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GORHAM — Buckfield softball coach Shawn Prokey admits he’s hard to please, but he couldn’t hide his satisfaction after Chloe Bennett’s double in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The double brought home three runs, breaking a tie and sending the Bucks to a 6-4 victory over two-time defending state champion North Yarmouth Academy in the Class D South final at the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday.

NYA beat Buckfield 2-1 last season in the regional final.

“That was a clutch hit that she had there with the bases loaded, right, with a double, and it was a shot,” Prokey said. “Any other place other than here, it probably would have been a home run. But, yeah, she was excited, and I was excited for her.”

The Bucks (18-1) will face Penobscot Valley (17-0) for the state championship Saturday at the University of Maine in Orono.

The D South final was initially slated for Tuesday, but the game was stopped in the third inning with NYA leading 3-1, when the umpires deemed the field unsafe due to rain. By rule, the game was required to be replayed Wednesday.

The top-seeded Bucks and the second-seeded Panthers were tied 1-1 when Bennett hit the bases-loaded double that put the Bucks ahead for good.

Bennett, who finished with two doubles, said that high-volume teammate support and good at-bats tend to make Prokey happiest.

“I think seeing us excited, like, when we’re loud in the dugout, it gets him pumped up,” Bennett said. “When we hit good, we make contact. Like, he always tells us, don’t kill the ball, don’t try and get home runs, just try and make contact and something will happen. And that’s, I think, what gets him the most excited.”

Cora Brewster followed with another strong at-bat, doubling home Bennett to give Buckfield a 5-1 advantage. Brewster had two hits in the game.

NYA began to chip away in the top of the fifth when a sacrifice fly by Sadie Morgan and a single by Lily Fortin each brought in a run.

Buckfield starter Carmen Crockett was intentionally walked twice in the game, but the Panthers pitched to her in the bottom of the sixth, and she hit a single to right field that scored Brewster and pushed the Bucks’ lead to 6-3.

“Well, I was hoping I’d get a chance to hit now that there wasn’t two outs and a runner on second, so I was happy,” Crockett said.

NYA coach Ricky Doyon said he took the gamble because Crockett hadn’t faced Fortin, the Panthers’ pitcher.

The Panthers got that run back in the top of the seventh when Crockett’s throw to first sailed into foul territory, allowing Fortin to go to second. Fortin later scored on a Jordan Nash groundout.

Crockett allowed 10 hits in the complete game and struck out five.

Neither team scored until the third inning when Morgan drove the ball into the left-field gap to score Caroline Matusovich from third base and give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

NYA stranded seven runners on base.

“If we had gotten a couple more of those runs and we were on base, I think you might have (seen) something a little different, but we didn’t,” Doyon said. “It’s about taking advantage of opportunities, and we didn’t take advantage of all our opportunities.”

Buckfield responded in the bottom of the third when Brittany Carrier hit a one-out triple and scored on an error by Matusovich in right field that sent batter Chloe Bennett to second. Fortin got out of the inning by striking out Amelia Hill.

“NYA played a great game as well,” Prokey said. “NYA really did have a great game. They rallied first. They had a big inning. We fought right back and got the one back as well — I think it was the third inning. But they’re a solid team, you know, two state champions the last two years.”