The spring sports regular season has just over a week to go and the playoffs loom.

We’ve already gotten a small taste of the postseason and the best is yet to come.

Here’s an overview:

Tennis

The tennis state singles tournament wrapped up over the weekend.

Scarborough’s Amber Woods, seeded third, got to the quarterfinals. Woods defeated John Bapst’s Anna Drake, 6-2, 6-0, in the second round, then ousted Isobel Wright of Greely, 6-1, 6-3, in the round of 16, before being eliminated by No. 6 Haylie Peacock of Gardiner, 1-6, 2-6.

On the boys’ side, Cape Elizabeth’s Gabe Berman beat Edward Little’s Calvin Vincent, 6-2, 6-0, in the first round, then upset No. 11 Isaac Swain of Medomak Valley, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (7), in the second round, before being beaten by No. 6 Alberto Cutone of Kennebunk in the round of 16, 0-6, 0-6.

In team tennis, Scarborough capped an 11-1 regular season Tuesday with a victory over Thornton Academy.

The Red Storm boys wound up 8-4 after losing its finale to Thornton Academy.

South Portland’s boys and girls each ended with 6-6 records.

Cape Elizabeth’s boys finished 8-4 after closing with a 4-1 loss to reigning Class B champion Yarmouth.

The Capers girls finished on a three-match win streak, closing with a 4-1 win over Yarmouth to wind up 8-4.

The team tennis playoffs begin with the preliminary round Friday. The quarterfinals are Tuesday of next week. Those matches will be held on the courts of the higher seeds.

Baseball

On the baseball diamond, Scarborough continues to make magic and was 10-3 and second behind Falmouth in the Class A Heal Points standings at press time. Last week, the Red Storm rallied for a 4-3 win at Westbrook and lost at home to Gorham (3-1). Tuesday, Scarborough outlasted visiting Portland, 2-1, in eight-innings. Against the Blue Blazes, Erik Swenson and Zak Sanders combined to throw a one-hitter, Jason Liponis had three hits and Ashton Blanchette’s seventh inning RBI single capped a rally from three-runs down. In the win over the Bulldogs, Scarborough was one out away from closing it out in the seventh inning, but let a lead slip away, then in the bottom of the eighth, Blanchette singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Sanders’ infield hit to end it.

“Zak just put it in play and did his job,” said Blanchette. “I’d rather the games not be as close, but I’m happy we’re winning.”

“We started the season on fire, then we slowed down a little bit,” said Sanders, who earned the victory with five strong innings of relief pitching. “We’re struggling hitting. When we get to the seventh inning and we’re down, something clicks. We battle, the energy in the dugout gets going and miracles happen.”

“We’re a resilient team,” added Scarborough coach Wes Ridlon. “We just try to stay within ourselves and we don’t quit. That’s all you can ask.”

The Red Storm hosted defending state champion Thornton Academy Thursday, go to South Portland Saturday (see our website for game story) and close the regular season at Deering Tuesday of next week.

“We’re happy with the way the season’s gone but we have some unfinished business and want to end strong,” Ridlon said.

South Portland took an 11-2 mark and the number three ranking in Class A South into Thursday’s home game versus Gorham. Last week, the Red Riots won at Marshwood (9-0) and Portland (6-1). Against the Hawks, Andrew Heffernan threw his fourth shutout of the year, allowing five hits and striking out nine, while adding two hits and three RBI, Hudson Iacuessa contributed three hits and two RBI and Nolan Hobbs had two hits and two runs scored. In the win over the Bulldogs, Richie Gilboy hit a three-run triple, Heffernan had three hits, Johnny Poole hit a double and Hobbs earned the win, fanning seven. After hosting Scarborough Saturday, South Portland closes the regular season at home versus Sanford Tuesday of next week.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 10-3 and first in the region following wins at Brunswick (18-9) and at home over Mt. Ararat (8-7, in 10-innings) and losses at Freeport (8-5) and Wells (7-1). Against the Dragons, the Capers built a 10-0 lead, gave all but one run of it back, then tacked on eight more runs to put it away. Brady Inman had four hits, Charlie Song added three hits and three RBI and Sam Lombardo drove in four runs. In the win over the Eagles, Cape Elizabeth rallied to extend the game with two runs in the seventh and again with a run in the eighth before winning it. Lombardo scored three times, including the decisive run in the 10th. Gabe Harmon had a pair of hits and Andy Choi earned the victory in relief. Against the Falcons, Harmon and Inman both had two hits and Lombardo finished with three RBI. In the loss to the Warriors, Owen Tighe produced a pair of hits. The Capers hosted York Wednesday, go to Lake Region Friday, then close the regular season Tuesday of next week at home versus Yarmouth.

