SOUTH ROYALTON — Dark storm clouds drifted over nearby hills to the west and dropped a watery deluge here early Tuesday evening. It soaked members of the White River Valley High baseball team, gathered in the outfield for a team picture after staging a late rally to beat BFA-Fairfax, 3-2, in the eighth inning of their VPA Division III semifinal.

The triumph marked the Wildcats’ sixth consecutive berth in the division finals and means they’ll have a chance to snap a two-game losing skid at that stage. White River Valley lost to BFA-Fairfax, 7-0, last year and to Thetford, 6-0, the year before at Burlington’s Centennial Field.

“I feel so great right now,” said Wildcats junior Quinlan Grace, who starred on the mound and at the plate Tuesday. “I can’t even think because I’m so excited for Centennial.”

The top-seeded and undefeated Wildcats play in the 6 p.m. Saturday state final game at Centennial against either second-seeded Thetford or sixth-seeded Green Mountain, who played the other semifinal Wednesday afternoon.

Grace’s deep single just inside the left-field foul line with the bases loaded and no outs scored Isaac Wimett, who leaped and landed on home plate with both feet for the winning run before being mobbed by his teammates.

A junior transfer from Randolph, Grace allowed seven hits and two runs, one of them earned, while striking out 10 Bullets and walking four. He also contributed a fourth-inning double.

“This game was crazy,” said White River Valley coach Devin Cilley, whose team trailed, 2-0, after the fourth inning. “The semifinals the last three years have all been crazy.

“The last five years, our best game of the season has been in the semifinals. But hopefully, this year, our best game will be in the finals.”

Normally a team with crisp physical and mental fundamentals, the Wildcats (15-0) looked ragged for much of Tuesday’s contest. Catcher Brayden Russ’ throws to second base were off-target. Grace fielded a bunt and had no time to throw to first base, then went into a frustrated reverie, allowing the runner to advance.

Wildcats pinch runner Charles Young, inserted after Grace’s double, unnecessarily ran into a tag at third. Second baseman Jacob Benoit had a ground ball squeeze under his glove.

The Bullets (11-6) scored their first run during the fourth inning after Teddy Colling walked and moved to steal second. Russ’ throw sailed into center field, allowing Colling to reach third.

Bryant Matton-Wright then dropped a squeeze bunt in the grass to the right of home plate. Grace fielded it but couldn’t make a play while Colling scored and threw to second base late when Matton-Wright took advantage of the pitcher’s inattention.

Matton-Wright made an ill-advised decision to keep going to third on the play, and the Wildcats’ relay throw beat him by five feet. Third baseman Donavan Craven’s tag was off the mark, however. Kris Mummert’s ground out scored Matton-Wright with the visitors’ second run.

The Wildcats halved their deficit in the bottom of the seventh when Wyatt Cadwell reached base with a bloop single and moved to second on Ty Couture’s hit up the middle. Cilley called for a successful double steal, and when third baseman Matton-Wright couldn’t handle catcher Colling’s throw, Cadwell scored and Couture took third.

Said Bullets coach Mike Brown: “They did a good job of creating pressure that, although we drill and prep for it, we couldn’t handle in the heat of a game. Devin did a great job of creating opportunities for his boys.”

A wild pitch from Reagan Baumeister scored Couture for a 2-2 tie. It was an unkind twist of fate for the hurler, who allowed seven hits and three runs, two of them earned, while striking out 11 Wildcats and walking one.

BFA-Fairfax stranded a runner at third during the top of the eighth inning. Wimett and Benoit led off the bottom of that frame with singles and Russ was intentionally walked, setting the stage for Grace’s heroics.

“I was just worried it was going to go foul,” Grace said of his long knock. “But I saw it drop, and every stress I had on my shoulders dropped.”

Cilley said the combination of postseason baseball, the end of school and his seven seniors’ Saturday graduation means his team must cope with a roller coaster of emotions in a short span.

“There’s a lot going on this time of year,” he said, noting that last year both White River Valley and BFA-Fairfax had graduation in the morning before playing the Division III final in Burlington. “Things are ending and it can be hard for the kids, because not all of them know what’s next. We try to separate that from the baseball stuff when we have them for two or three hours.”

Tris Wykes can be reached at ctwykes@aol.com.