(Ed. Note: For the complete Deering-Scarborough and Portland-Biddeford baseball, Portland-South Portland softball and Cheverus-Scarborough, Portland-Falmouth and Waynflete-York girls’ lacrosse game stories, see our website at pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/)

It’s been a long time in coming, nearly two years, but spring sports have made their triumphant return across Forecaster Country and early results have been largely positive.

Whether your passion is baseball, lacrosse, tennis or track, there’s been no shortage of impressive performances and that figures to continue in the weeks to come.

Here’s a look:

Baseball

Cheverus’ highly-touted baseball team dropped its first two outings: 14-4 (in six-innings) at Thornton Academy and 4-0 at South Portland. The Stags then held off host Bonny Eagle, 5-3, Saturday to get in the win column. Sam Clark had the go-ahead RBI single, one of his three hits. Brian Conley and Jackson Header added two hits apiece. Nick Giancotti earned the victory. Cheverus hosted Westbrook Tuesday, goes to Deering Saturday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and welcomes reigning Class A champion Scarborough Tuesday of next week.

Deering opened with losses to visiting Scarborough (14-1, in five-innings), Westbrook (15-1, in five-innings) and Falmouth (13-0, in five-innings and 10-2). Connor Coleman scored the lone run versus the Red Storm in the opener.

“It’s tough to open up against a team that good,” said first-year Rams coach Ryan Martin. “I thought our energy stayed high. Being down big in a first game, it’s hard to keep your energy high, but I liked our attitude the whole game.”

Deering sought its first victory Tuesday at Biddeford. After hosting Cheverus Saturday, the Rams are at South Portland Tuesday of next week.

“It’s hard to know what teams are good this year,” Martin said. “Hopefully we’ll start swinging the bats a little bit better.”

Portland began with home losses to Biddeford (7-2) and South Portland (5-1) and a 10-1 setback at Scarborough. Against the Tigers, Aidan DiMillo had a pair of hits.

“We’re young,” said longtime Bulldogs coach Mike Rutherford. “It was the juniors’ first game and it wasn’t an exhibition game, or a game at the Oaks. It was at Hadlock Field. There was some nervousness out there.”

Colby Winship had a pair of hits in the loss at the Red Storm.

“The kids are really happy to play,” Rutherford said. “Just to get them out here is great.”

The Waynflete/North Yarmouth Academy co-op squad won three of its four contests, sweeping visiting Old Orchard Beach in a doubleheader (10-0 in six-innings and 10-0 in five-innings) and after losing at OOB (10-3), downing host Gray-New Gloucester (12-0 in five-innings).

In the doubleheader sweep, Payton Smith threw a three-hitter in the first game and Luke Josephson hurled a two-hitter in the nightcap and also paced the offense with four hits. Derek Wolverton and Liam Slocumb added three hits apiece in the second game. Against the Patriots, Josephson threw a three-hit shutout, fanning 13. Cal Davies had three hits and scored twice.

Waynflete/NYA returns to action Wednesday at Sacopee Valley. After hosting the Hawks in a doubleheader Saturday, Waynflete/NYA welcomes Berwick Academy Tuesday of next week.

Softball

Portland’s softball team started with a gauntlet of opponents and lost its first two games, 10-3 to visiting South Portland and 5-1 at three-time reigning Class A champion Scarborough. Against the Red Storm, Sadie Armstrong had a pair of hits and an RBI.

“There’s a lot of parity this year,” said Bulldogs assistant Jason McLeod, filling in for the ailing Robbie Ferrante, following the loss to the Red Riots. “There aren’t any easy opponents. For us, from a big picture standpoint, we’re happy to get back out here after two years. We just want to draw as many positives as we can out of it.”

Portland sought its first victory Monday at home versus undefeated Biddeford. After playing at Thornton Academy Wednesday, the Bulldogs play a doubleheader at Falmouth Saturday.

Cheverus dropped its first three games, at home to Thornton Academy (18-2, in five-innings) and at South Portland (4-0) and Bonny Eagle (5-3). Mackenzie Turner had a triple and a single in the loss to the Red Riots. The Stags seek their first victory Wednesday at home versus Westbrook. Cheverus plays two games at Deering Friday.

Deering opened with mercy rule home losses to Scarborough (20-0 in five-innings) and Westbrook (23-4 in five-innings). After playing at Biddeford Wednesday, the Rams host Cheverus in a doubleheader Friday.

Boys’ lacrosse

Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team started with victories at Lake Region (14-2) and at home over Wells (11-6). Harry Millspaugh had five goals and five assists against the Lakers and four goals and four assists versus the Warriors.

“Harry has been playing some unbelievable lacrosse so far,” said first-year Flyers coach Andrew Leach. “He picks his spots, is unselfish early and takes what he wants late. He should have an epic season.”

Sam Whipple added five goals in the win over Lake Region.

The Flyers looked to stay unbeaten Monday at Gray-New Gloucester and at home versus Freeport Tuesday. Waynflete has a showdown at reigning Class B champion Yarmouth Saturday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story).

Cheverus is off to a fast start under new coach Will Tuttle. The Stags swept Deering, 15-14 at home and 15-9 away, then twice defeated Westbrook, 19-5 at home and 19-2 away to improve to 4-0. In the first win over the Rams, Will Haley scored eight times and Julian Lamontagne added four goals and four assists. Haley scored seven goals in the first victory over the Blue Blazes.

Deering started with a 15-14 loss at Cheverus, then fell at home to the Stags, 15-9, and lost at Gorham, 22-7. The Rams were home with Westbrook Tuesday, visit Bonny Eagle Thursday, play at Westbrook Saturday and welcome Portland Tuesday of next week.

