STANDISH —  When Amy Ashley walked to the pitcher’s circle in the seventh inning, she wanted to see how her Yarmouth softball team was handling the pressure situation.

Her Clippers were clinging to a lead, but Fryeburg was threatening in the final inning.

Instead of having to settle her team down, the Clippers did that for their coach.

“They gave me confidence just looking at them,” Ashley said. “They were engaged and they really believed. I love seeing that. They showed me, ‘Coach, we’re alright. We’ll do this.”

Yarmouth finished the job. Pitcher Mari Cooper struck out two consecutive batters to end the game and give the Clippers a 1-0 win over the Raiders in the Western B championship game at Bailey Field at Saint Joseph’s College.

“I just tried to pitch my heart out,” Cooper said of the final inning in which Fryeburg had two runners on with just one out. “That could have been the last time for our seniors. I just had to go for it. I had complete belief in the team behind me, and I just pitched and saw what happened.”

Cooper allowed just four hits and struck out seven and walk none. She hasn’t allowed a run in three playoff games this season.

“We haven’t really been tested in the playoffs that much,” Cooper, a junior, said. “This was a huge test. We’ve never won a 1-0 game. That’s just huge. It so easy to get back a run, especially when the pressure’s on. I think we definitely just bore down, especially when they had a runner at second base.”

It’s the first softball title for Yarmouth, which last played in a Western Maine final in 1996, losing to Madison in Class C. The Clippers will play Hermon on Saturday in the Class B state game at 12:30 at Bailey Field.

“I wasn’t even born,” junior third baseman Cat Thompson said about the last time Yarmouth had been this far. “It’s actually crazy. I know a lot of us didn’t think we could do it at the beginning of the season. I can’t explain how proud I am of my team, of Mari, of everybody. We all have a role on the team, and I’m so proud of us for that.”

It also made for a memorable birthday for Ashley. She was serenaded by her team following the victory.

“That’s the best present you could ask for right there,” Ashley said.

Yarmouth (16-3) and Fryeburg each have just two seniors on its rosters. Though the Raiders (13-7) have been to the title game in recent years, this was a new experience for many on the squad.

“We battled and we didn’t quit,” Fryeburg coach Fred Apt said. “I can’t be more proud. If you’d told me back in May that we’d be here, I would have told you, ‘No way.'”

Sophomore Nicole Bennett turned in a strong pitching performance, allowing just four hits and striking out four. Yarmouth scored a first-inning run on a Thompson RBI. Bennett held them the rest of the way, but the Raider’s couldn’t produce the equalizer.

“We had a few chances, and we just didn’t take advantage,” Apt said.

The Raiders’ best chance to score came in the seventh. Makayla Cooper led off with a single. She was forced at second on a Lexi L’Heureux-Carland grounder. An error on an Amanda Gillette grounder gave the Raiders runners at first and second. Cooper then struck out the next two to end the game.

“That’s a great team,” Apt said of Yarmouth. “They played really well. What a great job they’ve done with that program.”

Yarmouth took the 1-0 lead in the first. Andrea St. Pierre drew a lead-off walk. She advanced on a Kallie Hutchinson sacrifice and took third on a fielder’s choice. That brought up Thompson. Down two strikes, she adjusted for an off-speed pitch and reached out for a single up the middle to plate St. Pierre.

“I’ve been struggling with the change all year,” Thompson said. “This one, I just  brought my weight back again and kind of lunged. I knew I had to hit the ball. I knew I had to do something and be productive. It worked and got the run in.”

It set the tone for the rest of the game. Yarmouth tried to build on the lead and had its chances. Fryeburg spent the rest of the game chasing that 1-0 lead.

“When we score in the first inning and we get on a pitcher, we really use the momentum that comes from that,” Thompson said. “It’s always one of our goals to do something in the first inning.”

The Clippers had two runners on in the second when Cate Ralph and Colleen Sullivan singled, but the Raiders were able to escape the jam. Yarmouth threatened in the third when two errors on a routine Cooper grounder put her at third. Bennett got out of the inning with a strikeout and ground out back to the circle.

Fryeburg could only muster three hits through the first five innings.  Bennett led off with a single in the second and advanced on a fielder’s choice and wild pitch, but she was stranded at third.

Hailey Hudson led off the third with a hit and was sacrificed to second by Quinn, but Cooper got a strike out to end the inning. Bennett was hit by a pitch in the fourth but was stranded at second. Then in the fifth, Kristina Hudson singled and advanced on an error, but she was left at second when Cooper struck out the final batter.

“We haven’t had a one-run game all season,” Ashley said. “That was the first one. They haven’t been close. We either won by a lot of lost by a lot. It’s nice to see us get a lead and that we could hold onto it.”

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