The Gorham 14U softball team completed a daunting task Sunday. The team came back from a first-round loss to capture the Maine state ASA 14U championship in Brewer.

After dropping a 2-1 decision Friday to Skowhegan, the girls proceeded to win four games on Saturday and five more on Sunday for the title.

With showers in the forecast and determination in their hearts, Gorham hit the field Saturday, beginning play in the losers’ bracket and knowing that another loss would send them home.

Gorham proceeded to eliminate teams from Lawrence, Old Town, Biddeford, and York County with a combined score of 37-2. Pitchers Kelsey Crowe and Lauren Fleury combined for three shutouts, striking out 32 while only giving up eight hits on Saturday.

Sunday’s weather forecast improved along with the team’s prospects. Needing five wins to advance, they hammered Oxford Hills, 8-0, and Bonny Eagle, 11-0.

In the semifinal round, Gorham faced their nemesis, Skowhegan, once again. Down 1-0 and with two outs in the third, Gorham had consecutive hits by Leticia Locke, Mia McGill, Rachel Fogarty and Sara Burnheimer, pushing three runs across and never looking back, to win, 3-2.

Facing undefeated Bangor in the final round, Gorham would need to beat their opponents twice to win the tournament.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, singles by Burnheimer, Fleury, Annie Mitchell and Crowe, as well as some crafty base running by Lauren Chouinard, scored three runs. In the top of the seventh, Crowe struck out the side to seal the win.

In the final game, down by a run in the fourth inning, a key hit by Cindy Reynolds drove Mitchell in to tie the game. In the fifth, Chouinard’s sacrifice bunt allowed Fogarty to come across to push Gorham ahead for good. In the sixth inning, RBIs by Fogarty and Burnheimer put Bangor away.

During Gorham’s 10-game push to the state title, they outscored their opponents, 69-14, relying on outstanding pitching, tenacious defense, clutch hitting and aggressive base running.

Gorham’s win grants the squad an automatic berth in the New England Championships, to be held July14-16 in Biddeford.