Matt Benson and his nine seniors know all too well how easy it is to trip and fall at the Class L championship threshold.

Last year, Goffstown stumbled in the semifinals to upstart Trinity, a squad that entered the postseason as the No. 13 seed after a 10-12 regular season. With their collective hand knocking on the door once again, the Grizzlies say they’re ready to take their turn.

“We learned a lesson last year that we need to have controlled passion,” said Benson. “You know, we can’t get too high, we can’t get too low, and that includes the coaching. I’m just as guilty.”

Maintaining focus, harnessing intensity and limiting mistakes are, of course, key, but learning to win even when things don’t go as planned is important too, said the manager.

Against No. 6 Londonderry, for example, in the state quarterfinals on Saturday, June 7, Goffstown rallied from a 3-1 second-inning deficit and tied the contest in the bottom of the fourth.

In the sixth, the Grizzlies took advantage of a handful of Lancer miscues to secure a 4-3 victory.

Senior Kory Kiro led off the inning with a single and took second on an overthrow to first base. Riley Palmer reached on a bunt, moving Kiro to third, and Mike Bisceglia took fi rst to load the bases. After a fielder’s choice, Travis Rand hit a hard chopper right off the first baseman’s shoulder to bring fellow senior Eric Badasarian, a pinch runner, home from third.

Matt Gifford closed the game and secured the win for his senior co-captain, Tom Mac- Donald.

Still, Benson knows his squad was fortunate to escape with the victory.

“(We) can’t play like that in the semifinals. I mean, we battled through the adversity … You’ve got to make the plays, and we did that when it counted,” he said. “One thing about baseball is you can play awful in some games and come back and play great the next game, and vice versa.”

In addition to the aforementioned seniors, Steve Case, Ryan Allen, Matt Auger-Lencki and Nick Campasano look to close their high school careers at the top of Class L.

The Grizzlies were scheduled to play No. 15 Memorial in the semifinals on Wednesday, June 11.