Portland’s boys won their first three games, 17-1 at home over Westbrook, 19-2 at Westbrook and 8-7 at Bonny Eagle. In the first game against the Blue Blazes, Sam Gerber scored six times and Drew Leonard and Max Cheever each added three goals. In the second game, Gerber had seven goals and Tobey McCachran added four goals and four assists. Gerber scored seven more goals in the victory over the Scots and had three goals in the loss. After hosting Gorham Tuesday, the Bulldogs welcome Deering Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Waynflete sandwiched home victories over Fryeburg Academy (14-0) and St. Dom’s (14-3) around a 12-10 home loss to York to start the season. Against the Raiders, Laney Friedland, Jesse Connors and Cece Bliss scored two goals apiece and Morgan Earls had four assists. In the loss, Connors scored three times and Bliss and Claire Dinapoli added two goals apiece as the Flyers twice erased three-goal deficits, but still fell just short.

“The girls kept coming back and to me, that just shows so much,” said longtime Waynflete coach Cathie Connors, who entered the week needing two victories to become the first girls’ coach in the history of Maine high school lacrosse to win 300 games (Brunswick’s Don Glover is the lone boys’ coach to reach that milestone). “I figured out what my team can do when we’re behind. We had a slow start and that was hard on us, but I’m so proud of the girls for not giving up.”

In the win over the Saints, Bliss and Connors scored three goals apiece and Dinapoli and Kilee Sherry each added a pair.

The Flyers hosted Yarmouth Monday, welcome Cheverus Wednesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and play at Gorham Friday.

“The girls work so hard,” Connors said. “They want to work together. I’m so glad we’re back out here. The girls just want to play. It makes us happy.”

Portland started with a 16-1 home win over Westbrook and after falling at home to two-time reigning Class A champion Falmouth (17-2) improved to 2-1 Saturday morning by doubling up visiting South Portland, 8-4. Against the Blue Blazes, Elizabeth Littel had three goals and four assists, while Chelsea Dana, Lilah Green, Jane Marvin and Mia Merrill added two goals apiece.

In the setback, Littel scored both goals.

“Lacrosse is a fast-paced game and teams have big runs and you have to be able to answer,” said Bulldogs coach Beth Broderick. “We made some nice defensive stops, but it didn’t translate to the offensive end and that hurt us.”

Littel scored three more goals in the win over the Red Riots, while Marvin added a pair.

Portland was home with powerhouse Kennebunk Monday and visits resurgent Scarborough Friday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story).

“We’re young, but we’re learning the basics,” Broderick said. “We’re pretty excited to be out here. I love watching us play lacrosse.”

Cheverus welcomed new coach Sarah Varney with a 15-2 victory at Westbrook, then lost at Gorham (9-8) and at home to Scarborough (14-4). Against the Blue Blazes, Riley O’Mara scored eight goals, while freshman Mackenzie Cash and Mia Kratzer each added two goals. O’Mara scored six times versus the Rams, then had all four goals in the loss to the Red Storm.

The Stags played at Thornton Academy Monday and visit Waynflete Wednesday.

“Our goal is just to have fun this season,” Varney said. “We’ve only played three games. We have a whole season in front of us and we’re going to peak at the right time. We have a lot to improve on. There’s so much potential here.”

Deering opened with a 17-2 home loss to Biddeford Saturday. The Rams are at Sanford Thursday.

Tennis

Waynflete’s boys’ tennis team, the 12-time reigning Class C champion, got off to a fast start with 4-1 victories over Cape Elizabeth and Greely. The Flyers had a key test at Freeport Monday and go to rival NYA Friday.

Portland started 3-0 with 4-1 wins at South Portland and Gorham and a 5-0 home victory over Deering. The Bulldogs were at Cheverus Tuesday and host three-time reigning Class A champion Falmouth Thursday.

Cheverus dropped a 3-2 home decision to Berwick Academy in its first match, then downed Deering (4-1), handed Falmouth its first regular season loss since May 22, 2015 (3-2) before blanking Sanford (5-0). The Stags hosted Portland Tuesday and welcome Deering Tuesday of next week.

Deering dropped its first two matches, 4-1 to Cheverus and 5-0 to Portland, then got in the win column Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Westbrook. The Rams looked to improve to the .500 mark Tuesday when they hosted Windham.

On the girls’ side, Cheverus sandwiched 5-0 losses to Berwick Academy and Falmouth around a 4-1 win over Deering to start the season. The Stags went to Portland Tuesday and visit Deering Tuesday of next week.

Deering opened with 4-1 losses to Cheverus and Portland, then blanked Westbrook (4-0). The Rams were at Windham Tuesday.

Portland started with 3-2 victories over South Portland and Gorham and a 4-1 win over Deering, then fell from the unbeaten ranks with a 5-0 loss to Windham. The Bulldogs welcomed York for the teams’ first-ever countable match Monday, then welcomed Cheverus Tuesday and play at Falmouth Thursday.

Waynflete lost, 4-1, at Cape Elizabeth in its first outing. The Flyers were home with Freeport Monday and Greely Tuesday, then have a home test versus NYA Friday.

Outdoor track

The outdoor track season began last week as Cheverus and Waynflete competed against Gorham. The Stags boys and girls came in second, while the Flyers’ boys and girls each placed third.

Deering hosted Windham in its first meet. The Rams boys and girls each came in second.

Portland went to Falmouth for its first meet and the Bulldogs boys and girls were both second.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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