Scarborough sophomore third baseman Dominic Spina tags out a Portland baserunner during the Red Storm’s 4-2 home loss Tuesday.
Scarborough goalie Ben Hughes denies South Portland’s Aidan Schifano during the Red Riots’ 15-3 victory last week.
Cape Elizabeth’s Camilla Grosso, left, and Kelsey Kennedy run together during the girls’ mile at last week’s meet in Yarmouth. Grosso was fourth and Kennedy placed fifth as the Capers finished second as a team.
(Ed. Note: For the complete Cape Elizabeth-Freeport and Scarborough-Portland baseball, Scarborough-Noble softball and Cape Elizabeth-Falmouth, Scarborough-South Portland and South Portland-Yarmouth boys’ lacrosse game stories, with box scores and photos, see theforecaster.net)
The days are getting longer, the weather is getting nicer and the spring sports action has been can’t-miss in recent days.
There have been some compelling contests and history made as well and here’s a look back at what you might have missed, as well as a glimpse at what’s to come:
Baseball
Cape Elizabeth’s baseball team finally fell from the unbeaten ranks Monday. The Capers had improved to 6-0 with wins last week over visiting York (4-1), at Freeport (8-2) and at home over Fryeburg Academy (4-0). Carson Sullivan threw a three-hitter, Finn Bowe had two hits and Val Murphy drove in the go-ahead run against the Wildcats. In the win over the Falcons, Brendan Tinsman hit a home run and doubled and Ryan Weare had three hits and earned the victory. Against the Raiders, Tinsman had three hits, including another home run. Monday, Cape Elizabeth was blanked by visiting Freeport, as it managed just one hit, a Sullivan sixth-inning single, off Falcons pitcher Heath Cockburn.
“It’s hard to beat anybody when a pitcher throws a perfect game through five (innings),” Capers coach Andy Wood said. “We’ll try to remember that feeling. We have big games Wednesday and Friday and we’ll see how we bounce back. We knew we wouldn’t go undefeated.”
Cape Elizabeth (6-1) hoped to bounce back Wednesday at Yarmouth (see theforecaster.net for game story). The Capers host Wells Friday, play at York Monday and welcome Poland Wednesday of next week.
Scarborough enjoyed a 5-2 win at South Portland Friday, then fell to 3-4 after a 4-2 home loss to Portland Tuesday. In the victory, Nick Thompson allowed just one earned run and struck out nine, while Morgan Pratt and Dominic Spina both had two hits. In the loss, Pratt had two hits, but the Red Storm fell short.
“The kids are putting in the work in practice,” Scarborough coach Mike D’Andrea said. “They just have to go out and do it. I feel like we’re growing as a team and we’re figuring some things out. We have to grow in confidence. That’s what separated us today. Portland had confidence and you could see it.”
The Red Storm went to Kennebunk Thursday, host Falmouth Saturday and Marshwood Monday and go to Sanford Tuesday.
South Portland dropped a 5-2 home decision to Scarborough Friday, then improved to 5-2 with wins at Marshwood (3-2) and at home over Gorham (8-3). Jake Poole’s two-run double in the seventh inning spelled victory over the Hawks. In the win over the Rams, Zach Johnson had two hits and earned the win and Poole also had two hits. The Red Riots hosted Noble Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story), go to Cheverus Saturday and play host to Windham Tuesday.
Softball
Scarborough’s softball team continues to chug along, extending its regular season win streak to 81 games and improving to 8-0 after recent victories over visiting Noble (6-0), host Massabesic (9-0) and visiting Sanford (12-0, in five-innings). Against the Knights, Bella Dickinson threw a four-hit shutout and hit a home run and drove in three runs.
“I felt like it was a great team effort,” said Dickinson. “Everyone put the ball in play and did their job. A close game was good for us. It was a chance for us to hit good pitching.”
“Bella did a great job,” said longtime Red Storm coach Tom Griffin. “I wanted to give her an opportunity to see what she can do in a pressure situation Now we know we can turn to her.”
