(Ed. Note: For the complete Falmouth-Yarmouth baseball, Yarmouth-Cape Elizabeth softball and Greely-Freeport and Yarmouth-Waynflete girls’ lacrosse game stories, with photos, see theforecaster.net)

The curtain has come down on the outdoor track and tennis regular seasons and baseball, lacrosse and softball have roughly a week to go.

There has been plenty of excitement in recent days and there are a lot of questions left to be answered in the days to come.

Here’s a glimpse at what’s occurred and what’s on tap:

Baseball

At press time, Falmouth’s baseball team was two wins from the program’s first undefeated regular season since 1997. Last week, the Yachtsmen defeated visiting York (5-1) and crushed host Greely (17-3) and Monday, they improved to 14-0 by holding off visiting Yarmouth, 1-0. Robbie Armitage homered, singled and drove in three runs against the Wildcats, while Reece Armitage didn’t allow an earned run. In Falmouth’s sixth straight win over the Rangers, Connor Aube put on a show, homering twice, singling twice and driving in seven runs. Cam Guarino beat Greely for the second time this spring. Runs were much harder to come by versus the Clippers, but an Aube double leading off the bottom of the first, followed by Tyler Gee’s RBI single was enough offense for Reece Armitage, who only allowed two hits and struck out eight as the Yachtsmen stayed perfect.

“I had some nerves early, but I battled through,” Armitage said. “My curveball worked today. I worked on it in my bullpen session.”

“The kids are humble and we just take it game by game, inning by inning,” Falmouth coach Kevin Winship said. “It’s just a fun team. These guys just come to the park and win.” 

The Yachtsmen (who appear to have the top spot in the Class A South Heal Points standings locked up) hosted Kennebunk Wednesday and wrap up the regular season at home versus Gray-New Gloucester Wednesday of next week.

“Not one player has talked about our record and I don’t care about being undefeated,” Winship said. “People say it’s good to lose one, but I don’t know about that. We’re having fun winning right now. Our philosophy is to stay on that train and see how far it goes. We’ll come to the park and if we win, we win. If not, we gave it our best shot.”

Freeport has stolen headlines of late and made history last Tuesday with its first win over Greely in at least 30 years (the teams didn’t play between 1987 and 2003), 3-1. Colby Wagner doubled, homered, drove in two runs and Josh Burke and Josh Spaulding combined to hold the Rangers to one run. That victory was just part of a win streak that had reached six at press time. After downing Greely, the Falcons won at Poland (9-0), at home over Wells (8-2) and at home over York (4-2) to improve to 9-5 and third in Class B South. Against the Knights, Caleb Rice threw a one-hitter in six innings and Jack Davenport and Caiden Shea had three hits apiece. Davenport earned his sixth win against the Warriors and Austin Langley drove in four runs. Monday, against the Wildcats, Burke earned the win and Davenport (who homered) and Wagner (whose single broke a sixth inning tie) both drove in a pair of runs.

“It has been a good two week stretch for sure,” said Freeport coach Bill Ridge. “Our guys have a good energy and focus at practices and games right now. The win against Greely is obviously a big one for us. It is a team we have struggled with in the past. Our confidence is at a point though that in those games our guys believe they can win and believe in our process. We have had some clutch hitting, incredible fielding and our pitching has been outstanding as of late.”

Freeport hosts Poland Friday, then closes at Traip Academy Wednesday of next week.

Greely has been up and down of late, losing at Freeport (3-1), blanking host Gray-New Gloucester (5-0), falling at home to Falmouth by a decisive 17-3 margin, then winning, 2-1, at dangerous Wells Monday to improve to 9-4-1 and fifth in Class B South. Ryan Twitchell had two hits and Justin Leeman pitched well against the Falcons, but the Rangers hit into three double plays. In the win over the Patriots, Ryan Twitchell threw a no-hitter, Greely’s first seven-inning no-hitter since 2006, when both Caleb Jordan and Paul Valente turned the trick. Caleb Normandeau sparked the offense with a two-run triple and Matt Pisini had three hits. Luke Miller had a two-run single against the Yachtsmen. In the victory at the Warriors, Brad Spoerri’s bases loaded walk brought in the winning run in the top of the seventh, Twitchell picked up his fifth victory, allowing just one run in six innings, and Cal Soule earned the save. The Rangers hosted Lake Region Wednesday and close the regular season at home versus Cape Elizabeth Friday. 

