Cheverus’ Cam Dube beats the tag of Portland catcher Cam King and scores a run during the Stags’ 4-1 home victory last week.

Portland’s Reagan Brown and Cheverus’ Mackenzie Johnston fight for the ball after a draw control during the Stags’ 12-8 win last week.

Waynflete’s Abby Pipkin heads to victory in the girls’ Division II 800 at Saturday’s Western Maine Conference championship meet.

Waynflete’s Aidan Kieffer and Ben Adey, joined by coach Jeff Madore, won the Western Maine Conference doubles tennis championship last week.

(Ed. Note: For the complete Cheverus-Portland and Portland-Kennebunk baseball and Cheverus-Portland girls’ lacrosse game stories, with box scores and photos, see theforecaster.net)

Buckle up.

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The fast and furious end of the spring sports season is upon us.

Tennis has crowned its singles champions, the team tennis tournament is underway, as is the outdoor track postseason, and the baseball, softball and lacrosse regular seasons are coming to a close.

There will be no shortage of excitement to come, as evidenced by some high drama in the days just past.

Here’s a glimpse at what you might have missed and a look ahead:

Tennis

Waynflete’s Jacob Greene made a somewhat surprising run to the semifinals of the boys’ state singles tournament. Greene, seeded seventh, defeated Camden Hills’ Henry Cooper, 6-4, 6-0, in the second round, Falmouth’s Matthew Ray, 7-5, 6-0, in the round of 16 and second-seeded Declan Archer of Kennebunk/Wells, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in the quarterfinals. Greene finally met his match in the semifinals Monday, losing to Falmouth’s Alex Klemperer, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6.

Waynflete’s Thorne Kieffer, seeded fifth, was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Lincoln Academy’s Noah Jordan in the second round and beat 12th-seeded Aidan Treutel of Cheverus (who advanced with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Madison’s Kobe Tibbetts in the second round), 6-1, 6-0, in the round of 16 before being eliminated, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, by No. 4 Peter Mao of Mt. Ararat in the quarterfinals.

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Portland’s Quinn Clarke, the No. 9 seed, defeated Belfast’s Eli Jolliffe, 6-1, 6-3, in the second round and eighth-ranked Zack Flannery of Hampden Academy in the round of 16, 6-4, 6-1, before losing to top-seed and eventual champion Nick Forester of Falmouth, 0-6, 0-6, in the quarterfinals.

Portland’s Dana Hinchliffe defeated Hall-Dale’s MacKenzie Creamer, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round, then lost to Archer, 2-6, 4-6, in the suspended second round.

Portland’s John Kovarik lost in the first round to Cape Elizabeth’s Alex Hanson, 6-2, 2-6, 0-1 (8).

In the girls’ competition, won by Grace Campanella of Kennebunk/Wells, Cheverus’ Anastasia Kapothanasis, seeded 10th, got to the quarterfinals. Kapothanasis beat Caribou’s Hailey Holmquist, 6-0, 6-1, in the second round and defeated Cape Elizabeth’s Blair Hollyday, 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the round of 16 before being eliminated, 1-6, 0-6, by Campanella.

Portland’s Lauren Paradise advanced in the first round by virtue of a walkover against Maine Central Institute’s Claudia Alvarez Fernandez. In the second round, Paradise lost, 1-3, 6-3, to No. 11 Ashley Matlock of Caribou.

Portland’s Karina Boothe was ousted by Brunswick’s Lea Scrapchansky in the first round, 2-6, 3-6.

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Doubles champions in the Southwestern Maine Activities Association and the Western Maine Conference were crowned last week.

Waynflete’s Ben Adey and Aidan Kieffer defeated York’s Ben Duffy and Thomas Donnelly to win the WMC boys’ doubles crown.

The SMAA boys’ title was won by Portland’s Ian McCallum and Sam Mermin, who defeated Thornton Academy’s Jack Cannon and Asher Thompson, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, in the finals.

“It’s awesome,” said Mermin. “It was sort of our goal all year and it’s great to accomplish it. We played some of our better tennis in the first set and we knew the second set was not going to be as easy as that. It was tough to lose (the second set) and I think the third set they started playing great. We were not as clean as we were in the first set and we had to grind it out.”

