When they met a month ago, indoors on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, Falmouth swept to a 5-0 boys’ tennis victory over Cape Elizabeth.

This afternoon, expected to be hot and sunny, they’ll meet again on the Bates College campus in Lewiston. At stake is the Western Maine Class B title and a berth in Saturday’s state championships in Waterville.

“I expect a very close match that could go either way,” said Falmouth Coach Bob McCully.

A dozen regional tennis titles are up for grabs today. Western teams play at Bates, Eastern teams at Colby College. This year’s format begins with Class A followed by C and B.

The first Falmouth-Cape match featured three three-setters. Since then, Cape’s first doubles team of Ben Morse and Sam Sherman won the WMC doubles title, avenging a loss to Falmouth’s Harlan Cutshall and Sam Holland. All three singles matches appear competitive, with Cape Elizabeth’s Matt Gilman, Ross Sherman and Satchel McCarthy meeting Falmouth’s Justin Brogan, Brendan McCarthy and Taylor Dimmick, respectively.

The Capers are defending state champs. Falmouth seeks its first state crown since 2007.

The other boys’ finals feature a Class A rematch between unbeaten Kennebunk (14-0) and once-beaten Scarborough (13-1) at 9:15 a.m. and a first-time meeting between three-time defending Class C state champion Waynflete (9-5), the fifth seed, and No. 3 Hall-Dale (10-4) at 12:45 p.m.

Two weeks ago, Kennebunk edged Scarborough 3-2 by sweeping doubles and taking No. 3 singles. The only three-set match was at No. 2 singles, won by Scarborough’s Dennis Liu.

Waynflete returned to the regional final despite losing 2010 state singles champion Brandon Thompson to outdoor track.

“We’re still struggling a little bit,” said Coach Jeff Madore, whose team knocked off No. 1 Winthrop 3-2 by sweeping singles. “You can’t expect all three singles to win every time.”

The Class A girls’ tournament produced a pair of upsets in the semifinals, as No. 4 Scarborough beat No. 1 Cheverus 4-1 to avenge an earlier defeat and No. 3 Gorham did likewise against No. 2 McAuley, 3-2.

In early May, Gorham beat Scarborough, 4-1.

“We’re a different team now,” said Scarborough Coach Lincoln MacIsaac. “Gorham has good athletes and they’re well coached, but I think there are opportunities for us.”

Senior Jenna Posey at No. 1 singles is coming off consecutive three-set victories, against Portland and Cheverus. She managed only one game off Gorham’s Natalie Egbert in the regular season.

“I think Jenna is going to put up a big battle,” MacIsaac said. “She’s always had this ability. She just started believing in it.”

In Class B, the Falmouth girls carry a 90-0 record in individual matches into the afternoon. These same teams met a year ago, and Oak Hill managed only five games in 10 sets against Falmouth.

The Class C pairing of No. 8 Waynflete and No. 6 Winthrop promises to be more competitive. The Flyers struggled at season’s start because of wrist injuries to senior Maddie High and freshman Emily White in singles.

Both are back, and healthy. Senior Elena Britos and junior Hilary Niles have been a solid first doubles team, and Coach Linda Cohen likes her team’s chances.

“It was a frustrating start to the season,” she said, “but we finished strong.”

 

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at: gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH