Don’t blink, you’ll miss a lot.
The short and sweet spring sports season is underway and as April gives way to May, one thing that has become evident is that Cape Elizabeth and South Portland athletes and teams figure to be in the hunt for June glory.
Familiar faces are up to their old tricks and some newcomers are stealing the show as well and that’s all added up to an abundance of drama in the early going.
Let’s take a look back and a glimpse ahead:
Boys’ lacrosse
Cape Elizabeth’s Keegan Lathrop eludes a Messalonskee defender during a Capers’ road win last week. Joe Phelan / Kennebec Journal
Cape Elizabeth’s three-time reigning Class A state champion boys’ lacrosse team is up to its usual excellence so far this season, but this year, the games have been much closer.
After handling visiting South Portland in a state game rematch in the opener (17-4) and downing visiting Scarborough (12-3), the Capers edged visiting York (11-10), held off host Falmouth (7-6) and after winning at Messalonskee (13-7), Cape Elizabeth rallied from a three-goal deficit with seven minutes to go to beat host Yarmouth in an instant classic, 13-12, Tuesday night to improve to 6-0 and extend its three-year win streak to 29 games.
In the win over the Clippers, Keegan Lathrop and Bobby Offit both scored three goals and Alex van Huystee had two goals, including the go-ahead tally, and four assists.
“We think we can beat everyone,” said van Huystee. “We were hanging our heads when we were down, but we all know we have players on our team that can make plays at any time. As much as we don’t rely on individual skills, sometimes they shine.”
“Alex was great,” said longtime Capers coach Ben Raymond. “There’s going to be a mismatch. We have enough guys where someone will get the short-stick. I like our chances with any of our top six guys against another team’s short-stick D-mids. They were slow to slide and he had a better idea of where he was going with the ball. The slide wasn’t coming and he scored some nice goals.
“It’s just consistency. We had a very good spurt to start the game. First half overall was pretty good besides the penalties. We did a decent job moving the ball, clearing it, moving it. In the fourth quarter, we had a great four-minute stint where we won a bunch of faceoffs and made good decisions on the offensive side of the field. End of the game was great. We passed up a shot, got the ball behind (the goal) and killed off the rest of the clock.”
Cape Elizabeth returns home Friday to face Gorham, then travels to Windham Tuesday of next week.
“We definitely want these type of games and we’ll keep getting them,” Raymond said. “This is probably one of the best schedules we’ve had in years. We have yet to see TA and we’ll see them twice. We see Falmouth again and Yarmouth again and Windham’s in there too.
“We have a lot of little things we need to work on. We’re filtering in a bunch of guys who don’t have as much experience. They have to learn what to do in certain situations. These are the best times to learn. You can’t mimic it in practice. We talk about it and we learn and hopefully, we do a little better each game.”
South Portland, which got to the state game a year ago before losing to Cape Elizabeth, was 3-2 at press time. The Red Riots lost at the Capers in the opener, 17-4, then downed host Gorham (17-5) and Bonny Eagle (17-8) before dropping a 9-8 home decision to Scarborough last Friday. In that one, Beckett Mehlhorn scored twice, but South Portland was outscored, 3-0, in the final quarter.
“I think we took our foot off the gas a little bit,” lamented Red Riots coach Dan Hanley. “That’s not a mentality we’ve been in a lot this year. We’ve been in blowouts one direction or another. It’s good for us to face this. It was a great, competitive game and fun to watch and coach. I’m proud of how my guys fought. We had three decent shots at goal at the end and that’s all you can ask for. They got a couple good bounces and the ball didn’t bounce our way today.”
Tuesday, South Portland held off visiting Marshwood, 11-10, as Mehlhorn set up Tobey Lappin for the game-winning goal with 37 seconds to go. Mehlhorn had three goals and three assists and Lappin and Ian House each scored three times. The Red Riots visit Brunswick Friday and welcome Biddeford Wednesday of next week.
Girls’ lacrosse
Cape Elizabeth’s Libby Hooper races up the field during a season-opening with at NYA. Hoffer photo.
On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth started with a 12-4 win at North Yarmouth Academy, then lost at home to Gorham (13-12, in overtime), at three-time reigning Class A champion Kennebunk (14-3) and at home to Yarmouth (15-10) before improving to 2-3 Tuesday with a 13-7 home win over Marshwood. Libby Hooper scored three times against the Clippers. The Capers hosted defending Class B champion Greely Thursday (see our website for game story), visit Thornton Academy Saturday and go to Massabesic Tuesday of next week.
