After a most fulfilling fall and winter, the spring sports season was truly memorable.

While rain, as usual, was plentiful, the season was completed on schedule and had an abundance of highlights.

Falmouth’s baseball team emerged from a strong pack to win the Class B state championship for the first time. Greely was close to unbeatable in the regular season. Freeport posted its best record in almost a decade and Yarmouth did much better than expected.

The Greely softball team made it all the way to the regional final. The Rangers were joined in the postseason by Falmouth.

Boys’ lacrosse saw Falmouth beat North Yarmouth Academy for the Class B state title. Greely and Yarmouth also reached the playoffs.

The Freeport girls made it to the state game for the first time. Falmouth had its best season to date. Greely and Yarmouth reached the playoffs.

The outdoor track and field state meet produced a slew of peerless performances.

Both Falmouth teams repeated as tennis champions. Other schools also turned heads.

While we’re all glad summer’s here, let’s take one final look back at the moments and champions that made the spring of 2012 one to remember.

Spring 2012 state champions

Falmouth Yachtsmen baseball (Class B)
Falmouth Yachtsmen boys’ lacrosse (Class B)
Falmouth Yachtsmen boys’ outdoor track (co-champs with York, Class B)
Falmouth Yachtsmen boys’ tennis (Class B)
Falmouth Yachtsmen girls’ tennis (Class B)

Spring 2012 regional champions

Freeport Falcons girls’ lacrosse (Eastern B)
North Yarmouth Academy boys’ lacrosse (Eastern B)

Spring 2012 individual state champions

Outdoor track

Jacob Buhelt, Falmouth, boys’ 200 (Class B)
Jenna Serunian, Falmouth, girls’ discus (Class B)
Jenna Serunian, Falmouth, girls’ shot put (Class B)
Abby Bonnevie, Greely, girls’ pole vault (Class B)
Nestor Taylor, Greely, boys’ 800 (Class B)
Cam Rayder, NYA, boys’ shot put (Class C)

Michael’s Top 5 stories:

5) Track stars impress

Once again, local runners, jumpers and throwers had a spring season to hail. Five athletes managed to win at least one event at the state championships earlier this month. Falmouth’s Jenna Serunian led the charge with wins in the discus and shot put at the Class B state meet. Abby Bonnevie of Greely took the pole vault. At the boys’ meet, Falmouth’s Jacob Buhelt (200) and Greely’s Nestor Taylor (800) also won events. In Class C, North Yarmouth Academy’s Cam Rayder took the top spot in the boys’ shot put.

4) Playing ball…very well

All four local varsity baseball teams made it to the playoffs this spring and produced some high drama in the process. While Falmouth stole the headlines (more on the Yachtsmen in the No. 1 story), Freeport posted its best record since 2003 and made it to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. Greely, the defending regional champion, was spectacular early and only lost once before being upset in the quarterfinals. Yarmouth wasn’t expected to make another run at the top spot after being hard hit by graduation, but the Clippers were better than expected and only an extra-inning loss in the semifinals prevented them from appearing in their third straight regional final. Unfortunately, for Freeport, Greely and Yarmouth, their common playoff denominator was Cape Elizabeth, which upset each team.

3) Greely softball gets offensive

Greely’s softball team welcomed former star pitcher Sarah Bennis (now Jamo) as its new coach and the Rangers emerged as one of the best teams around, not just behind the strong pitching of junior Danielle Cimino, but also with the bats. Greely enjoyed a 13-game win streak, posting double-digit runs in eight out of 10 games in one stretch. The Rangers made it to the regional final, but their quest for a second championship in program history was derailed by Fryeburg. In that one, Greely was only able to muster a single run.

2) A first for Freeport

Freeport’s girls’ lacrosse team has long been in the shadow of NYA and Yarmouth, but this spring, the Falcons had their turn to shine. Freeport earned the top seed in the Eastern B Heal Points standings for the first time and after dispatching Gardiner with ease in the semifinals, hosted the defending Class B state champion Clippers in the regional final. The game was postponed 24 hours by rain and it was worth the wait as the Falcons rallied from four-goals down in the second half to force overtime. There, Freeport scored twice to Yarmouth’s once and ran out the clock on the biggest win in program history. The Falcons had no answers for Waynflete in the state final, but their playoff run was one that will long be remembered.

1) Five for Falmouth

Every single boys’ sport at Falmouth High School won a state championship this spring. Baseball, lacrosse, track (which tied York for the top spot) and tennis won it all. If that wasn’t enough, girls’ tennis completed yet another dominant run and took home a state crown of its own. Girls’ lacrosse fell a goal short of perhaps adding to the bounty and softball and girls’ track weren’t too shabby either. The five titles in one season could very well be a record. There’s no question that the Yachtsmen were without peer in a spring season the school and community will never forget.

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

Sidebar Elements

Freeport’s Sawyer Williams was one of several standout baseball players in our midst this spring.

Elyse Dinan and the Greely softball team made a run to the Western B Final.

Burke Paxton and the NYA boys’ tennis team made the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Yarmouth’s Jocelyn Davies was one of many memorable track and field performers this spring.

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