Yarmouth began the year 6-0-1, but has gone just 1-5 since. Last week, after a 5-1 home loss to Falmouth, the Clippers eked out a 5-4 victory at Kennebunk, then lost, 3-1, at Cape Elizabeth Friday and 1-0 at Falmouth Monday to fall to 7-5-1 and sixth in Class B South. In the victory, Gibson Harnett scored the winning run on a wild pitch, Joe DeFusco had two hits, Tyler Waaler earned the victory and Andrew Kinsman the save. Yarmouth managed just two hits against the Capers and had just two hits again in the loss to the Yachtsmen.

“It’s a heartbreaker, but you have to get more than two hits to win a ballgame,” Clippers coach Marc Halsted said, following the loss to Falmouth.

Yarmouth was at Poland Wednesday, hosts Gray-New Gloucester Friday and closes with a pivotal home game against currently top-ranked Cape Elizabeth Tuesday.

“We’ve played 13 games and we’ve faced the other team’s number one pitcher nine times and the other four, we faced the No. 2,” Halsted said. “That’s just life. We haven’t had the fortune of getting advantageous matchups. We have to step up.”

In Class D South, North Yarmouth Academy was 5-9 and clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot at press time following a 9-3 win at Temple Academy, an 11-2 home loss to Sacopee Valley and a 6-1 setback at Traip Academy. After going to Old Orchard Beach Wednesday, the Panthers close the regular season at home versus Waynflete Saturday.

Softball

Yarmouth’s softball team earned a signature win last week. After downing host Kennebunk, 14-2 (behind three RBI apiece from Sophie McGrath and Hannah Merrill), the Clippers went to Cape Elizabeth, which was riding a nine-game win streak, and rallied for a 5-3 triumph. McGrath’s two-run RBI single gave Yarmouth a 2-1 lead, but the Capers went ahead, 3-2. Clippers ace pitcher Mari Cooper then retired 14 batters in a row and a bases clearing double from Colleen Sullivan in the fourth made it 5-3 and put Yarmouth ahead to stay. Cape Elizabeth got the tying runs on in the seventh, but unlike two years ago, when the Clippers let a five-run seventh inning lead slip away in a gutwrenching playoff loss to the Capers, Cooper escaped the jam, thanks in large part to a double play turned by middle infield twins Andrea and Sydney St. Pierre.

“I felt good about other wins, but this is huge,” Cooper said. “I was picturing two years ago and to shut them down was really awesome.”

“It’s pretty exciting,” Sullivan said. “I’m really pumped because we finally put our offense and defense together. We finally got our bats alive.”

“We knew it would be a battle of the bats today,” Clippers coach Amy Ashley added. “They got ahead early, but it was nice to see us come back, get a lead and hold on to the lead. I think this is good because we finally closed a game in a tough place. It’s definitely the biggest win so far.”

Monday, Yarmouth improved to 10-3 and fifth in the Class B South Heal Points standings after holding on for a 6-5 win at Falmouth. Eleanor O’Gorman had three hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs. Cooper earned her 10th victory. The Clippers were at Wells Wednesday, host Gray-New Gloucester Friday and close the regular season with a home showdown against Cape Elizabeth Tuesday.

Greely extended its win streak to five by downing host Gray-New Gloucester (7-5) and visiting Falmouth (10-3) in recent action. In the victory over the Patriots, Charlotte Benoit and Sarah Felkel homered and Kelsey Currier and Moira Train both had two hits. Against the Yachtsmen, the Rangers erased a 3-2 deficit with an eight-spot in the bottom of the sixth, as Kayley Cimino hit a grand slam. Currier also homered and earned the win. Greely was home with Lake Region Wednesday, hosts Cape Elizabeth in a pivotal showdown Friday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and closes at Freeport in a makeup game Saturday.

