The spring sports season is rapidly winding down and even with Mother Nature taking center stage and causing some disruptions this week, there will be plenty of pivotal action in the days to come.

The week just past was highlighted by dramatic action in baseball, softball, lacrosse and track.

Here’s a glimpse:

Baseball

Local baseball teams are in the midst of crucial contests.

Yarmouth was a 9-6 home winner over Gray-New Gloucester last Tuesday, then fell from the ranks of the unbeaten the next day with a 10-1 loss at defending Western B champion Cape Elizabeth. The Clippers improved to 8-1 Friday after holding off host Falmouth, 7-5. Against the Patriots, senior Luke Pierce had two hits, including a triple, drove in a run and earned the save. Seniors Aidan Sullivan and Joey King (home run) and junior Bryce Snyder all had two-run hits in the win over the Yachtsmen. Sullivan, with relief help from senior Campbell Belisle-Haley, held on for the victory. Yarmouth (8-1 and second to Cape Elizabeth in the Western B Heal Points standings, as of Tuesday) was home with Greely Tuesday and Cape Elizabeth Wednesday, plays at Freeport Friday and Poland Monday, then hosts Falmouth Wednesday of next week.

Greely began the week third, also at 8-1, after a 7-2 win at Gray-New Gloucester last Wednesday. Freshman Bailey Train took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed just one hit, while fanning six to earn the victory. Juniors Liam Maker and Pete Stauber paced the offense with three hits each. The Rangers were at Yarmouth Tuesday, hosted Wells Wednesday, welcome Poland Friday and go to Falmouth Monday.

The Yachtsmen have struggled of late and entered the week 4-5, seventh in the Heals. Last week, Falmouth dropped a 5-2 home decision to Cape Elizabeth, fell, 6-5, in eight innings at York, then couldn’t quite complete a rally from seven runs down in a 7-5 home loss to Yarmouth. Against the Capers, senior Matt MacDowell had a pair of hits. MacDowell homered twice at York. Senior Ben Goffin went deep against the Clippers. The Yachtsmen were home with Fryeburg Tuesday, go to Cape Elizabeth Friday, host Greely Monday and visit Yarmouth Wednesday of next week.

Freeport sandwiched home losses to Poland (11-2) and Cape Elizabeth (9-6) around its second victory, 5-2, at Wells. In the win, senior Spencer Egan struck out six to earn the win, while junior Kaleb Farmer had a clutch hit. Junior Jared Knighton and sophomore Nick Cartmell had multiple hits versus the Capers. Freeport (13th in the Heals) was at Sacopee Wednesday, hosts Yarmouth Friday, goes to York Monday and welcomes Wells Wednesday of next week.

In Western C, North Yarmouth Academy began the week 6-2 and fifth in the standings. The Panthers beat visiting Traip, 12-6, last Wednesday, then split a doubleheader at the Raiders Saturday, winning, 9-7, and losing, 12-3. Senior Eli Leavitt had three hits, including a triple in the first win. In the doubleheader victory, senior Alan Brown drove in the winning run in the eighth inning with his third hit of the day. NYA was at Old Orchard Beach Tuesday and hosted Buckfield Wednesday. The Panthers have a doubleheader at Waynflete Saturday.

Softball

Falmouth’s softball team has been red-hot. The Yachtsmen cruised at York last Wednesday, 18-0, in five innings, then held off a late Yarmouth rally for a 4-3 home win over the Clippers Friday, their sixth in a row, to improve to 7-2 (fourth in the Western B Heal Points standings, as of Tuesday). Senior Sarah Collmus threw a no-hitter at the Wildcats, while junior Alli Carver and sophomore Sarah Sparks each had a pair of hits. Senior Kelsey Freedman earned the win against Yarmouth, fanning nine. Seniors Jessie L’Heureux and Lauren O’Donnell both rapped RBI triples.

