The tennis team playoffs are underway, track has held its conference championship meets with states looming and the baseball, softball and lacrosse regular seasons are nearing their conclusion.

It’s the best time of the spring sports season, the postseason, and there will be no shortage of thrills in the days to come.

Here’s a recap of all the excitement and a glimpse of what’s still to come:

Track

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association championship meet was held Friday in Falmouth, while the Western Maine Conference championship meet was contested Saturday in Naples.

At the SMAA boys’ meet, Scarborough was first with 102 points, while South Portland (56) placed sixth. The Red Storm got first-place performances from Jayden Flaker in the 110 hurdles (14.48 seconds) and the 300 hurdles (40.01), Zach Barry in the mile (4 minutes, 25.86 seconds), Adam Bendetson in the 2-mile (9:45.75), Nick Connolly in the discus (159 feet, 3 inches), and Toby Martin in the pole vault (13-0). Connolly was also runner-up in the shot put (55-11.25). Barry was also second in the 800 (1:59.97).

The Red Riots featured Amir Broadus, who won the shot put (56-6.75).

Gorham won the girls’ title with 93 points. Scarborough (63.5) placed fourth and South Portland (2) was 17th.

The Red Storm were led by Emerson Flaker, who won the 400 in 58.44. Caroline Fallona was second in the 100 (12.22). The 4×100 relay team (Emma Saraceno, Bailey Stoddard-Baughman, Julia Black and Fallona) was also runner-up in 50.35.

In Division I, won by the York girls with 188 points, Cape Elizabeth (91.5) was second. The Capers got wins from Tori Hews in the 100 (13.16) and 200 (26.99), Hadley Mahoney in the 800 (2:22.91) and their 4×100 relay team (Caroline Concannon, Grace Gray, Marcella Hesser and Hews, 51.52).

In the Division I boys’ meet, won by York with 221 points, Cape Elizabeth (69) placed third. The Capers were led by Owen Patry, who won the two-mile (10:19.86).

The state meets will be held Saturday. Class A is in Bangor and Class B at Mt. Desert Island.

Tennis

The team tennis tournament has begun.

Scarborough’s girls are the No. 2 seed in Class A South after just the second 12-0 regular season in program history. The Red Storm hosted No. 7 Gorham (8-5) in the quarterfinals Thursday.

South Portland was the No. 10 seed but lost to Gorham, 5-0, in Tuesday’s preliminary round to wind up 5-8.

Cape Elizabeth’s girls, the reigning Class B South champions, finished in the No. 2 spot after a 11-1 regular season. The Capers (11-1) hosted No. 10 Gardiner (5-7) in the quarterfinals Thursday.

On the boys’ side, Cape Elizabeth, ranked eighth in Class B South, advanced with a 5-0 win over No. 9 Cony in Tuesday’s preliminary round. The Capers (5-8) traveled to top-ranked, reigning state champion Yarmouth (12-0) for the quarterfinals Thursday.

In Class A South, South Portland, ranked fifth, beat No. 12 Bonny Eagle (5-0) in the preliminary round Tuesday. The Red Riots (10-3) advanced to take on either No. 4 Cheverus (9-2) or No. 13 Windham (1-11) in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Scarborough, seeded eighth in Class A South, finished 7-5 after a 3-2 home loss to No. 9 Gorham in the preliminary round.

The semifinals are Saturday on the courts of the higher seeds. The Class A South and Class B South Finals are Wednesday of next week, at Bates College in Lewiston. The state finals are Saturday, June 11, at Lewiston High School.

Baseball

Scarborough’s baseball team is surging into the playoffs. The Red Storm closed on a seven-game win streak, finishing with victories over visiting Deering (13-3, in six innings), at Marshwood (1-0) and at home over reigning Class A champion South Portland (2-0). Against the Rams, Erik Swenson earned the win while Ashton Blanchette singled, tripled and drove in four runs and Mason Porter and Ben Seguin added two hits apiece.

“We’re getting good at-bats, having a good approach at the plate, we’re locked in defensively and our pitchers are throwing first-pitch strikes,” Blanchette said.

