The finish line awaits.

State Championship Saturday.

For lacrosse and softball.

First, comes Championship Wednesday, when tennis team champions will be crowned.

At press time, four city teams were still alive, while several others fell just short of the big prize.

It’s been quite a week and here’s what you might have missed:

Tennis

Waynflete’s boys’ tennis team, the 15-time state champion, was getting ready to play in the Class C South Final Monday.

The Flyers, ranked fourth in the region, ousted both No. 5 Winthrop and top-seeded Boothbay by 5-0 scores in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds respectively. Waynflete (10-4) took on No. 3 Maine Central Institute (11-3) in the regional final. If the Flyers advanced, they’d battle Orono (14-1) in the state match Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., at Bates College in Lewiston.

In Class A South, Portland, the eighth seed, beat No. 9 Biddeford, 5-0, in the preliminary round, then was eliminated by top-ranked, reigning state champion Falmouth, 5-0, in the quarterfinals. to wind up 7-7.

Waynflete’s girls also reached the regional final round.

The Flyers, seeded second in Class C South, blanked No. 7 Mountain Valley, 5-0, in the quarterfinals, then eliminated No. 6 Boothbay, 3-0, in a rain-shortened semifinal round match. Waynflete (12-2) took on top-ranked Maranacook (13-1) in the regional final Monday. If the Flyers prevailed, they would meet either Piscataquis (9-5) or Fort Kent (10-2) in the state match Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., at Bates College in Lewiston.

In Class A South, Cheverus, ranked third, got past No. 6 Kennebunk (5-0) in the quarterfinals, then was upset by No. 7 Sanford, 3-2, in the semifinals, to finish 10-4.

Softball

Cheverus’ softball team has stolen headlines all season and for the first time, the Stags have reached the regional final round.

Cheverus, ranked second in Class A South, began its playoff run last Thursday by blanking No. 7 Massabesic, 3-0, as freshman phenom pitcher Addison DeRoche threw a no-hitter, walking two and striking out a season-high 19. The Stags’ runs scored on an error, a sacrifice fly by catcher Bella Napolitano Aberle and an RBI ground out from Anna Goodman.

“I had confidence in my team to make plays behind me,” said DeRoche.

“(Addison) was outstanding again today,” said Cheverus’ first-year coach John Eisenhart. “She loves to compete. She loves this environment. We needed that effort from her today.”

The Stags then blanked No. 6 Scarborough, 8-0, in Saturday’s semifinals, in a game shortened to six innings by rain. DeRoche again was unhittable, allowing just one baserunner, on a dropped third strike. DeRoche struck out 12 and also hit a home run and drove in three runs. Hailey Lamontagne paced the offense with two hits. Kelsey Cassidy, Anna Goodman and Abby Kelly all scored runs, while Goodman and Napolitano Aberle had RBI.

“When you’re in the playoffs and you can lose and go home, you’re going to put everything that you have on the line and just go all out every pitch,” said DeRoche. “My catcher, Bella (was) absolutely amazing. We’re all working together.”

For the season, DeRoche is 10-1 with a 0.10 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 70 absolutely dominant innings.

Tuesday, in the Class A South Final, Cheverus (17-1) faced the daunting task of going up against top-ranked, 18-0 Windham (see our website for game story). The Stags’ lone loss came at the Eagles, 3-1, May 24 in the regular season finale. The teams played just once before in the postseason, a 3-1 Windham victory in the 2005 Western A preliminary round.

“Just knowing Cheverus hasn’t been this far is really exciting for us and we’re really proud of how far we’ve come,” Lamontagne said.

If the Stags got past the Eagles, they will take on either Skowhegan (16-1), Oxford Hills (16-2) or Edward Little (11-6) in the Class A state final Saturday at 1 p.m., at Central Maine Community College in Auburn.

Portland got to the semifinals as well before meeting its match.

The Bulldogs, ranked fifth in Class A South, defeated No. 12 Westbrook, 11-4, in last Tuesday’s preliminary round, as Ainsley McCrum tripled and drove in four runs, Hannah Hawkes added two hits and four runs scored and Sadie Armstrong earned the victory, striking out 10. Portland then upset No. 4 South Portland, 3-2, in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Armstrong was dominant early and the Bulldogs built a 3-0 lead, as Hawkes hit an RBI single in the second inning, then Portland added two more runs in the top of the fifth, on a wild pitch and an RBI hit from Ruby Chase. The Red Riots rallied within one and got the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, but Armstrong recorded the final out on a line drive to rightfielder Kaitlin Vigue.