In the win over the Mustangs, Dickinson, Sam Carriero and Laura Powell all homered and Chloe Griffin earned the victory. Against the Spartans, Hunter Greenleaf hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs. Mia Kelley earned the victory. Scarborough was at Portland in a regional final rematch Wednesday, goes to South Portland Friday, hosts Marshwood in a makeup game Saturday and plays at Westbrook Tuesday of next week.
South Portland started 4-0, but fell to 5-4 at press time. Last week, the Red Riots lost at home to Massabesic (16-10) and at Marshwood (4-2). After rallying for a 4-3, eight-inning home win over Portland Monday, South Portland fell at home in five innings to Kennebunk Tuesday, 20-7. Chloe Grant had four hits and Grace Rende three against the Mustangs. Ashlee Aceto had two hits in the loss to the Hawks. The Red Riots scored twice to force extra innings against the Bulldogs, before a Maeve Kelley triple and Kaylee Whitten single won it. Rende had two hits in the loss to the Rams. South Portland was at Noble Wednesday, hosts Scarborough Friday, visits Sanford Monday and goes to Thornton Academy Wednesday of next week.
Cape Elizabeth took a 3-4 record into Wednesday’s game at Yarmouth. The Capers lost at home to York (2-0), beat host Freeport (6-1, in eight-innings), lost at home to Fryeburg Academy (5-4) and blanked visiting Freeport (11-0) in recent action. Julia Torre had three hits in the loss to the Raiders. In the second win over the Falcons, Anna Cornell and Jessie Robicheaw combined to throw a two-hitter. Corina Page had three hits, while Cornell, Katie Bozek and Anna Torre each finished with two. The Capers host Wells Friday, go to York Monday and return home to meet Poland Wednesday of next week.
Boys’ lacrosse
South Portland’s boys’ lacrosse team won its fourth straight game to start the season last Wednesday, 15-3, over visiting Scarborough. David Fiorini scored five times.
“Beating Scarborough means a lot,” said Fiorini. “I just want to beat them and when we do, it’s amazing. I want to keep doing it.”
“Anytime you beat (Scarborough), it’s a great win because they’re a great program,” said Red Riots coach Tom Fiorini. “Always has been, always will be.”
South Portland then fell to 4-1 with an 8-7 loss at Yarmouth, as a late rally fell short. Fiorini and Aidan Schifano both scored twice.
“We didn’t really start playing until midway through the fourth quarter,” Tom Fiorini said. “Credit (Yarmouth’s) defense. They had a great game plan and did a great job.”
The Red Riots had a huge test at Falmouth Wednesday and play host to Kennebunk Friday.
Defending Class A South champion Scarborough fell to 1-3 with a 15-3 loss at South Portland last week. The Red Storm got two goals from Josh DaRosa and held an early 2-0 lead, but it didn’t last.
“We’ve struggled to score goals all year,” Scarborough first-year coach Zach Barrett said. “We picked up a lot of ground balls on defense today, but we didn’t score any goals. That means we had to play a lot of defense and when we play a lot of defense, we’ll get scored on.”
The Red Storm hosted Thornton Academy Wednesday, play at Cape Elizabeth Friday and go to Gorham Tuesday of next week.
Cape Elizabeth was 3-3 at press time after a 14-8 loss at Falmouth and a 9-6 home win over Greely. Against the Yachtsmen, the Capers shot to an early 4-0 lead and were on top, 5-3, at halftime, but couldn’t hold on. Sam Dresser scored three first half goals before getting injured.
“We played pretty well in the first half,” Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond said. “Our defense was really good for everything but the third quarter. In the third quarter, they got more in transition. The first half was good and the fourth quarter was good. We’re just trying to be more consistent throughout the game.”
In the victory, Ben Carroll had the go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter and led his team with three total. Jacob Brydson and Finn Raymond added two goals apiece. The Capers host Scarborough Friday and go to York Tuesday.
Girls’ lacrosse
On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth was 3-2 at press time after an 18-10 win at Messlaonskee and an 11-9 loss at St. Dom’s. Chloe Chapin, Susie Graham and Emily Healy all had four goals in the win. Graham scored four times in the loss. The Capers were home with Yarmouth Wednesday, welcome Thornton Academy Saturday and play at Waynflete in a playoff rematch Tuesday of next week.