“We know what we’re capable of,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Alex Spark. “I think this year we’re just better at overall team chemistry. Last year, our defense was solid. This year, our attack is starting from a better spot. Our upperclassmen experience will help us this year.”
South Portland started with home losses to Morse (6-4), Massabesic (16-3) and Scarborough (14-3), then lost at Cheverus (14-4). Monday, the Red Riots gave new coach Eliza Hellier her first victory, 11-1, over visiting Lake Region, as Sophia Talty and Lauren Steady both scored three times. South Portland hosted Biddeford Wednesday, visits Noble Monday and goes to Deering Thursday of next week.
Baseball
South Portland pitcher Kason Lewis delivers a strike during last week’s home loss to Falmouth. Hoffer photo.
South Portland’s baseball team, which won its second Class A state title in three seasons last spring, won its first three games this season, downing host Sanford in eight-innings (6-4), visiting Westbrook in five-innings (11-1) and host Noble in five-innings (13-3). The Red Riots then fell at home to preseason favorite Falmouth (7-0) and at Kennebunk (9-1) before bouncing back Tuesday with a 9-6 home win over Portland.
“We just need to clean up some stuff,” South Portland coach Mike Owens said. “I thought we’d be a different team in June. We got off to a good start early, which might have been a little fool’s good.
The Red Riots visited Scarborough Thursday, welcome Massabesic Saturday and play host to Thornton Academy Tuesday of next week.
Cape Elizabeth, meanwhile, has continued last year’s team’s penchant for winning tight games, even those that require more than seven innings.
The Capers, who got to the Class B South Final in 2023, opened with a 3-2 (eight-inning home win over Poland), then blanked host Leavitt (4-0), beat visiting Yarmouth in a regional final rematch (7-2) and after falling at Wells (4-2), edged visiting Mt. Ararat in 10-innings Monday (1-0). In that one, Jameson Bryant had another strong start and Brady Inman singled home Andy Choi to end it.
“I feel great about this team,” said second-year Cape Elizabeth coach Donny Dutton. “This is a team that is very competitive. They’re buying into winning baseball games.”
After hosting York Wednesday, the Capers welcome Wells Monday and go to Lake Region Wednesday of next week.
“We have a tough schedule,” Dutton said. “Class B South is very competitive and I like to think we’ll be near the top and be in the thick of things come June. The guys are hungry. They want to finish the job. The best nine guys will go out there and give us the best opportunity to win.”
Softball
South Portland’s softball team is back as a stand-alone program this spring and has sizzled out of the gate, winning its first five games by a composite 77-18 margin. After edging visiting Bonny Eagle in the opener, 6-5, the Red Riots handled host Noble in three-innings (25-0) and visiting Deering in three-innings (22-2), then rallied past host Marshwood (11-7) before downing host Thornton Academy (13-4) Monday. South Portland was home against Gorham Wednesday, visits Biddeford Friday, welcomes Cheverus in a makeup game Saturday (see our website for game story) and plays host to Portland Monday of next week.
Cape Elizabeth started with an 18-3 (three-inning) home loss to Poland, then fell at Leavitt (14-3, in five-innings), at home to Yarmouth (19-9) and at Wells (11-10). Monday, the Capers improved to 1-4 by downing visiting Mt. Ararat, 11-5. In the victory, Isabelle Pollick had three hits and scored twice and Grace Callahan, Phoebe Caton, Molly McKibben and Lauren Steinberg added two hits apiece. The Capers hosted York Wednesday, welcome Wells Monday and go to Lake Region Wednesday of next week.
Outdoor track
The outdoor track season began last week.
South Portland’s boys, coming off an indoor state title, joined Scarborough at Bonny Eagle and placed first, as did the Red Riots girls.
Cape Elizabeth took part in a five-team meet home meet. The Capers girls finished third and the boys placed fourth.
Tennis
Cape Elizabeth’s girls’ tennis team opened with a 3-2 win over NYA, a 5-0 victory over Lake Region and a 3-2 loss to Yarmouth.
The Capers boys beat NYA (4-1) and Lake Region (5-0), then lost, 3-2, to four-time reigning Class B champion Yarmouth.
South Portland’s boys opened with a 5-0 win over Windham, then lost to Thornton Academy (5-0) and Gorham (3-2).
The Red Riots girls were beaten by Sanford (5-0) and Thornton Academy (4-1) to start the year, then defeated Massabesic (5-0) before being blanked by Gorham (5-0) to fall to 1-3.
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