The weather has cooperated, fans are back in the stands and spring sports athletes are relishing an opportunity to shine after losing out on the 2020 season.

It’s been largely good news all around and we still have several weeks to go until state championships are awarded.

Needless to say, it’s a good time to be a spring sports fan and the best is yet to come.

Here’s an overview:

Baseball

Scarborough’s baseball team fell from the ranks of the unbeaten last Friday, dropping a 3-2 home decision to Thornton Academy. The Red Storm bounced back Monday with a 9-4 win at Westbrook, then Tuesday, improved to 8-1 after outlasting visiting South Portland, 2-1, in an 11-inning marathon. Against the Blue Blazes, Scarborough scored five first-inning runs, got three hits from Thomas Donahue and a pair of RBI from Joe Townsend. In the win over the Red Riots, Townsend had two hits and threw a strong nine innings, but didn’t earn the decision. Ryan Gambardella earned the victory in relief. Scarborough hosts Biddeford for a doubleheader Friday and welcomes Windham Tuesday of next week.

South Portland swept a home doubleheader over Bonny Eagle Saturday, winning 9-0 and 10-0 (in five innings). Nolan Hobbs allowed only three hits in the first game and Andrew Heffernan pitched a one-hitter in the nightcap. Connor Dobson and Noah Dreifus combined for four hits and three runs scored in the opener. Heffernan took a no-hitter into the fifth inning in game two and the Red Riots broke a scoreless tie with a seven-run fourth inning. Heffernan ended the game by the 10-run mercy rule with an RBI single in the sixth after a triple by Richard Gilboy. The Red Riots then fell to 7-2 Tuesday with a 2-1 (11-inning) loss at Scarborough. Brad McMains and Heffernan combined to give up just four hits to no avail. South Portland hosted Thornton Academy Thursday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and have a doubleheader at Westbrook Saturday.

Cape Elizabeth split a home doubleheader against Yarmouth last Friday, losing the opener, 5-1, then winning the nightcap, 2-1, before improving to 5-5 with a 6-0 win at Greely Tuesday. In the victory over the Clippers, Charlie Bischoff hit a two-run single and Hayden Webber went the distance, only allowing three hits.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Capers coach Glenn Reeves said. “This was a big test. It would have been easy to roll over right there and take three losses to Yarmouth this week, but to come back and fight and to get a win was huge.”

Against the Rangers, Curtis Sullivan threw a two-hit shutout and Colin Smith hit a key two-run single to break a scoreless tie. Cape Elizabeth was at Old Orchard Beach Thursday, hosts Greely for a doubleheader Saturday and travels to Lake Region Monday.

“We’ve been inconsistent,” Reeves said. “We’re still making mental mistakes and physical errors, but we just need to get 1% better every day and that’s what we’re doing. Hopefully we’ll be hot at the end. We’re playing a lot of baseball, which is fun.”

Softball

All good things must end and Scarborough’s softball team found that out the hard way last Friday. First, the Red Storm extended their overall win streak to 66 games and their regular season win streak to 111 with a 9-2 victory at Cheverus last Wednesday. Sylvia Foley drove in three runs, including a two-run homer, and Mollie Verreault, who was the winning pitcher, added a two-run homer and scored twice. Next came a home doubleheader versus always-tough Thornton Academy. In the opener, Scarborough took a 3-2 lead to the sixth, where the Golden Trojans tied it. Then, in the top of the eighth, Thornton Academy pushed across six runs and went on to a 9-3 victory, handing the Red Storm their first loss in any game since the 2016 Class A South Final (9-7 to Biddeford) and their first in regular season league play since Sanford eked out a 3-2 (eight-inning) victory May 6, 2013 in Scarborough.

“I think (the loss) brought us, in a way, back down to earth,” Foley said. “(The streak) has been hovering over us all season. There’s a lot of good teams out there. (The loss) could have happened anytime. It just happened tonight. We got it out of the way.”

The Red Storm then continued an even more epic streak, avoiding their first two-game skid since May 22nd and 24th of 2002 by rallying from a 4-0 deficit in the second game of the doubleheader to beat Thornton Academy, 7-5. Angelina Pizzella earned the win and Katie Roy had three hits.

“I think the motivation of the first game kicked in in the second inning,” Foley said. “We know how that felt and we don’t ever want to feel that again.”

“Thornton Academy is an excellent team and deserved to win that first game, but I am so proud of my girls,” said longtime Scarborough coach Tom Griffin. “They could have packed it in and put their heads in the sand after that four-run first inning (in Game 2). They could have quit for the weekend, but they battled back. This is a big character builder for us.”

Monday, the Red Storm improved to 8-1 with an 8-4 victory at Westbrook, as Pizzella led the way with three hits and three RBI, Foley added a pair of hits, Roy also had a double and Jenna Giguere got win in relief. Scarborough hosted South Portland in a big test Wednesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story), then welcomes powerhouse Biddeford for two games Friday before playing host to Windham Wednesday of next week.

South Portland took a 6-3 mark into Scarborough after downing visiting Deering (25-7, in five innings) and visiting Bonny Eagle in a doubleheader (16-6 and 11-3) last week. Against the Rams, the Red Riots scored 15 runs in the first two innings and got three hits and three RBI from Julia Connors, two hits and three RBI from both Elise Connor and Ella Nickerson and four runs scored from Andrea DiMauro. In the first win over the Scots, an eight-run fourth inning blew it open. Chloe Grant had three hits and a pair of RBI. In the nightcap, Maddie Jamieson had three hits and scored three runs, DiMauro had four hits and two RBI and Emilie Way drove in four runs. South Portland plays two at Westbrook Saturday and welcomes Falmouth Wednesday of next week.