Scarborough dropped to 0-4 after a 7-6 home loss to Marshwood and an 11-4 setback at Cheverus. Ellie Smith and Erin Stolz both scored twice against the Hawks. The Red Storm looked to get in the win column when they hosted Falmouth Wednesday (see theforecaster.net for game story). Scarborough welcomes Brunswick Saturday, then visits defending Class A champion Massabesic Tuesday of next week.
South Portland improved to 3-2 and increased its win streak to three games after downing host Maine Girls’ Academy (17-8) and visiting Mt. Ararat (15-4) last week. Jena Leckie scored eight times against the Lions. In the win over the Eagles, Leckie had five goals and Amelia Papplardo added four. The Red Riots hosted defending Class A champion Massabesic Wednesday, play at Wells Friday and visit Bonny Eagle Tuesday.
Outdoor track
Cape Elizabeth joined five other schools for an outdoor track meet at Yarmouth last Friday. The boys’ team finished first and got wins from Matt Concannon in the 100 (11.86 seconds), 200 (24.09) and triple jump (39 feet-1.25 inches), Matt Conley in the high jump (5-10), Luc Houle in the shot put (44-6) and discus (123-4), Will Pearson in the racewalk (8 minutes, 42.58 seconds) and their 4×100 (47.91) and 4×800 (9:44.86) relay teams.
The Capers girls placed second to Freeport and got first-place showings from Darcy Cochran in the 100 hurdles (16.0) and 300 hurdles (47.43), Kristen Penley in the long jump (16-4) and triple jump (33-3.5) and their 4×100 (53.86), 4×400 (4:30.69) and 4×800 (11:03.64) relay teams.
Scarborough’s defending Class A champion boys’ team beat Falmouth, Kennebunk and host Windham at a meet Tuesday. The Red Storm got wins from Ben Hatch in the 100 (11.17) and long jump (21-7.5), Jarett Flaker in the 200 (22.23), 110 hurdles (15.34) and 300 hurdles (40.22), Noah Drapeau in the 800 (2:06.01), Anthony Clavette in the high jump (6-2) and triple jump (41-8.5), Drew Gardner in the pole vault (12-0) and their 4×400 relay team (3:42.18).
Scarborough’s girls hosted Falmouth, Kennebunk and Windham and placed first. Winners included Gaby Panagakos in the 100 (13.74), Rachel Peterson in the 400 (1:05.92), Emily Labbe in the 100 hurdles (16.42) and 300 hurdles (52.85), Anna Gardner in the pole vault (9-0) and their 4×400 (4:32.49) and 4×800 (11:04.71) relay teams.
South Portland’s girls beat Cheverus, host Massabesic and Westbrook in a recent meet. The Red Riots got first-place showings from Kaleisha Towle in the 200 (28.72), Faith Sacre in the high jump (4-6) and pole vault (7-0), Rebekah Hunnewell-Dunphe in the shot put (33-9) and javelin (84-2), Mary DiSanto in the discus (90-1) and Madison Smith in the racewalk (10:01.93).
The Red Riots boys were second to Massabesic at a three-team meet at Cheverus. Event winners included Benjamin Sivik in the 100 (11.96) and 200 (24.14), Teerapat Nakkumun in the pole vault (9-0), Cliff Robbins-Sennewald in the racewalk (8:29.0) and their 4×100 relay team (48.52).
Tennis
Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ tennis team made history last week, but not in a good way, as it lost to Freeport for the first time, 5-0. A 5-0 setback against 10-time Class C champion Waynflete Monday dropped the Capers to 3-3. Cape Elizabeth’s girls were 5-1 and had won four straight at press time, capped by a 5-0 win over Freeport and a 4-1 victory over defending Class C champion Waynflete.
Scarborough’s girls improved to 4-1 after a 5-0 win at Massabesic Monday. The Red Storm boys fell to 1-3 after a 3-2 loss to Massabesic Monday.
South Portland’s girls got in the win column last Friday, 3-2, then fell to 1-4 Monday with a 3-2 loss to Westbrook. The Red Riots boys were also 1-4 at press time.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports
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