“I was honestly really nervous,” said Armstrong, who struck out 10 and had three hits and a run scored. “That was a solid piece of hitting, but Kaitlin is amazing and I trust her. I saw her get to the ball and I knew we had it. (South Portland’s) a really solid team and it’s a fun game when it’s tight. We’ve put in so many hours together this year and I think half of the team is seniors. We know it’s our last run and we have to make the most of it.”

“We always talk about how we love being the underdog,” Chase said. “No one expects us to win and it feels great to surprise everyone. That helps push us.”

“We stick together,” added Bulldogs coach Jason McLeod. “We have 11 players on our roster. We have no JV program. Compared to some other programs in our conference, we’re down a few notches before the first pitch is thrown, but we stick together, we know who we are and today, we weren’t afraid to fail.”

Portland’s run then ended at No. 1 Windham Saturday with an 8-0 semifinal round loss, bringing the Bulldogs’ campaign to an end at 14-5. Armstrong had Portland’s lone hit in her swan song, before going on to play next year at Division I Longwood University in Virginia.

Girls’ lacrosse

Waynflete’s girls’ lacrosse team was two wins away from the Class C state title when the week commenced.

The Flyers, ranked second, dominated visiting No. 7 seed North Yarmouth Academy, its recent nemesis who had knocked them out of the past two postseasons, in Saturday’s state quarterfinals. The Panthers scored the first goal, but Waynflete got the next 10 and led, 12-3, at halftime, before putting it away with six more goals in the third period. Lydia Birknes paced a potent and balanced attack with five goals, while Skylar Harris and Chloe Marblestone each had four goals and Tilsley Kelly added three goals and two assists.

“It feels really good,” Kelly said. “We had jitters going in, but we knew it was such a big game. We came out so strong and backed each other up. We’ve been working for this all season.”

“The biggest thing we talk about is trust and today, we trusted each other on offense,” Marblestone said. “You could see that on the field and on the scoreboard. We were passing to each other and that was our key to success. We just had good energy today. We just wanted it.”

“I’m really excited,” added longtime Waynflete coach Cathie Connors, after her 331st career victory. “We weren’t going to lose to (NYA) again in the playoffs. It wasn’t an option.”

The Flyers (11-4) advanced to take No. 6 Traip Academy (10-5) in the state semifinals Wednesday in Lewiston.

Waynflete won both prior playoff meetings, with a 16-7 victory in last year’s preliminary round the most recent, and captured the regular season meeting, 13-6, May 23 in Portland.

“We have to keep pushing ourselves and keeping our motivation up,” said Marblestone.

“It’s all coming together,” said Kelly. “I feel like we have so much heart on this team. We’ll do our best to finish this off.”

“We’ll totally stay grounded,” Connors added. “We just talked about it. We have to come out like we did today.”

If the Flyers get to the state game for the first time since 2021, they will battle either top-ranked Maranacook (14-1) or No. 4 Wells (11-4) Saturday at a time to be announced at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

Waynflete beat the visiting Warriors, 9-5, May 10 and captured both prior playoff meetings, with an 11-2 victory in the 2021 quarterfinals the most recent. The Flyers didn’t face the Black Bears this season and won the only prior playoff encounter, 9-5, in the 2021 semifinals.

In Class A, Cheverus, the No. 6 seed, eked out a 12-9 home win over No. 11 Cape Elizabeth in last Monday’s state preliminary round. Reese Belanger scored five times and Sydney Brunelle and Sophia St. John added three goals apiece. The Stags were then eliminated, 10-5, at No. 3 Yarmouth in Friday’s quarterfinals to wind up 10-6. Cheverus led, 3-2, after one quarter and was within one, 5-4, at halftime, but lost the vast majority of draws and despite three goals from Belanger in her swan song, had its terrific campaign come to an end.

