Portland: Best part of spring sports season is upon us

The calendar is flipping from May to June and the means the most anticipated part of the spring sports season, the playoffs, is here.

Tennis and track have already kicked things off and at press time, the baseball, softball and boys’ and girls’ lacrosse campaigns were coming to an end as well.

There’s a lot happening and here’s an overview:

Tennis

Any mention of the tennis postseason has to begin with the Waynflete boys’ team, which has won 14 consecutive Class C state championships and is closing in on a 15th. The Flyers capped a 10-2 regular season last week with a 4-1 win over Lake Region and wound up second in Class C South. Waynflete will host a semifinal round match Thursday against either No. 3 Spruce Mountain (7-3) or No. 6 Madison (4-6).

In Class A South, Portland, ranked fourth after a 9-3 regular season, hosted No. 5 Scarborough (8-4) in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Deering, seeded eighth in the region, knocked off No. 9 Cheverus, 3-2, in Friday’s preliminary round, ending the Stags’ season at 5-8. The Rams (8-5) went to No. 1 Falmouth (12-0) in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

On the girls’ side, Waynflete, ranked fifth in Class C South after a 7-5 regular season, was at No. 4 Boothbay (7-3) in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

In Class A South, Cheverus, ranked 10th, lost, 3-2, to Sanford in the preliminary round to finish 5-8.

Deering (1-11) and Portland (1-11) both failed to qualify for the tournament.

Looking ahead, the semifinal round for both the boys and girls is Friday on the courts of the higher seeds. The regional final round is scheduled for Monday of next week at Bates College in Lewiston. The state matches will be held Wednesday, June 7, also, in Lewiston.

Track

Cheverus’ James Baur competes in the pole vault at last week’s SMAA championship meet. Baur was runner-up in the event. Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Portland Press Herald

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association held its outdoor track championship meet last Friday in Gorham.

Portland’s girls tallied 70 points and were second behind Scarborough (116). The Bulldogs’ 4×400 relay team came in first with a time of 4 minutes, 15.96 seconds. Cheverus (40 points) tied Marshwood for eighth place. Deering (10) tied Sanford for 15th.

Portland’s Samantha Moore was named the SMAA girls’ outstanding track athlete of the season.

In the boys’ competition, won by Bonny Eagle with 98 points, Portland (42) came in seventh, Cheverus (30) tied Sanford for eighth and Deering (10) finished 14th.

The Class A state meet is Saturday in Topsham.

Baseball

Portland’s Liam Fay-LeBlanc throws a strike during last week’s loss at Scarborough. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster.

On the diamond, Cheverus and the Waynflete/North Yarmouth Academy co-op team are playoff-bound.

Waynflete/NYA was 13-2 and fourth in the Class C South Heal Points standings entering Tuesday’s regular season finale at top-ranked, undefeated Sacopee Valley. Last week, Waynflete/NYA beat visiting Old Orchard Beach (12-2, in five-innings) and lost at Richmond. In the win, Cal Nice had a career game with two home runs and seven RBI, while Lincoln Smith and Daxton St. Hilaire each added a pair of hits. In the setback, Jack Byrnes had a pair of hits.

In Class A South, Cheverus was 9-6 and seventh entering Tuesday’s home finale versus Marshwood. Last week, the Stags lost at home to defending state champion Thornton Academy (6-3), fell at Falmouth (11-3), then edged visiting Biddeford (7-6). Against the Golden Trojans, in a game they led by three runs with one out and no on one base in the top of the seventh inning, the Stags got a two-run single from Noah Kennedy-Jensen. In the loss to the top-ranked Navigators, Brian Connolly scored twice, but Cheverus allowed 13 stolen bases.

“I thought we competed well, so I’m happy with that, against a good team,” said Stags coach Tony DiBiase. “I think we were still feeling the effects of Tuesday’s (loss to TA) and Falmouth’s very good. We’re down to our fourth and fifth pitchers at this point. We’re down to young kids.”

In the victory, Cheverus got two hits and three RBI from Matt Connor and two RBI from Lucas Soutoyo.

“We have to figure out what we can do with our pitching depth,” said DiBiase. “There’s not a dominant team in the league this year, so we know we can compete.”

Portland finished with a 2-14 record after losses last week at Scarborough (2-1, in eight-innings), at home to Westbrook (2-0) and at Noble (4-1). Against the Red Storm, Lukas Milliken tied the score with a two-out double in the top of the seventh, but the Bulldogs couldn’t pull it out despite a strong pitching effort from Liam Fay-LeBlanc.

