Generally speaking, the spring sports playoffs are still a couple of weeks away, but the first state championships have been bestowed, as boys’ and girls’ tennis finished up the singles tournament over the weekend.

For everyone else, the regular season is rapidly coming to a close.

There’s been plenty of drama in recent days with the promise of more to come.

Here’s a glimpse:

Tennis

Gabe Berman of Cape Elizabeth returns a shot during last weekend’s boys’ state singles tennis tournament. Russ Dillingham / Sun Journal

Scarborough’s Amber Woods enjoyed the deepest run in the state singles tournament, which was held last weekend.

Woods, ranked fourth in the girls’ field, defeated Emilia Ilyas, 6-1, 6-4, in the second round, then beat Mia Netland of Greely, 6-2, 6-0, in the round of 16, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by No. 5 seed Mya Vincent of Edward Little, 4-6, 3-6.

Cape Elizabeth’s Caroline Gentile, seeded ninth, defeated Madawaska’s Hannah Blanchette, 6-0, 6-0, in the second round, then lost to No. 8 Sadie Yentsch of Kennebunk, 4-6, 3-6, in the round of 16.

Scarborough’s Sanibel Shinners lost to Calais’ Fran Lombardo, 1-6, 6-7 (1) in the first round.

On the boys’ side, Cape Elizabeth’s Gabe Berman defeated John Bapst’s Laken Walker, 6-0, 6-0, in the first round, then was eliminated by Mt. Blue’s Bernardo Tovar, 3-6, 0-6, in the second round.

Teammate Eben Harrison lost, 1-6, 2-6, to Sam Poth of John Bapst in the first round.

Turning to team tennis, Cape Elizabeth’s girls, the reigning Class B South champion, finished the regular season 11-1 after Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Greely. The Capers will be the No. 2 seed in the region behind Lincoln Academy.

In Class A South, Scarborough finished second to Kennebunk despite a perfect 12-0 record. The Red Storm closed with a 5-0 victory over Biddeford Tuesday.

South Portland was 4-7 and 10th in Class A South entering Wednesday’s finale versus Biddeford.

On the boys’ side, South Portland finished 9-3 (tied with the 2019 team for the program’s best record in 20 years) after beating Marshwood, 5-0, in Tuesday’s finale. The Red Riots were fourth in the Class A South Heal Points standings at press time.

Scarborough wound up 7-4 after a 5-0 win over Biddeford and was ranked eighth.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth finished the regular season 4-8 after Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Greely. The Capers will likely be eighth for the postseason.

The team tennis playoffs begin next Tuesday on the home courts of the higher seeds.

Baseball

South Portland’s Andrew Heffernan fires a strike during his complete game, shutout win over Falmouth Tuesday. Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald

South Portland’s baseball team is rounding into championship form once again. The Red Riots, the reigning Class A champs, improved to 10-2 and and second in the Class A South Heals after blanking visiting Marshwood (5-0) and Falmouth (7-0) in recent action. Against the Hawks, Nolan Hobbs threw a one-hitter and struck out eight in six innings of work, while Nate Rende had three hits and Johnny Poole drove in a pair of runs. In the win over the Navigators, Andrew Heffernan threw his fourth complete game shutout, allowing four hits and striking out six. Alex Domingos hit a two-run single that sparked a six-run fourth inning to break the game open.

“We’ve worked all year on having runners on base and we know that we can’t leave them and that you have to take advantage,” Domingos said. “I knew I had to step up and make it happen when I needed to.”

“I want a shutout every game,” Heffernan said. “Zeroes never get old for me. I was mainly throwing my slider and fastball and mixing in my cutter. I didn’t have to go to my fourth and fifth pitch that much. I love working with tempo.”

“Falmouth’s a good team over there,” Red Riots coach Mike Owens added. “We took advantage of a few mistakes and they didn’t play their cleanest game by any means, but good teams take advantage and I’m really happy with our kids.”

