Cape Elizabeth’s Darcy Cochran wins the 300 hurdles at last weekend’s Western Maine Conference outdoor track championship meet. Cochran was also first in the 100 hurdles and was named the meet’s outstanding female track performer.
South Portland’s Josh Doan keeps the ball away from Brunswick’s Nate Curtis after winning one of his 26 faceoffs in Tuesday’s 21-8 Red Riots’ victory.
The weather is finally starting to cooperate and just in time, as the spring sports season is rapidly coming to a close.
Postseason fun is already underway in track and tennis and the regular season is winding down in baseball, softball and lacrosse.
Here’s a glimpse at what’s happened and what’s to come:
Tennis
Cape Elizabeth’s Blair Hollyday advanced the deepest in the state singles tournament last weekend.
Hollyday, seeded ninth, defeated and knocked off Emily Harris of Lincoln Academy, 6-1, 6-1, in the second round and No. 8 Ellie Hodgkin of Erskine Academy, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in the round of 16, before being eliminated by top-ranked, eventual repeat champion Grace Campanella of Kennebunk/Wells (0-6, 0-6).
The team tournament is now underway.
Cape Elizabeth girls’ squad closed with a 5-0 win at York and wound up 10-2, good for the No. 3 seed in Class B South. The Capers hosted No. 6 Mountain Valley (6-4) in the quarterfinals.
In Class A South, Scarborough went 11-1 and placed third. The Red Storm hosted either No. 6 Kennebunk/Wells (8-4) or No. 11 Windham (4-8) in the quarterfinals.
South Portland finished ninth in Class A South and went to No. 8 Portland (7-5) for a preliminary round contest, which the Red Riots lost, 5-0, to wind up 6-7.
On the boys’ side, South Portland enjoyed its best season in 17 years, going 9-3, good for the No. 4 seed in Class A South. The Red Riots hosted No. 5 Deering (8-4) in the quarterfinals.
Scarborough finished 2-10 and 14th in Class A South (only 11 teams qualified from the region).
Cape Elizabeth wound up 3-9 and ninth in Class B South, but only seven teams made the playoffs. The Capers failed to qualify for the first time since 1983.
Looking ahead, the semifinals are Saturday on the courts of the higher seeds.
The regional finals are June 6 at Bates College in Lewiston.
The state matches are June 8, at Lewiston High School.
Outdoor track
Saturday saw the outdoor track season heat up, as the Southwestern Maine Activities Association championship meet was contested in Falmouth and the Western Maine Conference championship meet was held in Naples.
In the SMAA meet, Scarborough’s boys scored 125 points and finished first (Thornton Academy was a close second with 120.33 points). The Red Storm got wins from Jarett Flaker in the 100 (10.71 seconds) and 200 (22.56), Noah Drapeau in the 800 (2 minutes, 2.90 seconds), Anthony Clavette in the high jump (6 feet-4.25 inches) and their 4×800 relay team (8:25.44).
South Portland (44 points) placed fifth. Joseph Emery won the long jump (21-11.25).
The girls’ competition was won by Cheverus with 89 points. Scarborough (57) was fifth and South Portland (43.5) placed sixth. The Red Storm got wins from Emily Labbe in the 100 hurdles (14.8) and Anna Gardner in the pole vault (10-0). The Red Riots got wins from Anna Folley in the 800 (2:20.81) and Rebekah Dunphe-Hunnewell in the shot put (38-6.5).
At the WMC meet, Cape Elizabeth’s girls’ team had 95 points and was fourth (Poland was first with 213). The Capers got wins from Darcy Cochran in the 100 hurdles (15.55) and 300 hurdles (47.1) and Jaya McClure in the long jump (15-9.5).
Cape Elizabeth’s boys had 82 points and placed fifth (York was first with 187). The Capers got wins from Jack Bassett in the mile (4:27.73) and two-mile (10:02.19).
The Class A state meet is Saturday in Lewiston and the Class B state meet is Saturday in Brewer.
Baseball
South Portland’s baseball team will be the top seed for the Class A South playoffs. The Red Riots improved to 14-1 after home shutout wins last week over Cheverus (4-0) and Westbrook (10-0, in five-innings). Against the Stags, Hunter Owen was magnificent, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning before settling for a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
“I’m glad we got the ‘W’ and that’s all that mattered,” Owen said.
“That was quite a performance and believe it or not, Hunter didn’t have his good fastball today,” said South Portland coach Mike Owens. “But he really pitched well. I’m so proud of him.”
In the win over the Blue Blazes, Gus Lappin threw a shutout, Lewis had three RBI and Anthony Perron scored three times.
The Red Riots closed the regular season with a makeup game at Biddeford Wednesday.
“We’re more prepared for the tournament this year with the depth of our pitching,” Owens said.
Scarborough was 11-4 and third heading into Wednesday’s home finale versus Massabesic. The Red Storm were coming off one-run wins over visiting Kennebunk (3-2) and host Portland (2-1). Against the Rams, Scarborough scored three times in the bottom of the seventh, capped by an RBI single from Noah Frink. Jack Clark earned the victory and struck out 11. In the win over the Bulldogs, Nick Thompson went the distance and allowed just four hits.