“It was a tough game,” Portland first-year coach Kevin Winship said. “We battled.”

The Bulldogs finished 16th in the region, but only 12 teams made the playoffs.

Deering was 0-14 and 17th in the region entering the week. Last week, the Rams lost at Gorham (14-4, in six-innings) and at Sanford (14-2, in five-innings). Tavian Lauture drove in both runs against the Spartans. The Rams hosted Scarborough Tuesday and close at home versus Falmouth Wednesday.

The playoffs begin Tuesday of next week with the preliminary round. The quarterfinals are next Thursday. Those games will be contested on the fields of the higher seeds.

Softball

Cheverus’ softball team will be in the tournament. The Stags were 7-8 heading into Tuesday’s finale at Bonny Eagle. Last week, the Stags beat visiting Falmouth in five-innings (12-2), lost at home to reigning Class A champion Biddeford (9-3), then fell at Windham (2-0). In the win, Hailey Lamontagne doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs, Kelsy Cassidy had two hits, Kali England drove in two runs and Anna Goodman allowed just four hits and two runs in five innings to earn the victory. Against the Tigers, Ashley Connor had a pair of hits. Cheverus was ranked ninth in the Class A South Heals at press time. Ten teams from the region make the playoffs.

Portland was 3-11 and 12th entering games at Marshwood Monday and Tuesday. Last week, the Bulldogs fell at Scarborough (9-8) and at home to Noble (8-7). Against the Red Storm, Sadie Armstrong singled, doubled and homered. In the loss to the Knights, Ainsley McCrum and Hadleigh McPartlan both had two hits.

Deering was 1-14 and 14th in the region going into Tuesday’s home finale versus Falmouth, the only team the Rams have beaten this year. Last week, Deering fell at Biddeford in six-innings (10-0) and at Bonny Eagle (8-1).

The playoffs begin Tuesday of next week with the preliminary round. The quarterfinals are next Thursday. Those games will be contested on the fields of the higher seeds.

Boys’ lacrosse

Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team, the two-time reigning Class C champion, was riding a six-game win streak entering Tuesday’s home game versus Gorham. Last week, the Flyers won at Cheverus (16-3) and at Yarmouth (10-8). In the win over the Stags, Roan Hopkins led the way with four goals and four assists, while Seth Cloutier, Jasper Curtis and Spencer Kline all added two goals and two assists. Against the Clippers, Cloutier scored six goals and Hopkins had two goals and three assists. Waynflete (second to Wells in the Class C state-wide Heals) closes at home versus rival NYA in a state game rematch Friday afternoon (see our website for game story).

In Class A, Portland finished the regular season 7-7 after sandwiching home losses to South Portland (18-7) and Windham (12-8) around a 17-12 home win over Bangor. In the victory, Brady Toher had four goals and three assists, Andy Marvin added four goals and two assists and Harry Rubin had three goals and three assists. The Bulldogs were ranked seventh at press time.

Deering was fighting to make the playoffs as well. The Rams were 5-7 and 12th at press time (12 teams qualify) following an 18-6 home loss to Windham last week. The Rams go to Westbrook Wednesday and close at Lake Region Friday.

Cheverus was 5-8 and 14th going into Thursday’s home finale versus Biddeford. Last week, the Stags lost at home to Waynflete (16-3), edged visiting Bonny Eagle (5-4) and fell at home to Falmouth (20-1).

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Cheverus was 8-5 and seventh in Class A after an 11-8 home loss to Yarmouth and wins at Brunswick (8-7) and at home over Noble (17-4) last week.

Portland was 8-4 and ninth after losses last week at Marshwood (16-2) and two-time reigning Class A champion Kennebunk (15-4). Emily Seavey and Eliza Stein had the goals against the Hawks. The Bulldogs hoped to snap a three-game skid when they hosted Falmouth Tuesday. They close Thursday at home versus Sanford.

Deering fell to 0-13 and 22nd in Class A after losses last week at Bonny Eagle (18-3) and at home to Sanford (20-1) and South Portland (13-3).

In Class C, Waynflete extended its win streak to five games last week by beating host Fryeburg Academy (13-3), visiting Gray-New Gloucester (19-12) and host Lake Region (14-6). In the win over the Raiders, Tilsley Kelly led the way with four goals, while Keegan Dolan and Skylar Harris added two apiece. Against the Patriots, Kelly had seven goals, while Harris added five goals, Dolan had three and Morgan Earls scored twice. Kelly had a game-high four goals in the win over the Lakers, while Harris scored three times. The Flyers (seventh in the state) close at home versus York Wednesday (see our website for game story).