South Portland was at Windham Thursday, hosts Massabesic Friday, plays a makeup game at Sanford Monday and closes at Scarborough Tuesday of next week.

“I don’t think we can jump Thornton (for the top spot) unless something weird happens, but it doesn’t really matter because if we stay in the 2 spot, we’ll play here all the way through until the regional final,” Owens added. “We want to play our playoff games at home. I think the kids are confident. We hope to put it all together here the next couple weeks.”

Scarborough was 9-4 and fifth in Class A South after extending its win streak to four by downing host Cheverus (10-0, in six innings), visiting Sanford (9-0) and host Noble (9-3). Against the Stags, Ben Seguin earned the win, while TJ Liponis homered and drove in four runs and Matt Fallona and Tom Donahue each added two hits. In the win over the Spartans, Erik Swenson pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and Fallona and Seguin both had a pair of hits. Against the Knights, Liponis, Jason Liponis and Ashton Blanchette all had two hits. The Red Storm hosted Deering Thursday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story), visit Marshwood Saturday and close at home versus South Portland Tuesday of next week.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth has won three straight, most recently downing visiting Freeport (1-0) and Wells (9-1), to improve to 7-6 and fifth in the Heals. Against the Falcons, the Capers didn’t manage a hit, but scored the game’s lone run on a balk and Curtis Sullivan and Hayden Webber combined on a four-hitter for the victory. Cape Elizabeth then downed the Warriors behind Antonio Dell’Aquila’s three hits and two RBI, Owen Tighe’s two hits and three RBI and a pair of hits from Brady Inman. The Capers were at York Wednesday, host Lake Region Friday and finish the regular season at Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

Softball

Scarborough’s softball team enjoyed recent wins at Portland (5-2) and South Portland (9-3) to improve to 9-3 and fifth in the Class A South Heals. Against the Bulldogs, Natalie Moynihan earned the win and had three hits and an RBI. In the win over the Red Riots, Moynihan had two hits and three RBI; AJ Swett belted four hits, including a double and a triple, and scored four runs; and Calynn Gendreau had two hits and two RBI. The Red Storm were at Westbrook Wednesday, host Thornton Academy Friday and close at reigning regional champion Biddeford Tuesday of next week.

South Portland was 6-7 and 10th in Class A South after a 6-5 win at Noble and a 9-3 home loss to Scarborough in recent action. In the victory, Ella Nickerson homered, Mia Micucci earned the win while belting out a pair of hits and the Red Riots held off a late Knights’ rally thanks to the relief work of Andrea DiMauro.

“It really gives us a little bit more confidence,” Ella Nickerson said. “Some of the games we’ve lost were just errors at the wrong time, the wrong places.”

“I think we’ve always known we can hang with anybody,” DiMauro said. “It’s just a matter of going into that game and trusting in each other. I think we really showed how we can play today.”

“We’ve been playing strong all season, we just take that one inning off,” said South Portland first-year coach Bud Voss. “We’ve really been working on our mental focus from the first pitch to the last pitch, and they really came through today. They faced some adversity, which we’ve faced all year, and they looked composed.”

In the loss to the Red Storm, DiMauro, Elise Connor and Phoebe Dodge all had two hits for the Red Riots. South Portland was at Thornton Academy in a playoff rematch Wednesday, then finishes at Windham Tuesday of next week.

Reigning Class B champion Cape Elizabeth fell to 8-4 and sixth in Class B South after last week’s 15-11 home loss to Freeport, the Capers’ first loss to the Falcons this century. In that one, Cape Elizabeth got two hits and three RBI from Lauren Steinberg, while Kathryne Clay and Elsie Maxwell each chipped in with two hits and two RBI. The Capers were at York Wednesday, hosted Wells in a makeup game Thursday, welcome Lake Region Friday and finish the regular season at Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

Boys’ lacrosse

Cape Elizabeth’s Nic Boudreau hounds Thornton Academy’s goalie during the Capers’ overtime loss last week. Michael Hoffer / For The Forecaster