“It’s another nice win,” said Falmouth coach John Keyes. “The kids are doing a nice job. They’re playing well, supporting each other and hitting the ball. The kids believe in themselves. The more they do that, the better plays they make.”

The Yachtsmen hosted three-time defending regional champion Fryeburg Tuesday, go to Cape Elizabeth Friday, welcome Greely Monday and play at Yarmouth Wednesday of next week.

“I think it’s pretty even up this year,” Keyes said. “This is my best team. We’re only getting better. It’s been fun.”

The Clippers had come to Falmouth riding a five-game win streak, capped by a 7-4 home victory over Gray-New Gloucester and an impressive 11-2 win at Cape Elizabeth. Senior captain Julie Dursema had two hits and drove in three runs against the Patriots, while sophomore MacKenzie Gray struck out 10 in earning the win. At the Capers, Gray earned the victory, while freshman Alexa Sullivan had three hits and three RBI, Dursema and freshman Monica Austin also had three hits. At Falmouth, Yarmouth trailed 4-1 entering the seventh, but scored twice before leaving the potential tying run at third.

“I was pretty proud of the way the kids battled hard in the last inning,” said Clippers coach Jim Senecal.

Yarmouth bounced back Monday with an 11-5 home win over Greely to improve to 9-2 (second in the Heals) as Gray got the win and drove in four. The Clippers were home with Cape Elizabeth Wednesday, go to Freeport Friday, Poland Monday and return home Wednesday of next week for a rematch with Falmouth.

“There’s Fryeburg, then there’s a lot of really good teams,” Senecal said. “We’ve put ourselves in a good position to make the playoffs, hopefully, then it’s anybody’s game. It’s been a combination of feisty freshmen, sophomores and juniors and experienced seniors who really want to win. Abbie (Hutchinson) and Julie are providing all the leadership you can ask for and a couple young kids are really coming through.”

Greely has dropped to .500 at 5-5 and is 11th in the Heals after recent losses to host Gray-New Gloucester (2-1, in eight innings) and at Yarmouth (11-5). Sophomore ace Danielle Cimino homered at the Patriots and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but the Patriots rallied to tie, then pushed a run across in the eighth to hand the Rangers a painful setback. Greely was home against Wells Wednesday, hosts Poland Friday, goes to Falmouth Monday and Traip Wednesday of next week.

Freeport earned a pair of wins last week, 8-5 at Sacopee and 4-2 over visiting Poland, then fell to 3-7 and 15th in the Heals Monday with a 9-3 home loss to Cape Elizabeth. Vanessa Lee, Lexi Dietrich and Leigh Wyman (who earned the win) all had two hits at the Hawks. Wyman fanned 11 to beat the Knights. The Falcons were at Sacopee Wednesday, host Yarmouth Friday, go to York Monday and welcome Wells Wednesday of next week.

In Western C, NYA began the week 0-8 (18th in Heals) after recent losses to visiting Traip (12-10) and host Traip (14-4). In the first game, Mallory Ianno had two hits and drove in four runs. Maggie Bertocci and Emma Warren also had two hits. The Panthers were at Old Orchard Beach Tuesday, hosted Buckfield Wednesday and go to Richmond next Wednesday.

Boys’ lacrosse

While the most seismic boys’ lacrosse news of late came from Falmouth and Yarmouth (see story), Freeport, Greely and NYA have been plenty busy as well.

In Eastern B, the Panthers 3-4 and fourth in the standings after splitting games last week. First, NYA held off host Freeport’s upset bid, 11-8. The Panthers almost let a 10-2 fourth quarter lead slip away, but held on behind senior Finn Hadlock’s three goals and two assists and sophomore T.J. Daigler’s four goals.

“We need to learn how to finish games off quickly,” Hadlock said. “We had that game in hand and it got out of hand quickly.”

“We came out well,” said NYA coach Chris Carpentier, who spent three years as the Falcons’ coach before taking over the Panthers’ program in 2009. “I’ve spent a little time here on the other side. This is my first time back.”

