The weather heated up last week and so did the spring sports action.

With the end of the regular season right around the corner, teams are jockeying for playoff spots and positioning and there figures to be plenty of excitement in store.

Here’s a glimpse at what occurred last week and what’s upcoming:

Baseball

All five local baseball teams are in the playoff hunt.

Falmouth remained undefeated and atop the Class A South Heal Points standings at press time after downing host Poland (18-1, in five innings), visiting Wells (9-3) and host Yarmouth (5-1). Cam Guarino threw a one-hitter at the Knights, while Connor Aube hit a grand slam and Reece Armitage crushed a three-run homer. In the win over the Warriors, Aube homered again and Robbie Armitage improved to 4-0 by allowing just one hit in four innings. Monday, in the wind at the Clippers, Colin Coyne had a two-run single in the first inning, Robbie Armitage had three hits, a run scored and an RBI and Guarino improved to 5-0 after scattering six hits.

“Right now, for us it’s just hitting, staying focused and staying relaxed, which is really key,” Robbie Armitage said. “A lot of teams we see are really serious, but we stay relaxed in practice and in games.”

“We just have really good team chemistry,” Guarino said. “We’re always having fun and laughing on the bench.”

“When you’re winning, everyone’s happy, but we talk about keeping it loose and having fun and that’s what we’re trying to do,” added Yachtsmen coach Kevin Winship.

Falmouth hosted York Wednesday, has a showdown at two-time defending Class B champion Greely Friday, welcomes Yarmouth in a rematch Monday and is home with Kennebunk Wednesday of next week.

Yarmouth started 6-0-1, but has dropped its last three following a 1-0 home loss to York Friday and Monday’s 5-1 home setback to Falmouth. Andrew Kinsman was the hard-luck loser against the Wildcats. In the loss to the Yachtsmen, Gibson Harnett and Conor O’Donnell both had two hits and Luke Klenda had an RBI, but the Clippers stranded eight runners.

“We got baserunners, our lefty leadoff guy had two hits and our junior leftfielder had two hits and we competed, but we made errors and didn’t get to balls we should have gotten to,” said Yarmouth coach Marc Halsted. “This could have easily been a 2-1, 3-1 game where a couple sac bunts would have had us in it. We had no running game down 5-1 against a lefty who works runners effectively. We weren’t able to do what we needed to do.”

One bright spot Monday was the return of Yarmouth senior standout Cody Cook. who suffered a knee injury in the football regional final, ultimately missed the state game, all of basketball season and the first nine games of baseball before he was cleared to return.

“It’s huge emotionally getting (Cody) back,” Halsted said. “No matter what he does in the dugout being positive and energetic, he can’t make as positive an impact as he does in the field. He’s such a wonderful human being. He lifts people up.”

The Clippers  (6-3-1 and sixth in Class B South) were at Kennebunk Wednesday, then travel to Cape Elizabeth Friday, Falmouth Monday and Poland Wednesday of next week.

Greely suffered a 1-0 loss at Cape Elizabeth in a Western B Final rematch last Wednesday, then bounced back to beat visiting Poland (7-0) and host Fryeburg Academy (6-2, in eight innings) to improve to 7-2-1 and third in Class B South. Against the Knights, freshman Will Neleski threw a three-hit shutout in his varsity debut and Cal Soule had three RBI. In the win over the Raiders, Soule earned the win in relief. The Rangers went to Freeport for a makeup game Tuesday and visited Gray-New Gloucester Wednesday. Greely hosts Falmouth Friday, goes to Wells Monday and welcomes Lake Region Wednesday of next week.

Freeport beat visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 7-2, last Wednesday, as Jack Davenport earned his fourth win and also had a pair of hits and two RBI. Monday, the Falcons rolled, 10-0, at Lake Region. Freeport (4-5 and eighth in Class B South) was home with Greely Tuesday, went to Poland Wednesday, hosts Wells Friday and welcomes York Monday.

In Class D South, North Yarmouth Academy fell to 4-7 after recent losses to host Sacopee Valley (14-3, in five innings), visiting Traip Academy (7-3) and host Old Orchard Beach (13-2, in five innings). The Panthers (who were clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the region at press time) were at Temple Academy Wednesday, welcome Sacopee Valley Saturday, go to Traip Academy Monday and visit Old Orchard Beach Wednesday of next week.

