(Ed. Note: For the complete Scarborough-Cheverus baseball, Cape Elizabeth-Fryeburg softball, Scarborough-Deering boys’ lacrosse and Cape Elizabeth-Falmouth girls’ lacrosse game stories, please see theforecaster.net)

The early portion of the spring sports season has delivered some surprises and a lot of strong play and every local team has played at least once.

Here’s a glimpse.

Baseball

South Portland’s baseball team continues to turn heads. The Red Riots opened with a 6-3 win at Thornton Academy, then downed visiting Gorham, 10-0. Saturday, South Portland dug deep and rallied from a 7-1 deficit to knock off visiting Marshwood, 11-10, in eight innings. Nick Troiano’s single, his third hit, won it. Robert Graff had four hits, scored three times and drove in two. Monday, the Red Riots won at Noble, 10-1. Graff earned the win on the hill, while Troiano had a double, triple, scored three times and had two RBI. South Portland also got two RBI from Zac Marles. Tuesday, the Red Riots improved to 5-0 with an 8-6 home win over Bonny Eagle. A seven-run second inning blew the game open. Graff, Marles (who earned the save), Jacob Brown, Dylan Farrell-Remy and Chris Foley all had multiple hits. South Portland was at Biddeford Thursday, visits Scarborough Saturday, hosts Cheverus Tuesday and plays at Windham Thursday.

Scarborough suffered four straight closes losses to start the year. After falling at home to Noble (4-3) and Marshwood (4-2), the Red Storm fell, 2-1, to visiting Bonny Eagle and 4-2 at Biddeford. Matt Hartl was the hard-luck loser and Ben Greenberg doubled against the Scots. In the loss to the Tigers, Hartl and Nick Lorello both scored runs. Tuesday, Scarborough went to Cheverus and behind Greenberg’s three-hitter with nine strikeouts, got in the win column, 2-0, but it wasn’t easy.

The Red Storm’s runs came in the third, as Zach Carreiro singled home Lorello and Greenberg singled in Carreiro, but the win wasn’t secured until Greenberg got tremendous defensive plays behind him from third baseman Nick Suchecki and Hartl (whose gorgeous diving catch to end the sixth prevented the tying runs from scoring).

“You have to be ready in the outfield at all times, especially when Ben’s pitching,” said Hartl. “When your pitcher has a 90-mile-per-hour fastball, you shift all your outfielders. Someone can get a piece of it and it can go a long way. I had a pretty good jump on it. I realized I had to dive and spread out for it.”

“I got big-time help from the defense,” Greenberg said. “Earlier in the season, I think we played scared a little bit and were afraid to make errors because we’re young, but today the guys behind me played great. It’s about time (we got a win). We needed to get one under our belts.”

“Finally,” added Scarborough coach Ryan Jones. “Most of us woke up this morning and had that feeling. We knew Cheverus is tough, but we really wanted to win. The kids’ hard work paid off.”

The 1-4 Red Storm welcome South Portland Saturday, play at Windham Tuesday and Deering Thursday.

In Western B, Cape Elizabeth opened with consecutive losses to Yarmouth (5-1 at home and 4-1 away). After falling, 3-1, to visiting Falmouth, the Capers got in the win column with a 7-4 victory at York Friday. Cape Elizabeth was at Freeport Wednesday, welcomes Fryeburg Friday, plays host to Gray-New Gloucester Monday and visits Greely Wednesday.

Softball

On the softball diamond, Scarborough remains unstoppable.

The defending Class A state champions increased their win streak to 17 with a 5-1 win at Thornton Academy Monday, as Alyssa Williamson threw a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Megan Murrell and Maggie Murphy had multiple hits. The Red Storm hosted Noble Wednesday, go to Sanford Friday, welcome Massabesic Monday and visit Deering Wednesday.

South Portland shook off its opening loss to Scarborough and carried a four-game win streak into Wednesday’s home game against Deering. The Red Riots enjoyed an 11-3 win at Noble last Wednesday, avenged last year’s playoff loss with a 6-1 home victory over Sanford Friday, then rolled at Massabesic Monday, 11-3. Against the Knights, Olivia Indorf doubled three times and earned the win and Laurine German had three hits. In the win over the Spartans, South Portland broke the game open with a five-run fifth. Stephanie Aceto struck out 11 to earn her first varsity decision. Indorf and Miranda Gleason had multiple hits. Against the Mustangs, the Red Riots scored in every inning but one, Indorf improved to 3-1 and Sarah Micucci singled, doubled and hit a home run. South Portland goes to McAuley Friday, visits Marshwood Monday and hosts red-hot Cheverus Wednesday.

