Portland: Weather, spring sports take a turn for the better

Last week began with the weather making everyone miserable, but by week’s end, all was right with the world again.

Most teams have been able to play the majority of their scheduled games and as the action heats up, it’s clear that the best is yet to come.

Here’s a recap:

Baseball

The Waynflete/North Yarmouth Academy co-op baseball team improved to 6-0 after home wins last week over Traip Academy (2-1) and St. Dom’s (2-0). Against the Rangers, Dylan Kullman doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh and scored the winning run on an error. Cooper St. Hilaire had a pair of hits, drove in a run and pitched six strong innings, striking out five, and Cole Lambert earned the victory in relief. In the win over the Saints, Lambert threw a two-hit shutout with five strikeouts and St. Hilaire drove in one run, while his brother Daxton St. Hilaire had the other RBI. After going to Old Orchard Beach Monday, Waynflete/NYA visits Maranacook Wednesday, welcomes Sacopee Valley for a doubleheader Friday, then visits Traip Academy next Monday.

Cheverus improved to 5-1 with victories last week at Bonny Eagle (4-1) and at home over Portland (6-1) and Westbrook (6-3). In the win over the Bulldogs, Brian Connolly pitched a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts and Matt Connor paced the offense with four hits and two RBI. Against the Blue Blazes, Connor hit a home run and a single and scored twice. Liam Backman added two RBI and Rilan Smith struck out seven and earned the win. The Stags were at Sanford Tuesday, host South Portland Thursday (see our website for game story), visit Noble Friday and play at Scarborough in another key game next Tuesday.

Portland fell to 1-5 after losing at Cheverus (6-1) and at home to Marshwood (6-4) last week. Against the Stags, Henry Bibeau tripled and Reegan Buck hit a double. In the loss to the Hawks, Sam Payne had a pair of hits and Hunter Temple hit a double. The Bulldogs looked to get back in the win column Tuesday at Biddeford. After going to Falmouth Thursday, Portland hosts Sanford Saturday, then welcomes Gorham Monday and Deering Tuesday of next week.

Deering dropped to 0-4 after a 13-1, six-inning home loss to Noble Saturday. The Rams were at Westbrook Monday and went to Bonny Eagle Tuesday. They visit Marshwood Thursday, play a makeup game at South Portland Friday and welcome Massabesic Monday before meeting Portland Tuesday of next week.

Softball

Deering’s softball team got in the win column last week, downing host Falmouth, 4-1. The Rams also lost at home to Kennebunk (6-1) and Cheverus (12-0) and was 1-6 at press time. In the victory, freshman Isabella McBrady threw a one-hitter with 16 strikeouts and also had three hits and scored twice. Adelyn Blackburn added three hits and Sophie Hill drove in a pair of runs. Hill also drove in the lone run in the loss to Kennebunk. Deering was at Windham Monday, welcomes Thornton Academy Wednensday, visits Scarborough Friday and plays host to Noble Monday of next week.

Cheverus dropped a 10-6 decision at Marshwood last Monday, then improved to 3-2 by downing host Deering (12-0, in six-innings) and Falmouth (11-0, in five-innings). In the setback, Kelsey Cassidy had three hits and scored twice, Ashley Connor had two hits and scored two runs and Anna Kennedy-Jensen drove in a pair of runs. In the win over the Rams, Connor pitched a six-inning no-hitter and Kennedy-Jensen, Hailey Lamontagne, Elle Picard and Delia Tremble had two hits apiece. Kennedy-Jensen also stole three bases. Against the Navigators, Lamontagne threw a three-hit shutout and drove in a pair of runs, as did Kennedy-Jensen. The Stags hosted Bonny Eagle Monday, welcomed Thornton Academy Tuesday (see our website for game story), play host to South Portland/Westbrook Thursday, then go to Portland Monday and welcome Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Portland dropped to 2-3 after home losses last week to South Portland/Westbrook (12-3, in six-innings) and Biddeford (13-1, in five-innings). In the first setback, Hannah Hawkes and Ainsley McCrum both had two hits and drove in a run. Against the Tigers, Sadie Armstrong had a pair of hits. The Bulldogs were at Massabesic Monday, host Kennebunk Wednesday, visit Falmouth Friday, welcome Gorham Saturday and play host to Cheverus Monday of next week.

Boys’ lacrosse

Waynflete’s Pauli Mukerangingo plays tight defense during Saturday’s loss to South Portland. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster.

Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team, the two-time reigning Class C champion, was 4-2 at press time after beating visiting Greely (12-11) and Oak Hill (11-4) and dropping a thrilling 6-5 decision to visiting South Portland last week. Against the Rangers, Haven Savory Kreiss led the way with five goals, including the game-winner in the final minute, while Roan Hopkins and Spencer Kline added two apiece. In the win over Oak Hill, Savory Kreiss had four goals and Fletcher Polsky added a pair. Against the Red Riots, one of the premier Class A teams in the state, the Flyers fell behind 6-2 in the fourth quarter, but roared back, as Hopkins had two goals and Liam Anderson also found the net, but two shots in the waning seconds were just off the mark. Goalie Avi Israel made 13 saves.