Saturday, the Panthers lost at home to defending Class A champion Scarborough, 12-5. NYA was within a goal, 5-4, early in the third period, but the Red Storm dominated from there. The Panthers were at Yarmouth Wednesday and host Cape Elizabeth Friday.

Freeport impressed in the loss to NYA, most notably senior standout Hans Pope, who scored four goals, assisted on two others, won 16-of-18 faceoffs and grabbed a mind-boggling 20 ground balls.

“Hans was injured for the first couple weeks and he’s just getting his legs back,” said Falcons coach Geoff Arris. “He’s our workhorse. He does it all. He’s amazing. I’m not sad with this loss at all. We showed we can come back from a deficit and make it a decent game.”

Freeport bounced back with an 8-4 win at Fryeburg Thursday and a 14-3 home triumph over Lincoln Academy Saturday (junior Evan Hench had five goals and sophomore Galen Simmons three) to improve to 5-3 (eighth in the region). The Falcons were at Greely Wednesday, then are idle for a week before visiting Yarmouth.

In Western B, Greely dropped a 14-8 home decision to defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth last Tuesday (senior Austin Spencer and junior Cooper Allen both had three goals in the defeat), but beat visiting Wells, 8-4 (behind three Allen goals) and visiting Edward Little, 16-0 (as Allen had four goals and juniors Paul Witte and Matt Ricker three each) to improve to 4-3 (good for the fourth spot in the Heals).

The Rangers were at Lincoln Tuesday, hosted Freeport Wednesday, welcome Lake Region Friday and go to Falmouth next Wednesday.

Girls’ lacrosse

The Yarmouth girls’ lacrosse team began the week in first place in Eastern B, a position the Clippers figure to hold the rest of the way.

Last week, Yarmouth downed visiting Freeport, 17-7, then held off visiting Marshwood, 6-2, to improve to 6-1 on the season. Against the Falcons, senior standout Danielle Torres equalled her season high with six goals. In the win over the Hawks, however, Torres suffered an ankle injury in the first half and didn’t return. The Clippers only led the Hawks, 2-1, at the half, but went on to the victory behind two goals each from seniors Lindsey Purpura and Devin Simsarian.

“It didn’t come easily,” said Purpura. “Danielle being out was hard. We had to regain our composure and not panic.”

“”We needed a game like this,” said Yarmouth coach Dorothy Holt. “We went into a little bit of a panic mode when Danielle went down. It took us the rest of the first half to get settled. We wanted to slow things down a little bit.”

The Clippers hosted Falmouth Tuesday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and NYA Thursday.

“We definitely have a good group of girls,” Purpura said. “We all support each other so much. Everyone wants success. We have big games to come. We want to win. That’s for sure.”

Hot on Yarmouth’s heels (as always) is NYA, which improved to 4-4 (second in Eastern B) after wins last week over visiting York (17-4) and Messalonskee (11-4). Against the Wildcats, senior Megan Fortier had four goals and three assists, while junior Katherine Millett, sophomore Molly Strabley and freshman Olivia Madore all scored three times. Fortier, Millett and senior Lilly Wellenbach each had three goals versus the Eagles, while freshman Nikolle Storey made 14 saves. The Panthers are at Yarmouth Thursday and host Waynflete Tuesday.

Freeport was 4-3 and fifth in Eastern B (where only four teams make the playoffs) at the start of the week. The Falcons lost, 17-7, at Yarmouth and beat host Lincoln Academy, 18-5. Freshman Meredith Broderick had two goals versus the Clippers. In the victory, juniors Jess Hench and Becca Lane both scored three times. Freshman Molly Lane made six saves. Freeport was home versus Wells Tuesday, goes to Greely Thursday, hosts Falmouth Saturday and York Tuesday of next week

In Western B, Falmouth, fresh off its first-ever win over NYA, rallied past visiting Cape Elizabeth, 11-9, last Wednesday for its fourth win in a row. The Yachtsmen twice trailed by as many as three in the first half, but a momentum-turning goal from senior Laura Fay with a fraction of a second remaining before halftime sparked a 7-1 run. Falmouth got four goals and three assists from sophomore sensation Alex Bernier, two goals and two assists from Fay, brilliance in the draw circle from sophomore Molly Ryan and 11 clutch saves from junior Moie Aaskov.