Freeport’s skid hit six with recent losses at Poland (9-2), at home to Wells (14-0, in five innings) and at home to York (9-8). The Falcons let a 6-0 lead slip away against the Wildcats, despite three RBI apiece from Bailey Karnes and Elizabeth Wiest. Freeport (3-11 and 17th in Class B South, where only 12 teams qualify for the playoffs) was home with Greely Saturday and closes at Traip Academy Wednesday.

In Class A South, Falmouth was 5-9 and 12th at press time, but only 11 teams qualify for the playoffs. The Yachtsmen were coming off losses to visiting York (3-1), host Greely (10-3) and visiting Yarmouth (6-5). Falmouth only mustered one hit against Wildcats ace Stephanie Rundlett. Jess Collins homered against both the Rangers and Clippers. Liberty Ladd had three hits against Yarmouth. The Yachtsmen hosted Kennebunk Wednesday and close the regular season Wednesday of next week at home versus Gray-New Gloucester.

Boys’ lacrosse

Falmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team has bounced back nicely from its lone loss at Cape Elizabeth by winning four straight, capped by victories at home over Wells (17-5), at Messalonskee (13-3) and at home over Greely (14-1). Jack Scribner had two goals and seven assists against the Warriors and scored seven times against the Eagles. Lou Mainella had two goals and three assists against Wells. Devin Russell scored four times and Nick Farnham and George Gilbert both had three goals in the victory over the Rangers. The Yachtsmen (9-1 and second to Cape Elizabeth in the Class B South Heal Points standings) look to give coach Mike LeBel his 100th victory with the program Friday at Kennebunk. The regular season culminates Tuesday with a home showdown against Cape Elizabeth, where the top seed for the playoffs will likely be at stake.

Greely fell to 5-5 and fifth after following up wins at York (10-9) and at home over Freeport (10-2) with losses at Thornton Academy (12-5) and Falmouth (14-1). Josh Lawless beat the Wildcats with a goal with a second left. Dillon Trelegan scored twice against the Golden Trojans. The Rangers are at NYA Friday and close at home versus Kennebunk Wednesday.

In Class B North, Yarmouth continued its inexorable march up the standings and extended its win streak to four with recent victories over visiting Lake Region (19-2) and host Waynflete (18-10). Matthew Beatty, Andy Garrett, Patrick Grant, Bill Jacobs and Joe Truesdale all had three goals in the win over the Lakers. Remi LeBlanc had four goals and Grant added three against the Flyers. The Clippers (6-3 and second to Cony in the Heals) hosted Kennebunk Tuesday, visit Cape Elizabeth in a state game rematch Friday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and close at home against NYA Wednesday of next week.

NYA’s playoff hopes remained alive at press time. The Panthers were 2-7 and eighth in Class B North (10 teams qualify) after a 12-6 loss at Waynflete and a 15-10 victory at Fryeburg Academy. Connor Clock, Sam Johnson, Trevor Lachance and Jeremy Thelven all scored three times in the victory. NYA was at Cape Elizabeth Tuesday, hosts Greely Friday and goes to Yarmouth for the finale Wednesday of next week.

Freeport was 2-7 and 12th in Class B North following a 16-3 setback at Kennebunk and a 10-2 loss at Greely. After going to Lake Region Tuesday, the Falcons host Fryeburg Academy Thursday and close the regular season Wednesday of next week at Waynflete.

Girls’ lacrosse

Yarmouth’s two-time defending Class B state champion girls’ lacrosse team took an eight-game win streak into a huge showdown at undefeated Kennebunk Tuesday night (see theforecaster.net for game story). The game serves as a state final rematch and perhaps a preview for what’s in store June 18.

Last week, the Clippers improved to 8-1 by beating host Lake Region (17-8) and visiting Waynflete (4-3) and Brunswick (16-1). Sophia Harrison, Jessica Kirk, Meredith Lane and Cory Langenbach all had two goals in the win over the Lakers. Against Waynflete, after scoring just once in the first half (Harrison), the high-powered Clippers finally kicked it in gear in the second half, as with 22:57 to play, Ella Antolini finished Greta Elder’s feed. Eliza Lunt then scored consecutive goals to open up a 4-1 advantage, which in this game appeared insurmountable. The Flyers rallied within 4-3, but Lane won a late draw to Kirk and Yarmouth ran out the clock.