Softball

Yarmouth’s defending Class B state champion softball team might have run up against the state’s best pitcher Friday when York’s Stephanie Rundlett paid a visit.

The Clippers, who extended their win streak to four games last Wednesday with a 7-3 victory at Sacopee Valley (Andrea St. Pierre had two hits and two RBI and Mari Cooper added two hits while earning the win on the mound), found the going tough in the fog against the Fordham-bound Rundlett, who struck out 18. Yarmouth did manage three hits (two from Colleen Sullivan) and three separate innings got runners to third base, but couldn’t score and suffered a frustrating 1-0 setback.

“(Rundlett’s) really fast,” Sullivan said. “Yesterday, in practice, we cranked up the pitching machine to try to get used to her speed since she’s the fastest in the league.”

“It’s disappointing that we were able to get a girl to third three times and we weren’t able to score,” said Clippers coach Amy Ashley. “I don’t think we should have allowed that run and I think we should have scored one.”

Monday, Yarmouth improved to 7-3 and seventh in the Class B South Heal Points standings after a 7-5 home win over Falmouth. Sydney St. Pierre tripled twice and drove in a pair of runs. The Clippers were at Kennebunk Wednesday, have a showdown at Cape Elizabeth Friday (see theforecaster.net for game story), visit Falmouth Monday and play at Wells Wednesday of next week.

Greely lost at Cape Elizabeth (2-0) and beat visiting Poland (9-7) and host Old Orchard Beach (13-1) last week. Monday, the Rangers improved to 7-3 and third in Class B South after a 6-1 win at Fryeburg Academy. Kelsey Currier threw a two-hitter, Evan Carrell and Sarah Felkel both drove in two runs and Moira Train added two hits. Greely was at Freeport for a makeup game Tuesday and visited Gray-New Gloucester Wednesday. The Rangers are home with Falmouth Friday and host Lake Region Wednesday of next week.

Freeport lost, 10-0, to visiting Gray-New Gloucester last Wednesday, then dropped to 3-8 and 17th in Class B South Monday after a painful 9-8 loss at Lake Region, where the Lakers scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Falcons hosted Greely in a makeup game Tuesday and went to Poland Wednesday. After welcoming Wells Friday, Freeport is home with York Monday.

Falmouth dropped to 5-6 and 11th in Class A South after Monday’s 7-5 loss at Yarmouth.  The Yachtsmen were coming off a 9-1 victory at Poland and a 10-6 (10-inning) home loss to Wells. Emily Beaulieu, Jess Collins and Julia Treadwell all had two hits against the Knights. Collins and Liberty Ladd both had three hits against the Warriors. Falmouth rallied to force extras with two seventh inning runs, but fell short. Ladd, Treadwell and Maddie Rouhana all homered in the loss to the Clippers. The Yachtsmen hosted York Wednesday, go to Greely Friday, welcome Yarmouth Monday and play host to Kennebunk Wednesday of next week.

Boys’ lacrosse

Falmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team got its first opportunity to go toe-to-toe against three-time defending Class B champion and recent nemesis Cape Elizabeth last Wednesday and while the Yachtsmen fell short, they did play well enough to suggest they’ll be able to beat the Capers when it matters most.

Falmouth fell behind, 4-1, early, rallied to tie it, 4-4, then dug a 10-5 hole after three periods, but the Yachtsmen drew within a single goal when Nick Farnham scored with 4:46 remaining. That’s as close as they would get, however, and Cape Elizabeth added one more to hand Falmouth its first loss of the season, 11-9. Henry Norris had three goals, while Farnham, Lou Mainella and Devin Russell finished with two apiece.

“(Cape) always play their best game against us, especially here,” said Yachtsmen coach Mike LeBel. “In the second half, I think we got rid of the jitters and realized we could play with them. When we settled down and understood what they were doing, we realized we could be effective and productive.”

Falmouth improved to 6-1 and second behind Cape Elizabeth in the Class B South Heals after Monday’s 17-3 home win over Fryeburg Academy. George Gilbert scored five goals and Russell added three. The Yachtsmen host Wells Thursday, have a crossover contest at Messalonskee Saturday and welcome Greely Monday.