Cape Elizabeth continues to dazzle in Western B. The Capers, who opened with a pair of wins over Yarmouth, beat visiting Falmouth last Wednesday, 4-1, won at York Friday, 13-0, in five innings, then downed visiting rival Fryeburg Saturday afternoon, 5-1. Against the Yachtsmen, Anna Goldstein had a solid pitching performance and Mary Perkins had a pair of hits. In the win over the Raiders, Katie Rabasca earned the win, but Goldstein came in to put out a bases loaded fire, allowing just one run. Hannah Saturley drove in two runs and Ashley Tinsman had two hits.

“It was pretty stressful, but I dealt with the exact same situation last year at their place,” Goldstein said. “They tried to get in my head, but I looked at (catcher Tess Haller) and just focused. (Katie and I are) pretty even. It’s good to have the righty-lefty. It’s good to switch it up.”

“(Fryeburg’s) tough,” said Capers coach Joe Henrikson. “It’s a big win. A confidence builder. I like the way the pitchers worked out of situations. We came out and hit the ball.”

Cape Elizabeth was back in action Wednesday at Freeport. After hosting Traip Saturday, the Capers welcome Gray-New Gloucester Monday and have a showdown at defending Western B champion Greely Wednesday of next week.

“We’re doing great,” said Tinsman. “I think we can go far. We can do everything. We go deep in the lineup. We can pitch. We just need to be consistent.”

Boys’ lacrosse

Lacrosse has produced plenty of excitement in the early going.

Four-time defending Class A champion Scarborough has now won 15 games in a row after rolling at Portland (14-2) and dominating visiting Deering (21-2). Chris Cyr had three goals and Cam Loiselle and Christian Neelon two apiece against the Bulldogs. The Red Storm raced to a 7-0 first quarter lead against the Rams and never looked back, leading, 13-2, at halftime and going on to the lopsided win behind five goals from Neelon. Twelve different players scored in all.

“Last year, I was always in the shadows,” Neelon said. “This year I’m trying to show that I can do it too. We wanted to come out strong. A lot of our goals were in transition.”

“We wanted to come out and execute,” said Scarborough coach Joe Hezlep. “That’s been our mantra since day one. Coming out and doing the things we do. We put a few things together tonight. It’s been a struggle for us all season, but we came out and executed all the way through.”

The Red Storm host Cape Elizabeth Saturday at 1:30 p.m., in an Autism Awareness Game (see theforecaster.net for game story). Fans are encouraged to wear red, yellow or blue, the colors of the autism puzzle pieces. Players will warm up in special autism theme uniforms. Scarborough goes to Cheverus Wednesday of next week, then visits Falmouth May 17.

South Portland remains red-hot, improving to 3-0 after dominating visiting Marshwood, 18-4, last Thursday behind Thomas Leddy’s six goals. The Red Riots were at Westbrook Wednesday, host Kennebunk in a playoff rematch Friday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and welcome dangerous Thornton Academy Tuesday.

Defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth improved to 4-0 after downing visiting Kennebunk, 8-4, and host Wells, 18-1. Against the Rams, Noah Haversat scored three times and Ben Shea and Owen Thoreck each tickled the twine twice. In the win over the Warriors, Riley Pillsbury had three goals, while Jack Drinan, Tom Feenstra, Andrew Kelly and Owen Thoreck all scored twice. The Capers play at Scarborough Saturday and welcome rival Falmouth in a showdown Tuesday.

Girls’ lacrosse

Scarborough’s girls’ lacrosse team is up to its usual tricks and sits 3-0 at the quarter-pole. The Red Storm, who upset defending Eastern B champion Yarmouth in the opener, 9-7, rolled at South Portland (15-3) and at home over Windham (12-4). In the win over the Red Riots, Abby Corbin and Kaitlin Prince both had three goals, while Bailey Adams, Erin Brady and Ainsley Jamieson all scored twice. Against the Eagles, Jamieson had three goals and Corbin and Prince both added two. Scarborough faces a big test Saturday when it goes to two-time defending Class B champion Waynflete (see theforecaster.net for game story), a team the Red Storm have never beaten. Scarborough is home with Gorham Tuesday of next week and goes to Thornton Academy Thursday.

South Portland, which opened with a 12-7 home win over Bonny Eagle, lost at home to Scarborough, 15-3, then fell to 1-2 Tuesday after a 14-1 loss at Marshwood. The Red Riots welcomed Gorham Thursday and play at Sanford Tuesday.