“We played very good in the first set, and then after we lost the second set we just gathered and said, ‘OK, they got the best of us and we just need to bounce back, play better tennis than them’  and we went out and we did,” McCallum said.

The team tournament is also underway.

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Waynflte’s 10-time defending Class C champion earned the top seed in Class C South after a 12-0 regular season. The Flyers host No. 8 Lisbon (1-9) in the quarterfinals Thursday.

In Class A South, Portland earned the No. 2 seed after an 11-1 campaign and hosted either No. 7 Deering (7-5) or No. 10 South Portland (4-8) in the quarterfinals Thursday.

The Rams and Red Riots met in a preliminary round match Tuesday.

Cheverus wound up 5-7 and ninth and went to No. 8 Gorham (5-7) in the preliminary round Tuesday.

On the girls’ side, defending Class C champion Waynflete finished 7-5 and fifth in the region. The Flyers opened their repeat title quest at No. 4 Winthrop (8-2) Thursday in the quarterfinals.

In Class A South, Cheverus earned the No. 3 seed after a posting a 10-2 mark. The Stags host No. 6 Portland (6-6) or No. 11 South Portland (5-7) in Thursday’s quarterfinal round match.

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The Bulldogs and Red Riots squared off in the preliminary round Tuesday.

Deering went 3-9 and earned the 12th and final playoff seed in Class A South and went to No. 5 Scarborough (9-3) for the preliminary round Tuesday.

Maine Girls’ Academy posted a 3-9 record and wound up 13th in Class A South, but only 12 teams qualified for the playoffs.

The postseason continues with the semifinals Saturday, on the courts of the higher seeds. The regional finals are Thursday, June 7 in Lewiston and the state matches are Saturday, June 9, also in Lewiston.

Outdoor track

Cheverus’ girls’ track team, the defending Class A state champion, finished third at the SMAA outdoor meet Saturday in Saco, scoring 74 points (Thornton Academy had 94 points and Gorham was second with 77). The Stags got wins from Victoria Bossong in the 100 (12.64 seconds) and 200 (25.64), Emma Gallant in the 400 (58.45), Emma White in the triple jump (35 feet, 11 inches) and their 4×400 relay team (4 minutes, 6.67 seconds).

Deering (20 points) was 11th and Portland (7 points) was 15th. The Rams got a win from Annah Rossvall in the 300 hurdles (46.20).

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Thornton Academy was also first on the boys’ side, tallying 96 points. Cheverus (47 points) finished fifth, Deering (30) tied Windham for sixth and Portland (16) placed 14th. Deering’s Alec Troxell was first in the two-mile (10:04.38).

Waynflete took part in the WMC meet at Naples. The Flyers girls were eighth in Division II and got a win from Abby Pipkin in the 800 (2:26.65). The boys also came in eighth.

Next up are the state meets Saturday. Class A is at Morse High School in Bath, Class B at Foxcroft Academy and Class C at Masabesic High School in Waterboro.

Baseball

Portland and Cheverus’ baseball teams are playoff-bound and Deering is hopeful of qualifying as well.

The Bulldogs’ skid hit three games last Tuesday with a 4-1 loss at Cheverus, in a game they mustered only three hits.

“We have a good hitting team, we’re just not hitting,” said Portland coach Mike Rutherford. “We did it last year and the year before and we came out of it.”

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The Bulldogs got back in the win column, 3-2, at Massabesic last Thursday. Brian Riley went the distance to earn the victory and Billy Barnard drove in a couple runs. Portland then mustered nine hits in a 9-2 home victory over Kennebunk Monday. Ben Stasium had three hits, scored four runs and stole a pair of bases. Jack Kilbride had two hits and two RBI and Jackson Villani pitched 3.2 solid innings of relief to earn the victory.

“We’ve dealt with some adversity and it was nice to get out of that rut,” Stasium said. “They weren’t exciting hits, but we found a way to win and get back on track.”

“We want to finish off the season strong and get to the state championship game,” Kilbride said. “That’s our goal. We need to play good defense and get timely hits. We can make a run.”

“We swung a little better today than we have,” added Rutherford. “It’s coming. I think the kids have come together and they’re having fun again. They were pressing, but it’s just baseball.”