“This is what I expected,” said Scarborough coach Wes Ridlon. “We’re sound defensively, we can pitch and we get timely hitting. It’s come together for us, so we’re excited how we’re playing right now.”

Against the Hawks, Zak Sanders singled in the lone run and earned the save in relief of Seguin, who earned the victory. In the win over the Red Riots, Harrison Griffiths threw a two-hitter and TJ Liponis doubled twice and tripled. The Red Storm finished 12-4 and will likely be the No. 4 seed for the upcoming Class A South playoffs.

“This is what we were striving at the start of the season, to play well toward the end,” Ridlon said. “Everything’s coming together for us. We’re having better at-bats, playing better defense and throwing strikes. It’s fundamental baseball. You want to play well in all facets of the game. We weren’t there earlier in the year, but the guys are getting there now.”

South Portland finished 13-3 after closing with an 11-0 (five-inning) victory at Windham, a 3-1 home win over Massabesic, a 9-0 victory at Sanford and a 2-0 loss at Scarborough. Against the Eagles, Michael Baccari and Alex Leupold combined on a one-hitter, Alex Domingos had a two-run double and Richie Gilboy drove in a pair of runs. In the win over the Mustangs, Kenny Carlisle allowed just two hits in six innings and Finn O’Connell had two hits. Against the Spartans, Ryan Thurber had three hits, including two doubles, and scored two runs, while O’Connell drove in three runs with a pair of doubles. Jack Houle scored three times and Andrew Heffernan added two RBI. In the setback, Heffernan suffered his first loss of the year and also surrendered his first earned runs. The Red Riots will likely be the No. 3 seed for the tournament.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth finished the regular season 9-7 after beating host York (8-7) and visiting Lake Region (8-2) and losing at Yarmouth (6-4). Aidan Connelly hit a home run in the win over the Wildcats. Against the Lakers, Colin Smith had three hits. Charlie Song had three hits in the loss to the Clippers. The Capers will likely be ranked fifth for the playoffs.

The postseason begins with the play-in round Saturday and the preliminary round Monday. Those games will be played on the diamonds of the higher seeds.

Softball

On the softball side, Scarborough made news last week when it announced on its Facebook page that longtime coach Tom Griffin will be stepping down at season’s end. The Red Storm finished the regular season 11-4 after wins at Westbrook (17-1, in five innings) and at home over Thornton Academy (11-1, in six innings) and a 7-1 setback at reigning Class A South champion Biddeford. Against the Blue Blazes, Jamie Kemper had three hits and four RBI, AJ Swett added three hits and three RBI, Calynn Gendreau had two hits and three RBI, and Angelina Pizzella gave up one hit and struck out 10. In the win over the Golden Trojans, Gendreau doubled twice and had four RBI, Natalie Moynihan earned the win and added a couple hits. In the loss, Gendreau had a pair of hits, but a six-run Tigers’ sixth inning was the difference.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed with that last inning, but we have to look at (as) they’re a very good team and we played five really good innings,” said Griffin, who is four wins shy of 500 for his illustrious career. “I think giving up that run earlier kind of put us in a little hole, because we felt we had to kind of get it back, and my girls kind of pressed and felt that they all had to make that play to get themselves out of the inning.”

Scarborough was ranked fifth in Class A South at press time.

South Portland finished the regular season 7-8 following a 4-3 win at Thornton Academy and a 9-0 loss at Windham. Delaney Whitten homered and drove in three runs and winning pitcher Mia Micucci also hit a home as the Red Riots beat the Golden Trojans and got a measure of revenge for last year’s marathon playoff loss. Whitten had three hits in the loss to the Eagles. South Portland was ranked 10th in Class A South at press time.

In Class B South, reigning state champion Cape Elizabeth finished its regular season 11-5 after a 9-2 loss at York and wins over visiting Wells (17-1, in five innings), visiting Lake Region (4-2) and host Yarmouth (26-4, in five innings). In the loss, the Capers gave up six runs in the sixth inning as a 2-0 lead slipped away.

“This was a close one,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Kristen Duross. “Kudos to (York). They’re a good hitting team. That’s what happens when you give them extra outs.”