Greely had been very competitive against top powers, but didn’t have a signature win until Saturday. The Rangers’ skid hit three last Thursday with a 6-5 loss at Kennebunk, but two days later, Greely rallied past visiting Cheverus in a crossover, 11-9. The Rangers were down, 8-5, in the third period, but pulled it out thanks to three goals apiece from Ben Kennedy and Sam Peck and 13 saves from goalie Dylan Sinclair.

“We started playing the game we knew how to play for four quarters today,” Sinclair said. “We all played well when it mattered. We played tough and that’s why we came out on top.”

“We believe in ourselves and we believe in Dylan in net,” Peck said. “We know he’ll make big saves.” 

“We were encouraged that we were competitive with those top teams, but we needed to pull one of these games off,” added Rangers coach Mike Storey. “Cheverus has a really good team this year, so this is a nice win for us.”

Greely (3-3 and eighth in Class B South) was at York Tuesday, hosts Freeport Thursday, visits Thornton Academy Saturday and plays at Falmouth Monday of next week.

In Class B North, Yarmouth has discovered the form that made it a preseason favorite. After winning at NYA, 12-5 (behind four goals from Anders Newberg and three from Bill Jacobs), the Clippers went to Scarborough for a crossover showdown Saturday and dominated the second and third periods en route to a 16-11 victory. Matthew Beatty went off for three goals and 10 assists, Jacobs and Patrick Grant scored four times apiece and Ricky Tillotson won 19 faceoffs.

“It’s a big win over a Class A team,” Beatty said. “It’ll help us out in the long run.”

“I feel like we clicked today,” Grant said. “Our defense stepped up, our faceoff guy stepped up, our freshmen stepped up.”

“We showed up today,” added Clippers coach David Pearl. “A lot of guys dug really deep. They started feeling more confident and played like it.”

Yarmouth (second to Cony in the Heals) was home with Lake Region Tuesday, visits Waynflete Friday and plays host to dangerous Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

NYA’s skid hit six last week with losses to visiting Yarmouth (12-5), Wells (7-6) and Maranacook (9-2). Trevor Lachance had three goals against the Clippers. Jeremy Thelven scored twice in the loss to the Warriors. The Panthers (1-6 and ninth in Class B North) went to Waynflete Tuesday, visit Fryeburg Academy Friday and play at Cape Elizabeth Tuesday of next week.

Freeport lost at home to Waynflete, 17-5, last Tuesday, then improved to 2-5 and 11th in Class B North after an 11-7 home win over Mt. Ararat Saturday. The Falcons were at Kennebunk Tuesday, visit Greely Thursday and play at Lake Region Tuesday of next week. 

Girls’ lacrosse

Falmouth’s girls’ lacrosse team continues to roar on, improving to 8-0 and first in the Class B South Heal Points standings after wins over visiting NYA (17-7), visiting Gorham (11-2) and host Fryeburg Academy (17-4). The Yachtsmen are at Wells Friday, visit Greely Monday, then close the regular season with home showdowns against the two teams standing in their quest for a first-ever championship: Kennebunk on May 26 and two-time defending Class B champion Yarmouth June 1.

The Clippers extended their win streak to five last week after downing visiting Greely (10-4) and host Scarborough (12-6). Eliza Lunt had five goals against the Rangers and scored four more against the Red Storm. Sophia Harrison added four and Eva Then had three at Scarborough. Yarmouth (third in Class B North) was at Lake Region Tuesday, hosts Waynflete Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story), welcomes Brunswick Friday, then has a state game rematch at unbeaten Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

Greely was 3-4 and sixth in Class B South at press time after a 10-4 loss at Yarmouth and a 14-6 home victory over Mt. Ararat last week. Kelsey Otley scored four times in the win. The Rangers were home with York Tuesday, go to Freeport Thursday and host Falmouth Monday.

Freeport evened its record with wins last week at Wells (11-8) and Cony (17-7), then fell to 3-4 after a 7-6 overtime home loss to Morse Monday. Lindsay Cartmell scored three times against the Warriors, while Chloe Davidson and Taylor Dostie had three goals apiece in the win over the Rams. Against the Shipbuilders, Courtney Broderick had three goals. The Falcons (seventh in Class B North) hosted Kennebunk Tuesday, welcome Greely Thursday and play host to Lake Region Tuesday of next week.

