To celebrate his 16th birthday, Patrick Ordway of Waynflete pinned the first individual loss of the season on the Falmouth boys’ tennis team, winning the last three games of a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over freshman Justin Brogan on a breezy Wednesday afternoon in Falmouth.

“It was very good tennis under extremely difficult conditions, gusty strong winds blowing the length of the court,” said Waynflete Coach Jeff Madore.

“These two players are close in ability but play somewhat different games. Justin is very steady from the baseline, utilizing good footwork. Pat plays a more attacking game, mixing strong ground strokes and serves with forays at net.”

Earlier this season, fellow sophomore Matt Gilman of Cape Elizabeth beat Ordway but lost to Brogan.

They are likely to be the top three seeds in this year’s state singles tournament. Qualifying was held Saturday in three of five regions throughout the state; the other two were postponed because of rain.

“Either player could have won, both played well,” said Falmouth Coach Bob McCully. “The display of sportsmanship was excellent.”

McCully said the first criteria in seeding the singles tournament is head-to-head play in high school matches this season (as opposed to USTA).

With all three winning once and losing once against each other, the second determining factor comes into play: advancement in last year’s tournament.

Thus: 1. Ordway (finalist); 2. Gilman (quarterfinalist); 3. Brogan (DNP).

“No doubt with these two boys, Gilman, Brendan McCarthy (of Falmouth), (Tyler) Adams (of Bonny Eagle) and others it will be a fun state singles event,” Madore said.

ON THE GIRLS’ SIDE, the top three seeds are likely to be Maria Varano of Kennebunk, Maisie Silverman of Brunswick and returning finalist Analise Kump of Falmouth, though not necessarily in that order.

The state tournament will be held May 27, 28 and 30 at Bates College.

THE WESTBROOK High Baseball Foundation has been created to provide an annual scholarship. The Jimmy Burrill Memorial Baseball Scholarship will recognize a Westbrook senior player who has made a positive contribution to the baseball program while also demonstrating excellence in the classroom and involvement in the community.

Burrill, a Westbrook resident well known for his devotion to baseball, died last October at 71.

Burrill coached Westbrook’s Manchester Post American Legion baseball team in the 1960s. Over the years, he was a familiar sight at area games, not just Westbrook’s. He often sat behind the backstop, where he talked baseball strategy with his friends and others.

Burrill was a member of the 1951 Suburban Little League team that was the first from Maine to play in the Little League World Series. He is in the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

“He had a deep, abiding respect for baseball and how to play the game,” said Don Douglas, whom Burrill coached for six years in the 1960s. Douglas, who later coached alongside Burrill, described him as a very intense, enthusiastic and self-taught coach who worked from instinct.

“The quality that stands out more than anything is how passionate he was about doing what he could to make sure the game was played correctly,” Douglas said. “That’s what made him such a great coach.”

The scholarship will be presented at Westbrook’s Senior Awards Night.

AFTER BACK-TO-BACK 1-0 softball losses to Thornton Academy and Scarborough, Biddeford is 6-3 and still in contention for a top playoff spot.

But Coach Leon Paquin knows his Tigers are going to have to start turning up their offense, starting with today’s game at Portland.

The Tigers had scoring chances in each of those losses but couldn’t come up with any key hits. Pitcher Sarah Gilblair has been stellar, and the Tigers continue to play exceptional defense.

As Paquin told his players after the Scarborough loss, “You play these guys 1-0, you should know you can play with anyone.”

But there is work to be done.

“Now I want them to turn it up a little in practice and start asking for a little extra help, working a little harder, so we leave no stone unturned and we can look in the mirror, win or lose, and say we were ready and we tried our best,” said Paquin. “As long as they’re not satisfied with being close, and have that little extra hunger to get to that next step, if we get to that next step, we’re going to be dangerous.”

PART OF BIDDEFORD’S offensive woes can be attributed to the opposing pitching. Thornton’s Julia Geaumont and Scarborough’s Mo Hannan are among the best in the league.

Hannan, coming off an injury-plagued sophomore season, is fully healthy and throwing better than ever.

In the win over Biddeford she struck out 13, which was important because the Red Storm made three errors in the first two innings.

“Mo’s tough,” said Scarborough Coach Tom Griffin. “She’s a really experienced kid who knows how to handle herself in certain situations. She knew that she had to take some leadership there and take control of this game and she did.”

HEATHER FECTEAU of Biddeford came up with one out in the bottom of the fifth and her team trailing 1-0 against Scarborough. An inside pitch by Hannan deflected away and the home plate umpire immediately called, “Dead Ball,” indicating the batter had been hit.

But Fecteau turned and pointed out the ball hit the knob of her bat, meaning it was simply a foul ball.

As the at-bat continued, a Biddeford fan yelled, “You can go to confession tomorrow.”

Fecteau ended up walking.

— Staff Writers Tom Chard. Mike Lowe and Glenn Jordan contributed to this report.