cape beat Gray-NG 14-2 earlier in the year. Greaton was out of the lineup with an injury and the Patriots played one of their worst games of the season.

“I think the girls’ will be excited to play Cape because we know we can play better than we did that day,” said Harmon.

[email protected]