“I love playing Cape,” Bernier said. “It’s always a fun game. We hit this rhythm where we got every draw and we ran down with it, passed it around. We did well with transition. We got the fastbreak and got it in. It was fun.”

“We stepped up to be a second half team,” Fay said. “We definitely don’t have just two players. We’re very well rounded, which helps us a lot.”

Falmouth’s win streak ended Saturday with a 10-4 home loss to Brunswick, which dropped the Yachtsmen to 5-2 (second to Waynflete in the Heals). Bernier scored twice.

“Brunswick played a great game,” Haley said. “They had our number. They did what they needed to do and played a great game. They capitalized on everything. We were extremely flat and we never got into a rhythm.”

Falmouth was at Yarmouth Tuesday, goes to Waynflete Thursday, then visits Freeport Saturday.

“Hopefully we got (the girls’) attention,” Haley said. “We have some big games coming up.”

Greely which won just once in 2010, is in the No. 4 spot in Western B with a 3-4 mark in Sara Dimick’s first season. Last week, the Rangers gave powerhouse Waynflete a scare for a half (trailing just 8-7) before going down to a 22-11 defeat and also battled at Kennebunk before losing, 10-7. Paige Tuller had three goals versus the Flyers. Junior Audrey Parolin scored three times against the Rams. Greely hosts Freeport Thursday. travels to Wells Saturday and Fryeburg Tuesday of next week.

Track

The track postseason begins in a little over a week when Falmouth High plays host to the Western Maine Conference championship meet on May 28.

The Yachtsmen will likely enjoy plenty of success on that day, based on their season-long dominance.

The two-time defending Class B state champion boys’ squad (and the girls’ team as well) joined Fryeburg, Gray-New Gloucester and Traip Academy at Lake Region in their most recent meet, last Friday. Both Falmouth teams finished first.

Individually, the boys got wins from Will Wegener in the 100, Tim Follo in the mile, Reid Pryzant in the 110 hurdles, Ryan Tartre in the high jump, Justin Povey in the pole vault, Andrew Kowalsky in the shot put and javelin and Matt Goldstein in the racewalk. Girls’ winners included Catherine Hebson in the mile, Madeline Roberts in the two-mile,, Kate Sparks in the shot put, Jenna Serunian in the discus, Amy Webster in the pole vault and the 3,200 relay team.

Freeport joined A.R. Gould, Freeport, St. Dom’s, Waynflete and Wells at Cape Elizabeth. The Falcons were fourth in both genders. Nick Sweet won the boys’ two-mile, Harrison Stivers took the 400, Taylor Saucier was first in the 800 and the 1,600 relay squad was also tops. For the girls, Amy Edwards took the two-mile and the 1,600 relay team was first.

Greely hosted Poland and York Friday and both Rangers teams came in first. Girls’ winners included Katherine Harrington in the discus, Abby Bonnevie in the pole vault, Jessica Wilson in the 400, Kaley Sawyer in the high jump and Molly Fitzpatrick in the 100 hurdles. Individual results for the boys weren’t available.

NYA and Yarmouth joined Old Orchard Beach in Sacopee where the Panthers were second in the boys’ meet and third on the girls’ side. The Clippers results weren’t available. NYA’s boys went on to win the MAISAD title Saturday. The girls placed second.

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

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NYA senior Blair Haggett takes a mighty cut during a game last week. The Panthers began the week seeking their first win of 2011.

Freeport’s Charlie Baker runs toward a runner-up finish in the mile at last week’s meet in Cape Elizabeth.