BRUNSWICK

When searching through the old archives of boys lacrosse teams that have played in the State Class A championship over the years, two teams come up … Often!

On Saturday, Class A South champion Scarborough (11-3) will meet North champ Brunswick (12-2) at 6 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

The game will feature two teams that can definitely say — been there, done that. Since 2006, either the Red Storm, Dragons or both have played for the state title. Scarborough has claimed six championships, including four in a row from 2010-14, while Brunswick has captured two titles and finished as the runner up three other times.

Head to head, the Red Storm defeated the Dragons, 8- 6, in the 2008 title game, the only meeting in the final between the two proud programs.

Changes

This was supposed to be the season that the rest of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference caught up to Brunswick. Figure 19 new faces dot the roster after the mass exodus of a talented senior class from last season’s championship-winning squad (a 13-9 victory over South Portland).

There were bumps in the road, namely a scratch your head 16-6 loss to a talented Kennebunk squad, and a pair of losses to KVAC rival Messalonskee, one setback coming in the KVAC title game.

However, Brunswick didn’t have to go through Messalonskee to make it to states, instead taking on another Eagles squad in sixth-seeded Windham in Wednesday’s regional title matchup. Brunswick won going away 19-10, has out-scored its opponents 197-106 this season and will look to bring home title No. 3 on Saturday.

On the other side, Scarborough comes in with three losses, but those came against talented teams from Gorham, Cape Elizabeth and Class B finalist Yarmouth. The Red Storm earned some revenge in Wednesday’s regional final, downing Gorham, 12-8, to reach their first State Class A final since that 2013 title team completed the four-peat.

Scarborough has outscored its opponents, 175-111, with the only matching opponent this year between Brunswick and the Red Storm the contest with Yarmouth, which the Dragons won, 11-7 back on April 30.

Richmond

There are times that a new coach comes in to fix a struggling program.

At Richmond, Tony Martin was asked to keep the softball engine going, or in his preseason words “not to screw it up,” and he certainly accomplished that this season.

The Bobcats, after downing Buckfield in the Class D South regional final on Wednesday, 13-2, have won 69 straight games and will go for No. 70 on Saturday at Brewer High School.

“They don’t talk about the streak, but winning and keeping it going is something they like to do,” said Martin. “They take each game as it comes, and they will do the same in our last game of the year.”

Richmond (17-0) faces a familiar opponent as 2015 Class D North champ Stearns (17-2) will once again stand across the diamond when the teams meet at noon.

To say the least, Stearns had that deer in the headlights look last year at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, falling to the talented Bobcats, 9-4. Martin feels this time around, Stearns will be prepared to face his squad on the big stage.

“They hit the ball well, put runs up like us,” said Martin of Stearns, which rolled to a 12-1 regional final win over Madawaska on Wednesday at Brewer. “This game will either be really high scoring or really low scoring. Who knows? We’re going to play our game and have fun. We are one of eight teams with the opportunity to play on Saturday, which is a big deal.”

Richmond’s last loss came in the 2012 title game, a 4-3 loss to Penobscot Valley. This year, the Bobcats had a couple close games — a 13-9 regular-season win over Buckfield and a walk-off 4-3 victory over Sacopee Valley.

But, Richmond rolled over most of its opponents, holding a 285-28 scoring edge heading into Saturday. The list of successful Bobcat players is long, but Martin feels that his three seniors have led the way this season.

“Kelsea Anair and Kalah Patterson have started since they were freshmen, and Autumn Acord has been a leader in center field,” said Martin of his seniors, who have yet to taste defeat in high school softball. “They are always positive and play the game the right way.”

Stearns has been a scoring machine as well this season, out-scoring opponents, 267-61, and suffering only a pair of defeats at the hands of Class C power Mattanawcook Academy.

In two meetings with Greenville, which Richmond rolled by 18-1 in the semifinals, Stearns picked up a pair of 13-1 wins. In the playoffs, Stearns downed Hodgdon (21- 3) and Katahdin (14-6) on its way to the title game, which begins at noon.