Against the Warriors, Sophia Chung had three hits and three RBI, Dana Schwartz had two hits and three RBI and Kathryne Clay threw a one-hitter. In the win over the Lakers, Clay threw a two-hitter and Kat Callahan had three hits. The Capers were fifth in the region at press time.

The postseason begins with the preliminary round Monday. Those games will be played on the diamonds of the higher seeds.

Boys’ lacrosse

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team returned to form last Friday, bouncing back from an agonizing overtime loss to Thornton Academy by dominating visiting South Portland, 15-5. The Capers got a career-high nine goals from Tiernan Lathrop.

“I’d say this is one of our top performances,” Lathrop said. “We just had a lot of fun tonight. We enjoyed it and that’s when you play the best lacrosse.”

“Tiernan is a matchup problem for everybody,” longtime Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond said. “He’s definitely one of our most athletic players, definitely our most athletic midfielder with a short stick that we’ve had in years. Skill-wise, he’s not just big and strong. He has a strong shot, he can shoot left or right equally well. He moves the ball well. He can play defense, too. He really is the full package. There’s so much he can do. He’s by far the biggest matchup problem for anyone.”

The Capers (9-2) closed at Greely Wednesday. Cape Elizabeth, which will likely be the top seed in Class A South, seeks to win a second straight state championship.

“We have to focus and try to be more consistent,” Lathrop said. “If we can do this every game, we’ll be a train that can’t be stopped. I think we’re ready to make a run.”

South Portland finished the regular season 10-2, its best mark since 2015, after losing at Cape Elizabeth (15-5), winning at Gorham (8-6) and downing visiting Kennebunk (10-4). The Red Riots got 23 saves from goalie Ben Kieu and a pair of goals from Beckett Mehlhorn against Cape Elizabeth, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Credit to (Cape),” said South Portland coach Dan Hanley. “Their midfielders are really strong. We tried to get two poles on them at times, but they were able to take advantage of us on the backside. They move the ball really well and they have a lot of weapons on offense. I thought our defense played great, but it’s hard when you’re playing defense 90% of the time.”

Monday, the Red Riots held on for a hard-fought 8-6 win at Gorham. Jack Dreifus scored three goals, Cullen Adams and Beckett Mehlhorn added two apiece and Kieu made 17 saves. Tuesday, against Kennebunk on Senior Night, Lucas Mehlhorn scored three goals, while Adams, Dreifus and Beckett Mehlhorn all added two. Kieu made 15 saves.

“Our offense was just clicking,” Lucas Mehlhorn said. “We got a little slow at the start of the second half and we made some dumb decisions. We were losing possession, but we called timeout and made adjustments.”

“Last year, we celebrated losses because we fought with competitive teams,” Hanley said. “Today, we came out hot, then we let them back in it, so we feel like we left something on the table and there’s definitely room for improvement. That’s part of the process of trying to become a championship-caliber team.”

South Portland (currently third in Class A South) will host at least one playoff round.

“We know this region’s tough and if you want to win a championship, you have to beat the best teams,” Hanley said. “Whatever it takes to get there, we’ll be ready. We’ve come a long way.”

Scarborough improved to 9-2 and fourth in Class A South after Saturday’s 22-0 win at Massabesic. The Red Storm closed the regular season at home versus reigning Class A North champion Falmouth Thursday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story) and, if victorious, could leapfrog South Portland for the No. 3 spot.

The playoffs begin next week on the fields of the higher seeds.

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth was 5-6 and fifth in Class A South heading into Wednesday’s home finale versus Class C power Freeport. The Capers were coming off an 11-10 double-overtime loss at reigning Class B champion Yarmouth Friday. Kaity Woods had four goals and Claire McDonald added three.

Scarborough was 6-5 and sixth entering Wednesday’s home finale against Massabesic. The Red Storm were coming off an 11-6 win at Biddeford Friday.

South Portland was 5-6 and 10th entering Wednesday’s home finale versus Noble. The Red Riots lost at Windham (14-5) and beat visiting Deering (16-5) and Morse (10-7) in recent action. Zoe Baker scored three goals in the setback. Against the Shipbuilders, Baker had four goals and four assists.

The playoffs begin next week on the fields of the higher seeds.

Press Herald staff writers Drew Bonifant and Steve Craig contributed to this story.

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

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