Yarmouth’s Jackson Caruso tags out a Cape Elizabeth baserunner during the Capers 2-1, nine-inning victory last week.

Falmouth’s Nick Farnham fires a shot through the Yarmouth defense during Friday’s 8-7 Yachtsmen victory.

Falmouth junior Caitlyn Camelio races into the attacking zone during the Yachtsmen’s 13-6 victory at Scarborough last week.

Greely’s Maggie McCormick soars to victory in the girls’ long jump at a meet last week at Gray. The Rangers came in second as a team.

(Ed. Note: For the complete Yarmouth-Cape Elizabeth baseball, Falmouth-Yarmouth boys’ lacrosse and Falmouth-Scarborough girls’ lacrosse game stories, with box scores and photos, see theforecaster.net)

The short and sweet spring sports season has passed the midway point. There has been plenty of excitement so far and every event will take on added importance in the days to come.

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

Baseball

Freeport’s baseball team won all three games last week, following up a 3-0 shutout victory at Cape Elizabeth with a 13-2 (five-inning) home win over Old Orchard Beach and a 13-0 (five-inning) triumph at Lincoln Academy, to improve to 7-3 and fourth (at press time) in the Class B South Heal Points standings. Against the Seagulls, Colby Wagner had three hits (including a home run) and drove in four runs and Shea Wagner had two hits and three RBI. Toby Holt earned the victory. In the win over the Eagles, Shea Wagner, Liam Holt and Finn Johnston combined to throw a no-hitter with just one walk. Jack Sawicki went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and Colby Wagner had three hits and three RBI. The Falcons were home with defending Class B champion Yarmouth Wednesday (see theforecaster.net for game story), welcome Morse Thursday and go to Poland Monday.

Yarmouth dropped a 2-1, nine-inning home decision to Cape Elizabeth in a playoff rematch last Wednesday, then bounced back to blank host Lake Region (6-0) and beat visiting St. Dom’s (9-3) and Greely (3-2) to improve to 6-3 and eighth in Class B South. Against the Capers, James Waaler doubled in Luke Waeldner for a first inning run, but the Clippers didn’t score again, stranding 12 runners.

“We didn’t deserve to win,” Yarmouth coach Marc Halsted said. “They were better. We didn’t get hits in big spots and we had unfortunate baserunning.”

Waeldner threw a three-hit shutout against the Lakers, striking out eight batters, and also had two hits to pace the offense. In the win over the Saints, Yarmouth scored six first-inning runs and cruised from there. Toby Burgmaier earned the victory, Jackson Caruso hit a two-run double and Jack Romano and Jason had multiple hits. In the win over the Rangers, the Clippres’ first since May 17, 2012, snapping an 11-game skid in the series, Dom Morrill had a strong pitching performance and Ben Norton hit a two-run go-ahead double in the fifth inning.  Yarmouth went to Freeport Wednesday, hosts Gray-New Gloucester Friday, visits Gardiner Saturday and has a key test at Cape Elizabeth Monday.

Greely was 6-5 and third in Class B South following a 12-2 win at Poland, a 3-2 setback at Oxford Hills and a 3-2 loss at Yarmouth. Jacob Whiting earned a complete game victory against the Knights, in his first varsity start. Will Neleski had three hits and an RBI against the Vikings, but was the hard-luck loser as Oxford Hills scored a run in the bottom of the sixth and two in the bottom of the seventh to rally. In the loss to the Clippers, Neleski doubled twice and singled, while Nick Butler and A.J. Eisenhart both had a pair of hits. The Rangers were home against Sacopee Valley Wednesday, host Lincoln Academy Friday and play at Wells Monday

In Class A South, Falmouth was 4-5 and 12th in the Heals following after losses at Thornton Academy (6-4) and at home to Marshwood (8-3) and a 5-3 win at Scarborough. Sam Kidder singled and tripled in the loss to the Golden Trojans. Against the Hawks, Kidder and Ike Kiely had multiple hits. In the victory, Garrett Tracy earned the win and Griffin Aube had three hits. The Yachtsmen were home with Kennebunk Tuesday, visit Windham Thursday, play at Deering Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and welcome Massabesic Tuesday of next week.

In Class D South, North Yarmouth Academy began the week 1-5 and ninth in the Heals following home setbacks to Richmond (11-0) and Sacopee Valley (13-2). The Panthers were at Traip Academy Tuesday, visit Richmond Thursday and play at Sacopee Valley Monday.

