Middletown — It may have been the byproduct of a bad day. Or the residual effect of the town's storied baseball history. But a loss — and the way it happened — just might have ignited Waterford High School's trip to another state championship game.

It was about two weeks ago that the Lancers were all but comatose during a loss to Fitch in the conference tournament semifinals. They lost 7-0. The dugout was lifeless.

Oh, but it's changed. And the one word coach Art Peluso uses to describe the change: energy.

Third-seeded Waterford will bring plenty of it Friday night at Palmer Field when it seeks state title No. 10 against Lewis Mills at 7 p.m. Theday.com will air a live audio broadcast of the game.

Waterford dugouts have never been bastions of bedlam. The success rate among the town's youth programs, parlayed with the nine high school titles, often produces an "act like you've been there before" attitude, some of which opponents often identify as arrogant.

But now? It's like a football sideline. Just the way this group likes it.

"The one word I can use to describe what's different," pitcher Collin Bakken said, "is energy."

The players and coaches agree that it's contributed to some resilience in the tournament. St. Joseph scored a run in the top of the first inning of Wednesday's semifinal and then denied Waterford during a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the bottom of the inning.

Peluso surmised after the game that it could have been a momentum swing. Instead, the dugout was plenty vibrant in subsequent innings, leading to what became a 16-hit parade around the bases.

After the quarterfinal victory over Goodwin Tech, Peluso asked reporters, "When's the last time you heard a Waterford dugout that animated?"

He even credited Bobby Silva, Liam Spellman and Trevor Yeomans, three kids who don't play regularly, as being the "energy guys." Peluso said, "They're every bit as important as Michael Burrows."

Peluso alluded to Friday's starting pitcher, who has already won two games in the tournament and punctuated the semifinal win with a loud home run.

"It's a different energy here the last two weeks," Burrows said.

Fourth-seeded Lewis Mills, which plays in the Berkshire League, overcame a 4-0 deficit to defeat Haddam-Killingworth 5-4 in Wednesday's other semifinal. Before the state tournament, the Spartans did not defeat a team outside the Berkshire League. The lone common opponent between the teams: Bacon Academy, which Mills defeated 5-4 to begin the tournament. Waterford defeated Bacon 4-3 and 14-0 during the regular season.

Waterford has outscored its opponents 44-5 thus far in the state tournament.

m.dimauro@theday.com