In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 4-11 and 14th (only 11 teams qualify for the playoffs in the region) following a 4-2 home win over St. Dom’s, a 6-0 loss at Greely and a 5-1 home victory over Gray-New Gloucester. Jameson Bakke had two hits and three stolen bases and Colin Smith earned the victory against the Saints. Bakke had two hits in the loss to the Rangers. Against the Patriots, Ryan Oberholtzer earned the victory and hit an RBI double. The Capers closed with a makeup game at Leavitt and will likely miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
The baseball postseason begins Tuesday of next week with the preliminary round on the fields of the higher seeds.
Softball
Scarborough’s two-time defending Class A champion softball team will be the top seed in Class A South for the eighth year in a row. The Red Storm improved to 15-0 with recent victories over visiting Biddeford (5-4, in nine-innings) and host Windham (6-1). Scarborough rallied to beat the Tigers thanks to Katie Roy, who tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and won it with an RBI double in the ninth. She also doubled earlier in the game. Bella Dickinson earned the victory in relief. Sylvia Foley and Ava McDonald each had two hits in the win over the Eagles. Scarborough looked to finish perfect for the sixth year in a row and increase its league win streak to 105 games Wednesday when it hosted Massabesic in a makeup game.
South Portland finished the regular season 10-6 after a 10-3 home win over Windham, a 7-5 victory at Westbrook and a 6-1 home loss to Noble. Meghan Livingston had two hits and two RBI against the Eagles. The Red Riots will likely be the No. 5 seed and will host a preliminary round playoff game.
In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth took a 13-2 mark and the No. 3 ranking into Wednesday’s finale at Leavitt. The Capers last week beat visiting St. Dom’s (9-3) and host Greely (7-1) and Monday, downed visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 3-2. In the win over the Saints, Catherine Clay earned the victory, striking out nine, and hit a three-run homer and Dana Schwarz had two hits and scored two runs. Against the Patriots, Anna Cornell’s seventh inning double was the difference. Jessie Robicheaw earned the win.
The softball postseason begins Tuesday of next week with the preliminary round on the fields of the higher seeds.
Boys’ lacrosse
Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team will be the top seed for the Class A South playoffs. The Capers improved to 10-0 after last Thursday’s 9-2 win at Yarmouth. Jack Dresser had 11 saves.
“We definitely have improved in a lot of areas,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond. “We’ve gotten better in a lot of things, like clearing the ball, riding. I think we definitely won the ground ball game in this game.”
The Capers closed at home versus Greely Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story).
In Class A South, South Portland lost, 20-6, at defending Class A champion Thornton Academy last Wednesday, then returned to form with 21-8 victories at both Gorham and defending Class B champion Brunswick to improve to 7-3. David Fiorini had eight goals and six assists against the Rams, then scored nine times against the Dragons in a steady rain, while Alex Stevens had five goals and Josh Doan won 26 of 31 faceoffs.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Fiorini, who also had a pair of assists. “I love playing lacrosse like this. It gets a little muddy and everyone slips around. We just had to work hard.”
“We worked well as a team together, especially in the second half,” Doan said. “We have our ups and downs, but this was a really good team win. I think we showed everybody how good we can be.”
“Brunswick’s always a great team,” added South Portland coach Tom Fiorini. “We just had a better day today. We’re 100 percent (healthy) now and that makes a world of difference for us.”
The Red Riots (fourth in Class A South) hosted Scarborough Wednesday and close at Cheverus Friday.
Scarborough was 4-7 and seventh in Class A South after an 8-3 win at Deering last week. The Red Storm closed at South Portland Wednesday.
The boys’ lacrosse playoffs begin Wednesday of next week with the quarterfinals on the fields of the higher seeds.
Girls’ lacrosse
On the girls’ side, defending Class B state champion Cape Elizabeth improved to 8-2 and second behind Yarmouth in the Heals after Friday’s 16-4 home win over St. Dom’s. Tori McGrath had five goals and Karli Chapin scored four. After going to defending Class C champion Lake Region for a makeup game Wednesday, the Capers close at home versus Greely Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story).
In Class A South, South Portland was 6-5 and fourth after beating visiting Thornton Academy (11-10) and Sanford (15-1) and a 15-7 loss at Windham. In the win over the Golden Trojans, Molly Walker had four goals and Jena Leckie three. Leckie also scored three times in the loss to the Eagles. The Red Riots closed at home against Cheverus Thursday.
Scarborough was 1-9 and 10th in Class A South (where only seven teams make the playoffs) after a 12-5 home loss to Windham and an 11-5 win at Brunswick. Erin Stolz had five goals against the Eagles. The Red Storm were at Kennebunk Wednesday and closed at Biddeford Thursday.
The girls’ lacrosse playoffs begin Wednesday of next week with the quarterfinals on the fields of the higher seeds.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.