Softball

Yarmouth’s softball team has won four of five games to improve to 5-4 and ninth in the Class B South Heal Points standings. After blanking visiting York in five-innings (15-0), the Clippers lost at home to Cape Elizabeth, 8-3. They then turned around and defeated host Lake Region (15-3), visiting St. Dom’s (6-2) and visiting Greely (13-3). Sophie McGrath had two hits and scored four runs in the win over the Wildcats. Hannah Merrill led the way with three hits in the victory over the Lakers. Against the Rangers, Margaret McNeil homered. Yarmouth was at Freeport Wednesday, hosts Gray-New Gloucester Friday, visits Gardiner Saturday and goes to Cape Elizabeth Monday.

Greely was 5-6 at press time, following four straight losses, including setbacks at Poland (8-3), Oxford Hills (7-0) and Yarmouth (13-3). In the loss to Poland, Kelsey Currier registered 10 strikeouts, but the Knights scored six times in the sixth inning. Currier singled twice against the Vikings. Greely (sixth in Class B South) welcomed Sacopee Valley Wednesday, hosts Lincoln Academy Friday and goes to Wells Monday.

Freeport was 2-8 and 15th in Class B South following a dramatic 5-4 home win over Old Orchard Beach and losses at Lincoln Academy (3-1) and at home to Traip Academy (15-1). Alexa Koenig had a game-tying triple in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Seagulls, then won it with an RBI single in the seventh. Megan Cormier was the hard-luck loser against the Eagles. The Falcons were home against Yarmouth Wednesday, welcome Morse Thursday and go to Poland Monday.

The Cheverus/North Yarmouth Academy co-op softball team was 3-8 and 13th in Class A South at press time. Last week, the Stags outlasted host Deering (30-18) before losing, 13-9, in eight-innings, to visiting Kennebunk. Monday, Cheverus/NYA fell at Gorham, 13-0, in five-innings. Sydney Plummer hit a home run against Deering. Against Kennebunk, Cheverus/NYA erased a 9-1 deficit to force extra innings, but fell just short. Plummer had a pair of hits. Cheverus/NYA was no-hit at Gorham. Cheverus/NYA welcomed Massabesic Wednesday, goes to Marshwood Friday, hosts Portland Monday and is at Noble Tuesday of next week.

The Maine Girls’ Academy/Falmouth co-op squad saw its skid hit eight games last week with a 12-5 home loss to Bonny Eagle, before improving to 3-8 and 14th in Class A South with a dramatic come-from-behind, 6-5 home victory over Windham and a 15-5 home-victory over Deering. Liberty Ladd drove in a pair against the Scots and hit a game-tying two-run double against the Eagles. In the win over the Rams, Ladd singled, doubled and homered. The Sea Lions welcomed Kennebunk Wednesday, play at Gorham Friday and play host to Massabesic Monday of next week.

Boys’ lacrosse

Falmouth and Yarmouth’s boys’ lacrosse teams produced an instant classic Friday evening.

The Yachtsmen came in to the game 6-0, after a 13-4 home win over South Portland two days prior (Nick Farnham and Tommy Fitzgerald both scored twice), while the Clippers entered 5-0, after a 10-5 win at York (Silas Chappell and Gavin Hamm each scored three goals, while Cooper May added a pair).

Falmouth took an early 4-1 lead at Yarmouth and was up, 7-4, at halftime, but the Clippers blanked the Yachtsmen in the third quarter and drew even on Anders Corey’s goal with 4:16 left in the frame. Falmouth’s defense then pitched a shutout the rest of the way and Henry Farnham scored the go-ahead goal with 24.6 seconds on the clock. Emmitt Zinn won the ensuing faceoff and the Yachtsmen held on to stay undefeated as Lou Mainella led the way with three goals.

“Overall, it’s good for us to have a game like this,” Henry Farnham said. “We know we have to play a full game to win.” 

“We know we can’t fall off from what our ultimate target is,” Zinn said. “It’s on to the next one. We can’t get down on ourselves and we just need to come out and get the job done.”

“Credit to Yarmouth,” added Yachtsmen coach Dave Barton. “We had this circled on our schedule. It was fun. It was a change of pace.”

The Yachtsmen (first in the Class A North Heals at press time) were at Deering Wednesday, host defending Class A champion Brunswick Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and welcome Cheverus Tuesday of next week.

Corey and May scored three times in Yarmouth’s loss to Falmouth and afterwards, the Clippers were lamenting the one that got away.

“It’s a big disappointment,” Yarmouth coach David Pearl said. “Credit to Falmouth. They’re a great team, but I’m really proud of our boys. We proved a lot to ourselves.”

