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LISBON HIGH SCHOOL second baseman Nick Austin reaches for the ball as Austin Roy of St. Dom’s slides safely into second in Auburn on Saturday. The Greyhounds won, 4-2, and face Sacopee Valley today at 3 p.m. in the Class C South Regional final at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
LISBON HIGH SCHOOL second baseman Nick Austin reaches for the ball as Austin Roy of St. Dom’s slides safely into second in Auburn on Saturday. The Greyhounds won, 4-2, and face Sacopee Valley today at 3 p.m. in the Class C South Regional final at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
The spring high school sports season goes by fast.

 
 
Figure, this year’s festivities began for most teams in mid-April, and here we are, entering mid-June and into Regional final week. In seasons past, two, maybe three area teams are fortunate enough to have everything fall into place and make their way into this pressure-packed week of action.

Not this year. Count ’em, SIX. That’s right! Six area teams will be looking for State championship berths, beginning today when Lisbon baseball faces Sacopee Valley at 3 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, while the softballers from Lisbon are at St. Joe’s tonight at 7 p.m. against undefeated and top-seeded Madison.

Wednesday is even busier, with four more squads in action.

At Morse High School’s McMann Field, the Shipbuilder girls lacrosse team entertains two-time defending State Class B champion Yarmouth at 5:30 p.m., while the Brunswick boys lacrosse team looks to three-peat as Class A North Regional champs, hosting upset-minded Windham at 6:30 p.m.

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Thinking of upset-minded teams, look no further than the Freeport baseball squad. Before this season, only the 1939, ’59 and ’63 Falcons were able to claim titles, winning the Cumberland County Conference championship. In fact, before this year’s run of wins that has led to Wednesday night’s Regional final matchup with top-seeded Cape Elizabeth (6:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College), Freeport had failed to win a playoff game in over 30 years, the last coming in 1985 when ace pitcher Jack Davenport’s dad, Bill, was a member of the Falcons, according to Freeport athletic director Craig Sickels.

Plus, Richmond takes on arch-rival Buckfield on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at St. Joe’s. (See Christian Sandler’s story on this great rivalry elsewhere on this page).

Here is a look at the teams playing for Regional glory:

Brunswick

The Dragons have been an example of consistency, having reached five State Class A title games since 2007, with championships in 2007 and 2015, this one a 13-9 victory over South Portland at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

Don Glover’s team came into this season with several question marks, most notably the loss of nearly 20 seniors from the 2015 squad.

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This year there have been bumps in the road — two losses to Messalonskee, one coming in the KVAC title game, and a setback at talented Kennebunk — but a solid 10-2 regular season mark was followed with a hard-fought 10-9 victory over fourth-seeded Cheverus in the semifinals on Saturday.

Brunswick was likely looking forward to testing itself against Messalonskee again, but the Eagles were upset by sixth-seeded Windham, 15-11, on Saturday.

Since 2012, the Dragons have compiled a regular-season record of 56-5. This year’s squad is paced by a cast of characters that are balanced, where scoring can come from any crosse. When Glover looks back, he will likely compare teams, with last year’s ultra-talented and this year’s a workmanlike team that gives its all to find success.

Morse

Linda Levesque’s Shipbuilders have put together a memorable campaign, using solid in-your-face defense and good goaltending to produce an 11-1 regular season mark.

Morse followed that up with a pair of home playoff wins, rolling by Oceanside, 15-2 in the quarters and winning matchup No. 4 with Gardiner this season, 8-4, Friday night in the semifinals.

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Next up is Morse’s biggest challenge of the season on Wednesday — a home date with third-seeded and two-time defending State Class B champion Yarmouth.

The Clippers are solid again, having rolled over Freeport (15-5) and previously unbeaten St. Dom’s (13-6) on their way to the Regional final.

History is on Yarmouth’s side, having downed Morse in the postseason four times since 2008 by a combined score of 77-20. And, the Shipbuilders will be looking for their first Regional title and appearance in a State Class B title game against a Yarmouth squad that has been there, done that.

