BRUNSWICK

The high school baseball and softball playoffs are scheduled to begin this week, with several area teams hoping to get on a roll and make some noise.

Baseball

Action kicks off today with preliminary games, with Brunswick, Freeport and Lisbon in action.

The Dragons tied Edward Little in the final Eastern Maine Class A Heal Point Standings. But, a 5-1 home loss on May 16 gave the Red Eddies the tiebreaker advantage, sending ninth-seeded Brunswick to the Auburn Suburban Little LeagueComplexfora4p.m. matchup.

For Brunswick, it’s been about the pitching this season. Hurlers John Parker (5-0, sub- 2.00 earned-run average) and Brady Larson lead the Dragons’ staff, which allowed just 3.4 runs per game this season while finishing with an 8-8 record. Adam Casey is the team’s top hitter, carrying a .323 batting average.

Scoring runs has been a problem down the stretch, with the Dragons shut out twice and held to one run four times.

“We got off to a tremendous start this season and were playing very confident baseball before we were faced with some adversity from the injury perspective,” said Brunswick first-year coach Luke Potter. “From that point we battled and played in a few close games that we ended up losing. We are still a program in transition and attempting to define ourselves as a team. Everyday is different and baseball always has a new challenge for us.”

Randy Ridley’s Lisbon Greyhounds came into the season with three freshmen filling key spots in the lineup. After missing the playoffs last year, Ridley’s team sprinted out to a 9-2 start before settling for a 10-6 record and the No. 5 seed in Western C.

The Greyhounds have picked up several key wins, including a pair over Wiscasset, a 3-1 victory over perennial Western C power St. Dom’s and a hard-fought 6-5 win over Madison, which is the No. 12 seed and faces Lisbon today at 4:30 p.m. after a 5-11 regular season.

In the win over the Bulldogs, freshman Tyler Halls held Madison to two hits through six frames, but the Bulldogs rallied for five runs in the seventh, only to watch Lisbon score four in the bottom of the inning for the win.

In Western B, Freeport, after dropping its first five games under first-year coach Bill Ridge, rallied to a 7-9 record, good for the No. 9 seed and a visit to No. 8 Wells (9-7) today at 3:30 p.m.

The teams faced each other in their Western Maine Conference opener way back on April 28, with the Warriors pitching their way to a 3-1 win. Cody Cousins pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and striking out six for Wells.

After its slow start, Freeport won three straight, dropped a pair before winning four of its final six, including two wins over seventh-seeded Gray-New Gloucester behind two wellpitched games by Peter LaMagna.

Also in Western Class B, Morse struggled in the second half of the season, going 3-3 over its final six games to finish 10-6, good for the No. 6 seed and a visit to No. 3 Poland (12-4) on Thursday (4 p.m.).

“I feel that come playoff time we will not be facing the pitching we faced this season,” said Morse coach Garrett Olson. “The confidence with this team is there. We need to limit our mistakes and get the big hit when it really matters.

“They are fired up to be getting Poland in the quarterfinals, and are focused on winning and ending their season like they did to us in basketball.”

Wiscasset had a lot of changes this year. First off, due to enrollment, the Wolverines were dropped from Western C to Western D. Secondly, Mike Bowles became the new head coach, with his goal to help his team improve on a five-win campaign in 2013 and make the playoffs.

“I feel pretty good about this team,” said Bowles after his Wolverines finished 7-9 and garnered the No. 4 seed in Western D. “We hung with nearly all the teams we faced in our conference (Mountain Valley Conference), taking on teams like Dirigo, Lisbon, St. Dom’s and Monmouth, and giving as much as we received. The kids have not allowed the losses to get to them, and are the better for it.”

Wiscasset will host Valley on Wednesday in the Western D quarterfinals at 4 p.m. The Cavaliers finished 9-4 in the East- West Conference.

The winner of the Wiscasset Valley contest will head to top-seeded Richmond (12-1) on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Softball

Rick Coughlin’s Richmond Bobcats just seem to find a way year-in and year-out.

Figure, the Bobcats lost nearly the entire starting lineup to graduation, but still went 14-0 and earned the top-seed in Western D.

Richmond, the defending State Class D champion, will host the winner of the quarterfinal contest between No. 5 Buckfield (8-6) and No. 4 Searsport (8-8) on Saturday at noon in the Western D semifinals.

“This team has hit better than any team that I have had,” said Coughlin. “Early on, our three returning players, Kelsie Obi, Kelsea Anair and Kalah Patterson, took right off and the freshmen followed. They have come together.”

Freshman pitcher Meranda Martin took over the mound duties and has been dominant. She has a 1.33 earned-run average, with 104 strikeouts and 10 walks allowed in 88 innings.

“I knew Meranda was good, but I didn’t see this for her at this time of her career,” said Coughlin.

At the plate, Martin leads the way with a .667 average, five home runs, three triples, 29 RBIs and 38 runs scored. Obi, who Coughlin says is his team’s leader (“Kelsie isn’t going to let things go without saying something,” said Coughlin), is hitting .480 with 12 RBIs. Freshman lead-off hitter Camryn Hurley has a .451 average with 26 runs scored, freshman Cassidy Harriman has played well at second base (a new position) and has chipped in 19 RBIs and a .373 average, Patterson is hitting at .388, freshman Katlyn Swan .324 and Anair .316 with 17 RBIs.

The Bobcats have outscored their opponents 185-20.

Lisbon qualified for the Western C postseason, finishing 6-10 for the No. 10 seed and a visit to No. 7 Monmouth today at 4:30 p.m. for a prelim.

The Greyhounds and Mustangs split a doubleheader May 23, with Monmouth taking a 4-3 decision and Lisbon bouncing back in the nightcap, 5-3.

“We struggled to a 1-6 start, with a lot of close losses, but we finished strong and had a couple of big wins against Monmouth and Dirigo at the end of the season,” said Lisbon coach Terri Trudell. “I think this team is peaking at the right time, and the morale is very high.”

Pitcher Kailyn Hill, along with Monica Austin and Olivia Harrington were selected for the Mountain Valley Conference Second Team. Austin leads the Greyhounds with a .434 battling average, followed by Molly Nicholson at .404. Trudell feels her team’s success will come down pitching.

“Kailyn has done well, and when she is on she is great,” said the coach. “We also have freshman Alyssa Hall, who defeated Monmouth. Both can handle the situation and are ready to go.”