The Bulldogs (third behind South Portland and Gorham in the Class A South Heal Points standings at press time) closed the regular season at home versus Bonny Eagle Tuesday.

Cheverus extended its win streak to seven and improved to 10-5 and fourth in the region following recent victories over visiting Portland (4-1), host Scarborough (9-7) and visiting Marshwood (10-0, in five-innings). Against the Bulldogs, Jack Mullen threw a three-hitter to earn the win, while Cam Dube doubled and scored a run.

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“It’s a big win,” Mullen said. “Portland is one of our biggest rivals and they were worth a lot of Heal Points, so it’s great to beat them.”

“Portland’s a good team,” Dube said. “We had some good at-bats and Mullen pitched well.”

“It’s a great win, obviously our best of the year so far,” added Stags coach Mac McKew. “It was a pretty solid game.”

Cheverus was down, 7-3, entering the seventh inning at Scarborough and rallied to win behind four hits and three RBI from Maxx St. John and three hits from Griffin Watson. In the victory over the Hawks, the Stags scored five times in the third inning and four more times in the fourth. Ray went the distance, allowing four hits and striking out seven while singling, doubling and driving in two runs. Nathaniel Lapoint had two hits and three RBI and Chris Cimino added two hits and two RBI. Cheverus closed at Massabesic Tuesday.

Deering was clinging to the 12th and final playoff spot in the region at 7-8 following a 5-3 win at Sanford, a 9-1 home loss to Noble and an 8-7 victory at Bonny Eagle. Mike Jones earned the win over Sanford and Jack Lynch tripled. The Rams fell behind the Knights, 8-0, and couldn’t rally. Against the Scots, Deering built an 8-4 lead and held on for dear life. Luc Harrison had three hits and drove in two runs, Bobby Ridge had two RBI and Jones came on in relief to earn the victory. The Rams closed at home against Thornton Academy Tuesday.

In Class C South, Waynflete finished 1-11 after losses at Old Orchard Beach (13-3, in five-innings), at Sacopee Valley (9-0) and at home to Traip Academy (25-2, in five-innings). Max Winson had two hits against the Rangers. The Flyers wound up 15th in the region, but only 10 teams qualified for the postseason.

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

Softball

Portland’s softball team is the lone city squad to advance to the playoffs. The Bulldogs, regional finalists in 2017, closed on a three-game win streak, downing host Cheverus/North Yarmouth Academy (2-1), visiting Bonny Eagle (8-1) and Deering (4-0) to finish 9-7 and eighth in the Class A South Heal Points standings. Against Cheverus/NYA, Portland got a key RBI from Laini Legere, a timely double from Kit Rosmus, two hits from Sydney Gilbert and Jess Brown did the rest on the mound, allowing just four hits, fanning nine. In the win over the Scots, Brown earned the victory with 11 strikeouts and Mackenzie Bryant hit a two-run triple. Against the Rams, the Bulldogs gave Robbie Ferrante his 250th coaching victory, as Gilbert hit a home run and Brown threw a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts. Portland will host a preliminary round playoff game next week, likely against South Portland, which beat the Bulldogs earlier this season.

The Maine Girls’ Academy/Falmouth co-op team wound up 3-13 and 13th in Class A South (only 12 teams make the playoffs) following losses against visiting Massabesic (17-3), host Marshwood (16-6) and host Noble (13-1, in five-innings). Liberty Ladd had three hits against the Mustangs, Quinn Chicoine had two hits and Jill Joyce drove in a pair of runs against the Hawks. In the loss to the Knights, Ladd tripled and drove in the lone run.

The Cheverus/NYA co-op squad also finished 3-13 and placed 14th in Class A South following a 2-1 home loss to Portland and a setbacks at Noble (16-2, in five-innings) and Sanford (9-8, in eight-innings). Mackenzie Turner had 14 strikeouts against the Bulldogs. In the loss to the Knights, Alexandra Hammond had two hits and Hannah Abbott hit an RBI triple. Caroline Taylor had three hits against the Spartans.