But, with the Shipbuilders’ ability to play defense, this one may just be the game to see. It will likely come down to Morse’s ability to keep Yarmouth from finding some spots in the defense, something the Shipbuilders have done well with all season.

Freeport

The Falcons faced Cape Elizabeth earlier this season, falling at home, 10-0.

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But, the Capers did not face Freeport ace pitcher Jack Davenport, who has been everything advertised from the get-go this season.

On top of that, Freeport has found another gear this postseason, with wins over Morse, York and Greely, and hopefully learned some things when the team traveled to North Carolina during the April school vacation and played a pair of games in college stadiums, under the bright lights.

This year has already been memorable, with the Falcons coming into the Class B South Regional final with a 13-6 mark. Compared to the past five seasons (37-43 plus 0-3 in the postseason), this year’s Cinderella run has the potential to continue, right into a state title berth.

This postseason, Freeport’s pitching has been just about lights out, having permitted just three runs in those three games, including Saturday’s 1- 0 shutout of third-seeded Greely, only the two-time defending State Class B champs.

Lisbon baseball

When you look at the lineup for the Greyhounds, you realize that there is a lot of talent there, especially from the junior class that has started since they were freshmen.

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Plus, there is a core group of freshmen, led by Lucas Francis and Noah Austin, along with sophomore Nick Austin, that are certainly ready to shine. Players like first baseman Austin Fournier, catcher Nick Lerette and outfielder Chris Normand have stepped up to help win big games this season.

On top of all that, head coach Randy Ridley is a classy, working-class leader that rotates between biggest Greyhound fan and master intense motivator.

Lisbon, the No. 6 seed in Class C South, has a date today with Sacopee Valley, the No. 4 seed. These two teams have some recent history against each other. In 2014, Sacopee Valley sent Lisbon home in the quarterfinals with an 8-6 win, while the Greyhounds got the better of the Hawks in 2012, 9-2, in a prelim.

This time, both teams will look to continue their playoff runs.

Lisbon has seen regular season success over the past three seasons (34-14), but postseason glory has escaped the Greyhounds prior to this year. Lisbon’s last appearance in a state title game came in 1988, a 4-3 loss to Ellsworth in the Class B championship. Lisbon’s last state title in baseball — 1979 with an 8-5 victory over Stearns.

Lisbon softball

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Maybe just as much as the unlikely run of the Freeport baseball squad, the Greyhounds, the No. 6 seed in Class C South, seemed destined to have a one-and-done this year.

Lisbon faced No. 3 Carrabec in the quarterfinals, having lost to the Cobras at home, 19-5, earlier this year. But, Lisbon turned the tide, doubling up Carrabec, 8-4.

Then came a road tilt against No. 2 Telstar on Saturday. No mistake, the final score again was 8-4 in favor of the ’Hounds, who will look for their biggest upset yet tonight against the ultra-talented Madison Bulldogs, 18-0 and mostly unchallenged this season.

Yes, a win over the Bulldogs would be perhaps the upset of the year, but Telstar, like Carrabec, had knocked off Lisbon (5-4) this year and look what happened there. In the lone meeting between the squads this year, Madison rolled to a 6-1 win, plus the Bulldogs ended Lisbon’s 2015 season in the quarterfinals, 8-0. The cards are stacked up, history-wise, but Terri Tlumac’s Greyhounds seem to have put history right where it should be, in the past, and have pushed forward with reckless abandon this playoff season.

Lisbon will look to get to its first state game since winning it all in 1992, a 6-1 win over Maine Central Institute. Lisbon has two other state titles — 1982’s 4-2 win over Mt. Desert Island, and a 20-6 rout of MCI in 1990.

State championship action is set for Saturday, so the question remains, how many teams will get that chance to lift a championship plaque? We will have your playoff fix right here in The Times Record.

BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.


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