Softball

The first-year South Portland/Westbrook co-op softball team improved to 11-3 and sixth in the Class A South Heals following wins over visiting Thornton Academy (14-2, in five-innings), at Scarborough (10-7) and at Noble (15-1, in five-innings). Against the Golden Trojans, Ella Nickerson had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored, winning pitcher Andrea DiMauro added three RBI and Haley Ball, Madison Cole and Grace Wallace each drove in two runs. In the win over the Red Storm, DiMauro had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs while also earning the victory. Baylie Littlefield came on in the seventh for the save.  Nickerson scored three runs.

“It’s a big confidence-boost,” said DiMauro. “We’ve been in every game so far, but to see that we can push to the finish line is big for us. As the season goes on, we’ve jelled even more, gotten even closer and we want it for each other.”

“I’m never comfortable against (Scarborough’s) lineup,” first-year coach Drew DiMauro said. “I have all the respect for (Red Storm coach) Liz (Winslow) and her program. I think they have a wonderful team. I think they’ll be a competitive team down the stretch. I think we did just enough to get out of here with a win today.”

Against the Knights, Wallace led the way with two hits and five RBI. South Portland/Westbrook hosted Marshwood Wednesday and played its regular season finale at Gorham Thursday.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, it’s been a great experience this year,” said Wallace. “It feels like the two schools have come together really well and it feels like one team. We have to believe in ourselves and stay confident and know that we deserve to be here.”

“We’re still building and getting these girls to believe they’re a championship-caliber team because I think they are,” Drew DiMauro said. “They all support each other and pull for each other. I’m just trying to help the girls stay poised. I’m hoping this is the convincer that they do have a chance to contend for a title. A win like this helps them buy in.”

Scarborough was 9-4 and fourth in Class A South following a 10-7 home loss to South Portland/Westbrook and a 9-8 home win over Portland. In the setback, Sophia Rinaldi homered and drove in four runs and Natalie Moynihan had three hits, but the Red Storm couldn’t erase an early seven-run deficit.

“We almost got it,” Winslow said. “This isn’t a surprising outcome, it’s just unfortunate on our end. The girls know they’re capable of coming back against anybody and putting runs on the board. The difference today was we gave up some early hits and runs. We played fundamental defense and took good swings, but they had timely hitting.”

In the victory, Moynihan doubled twice and earned the win in relief, while Gabby Pelletier had two hits and scored twice and Jamie Kemper drove in two runs. The Red Storm were at Massabesic Wednesday, then host Kennebunk twice to close, Friday and again Tuesday of next week.

“It’s quite a league this year,” said Winslow. “Anybody can beat anybody. There’s going to be a surprise team coming down the stretch. It could be us, it could be anybody. I hope we’ll be battle-tested for playoffs. I think we’re right up there.”

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 7-6 and 11th after sandwiching losses at Brunswick (17-6, in five-innings) and Wells (6-3) around wins over visiting Mt. Ararat (6-5) and host Freeport (6-4). Against the Dragons, Elsie Maxwell had three RBI. In the victory over the Eagles, Rylie McIntyre had two hits and two RBI, while Sophia Chung also produced a pair of hits. Against the Warriors, Grace Callahan had four hits, but the Capers couldn’t hold a sixth inning lead. Cape Elizabeth hosted York Wednesday, goes to Lake Region Friday and closes at home versus Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

Boys’ lacrosse

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team, the two-time reigning Class A champions, improved to 12-0 after beating host York (16-9), host Falmouth (15-9) and visiting Scarborough (14-2) in recent action. In the win over the Wildcats, Keegan Lathrop had six goals and Sam Cochran added four. At the Navigators, the Capers broke open a close game in the second half as Nick Laughlin led the way with five goals and three assists, Cochran scored three times and Sebastian Moon won 18 of 26 faceoffs and scored a pivotal goal to stem a Falmouth run in the fourth quarter.