The Clippers improved to 6-1 Monday with a 20-5 win at Kennebunk. May led the way with five goals, Corey had four and Michael Guertler and Preston Jancovic each added three. Yarmouth (first in Class B) was home with Lake Region Tuesday, goes to Scarborough Friday and has a state game rematch at home versus Cape Elizabeth Wednesday of next week.

Elsewhere in Class B, Greely is coming off one of its biggest victories in years. The Rangers dropped a 9-6 decision at Cape Elizabeth last Tuesday, then rallied from eight goals down to stun host Brunswick, 15-14, in overtime Friday. 

Ben Kennedy and Andrew Lawrence scored twice as Greely gave the Capers their closest game in the series in a decade.

“We came out here and competed with a really high-quality program and this was a great opportunity for us to learn and build,” said Rangers coach Mike Storey.

In the win, Kennedy scored five times, including the tying tally in the final minute of regulation, Tim Coyle scored three goals and Ethan Fraser had two, including the winner in OT. Greely improved to 5-2 and fourth in Class B after an 18-8 home win over Messalonskee Monday. Kennedy again led the way with four goals, while Lawrence, Devlin O’Keefe and Schuyler Wetmore all added three. The Rangers were home with NYA Wednesday and go to Freeport Tuesday of next week.

In Class C, NYA improved to 6-1 and first in the Heals after holding off visiting Waynflete (9-8) and Mt. Ararat (11-8) last week. Ryan Baker and Xander Kostelnik both scored two goals against the Flyers. Jonah Eng led the way with six goals in the win over the Eagles. The Panthers went to Greely Wednesday, visit Messalonskee Saturday and are home to meet York Wednesday of next week.

Freeport (0-7 and 13th in Class C) is idle until Tuesday of next week when it hosts Greely.

Girls’ lacrosse

On the girls’ side, Falmouth was 6-2 and first in Class A North at press time following wins at Scarborough (13-6) and Lewiston (5-3) last week. The Yachtsmen broke open a tie game at the Red Storm with a 9-2 second half surge. Caitlyn Camelio had four goals, Christian Oakes added three and Kayla Sarazin won 12 of 21 draws, including nine of 10 in one second half stretch.

“It’s all about having great people in the draw circle with me and cheering me on,” said Sarazin, who also had a game-high eight ground balls.

“We put it together in the second half,” Falmouth coach Ashley Pullen said. “It was important to come and start the second half well and finish it well.” 

Emily Hamilton scored twice and Sarazin finished with three assists in the win over the Blue Devils. The Yachtsmen were home with Cheverus Wednesday and welcome Waynflete Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story).

In Class B, defending regional champion Yarmouth was first in the standings at 4-2 following a 9-6 victory at Cape Elizabeth last week. Meredith Lane led the way with three goals. Greta Elder added two goals and two assists and Annie Lowenstein scored twice. The Clippers were at dangerous St. Dom’s Wednesday and host Marshwood Saturday and York Wednesday of next week.

Greely was second in Class B at 5-1 following last Tuesday’s 8-6 home win over York. Jayme Morrison scored three times and Courtney Sullivan added a pair of goals. The Rangers went to Freeport Wednesday, host Scarborough Friday and welcome St. Dom’s Tuesday of next week.

In Class C, Freeport was up to 4-2 and fourth in the Heals after rolling at NYA (18-8) and downing visiting Oceanside (14-2) last week. Taylor Dostie and Taylor Rinaldi both had five goals, while Chloe Davidson added four more in the win over the Panthers. Against the Mariners, Dostie, Rinaldi and Maggie Murray all had two goals. The Falcons were home with Greely Wednesday, play at Gorham Friday and welcome Waynflete Wednesday of next week.

NYA was 2-4 and 10th in Class C following losses to visiting Freeport (18-8) and host Maine Girls’ Academy (15-11). Helen Hamblett scored twice against the Falcons. In the loss to the Lions, Natalie Farrell, Bella MacMahon and Amber Rose all had two goals against the Lions. The Panthers were at York Wednesday, welcome Deering Saturday and go to Cape Elizabeth Tuesday of next week.

Outdoor track

Greely and Freeport traveled to Gray-New Gloucester for a makeup outdoor track meet last Friday. The Rangers boys were first and the Falcons came in second. Greely got wins from Adam Bruder in the 800 (2 minutes, 7.35 seconds), Luke Marsanskis in the two-mile (10:08.29), Gavin Poperechny in the 110 hurdles (16.56 seconds), Bryan Taylor in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches), and its 4×100 relay team (47.15). Freeport’s first-place finishers included Nick Mitch in the 400 (54.62), Martin Horne in the mile (4:36.86), Griffin Agnese in the 300 hurdles (44.31), Alex Helie in the shot put (40-7) and its 4×400 (3:45.53) and 4×800 (10:04.73) relay squads.