“We couldn’t get the ball in the second half and they held on to it,” Stags first-year coach Will Tuttle lamented. “We had long defensive possessions. Their goalie was incredible. She played really well. Yarmouth’s a great team. We’re a young team and I think we learned a lot. We felt like we could play with just about anybody this year.

“We did have a good year. I didn’t know the girls coming in, so I give them credit for being flexible with a coach who has coached boys for so long. The girls know the game and helped me along the way. Our seniors played outstanding. Like any good team, if you have good seniors, you’ll go far.”

Portland, which earned the 15th and final playoff spot in Class A, was ousted by second-ranked Kennebunk, the three-time reigning state champion, 16-2, in the preliminary round to finish 5-10. Phoebe Knoll scored both goals in defeat.

Boys’ lacrosse

On the boys’ side, three-time reigning Class C champion Waynflete saw its title reign come to an end last week.

The Flyers, seeded ninth, had to go all the way to No. 8 Houlton last Tuesday for a preliminary round contest, which they won, 15-8. Saturday, Waynflete met its match in top-ranked Maranacook, falling, 13-5, to wind up 5-9. Nico Kirby scored twice and Tommy Marston, Fletcher Polsky and Jacob Woodman had one goal apiece in the setback.

In Class A, Deering, the No. 4 seed, hosted No. 5 Scarborough Friday in the quarterfinals and the teams produced a thriller where 48 minutes weren’t enough. The Rams got a fourth quarter goal from senior captain Trip Marston to force overtime, but there, the Red Storm got a quick goal to prevail, 11-10, ending Deering’s season at 10-5, its best mark since the 2011 team went 12-2. Joey Foley, Caleb Arris and Corbin Burke each scored two goals and Vinny Cavallaro made 19 saves.

“Two years ago, we won one game and scored 37 goals (all season),” said Rams coach Geoff Arris. “We’re on the up-and-up and we’re going to keep pushing ourselves to get better.”

Baseball

Deering’s baseball team improved from zero wins in 2023 to six this season and wound up with the No. 10 seed in Class A South, which earned the Rams a trip to No. 7 South Portland, the defending state champion, for a preliminary round playoff game last Tuesday. Deering started fast, as starting pitcher Avery Lawrence led off with a triple and scored when his brother, freshman Miles Lawrence, singled, but the Rams couldn’t hold it and went down to a 6-2 defeat, finishing the year 6-11.

“I’m super-proud of these guys and how they battled all year long,” first-year Deering coach Casey Lawrence said. “Even down 6-1 in the last inning, I didn’t think we were out of it. We’d put up five runs in an inning before. We hoped to chip away and get close, but it didn’t happen.

“I consider it a successful season. They hung there and put in the work and it really showed on the field. They wanted to learn. It was rough at the start, I’m not going to lie, but after a week or two, they showed faith in me being able to show them what I know about baseball so they could take it on to the field and compete.”

Deering’s younger players got great experience this year and they’ll look to keep the Rams in contention in 2025.

“In years past, a lot of guys were thrown into situations before they were ready and they failed a lot, but this year, we did a better job preparing, putting in the work, so when the younger guys got on the field it was a better experience and they weren’t thrown to the wolves,” Casey Lawrence said.

Outdoor track

Several city athletes took part in the New England outdoor track championships Saturday in Durham, New Hampshire.

Portland’s boys’ 4×800 relay team came in third with a time of 7 minutes, 58.46 seconds. Nathan Blades finished 15th in the two-mile (9:37.53). Elias Coleman was 19th in the 800 (1:58.73). The Bulldogs’ 4×400 relay team placed 21st (3:33.26).

Deering’s Ellis Wood placed 18th in the two-mile (9:44.19).

Cheverus’ 4×800 relay team finished 25th (8:28.88).

In the girls’ competition, Portland’s Anneliese Collin was 13th in the 300 hurdles (46.76 seconds). Samantha Moore came in 24th in the mile (5:21.54). Maia Endicott placed 24th in the two-mile (11:55.04). The Bulldogs’ 4×400 relay team was 16th (4:15.41) and the 4×100 relay team finished 31st (55.55).

Deering’s Lara Gin was 20th in the 400 (59.8) and Saya Seiting-Brown placed 22nd in the 100 hurdles (16.02).

Press Herald staff writer Drew Bonifant contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

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