“No one slid to me and there was a big opening,” Moon said. “I ran as fast as I could and shot as hard as I could.”

“I think what says a lot about a great team is what they’re able to do when they’re down,” senior defensive standout Nate Patterson said. “We didn’t do a lot right early, but we’ve done a good job when we go down throughout the season. We changed some things up and came back. We do things in practice to simulate that. We put things on the line. That gets us ready for a game environment.”

“Coach talked to us at halftime,” said Laughlin. “We know we have the skill, but for us, it’s the mentality. Every play matters and picking up ground balls makes the difference in these close games.”

“The third quarter, I think we played really well and the fourth quarter, we played well at times,” added longtime Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond. “When we focus and the kids bear down and do the little things the right way, we’re really hard to beat.”

Against the Red Storm, Bobby Offit scored a career-high five goals and Connor Goss added three. The top-ranked Capers, who have won 18 straight games over the past two seasons, have a showdown at South Portland Friday (see our website for game story), then close at home versus Greely Wednesday of next week.

“I think the biggest thing we need to do is make sure we focus on every single play,” Raymond said. “Every play is important. You do not know which play will change the game. We don’t need to fix any of our lacrosse stuff, that’s all really good. We just have to fix our mentality. That’s what you have to have in the playoffs.

South Portland was 9-2 and third in Class A following a 12-0 home win over Gorham and an 18-7 victory at Portland. Against the Rams, Jack Dreifus and Beckett Mehlhorn both scored three goals and Brady Demers and Lucas Mehlhorn added two apiece. Goalie Ben Kieu stopped all nine shots he faced. In the win over the Bulldogs, Beckett Mehlhorn and Lucas Mehlhorn had four goals apiece, while Dreifus scored three goals and assisted on seven others. The Red Riots host Cape Elizabeth Friday, then go to Kennebunk next Wednesday before closing at Bonny Eagle June 1.

Scarborough beat visiting Portland, 7-4, last week, then fell to 4-8 and 11th in Class A with a 14-2 loss at Cape Elizabeth Tuesday. In the victory, Olin Pederson and Drew Witas both scored three goals. The Red Storm host Massabesic Saturday, then close at Falmouth Wednesday of next week.

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth fell to 4-6 after losses at Greely (13-5) and Marshwood (15-14). Campbell DeGeorge and Kaity Woods both scored twice against the Rangers. In the loss to the Hawks, Woods had seven goals and two assists. The Capers (14th in the Class A standings) were at York Wednesday, host Yarmouth Friday, play at Freeport Tuesday of next week, then close at home versus Thornton Academy Thursday of next week.

Scarborough was 3-8 and 13th in Class A after a 15-0 home loss to Marshwood, an 11-9 win at Portland and a 19-3 setback at two-time reigning Class A champion Kennebunk. Molly Henderson scored four goals and Grace Durgin added three, while goalie Kali Harthorne made 17 saves in the victory.  The Red Storm play their home finale Friday versus Biddeford, go to Massabesic next Tuesday, then close at Freeport next Thursday.

South Portland was 2-9 and 19th in Class A after a 12-2 home loss to Gorham Saturday. The Red Riots were home versus Windham Wednesday, play at Deering Friday, then close at Noble Wednesday of next week.

Track

The outdoor track regular season wrapped up in recent days.

Cape Elizabeth joined Lake Region, Poland and St. Dom’s at Yarmouth last week. The Capers girls were second and the boys came in third.

South Portland hosted Kennebunk, Marshwood and Portland. The Red Riots boys came in first and the girls were third.

Scarborough joined Cheverus, Falmouth and Windham at Deering. The Red Storm boys and girls each placed first.

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association championship meet is Friday at Gorham.

The Western Maine Conference championship meet is Saturday in Naples.

The state championship meets are Saturday, June 3.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. 

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