NYA fell to 2-5 after a 17-7 loss at Falmouth and a 11-1 home setback to Waynflete. The Panthers (ninth in Class B North) go to Fryeburg Academy Friday and welcome Cape Elizabeth Tuesday.

Outdoor track

Greely hosted NYA, Traip and Waynflete in a Western Maine Conference outdoor track meet last week.

The Rangers boys were first and the Panthers came in third. Greely event winners included Aidan Regan in the 100 (12.63 seconds), Connor Rog in the 800 (2 minutes, 3.66 seconds), Ryan Morrison in the mile (4:40.31), Max Stickney in the two-mile (10:23.22), Nicholas Brown in the high jump (5 feet-8 inches), triple jump (37-1.5) and long jump (18-4), Sam Bonnevie in the pole vault (11-0) and javelin (139-11), Ian Cameron in the shot put (37-1) and the discus (105-2) and its 4×100 (48.39) and 4×400 (3:57.07) relay teams. NYA’s Jack Sillin was runner-up in the discus (104-7).

In the girls’ competition, Greely finished first and NYA was third. The Rangers got wins from Courtney Rog in the 400 (1:11.96), Kate Curran in the 800 (2:30.35), Carolyn Todd in the mile (5:28.60), Sophia Stickney in the two-mile (12:46.87), Jocelyn Mitiguy in the 100 hurdles (16.62), Skylar Cooney in the 300 hurdles (51.35), Lauren Williams in the high jump (5-0), Zoe Lambert in the triple jump (29-11), Lizzie Brown in the shot put (30-9) and discus (94-4) and their 4×400 (4:37.16) and 4×800 (10:30.39) relay teams. The Panthers got first-place showings from Sonia Lin in the long jump (14-6.5) and Linnea Hull in the pole vault (8-6).

Falmouth took part in a four-team meet at Kennebunk and both the boys and girls placed first.

The boys’ team got wins from Matt Polewaczyk in the 100 (11.58) and 200 (23.23), Josh Simensky in the 800 (2:02.74), Jeremiah Sands in the mile (4:30.73) and two-mile (9:56.97), Nigel Dunn in the 300 hurdles (42.17), Aaron Thomas in the pole vault (12-0), Ted Pierson in the discus (123-8) and its 4×100 (44.60) and 4×800 (8:20.39) relays.

Girls’ first-place finishers included Emma England in the 100 (13.67), Adelaide Cooke in the 100 hurdles (16.73) and the discus (124-1.5), Meghan Charest in the racewalk (9:21.49), Chelsea Zhao in the pole vault 9-0), Lydia Farmer in the triple jump (33-3.75) and the 4×100 (52.91), 4×400 (4:20.20) and 4×800 (10:58.43) relay teams.

Yarmouth joined Lake Region and Wells at Poland. The boys were third and the girls placed fourth. Emma Egan won the girls’ high jump (5-3) and long jump (14-10.75). Paige Reinfelder was first in the girls’ pole vault (6-6). 

Tennis

The state singles tournament is underway. Saturday at Deering High School, the girls’ Region 5 first and qualifying rounds were held.

Yarmouth freshman phenom Lana Mavor, a co-top seed, had no trouble advancing with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Windham’s Maelah Nadeau in the qualifying round. Co-top seed Laura Brogan of Falmouth also rolled in the qualifying round, 6-0, 6-0, over Thornton Academy’s Andrea Kucharova.

Also advancing were fourth-ranked Lena Rich of NYA (a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Portland’s Lauren Paradise in the qualifying round), No. 5 Carolyn Ray of Falmouth (who beat Cape Elizabeth’s Erin Whitcomb in the qualifying round, 6-1, 6-0), No. 9 Kate Kelley of Falmouth, who ousted Yarmouth’s Danielle Laverdiere (who had beaten Cheverus’ Elliana Budrick, 8-4, in the first round), 6-0, 6-1, in he qualifying round, No. 12 Kathryn Pare’ of Greely, who ousted Freeport’s Lindsey Dealaman (a walkover winner over Marshwood Marissa Sewell in the first round), 6-1, 6-0, in the qualifying round and No. 17 Corinne Poitras of NYA, who was an 8-4 winner over Scarborough’s Emily Keenan in the first round and a 6-4, 6-2 victor over Greely’s Alex Tebbs (who knocked off Waynflete’s Randall Seder, 8-2, in the first round) in the qualifying round.