In the girls’ meet, won by the hosts, the Rangers placed second and the Falcons came in third. Greely got wins from Marin Provencher in the two-mile (11:53.71), Leah Walker in the 100 hurdles (20.36), Morgan Selby in the 300 hurdles (49.71) and high jump (4-10), Maggie McCormick in the pole vault (9-0) and long jump (14-7.5) and its 4×800 relay squad (10:32.16). Freeport event winners included Tara Migliaccio in the 400 (1:06.21), Maya Bradbury in the 800 (2:39.33), Lily Horne in the mile (5:22.85), Grace Schnyder in the racewalk (9:55.24) and its 4×400 relay team (4:43.48).

NYA joined four other teams in a meet at Wells last week. The Panthers boys placed fourth and the girls were fifth. Olivia Reynolds won the girls’ mile (5:43.18).

Falmouth’s boys were second to Scarborough at a four-team meet in Windham last Tuesday. The Yachtsmen got wins from Douglas Cooke in the 400 (52.71), John Auer in the mile (4:33.03), Conner Piers in the two-mile (10:15.60) and John Peelen in the discus (118-11).

Results for Yarmouth’s meet last Friday at Sacopee Valley weren’t available at press time.

Tennis

The qualifying round for the state singles tennis tournament began last weekend.

Three players from defending Class A champion Falmouth advanced, as top-ranked Nick Forester beat Deering’s Jonathan Kahn, 6-0, 6-0, third-ranked Alex Klemperer was a 6-0, 6-2 victor over Deering’s Alix Rubin and Matthew Ray downed Thornton Academy’s Adam Lovejoy (8-0) and Cape Elizabeth’s Dan Howard (6-3, 6-2). Freeport’s Clay Canterbury (who beat Marshwood’s Jonathan Whitesell, 6-1, 6-0) and Weston Godwin (an 8-2 winner over Marshwood’s Aidan Berman and a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 winner over Westbrook’s Landon Sjoberg) also advanced, as did Yarmouth’s William Nicholas, who downed Scarborough’s Aidan Cohen (8-6) and Westbrook’s Garett Sanders (4-6, 7-5, 6-4).

On the girls’ side, all three players from 10-time defending champion Falmouth moved on. Meredith Kelley defeated NYA’s Alex Markonish (6-0, 6-0). Sarah Fallon ousted Thornton Academy’s Brianna Paul (6-1, 6-2). Alston Armstrong was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over South Portland’s Abby Trieu and a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Cheverus’ Elliana Budri. Also advancing were Izzy Evans, of defending Class B champion Greely (who blanked Yarmouth’s Lexie Caterine, 6-0, 6-0), and NYA’s Afton Morton, who downed Cheverus’ Kristian Matkevich (8-1) and Yarmouth’s Lisa Tchitchken (6-1, 6-1).

Falmouth’s girls’ team extended its match win streak to 166 with recent victories over Windham (4-1), Portland (4-1) and Gorham (4-1) to improve to 9-0 on the season. The Yachtsmen went to Kennebunk/Wells Wednesday, then close the regular season with a home match versus Deering Friday and a trip to Cheverus Monday.

The Falmouth boys beat Bonny Eagle (4-1), Windham (5-0), Sanford (5-0) and Gorham (5-0) to improve to 9-0. 

Greely’s girls beat defending Class C champion Waynflete, 4-1, Monday to improve to 8-0 on the year. The Rangers still have home matches versus NYA and St. Dom’s and trips to Freeport and Lake Region on their schedule.

Greely’s boys fell to 1-8 after a 5-0 and 4-1 losses to 10-time defending Class C champion Waynflete Monday.

Freeport’s boys were 7-2 entering a home match versus Cape Elizabeth Wednesday. The Falcons are enjoying their best season since 2006. Freeport’s girls fell to 1-7 after a 5-0 loss to Yarmouth Friday.

Yarmouth’s defending Class B South champion boys’ squad was 4-3 entering Tuesday’s home match versus York. The Yarmouth girls beat Lake Region and Freeport by 5-0 scores, then extended their win streak to five and improved to 5-3 after a 4-1 home win over York Monday.

The NYA boys fell to 0-9 after a 4-0 loss to York Monday. The Panthers girls’ squad was 4-3 entering a showdown at Waynflete Tuesday.

Press Herald staff writer Taylor Vortherms contributed to this story.

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

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