Cape Elizabeth, which crushed visiting Fryeburg in the opener, 21-2, handled visiting Falmouth last Wednesday, 12-5, behind five goals from Hannah Newhall. Abby McInerney added three goals and goalie Kate Bosworth finished with 16 saves.

“The shots (I faced) were mostly high, which was awesome,” Bosworth said. “My defense is confident. They know where the ball is and they talk really well. A lead took the pressure off me.”

“We had some trouble with their defense in the beginning, but we figured it out and got it through the midfield,” Newhall said. “It’s more about playing as a team this year. We’ll play a little differently and other teams will have to expect a completely different team than in past years.”

“I feel better about how the defense played in the second half,” added Capers coach Jeff Perkins. “We didn’t give up anywhere near as many shots. We’re still trying to knock rust off from vacation. It was good to go out and run the field.”

Cape Elizabeth suffered its first loss Friday at Kennebunk, 14-11 (McInerney and Newhall both had four goals in defeat), then bounced back Monday to down visiting York, 12-9, to improve to 3-1. Newhall had six goals and McInerney four. The Capers go to Gorham Friday, then will try again to beat nemesis Waynflete Tuesday in Portland.

Outdoor track

Scarborough’s outdoor track teams joined Westbrook and Windham at Gorham Tuesday. The boys came in first and got wins from Cam Langlois in the 110 hurdles (16.2 seconds), Jacob Bloom in the two-mile (10 minutes, 25.61 seconds), Jerry Kenney in the 400 (53.91), Colin Jones in the 800 (2:04.63), Hugh McSorley in the discus (119 feet, 2 inches) and the javelin (121-7), Michael Granzier in the long jump (19-5) and the triple jump (37-7), Edward James in the pole vault (11-0) and the 400 (46.36) and 1,600 (3:47.29) relays.

The Red Storm girls were second to Windham and produced event winners Ellen Shaw in the 100 hurdles (19.83), Mina Puig in the javelin (81-9), Cailley Ledue in the pole vault (9-3) and Sarah Rinaldi in the triple jump (31-10).

South Portland joined Deering, McAuley and Portland at Cheverus Tuesday. The Red Riots were first in both genders.

The boys featured event winners Jacob Guay in the racewalk (8:09.56), Jake Maloney in the 800 (2:10.99), Ben Michaud in the long jump (20-0), Michael Cuesta in the triple jump (43-0) and their 3,200 relay (9:44.39).

The girls got wins from Lauren Magnuson in the 100 (13.3) and 400 (1:04.69), Katie Dooling in the racewalk (9:39.22), Casey Loring in the mile (5:39.01), Callie O’Brien in the 200 (28:35), Shannon Conley in the two-mile (11:33), Holly Black in the triple jump (28-2.25) and the 400 (53.18), 1,600 (4:49.40) and 3,200 (10:13.6) relays.

Cape Elizabeth joined Fryeburg and Old Orchard Beach at Gray-New Gloucester in its opener Friday. The Capers girls were second to the hosts. Cape Elizabeth got wins from Rose Baillie in the 100 hurdles (18.25), Montana Braxton in the 200 (28.08), Emily Faria in the two-mile (12:51.33), Hailey Petsinger in the 400 (1:05.48), Eva Brydson in the 800 (2:33.86), Sophia Avantaggio in the long jump (4-6), Katie Oberholtzer in the triple jump (25-9) and its 1,600 (4:47.17) and 3,200 (11:22.37) relays.

The boys came in third. Winners included Deven Roberts in the 110 hurdles (17.23), Mitchell Morris in the two-mile (10:10.80), Eddie Galvin in the triple jump (37-11.5) and the 3,200 relay (9:12.66).

Tennis

Cape Elizabeth’s defending Class B state champion boys’ tennis team took a 4-1 record into Wednesday’s match versus Kennebunk. The Capers’ lone loss was 3-2 to Falmouth Friday. The Cape Elizabeth girls blanked Fryeburg Monday, then fell to 2-3 Tuesday after a 3-2 loss at Greely.

In Western A, the Scarborough boys won two of their first three matches, while the girls were 3-0 heading into a showdown at Portland Wednesday, in a rematch of last year’s regional final (won by the Bulldogs).

South Portland’s boys started 2-2 and hosted red-hot Deering Wednesday. The Red Riots girls were 1-3 entering a match versus Deering Wednesday.

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