Yarmouth’s Morgan Hamre beat Bonny Eagle’s Destiny Pecoraro, 8-0, in the first round, then was ousted by No. 15 seed, Mia Briggs of York, 0-6, 0-6, in the qualifying round.

Freeport’s Leah Harrison lost, 0-8, to Thornton Academy’s Kucharova in the first round. Teammate Charlotte Eisele was ousted, 3-8, by No. 11 Eva Sachs of Thornton Academy in the first round.

The boys’ Region 5 first and qualifying rounds were held at Waynflete’s courts at Fore River Fields.

No. 1 Nick Forester of Falmouth beat Bonny Eagle’s Max Harris, 6-0, 6-0 to advance. He was joined by teammates Alex Klemperer, the No. 4 seed, who ousted Cheverus’ Matthew McCormick, 6-1, 6-0, in the qualifying round and No. 9 Peter Stegemann, who downed Windham’s David Sepulveda, 6-4, 6-3, in the qualifying round.

Also advancing were Freeport’s Nathan Smail, the No. 10 seed (a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Windham’s David Sepulveda in the qualifying round) and NYA’s Hunter Mahoney (who upset No. 17 Isaac Finbrerg of Deering, 8-2, in the first round, then beat Scarborough’s Alex Giles, 0-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the qualifying round).

Yarmouth’s Ravi Patel beat York’s Jack Welch, 8-2, in the first round, but lost, 0-6, 0-6, to No. 3 Michael Mills of Cape Elizabeth in the qualifying round. Teammate Sam Potter beat Kennebunk’s Caleb Eickman, 8-5, in the first round, then was ousted by No. 5 Thomas Brent of Gorham, 0-6, 1-6, in the qualifying round. Yarmouth’s Andrei Lougovtsov was an 8-0 winner over NYA’s Markus Russell in the first round, then lost, 0-6, 1-6, to No. 7 Viktor Schwartz of Thornton Academy in the qualifying round. Freeport’s Liam Gould was an 8-6 winner over Marshwood’s Will Hausmann in the first round, then lost, 2-6, 2-6, to No. 15 seed Edward Hall of Cape Elizabeth in the qualifying round.

Freeport’s John Smail lost, 4-8, to South Portland’s Andrew LeBlanc in the first round. NYA’s Josh Soucy fell, 0-8, to No. 16 Ian Mitchell of South Portland in the first round.

The team regular season ends next week and several local teams continue to do well.

The eight-time defending state champion Falmouth girls were 9-0 and third behind Scarborough and Gorham in the Class A South Heal Points standings after extending their match win streak to 134 Monday with a 5-0 victory over Freeport. In Class B South at press time, Yarmouth was fifth at 6-2, two-time state champion Greely seventh at 4-2 and Freeport (1-5) was 10th. Defending Class C champion NYA was fifth in the standings at 3-3.

On the boys’ side, two-time defending Class A champion Falmouth was third behind Thornton Academy and Portland in the standings after improving to 8-0 Monday with a 5-0 victory over Freeport. In Class B South, Yarmouth was sixth at 2-5, Freeport seventh at 3-5 and Greely 10th at 0-7. In Class C South, NYA was sixth at 5-4.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter:@foresports.

Sidebar Elements

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Falmouth’s Robbie Armitage lines an RBI single during the Yachtsmen’s 5-1 win at Yarmouth Monday.

Yarmouth centerfielder Colleen Sullivan dives in vain for a ball during the Clippers’ 1-0 loss to York Friday. Yarmouth struck out 18 times against the Wildcats’ Fordham-bound ace Stephanie Rundlett.

Greely senior Sam Peck shoots and scores during the Rangers’ 11-9 come-from-behind win over Cheverus Saturday morning.

Greely’s Carolyn Todd runs through the fog en route to a first-place finish in the mile at last week’s home meet. The Rangers beat Traip Academy and NYA.