WELLS — The 2017 Wells softball team finished the regular season at 15-1 and with the top seed in the Class B South conference.

The Warriors were the odds on favorite to make the state title game, but were shocked when No. 3 Fryeburg pulled of the 6-5 upset in the regional final, putting an end to their once promising season.

The Warriors return five players from last year’s club, including four seniors. Wells coach Kevin Fox admits that his team still thinks about last year’s loss, but hopes the Warriors will take it one step at a time as they try to make another deep run.

“We need to move on, but I think the girls that are returning have an unfinished business mentality” said Fox. “They were very disappointed with the outcome of that game. They would like another shot at it … that being said over half the team is a brand new team and we need to get them competitive before we even think along those lines.”

Fox has been pleased with what he has seen from his group early in spring training.

“We’ve got a good core of returners. We did lose a lot, a lot of good leaders and a lot of good teammates. But we’ve got five coming back that are a good group of girls, very talented, good teammates and will be great leaders I expect,” said Fox.

Standout senior pitcher Anya Chase feels that the veterans learned a lot from last year’s senior group while trying to lead the newcomers.

“We had a great group of seniors last year that instilled that leadership and how to help the younger players … making them feel comfortable and confident. They taught us that team unity is really helpful in doing what we are trying to do which is win games and hopefully a championship,” said Chase. “The group has been stepping up great — we have a lot of new talent coming in, a lot of great athletes, now we’re in the stage of figuring out where everyone is going to go. I think it’s going to work out, we’re all really positive.”

Fox feels that the key to the team’s development will be how well it tolerates change, and staying focused as it adapts.

“Just confidence and patience. I said on day one, and I told them that I’ll probably say this 1,000 times, we need to be patient. The older kids need to be patient with the fact that with the (newcomers) it’s their first go around with everything, with how we run things. We need to be patient, our goal isn’t to win every game, our goal is to make the playoffs and to be playing our best softball when the postseason starts,” said Fox.

The Warriors will once again be considered one of the favorites to win the conference in 2018. However, Chase and company are not concerned with the outside noise, and are focused on getting another chance at finishing the job.

“People are going to say what they’re going to say but we’re going to try not to think about it and play how we know we can play,” said Chase. “We’ll see where the ball falls at the end of the season, but I think it’s good that we’re strong, well-respected and have a good chance to have a good season.”

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.