Cape Elizabeth made it 10 in a row to start the season after a doubleheader sweep of visiting Yarmouth last Friday (12-0 in six innings and 18-4 in five innings) and a 13-0 (five-inning) victory at Greely Tuesday. Against the Clippers, Kathryne Clay threw a one-hitter with 11 hits in the opener, while Dana Schwartz and Julia Torre each had two hits and three RBI. In the second game, Clara Parker earned the victory, while Schwartz had three hits and five RBI. Anna Cornell then no-hit the Rangers, striking out eight, while Clay had four hits, including a pair of doubles, and Esme Song added three hits. The Capers (who have now outscored the opposition, 141-6, this season) were at Old Orchard Beach Thursday, host Greely in a doubleheader Saturday and play at Lake Region Monday.

Boys’ lacrosse

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team remained unbeaten at 8-0 after dominating host Greely (14-4), host Yarmouth (15-1), visiting Freeport (21-3) and host Thornton Academy (17-2) in recent action. Against the Rangers, Archie McEvoy had four goals and Nic Boudreau and Tiernan Lathrop added three apiece. Keegan Lathrop scored four goals and Tiernan Lathrop and McEvoy added three apiece in the win over the Clippers. Against the Falcons, Nick Laughlin scored six times and Bobby Offitt added four. The Capers, who have outscored their foes, 142-32, so far this year, should get a test Saturday when they host Falmouth (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story). Cape Elizabeth is at South Portland Tuesday of next week.

Scarborough fell to 5-2 last Thursday after a 4-3 home loss to Thornton Academy. Tae Delaware scored in the first quarter and Owen Leadley scored a couple goals in the second period for a 3-0 lead, but the Red Storm were held scoreless the final 30-plus-minutes and lost on a goal with 3.6 seconds to play.

“Overall, I thought we outplayed (Thornton Academy),” Scarborough coach Zach Barrett said. “We had the ball in their end most of the game and we dictated on offense. We did what we wanted to do, but we didn’t finish. Finishing is a huge part of lacrosse and by not finishing, this is the outcome. I thought we should have scored a lot more goals. It’s a tough one.”

The Red Storm returned to action Thursday at home versus Windham (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story), play at Berwick Academy Friday, welcome Falmouth Monday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and go to Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

South Portland fell to 0-9 after a 10-4 loss at Kennebunk Friday. The Red Riots were home against Falmouth Thursday, visit Greely Saturday and close the regular season at home versus Cape Elizabeth Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth, the two-time Class B champion, is showing signs of rounding into form. The Capers dropped a 10-5 decision at two-time reigning Class A champion Falmouth last Wednesday, then improved to 2-5 Saturday with a hard-fought 9-8 victory at Freeport. Claire McDonald had three goals in the loss. In the win, Laura Ryer scored four times and McDonald added three goals.

“We’ve had some tough losses and reflected on those games and we’re coming back,” Ryer said. “This was the closest game we’ve had so far. It’s a rebuilding process. It’s been a rough schedule, but we’re doing well. We haven’t backed down. We’ve stayed positive.”

“It’s a nice win for us,” Cape Elizabeth coach Alex Spark said. “It was a gritty game. We were happy to come out one goal on top. It was very dramatic. The girls can feel we’re getting better. Our team attack and team defense have come so far since the start of the season until now.”

The Capers hosted Lake Region Wednesday and play host to Massabesic Friday.

“We trend forward throughout the season and we’re definitely getting better every game,” Spark said. “We’re learning a lot. We’ll be playing our best lacrosse at the end.”

Scarborough was 7-2 at press time following a 7-1 loss at Greely and a 15-5 home victory over South Portland. In the setback, the Red Storm didn’t score the first 44 minutes of the game and managed just five shots on goal.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Scarborough coach Emily Field said. “We have to talk about what it’s like to play from behind. We’ve started off a goal down before, but we haven’t dug a hole like that before. We’re fully capable. We just have to figure out what it takes to get us there.”

In the win, the Red Storm locked up their first winning season since 2015, as Natalie Bilodeau scored five goals, Paige Spooner added four and Darby Stolz finished with three.

South Portland fell to 3-4 with a 15-5 loss at Scarborough Tuesday. The Red Riots go to Cheverus Friday and host Biddeford Monday.

Tennis

Cape Elizabeth’s girls stayed perfect at 9-0 after recent wins over Waynflete (3-2), Freeport (5-0) and Greely (3-2).

The Capers boys were 2-5 after beating Freeport (3-2) and losing to Greely (3-2).

Scarborough’s girls were 4-2 at press time.

The Red Storm boys improved to 3-5 after Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Marshwood.

South Portland’s boys improved to 4-6 Tuesday after a 5-0 home win over Bonny Eagle.

The Red Riots girls fell to 4-6 following Tuesday’s 4-1 loss at Bonny Eagle.

Track

In track last week, Scarborough’s boys edged Thornton Academy by two points, while the Red Storm girls were second to the Golden Trojans in a close competition.

South Portland hosted Bonny Eagle. The Red Riots won, while the girls came in second.

Cape Elizabeth took part in a seven-team meet at Yarmouth. The Capers boys and girls both finished third.

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

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