South Portland’s boys’ lacrosse team won its sixth straight game and improved to 8-1 and fourth in Class A South after a 16-6 home victory over Portland last Wednesday. Beckett Mehlhorn scored five goals and Brady Dreifus added three. The Red Riots have a critical showdown at reigning Class A champion Cape Elizabeth Friday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story), play a makeup game at Gorham Monday, then close at home versus Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

Scarborough improved to 8-2 and third in Class A South after beating host Portland, 16-1, Saturday. Tae Delaware led the way with four goals and Richard McLeod added three. After going to Massabesic Saturday, the Red Storm finishes the regular season at home June 3 versus reigning Class A North champion Falmouth.

Cape Elizabeth, the reigning Class A champion, defeated visiting York (15-3) and dropped an overtime heartbreaker at Thornton Academy (11-10) last week. In the loss, Nic Boudreau scored three goals, but the Capers surrendered the tying goal with a second left in regulation, then lost in OT to drop to 8-2.

“They play a very difficult zone defense that gears toward stopping some of the things we do really well,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond. “I thought we had a lot of shots. Their goalie made a bunch of saves.”

The Capers (still clinging to the top spot in Class A South) host South Portland Friday, then close at Greely next Wednesday.

“It’s important to focus on doing things that will make us better for the playoffs,” Raymond said. “That’s always our approach. We’d like to spend time at home. As long as we don’t have to go to South Portland, everyone else has turf, so who really cares? It should be a good postseason. Whoever is playing their best at the right time will do well.”

Girls’ lacrosse

Cape Elizabeth’s Claire McDonald jumps up to get control of the ball during last week’s win at NYA. Brianna Soukup / Portland Press Herald

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth is surging in its first year in Class A, sandwiching wins at North Yarmouth Academy (14-7) and at home over York (18-14) around a 14-10 home loss to Greely to improve to 5-5 and fourth in Class A South. In the win over the Panthers, Claire McDonald and Sadie Smith scored three times apiece to lead the way.

“There was a lot of scoring today from a lot of girls,” McDonald said. “I think we’re trying to hype up more before the games and that’s made a difference, especially with such a young team. More girls are able to step up now. At the beginning, we didn’t have that, but now, it’s materialized.”

“Our defense and offense are so much more organized and we have so much more knowledge than we did,” said Capers coach Alex Spark. “We’re a totally different team now than we were at the beginning. ”

In the loss to the Rangers, McDonald scored three times. Cape Elizabeth has a showdown at reigning Class B champion Yarmouth Friday and closes at home against Freeport Wednesday of next week.

“We have to keep moving in the direction we’ve been moving all season,” Spark said. “We have a few more weeks to improve on little things, so we can be a new team when the playoffs start. We want to show up a whole new team in the playoffs. There’s still some time to climb the ladder, like we do every season. I’m super-happy with where we’re at compared to where we were at the beginning.”

Scarborough was 5-5 and sixth in Class A South after a 10-5 loss at Marshwood, a 17-6 home win over Portland and an 18-5 loss at Kennebunk. Darby Stolz scored seven goals and Natalie Bilodeau added six in the victory. The Red Storm plays at Biddeford Friday, then closes at home versus Massabesic in a playoff rematch Wednesday of next week.

South Portland fell to 3-5 and 10th in Class A South after last Friday’s 12-9 setback at Gorham. After going to Windham Wednesday, the Red Riots welcome Deering Friday, host Morse for a makeup game Monday, then close at home versus Noble next Wednesday.

Track

Cape Elizabeth took part in a five-team, regular season-ending outdoor track meet last week at Yarmouth. The Capers girls were runners-up to Greely and the boys placed third (Yarmouth was first).

South Portland’s boys were first and Scarborough came in second at an eight-team Cumberland County meet in Westbrook. The Red Storm girls were runner-up to Windham, while the Red Riots placed fifth.

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association and Western Maine Conference championship meets are this weekend.

The state meets are Saturday, June 4.

Press Herald staff writer Drew Bonifant contributed to this story.