“It’s a little bit frustrating, but we proved we could hang with them,” Hopkins said. “Our defense and goalie played great, but I think our offense let us down. I get chills thinking about how well my boys played together.”

“I knew coming into this it was going to be a classic,” Waynflete coach Andrew Leach said. “It went exactly as I thought it might. The guys did a great job battling back. I couldn’t be happier with the performance. This group plays big in big moments and they always answer the bell. We think we’re going to come through and that will pay off big come June.”

The Flyers welcome Lake Region Wednesday and go to Windham, another Class A contender, Saturday.

“We have a next man up mentality,” Hopkins said. “I have no doubt that next month we’ll be ready to go.”

“When you get these games, you’ll only get better and be ready to go for that final push,” Leach said. “We have to get healthy, but I like where we’re at and we’ll keep adding to our game.”

Cheverus fell to 2-3 after losses last week at Freeport (5-2) and at home to Portland (13-4). The Stags look to bounce back Thursday at Cony, then they have a rematch at Portland Monday.

Speaking of Portland, it was 3-3 after a 6-5 overtime loss at Gorham and a 13-4 win at Cheverus. In the victory, Andy Marvin had six goals and three assists, Louis Thurston finished with three goals and four assists and Harry Rubin added three goals. Goalie Clyde Spencer stopped eight shots. The Bulldogs visited Bonny Eagle Monday, go to Falmouth Wednesday, host Oak Hill in a crossover game Saturday and play host to Cheverus Monday of next week.

Deering fell to 3-3 after home losses last week to South Portland (18-5) and Mt. Ararat (13-8). Joey Foley scored twice against the Red Riots. The Rams welcomed Biddeford Tuesday and play at Fryeburg Academy Saturday.

Girls’ lacrosse

Lydia Birknes scores one of her seven goals in Waynflete’s home win over Traip Academy last week. Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald

On the girls’ side, Waynflete sandwiched losses at Yarmouth (11-5) and Portland (7-6) around an 18-3 home victory over Traip Academy last week and was 1-5 at press time. Tilsley Kelly had three goals against the Clippers, then scored five times in the win, while Lydia Birknes went off for seven goals.

“It’s a confidence boost,” Kelly said. “After this game, we know what we’re capable of.”

“It felt good to get going right off the bat,” longtime Flyers coach Cathie Connors said. “We played as a team more today. We were kind of working individually a little bit in the first few games.”

Kelly scored three times and Birknes added two goals in the loss to the Bulldogs. Waynflete welcomes reigning Class B champion Greely Wednesday (see our website for game story) and goes to Freeport Monday of next week.

Portland, which won just twice a year ago, improved to 5-1 after home wins last week over South Portland (12-3) and Waynflete (7-6). Against the Red Riots, Eliza Stein scored six times, while Ava Christensen and Phoebe Knoll added two apiece. In the Bulldogs’ first-ever win over the Flyers, Knoll scored twice, including the game-winner late, and Stein led the way with three goals. Portland was at Lewiston Monday, visits Deering Friday and plays host to Cheverus Tuesday of next week.

Cheverus fell to 4-2 after losses last week at Falmouth (14-7) and Gorham (11-10, in overtime). Reese Belanger, Mackenzie Cash and Lucy Johnson all had two goals against the Navigators. The Stags go to Sanford Wednesday, host Windham Friday and play at Portland Tuesday of next week.

Deering fell to 0-5 after home losses to Windham (24-0) and Cony (16-3). Shay Rosenthal scored all three goals against Cony. The Rams sought their first win Tuesday at Biddeford, then host Portland Friday, go to Bangor Monday and visit Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday of next week.

Outdoor track

Portland’s girls were first and the boys second in a three-team meet at Bonny Eagle last week (Sanford also took part).

Cheverus hosted Massabesic, Westbrook and Windham. Both the boys and girls were second behind the Eagles.

Deering joined South Portland at Biddeford. The Rams boys and girls were each second behind the Red Riots.

Tennis

Waynflete’s Lucy Hart qualified for the girls’ state singles championships, which begin Friday, May 19, at Bates College in Lewiston. On the boys’ side, Cheverus’ Anton Behuniak, Deering’ Daniel Landry, Portland’s Will Guerin and Waynflete’s Jeff Adey, Matt Adey, Theodore Demetriou and Henry Kerr all advanced.

In team action, Waynflete’s boys, the 13-time reigning Class C champions, extended their win streak to five and improved to 5-1 with 5-0 victories last week over Freeport, York and NYA.

The Flyers girls were 3-3 after sandwiching wins over Freeport (5-0) and NYA (4-1) around a 3-2 loss to York.

Portland’s boys were 4-2 after 3-2 wins over South Portland and Deering last week.

The Bulldogs girls got their first win (5-0 over Massabesic), then fell to 1-5 after a 4-1 loss to South Portland.

Deering’s boys were 3-3 after blanking Biddeford (5-0) and losing to Portland (3-2).

The Rams girls’ squad was 0-6 after a 5-0 loss to Scarborough and a 3-2 setback to Biddeford.

Cheverus’ boys improved to 4-2 after a 4-1 win over Windham last week.

The Stags girls were 2-3 after a 5-0 loss to Windham.

Press Herald staff writer Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this story.