“We talked at halftime about how hard our defense was working and how we needed to feed off of that and move more quickly,” Antolini said. 

“I think we came out for a fight,” said Clippers senior captain and defensive standout Campbell Dorsett. “We worked hard and we worked together.”

“We started out with a tough first half and Waynflete played awesome,” added Clippers coach Dorothy Holt. “We flipped the switch in the second half, then we played great. I give my kids credit. I’m thrilled we pulled out a win.”

In the win over the Dragons, Antolini, Lane and Emma Glessner all had three goals. Yarmouth (second to Morse in the Class B North Heal Points standings) has its home finale Thursday against Cape Elizabeth, then closes at Falmouth in a possible state game preview Wednesday of next week.

The Yachtsmen continue to surge, improving to 10-0 with recent wins at Fryeburg Academy (17-4), Wells (17-2) and Greely (14-7). Sydney Bell continued her torrid scoring pace with six goals against the Warriors. Kayla Sarazin added four. In the win over the Rangers, Bell scored four more goals and Devon Sarazin and Chelsey Smithwick added three goals apiece. Falmouth (10-0 and second behind Kennebunk in Class B South) hosts the Rams in a regional final rematch Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story), then closes at home versus Yarmouth Wednesday of next week.

Greely was 4-6 and clinging to the sixth and final Class B South playoff spot at press time. Last week, the Rangers dropped a tough 8-7 home decision to York, then downed host Freeport, 13-9. Kelsey Otley had four goals against the Wildcats. She added four more in the win and Courtney Sullivan scored three times.

“I worked in the second half on getting into zone right away and cutting and that’s where a lot of my shots came from, from feeds from behind the net,” Otley said.

“We’ve worked really hard on playing defense and the turnovers in the second half really helped,” said Greely coach Becca Koelker. “That was crucial today.”

Monday, the Rangers lost, 14-7, to visiting Falmouth, despite four goals from Katherine Leggat-Barr. Greely hosts NYA Friday and finishes at Cape Elizabeth Wednesday of next week.

Freeport preceded its 13-9 home loss to Greely with a 17-1 home loss to Kennebunk. Against the Rangers, the Falcons got three goals apiece from Courtney Broderick and Lily Johnston and 11 saves from goalie Sam Jordan, but were done in by 22 turnovers.

“We dug too deep a hole,” said Falcons coach Marcia Wood. “When you have that many turnovers against a good transition team like Greely, it’s hard to come back.”

The Falcons (3-6 and eighth in Class B North, where 10 teams qualify) were home with Lake Region Tuesday, visit Fryeburg Academy Thursday, then close at York Wednesday of next week.

NYA was 2-6 and 12th in Class B North after Friday’s 14-9 loss at Fryeburg Academy. Zelda Clegg scored four goals. The Panthers were home against Cape Elizabeth Tuesday, then go to Wells Thursday, Greely Friday and close at Kennebunk Wednesday of next week.

Outdoor track

Falmouth, Greely and Yarmouth traveled to Cape Elizabeth for a regular season-ending outdoor track showdown.

In the boys’ meet, the Yachtsmen were first, the Rangers were runners-up and the Clippers came in fourth. Falmouth got wins from Matt Polewaczyk in the 100 (11.26 seconds) and 200 (22.96), Josh Simensky in the 800 (2 minutes, 00.80 seconds), Jeremiah Sands in the mile (4:23.72), Nigel Dunn in the 110 hurdles (17.03) and 300 hurdles (42.96), Tony St. Angelo in the high jump (5 feet-8 inches) and long jump (19-4.25), Aaron Thomas in the pole vault (12-6), Ted Pierson in the shot put (41-8) and its 4×100 (44.57) and 4×400 (3:40.23) relay teams. Greely got first-place finishes from Ryan Morrison in the two-mile (9:59.25), Sam Bonnevie in the javelin (138-8) and its 4×800 relay squad (9:07.66). Yarmouth’s Tucker Whitney won the triple jump (38-11.75) and Ian Murrin was first in the discus (123-1.5).

