Seven high school seniors – four from Falmouth, three from Cape Elizabeth – who will be playing for the Class A boys’ lacrosse state championship Friday night also happen to be co-workers at Becky’s Diner. From left: Jake Rand of Falmouth, Sal Deschino of Cape Elizabeth, Sam Gearan of Falmouth, Oskar Frankwicz of Cape Elizabeth, Satchel Kaplan of Falmouth, Nick Clifford of Cape Elizabeth and Jonah Eng of Falmouth. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer Buy this Photo
For a high school lacrosse player in Maine, there’s nothing finer than competing for a state championship in your senior year.
Unless you happen to be one of the seven players – four from Falmouth and three from Cape Elizabeth – who are coworkers at Becky’s Diner and will face off Friday night in the Class A boys’ title game.
For them?
Nothin’ Finah.
“It’s kind of cool,” said Zack Rand, general manager of the landmark diner, who has encouraged staff not scheduled Friday night to attend the game at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium and “cheer all the boys, and try and be impartial.”
Rand is the son of founder Becky Rand and uncle to Jake Rand, a Falmouth senior defender who recruited teammates Satchel Kaplan, Sam Gearan and Jonah Eng to work at the diner. Kaplan is the only one of the seven yet to turn 18.
“I’ve been working here since I was about 14,” Jake Rand said Thursday. “I’ve done dishwashing, hosting, prep cooking and I wait tables a good amount now. I’ve done pretty much every job you can do here.”
Rand’s main task Friday night will be attempting to stop Cape Elizabeth’s best attacker, Archie McEvoy, from scoring. Of course, if there’s a defensive switch and Rand has to slide off McEvoy, he might pick up another Cape Elizabeth attacker, senior Oskar Frankwicz.
Frankwicz started working at Becky’s in the summer of 2018 and is currently a prep cook. He spent much of Thursday morning poaching eggs and also managed to prepare side salads, home fries and oatmeal. He recommended teammates Nick Clifford (midfield) and Sal Deschino (defense) to Zack Rand, who called the practice his “best hiring avenue.”
Clifford has been a dishwasher since coming on board in 2019. Deschino’s first day was Thursday, and he proudly displayed an accidental cut on his finger that occurred while he was slicing lettuce.
Frankwicz said the boys have traded good-natured ribbing this spring and there was “some back-and-forth conversation about who’s going to win” before the teams played each other in late May. Cape Elizabeth beat Falmouth in that game, 14-4.
“It was all in good fun,” Frankwicz said. “After the game, we congratulated each other. We respect each other.”
Zack Rand said he has juggled work scheduling all spring to accommodate lacrosse games and practices. None of the seven is scheduled to work Friday. Stormy weather earlier this week pushed a Cape Elizabeth playoff game from Tuesday to Wednesday, resulting in Rand shuffling the diner lineup.
“They all came in Tuesday night and worked shifts so they could have Wednesday off,” he said. “I’ve got to have bodies in here but it’s their last season and I want them to really enjoy it.”
Jake Rand said some skills from lacrosse translate well to restaurant work, particularly in terms of communication and teamwork.
“Getting on the same page as your coworkers, especially being on defense in lacrosse, there’s a lot of talk,” he said. “And hustling, making sure you’re always keeping yourself busy.”
Jake Rand plans to attend North Carolina State in the fall. Gearan is headed to Holy Cross, Kaplan to the University of Vermont and Eng to the University of New Hampshire. For the Cape Elizabeth players, Clifford will be off to Bates and Deschino to the University of Maine. Frankwicz is planning a gap year in Utah, working in a restaurant and skiing all winter.
“I don’t like talking about that,” Zack Rand said of losing good workers. “That’s my August conundrum. I said to send some of the juniors my way who are going to be around.”
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