Deering wound up 0-16 and 17th in the region after closing with losses to visiting Noble (14-1), host Massabesic (11-2) and host Portland (4-0). Against the Knights, Mackenzie O’Donnell tripled and Livia Serappa doubled. Serappa and Liz Drelich doubled in the loss to the Mustangs. Against the Bulldogs, O’Donnelll had a double.

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

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Boys’ lacrosse

Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team improved to 7-3 and fourth in Class C after downing host Lake Region (18-9) and Cheverus (21-9) last week. Zane Moorhead scored five times against the Lakers. In the win over the Stags, Oliver Burdick and Miles Lipton both scored seven goals. The Flyers went to York Tuesday and close at home versus Yarmouth Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story).

In Class A North, Portland made it nine straight wins (the program’s best start since 2010) with an 18-9 victory at Biddeford last Wednesday (Reilly O’Brien had five goals and Miki Silva added four), before falling from the unbeaten ranks Friday with an 8-7 loss at Windham (O’Brien had three goals). The Bulldogs (second behind Falmouth in the Heals) host Westbrook Wednesday and welcome Noble Friday in the finale Friday.

Deering improved to 4-6 and fifth in the region after downing host Scarborough, 8-6, Friday. Omar Contreras had two goals and goalie Max Morrione made 17 saves. The Rams are at Cheverus Wednesday and close at home against undefeated Thornton Academy Friday.

Cheverus was 2-8 and eighth in Class A North at press time (only six teams make the playoffs) following losses at Falmouth (21-7) and at home against Waynflete (21-9). The Stags go to Deering Wednesday and to South Portland Friday, needing to win at least once to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

The lacrosse playoffs begin Wednesday of next week with the quarterfinal round, on the fields of the higher seeds.

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Cheverus is surging at the optimal time, improving to 6-4 after extending its win streak to four by downing visiting York (13-12), host Deering (16-2) and host Portland (12-8). Against the Wildcats, the Stags erased a five-goal halftime deficit behind five goals from Mackenzie Johnston, four from Aisling Flaherty and the go-ahead tally from Bella Booth late in regulation. In the win over the Rams, Zoe Mazur scored five times and Booth added four. Against the Bulldogs, Booth and Mazur both scored three times, while Flaherty and Johnson each added two. Johnston also won six of eight draws and had a game-high 12 ground balls.

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“As a team, we realized how badly we want it,” Booth said.

“It’s a huge win,” Johnston said. “We were excited to play our rival.”

“It’s really cool to see it coming at this time of year,” Stags coach Bill Fenton added. “These girls are really bonding and coming together, which is awesome.”

Cheverus (third in the region at press time) was at Marshwood Tuesday and closes at South Portland Thursday.

Portland extended its win streak to eight games after downing host Noble (10-2) and Westbrook (12-3) before falling to 9-3 after a 12-8 home loss to Cheverus. Annika More had three goals and Chloe Kilbride and Morgan Kierstead each added a pair against the Knights. In the win over the Blue Blazes, More and Georgia Stoddard had three goals apiece, while Kilbride and Hazel Praught both scored two goals. More scored four times in the setback.

“We had some unlucky moments and we didn’t do things we usually do and Cheverus had a better day,” said Portland coach Beth Broderick. “It’s a good learning experience for us and we’ll look forward to building on it.”

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The Bulldogs (second in Class A North at press time) will host either a quarterfinal or semifinal round game, depending on how the final standings shake out.

Deering fell to 3-7 after a 16-2 home loss to Cheverus last week. The Rams (eighth in Class A North, where just six teams qualify) were at Sanford Tuesday and close at MGA Thursday.

In Class B, Waynflete fell to 5-5 and eighth after losses to visiting Lake Region (12-5) and host Freeport (9-7). Against the Lakers, Izzy Burdick scored twice. In the first loss to the Falcons in program history, Burdick had four goals. The Flyers went to St. Dom’s Tuesday and close at home versus Yarmouth Friday (see theforecaster.net for game story).

In Class C, MGA was 3-7 and 11th (eight teams qualify) following a 13-5 loss at Biddeford and an 11-9 home win over Sanford. Catherine Reid scored four times against the Tigers and produced seven goals in the victory.

The lacrosse playoffs begin Wednesday of next week with the quarterfinal round, on the fields of the higher seeds.

Journal Tribune sports editor Pat McDonald contributed to this story.

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


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