In the girls’ meet, Falmouth finished first, Greely was second and Yarmouth placed third. The Yachtsmen got wins from Emma England in the 200 (27.39), Elizabeth Cyr in the 400 (1:05.50), Malaika Pasch in the 800 (2:24.30), Adelaide Cooke in the 100 hurdles (16.39), javelin (106-5) and shot put (34-7), Chelsea Zhao in the pole vault (8-6), Lydia Farmer in the long jump (15-9.25) and triple jump (34-9), Madison Tait in the discus (103-0 and their 4×100 (52.03) and 4×400 (4:23.51) relay teams. The Rangers got first-place performances from Carolyn Todd in the two-mile (11:38.27), Skylar Cooney in the 300 hurdles (48.83) and Siana Emery in the racewalk (8:21.53). The Clippers got wins from Emma Egan in the 100 (12.93) and high jump (5-4) and Anneka Murrin the mile (5:15.20).

Freeport and NYA joined Poland at Gray-New Gloucester in their finale. The Falcons boys and girls came in third, while both Panthers genders were fourth.

In the boys’ meet, Freeport got wins from Chandler Vincent in the mile (4:26.32), Henry Jaques in the two-mile (9:47.76) and its 4×800 relay team (8:55.0). NYA’s Xander Bartone won the 400 (54.18). Jake Malcom was first in the triple jump (34-4.5).

In the girls’ competition, Freeport’s Maddie Squibb won the 800 (2:28.28). Lucy Zachau was first in the racewalk (9:16.62). The Falcons also won the 4×400 (4:28.40) and 4×800 (11:24.04) relays. NYA’s Megan Alberding was first in the two-mile (13:04.45). Isabelle See won the high jump (4-8). Emily Baker was first in the long jump (14-1). 

The Western Maine Conference championship meet will be contested Saturday at Lake Region High School in Naples.

The state championship meets for all classes will be held Saturday, June 4.

Tennis

Tennis’ regular season was wrapping up at press time.

Falmouth’s eight-time defending girls’ state champion extended its match win streak to 137 with recent 5-0 wins over Yarmouth and NYA and a 4-1 triumph over Cape Elizabeth to finish 12-0. The Yachtsmen were ranked second behind Scarborough in Class A South and are favored to go all the way again. In Class B South, two-time defending state champion Greely was 7-4 and seventh heading into a makeup match versus NYA Tuesday to close the regular season. Yarmouth was 8-4 and fifth after closing with wins over Greely (5-0) and Freeport (4-1). Freeport was 2-8 and 11th (only nine teams make the playoffs) pending makeup matches versus Lake Region and York. Defending Class C champion NYA was 6-5 and fourth heading into Tuesday’s makeup match versus Greely.

On the boys’ side, two-time defending Class A champion Falmouth finished 12-0 and will likely be the number two seed in Class A South behind Thornton Academy. In Class B South, Yarmouth was 5-6 and fifth heading into Tuesday’s finale versus Waynflete. Freeport was also playoff-bound at 4-7 and seventh heading into Wednesday’s finale at York. Greely finished the year 0-12 and 10th in the region. In Class C South, NYA finished 5-7 after a 5-0 loss to Waynflete and will likely be the No. 7 seed for the playoffs.

The tennis postseason begins Tuesday of next week with the preliminary round.

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

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Yarmouth catcher Cate Ralph tags out a Cape Elizabeth runner during the Clippers’ 5-3 road win Friday.

Greely senior Maegan Dougherty is robbed by Freeport senior goalie Sam Jordan during the Rangers’ 13-9 victory last week.

Greely’s Jocelyn Mitiguy and Falmouth’s Adelaide Cooke run the 100 hurdles neck-and-neck at last week’s meet at Cape Elizabeth. Cooke edged Mitiguy by one-one-hundredth of a second.

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