(Ed. Note: For the complete Cape Elizabeth-Greely softball and Scarborough-Cheverus girls’ lacrosse game stories, with photos and box scores, please visit theforecaster.net)

While track (see story) and tennis have gotten the jump on the other spring sports in starting their postseason, everyone else is about to join in.

Baseball, softball and boys’ and girls’ lacrosse wrap up their regular seasons by the end of the week, then they will also begin vying for hardware.

Here’s a glimpse:

Tennis

The tennis singles tournament produced a lot of drama and one Cape Elizabeth boy was in the middle of it, as Luke Gilman, who was unseeded, made a spirited run all the way to the semifinals.

Gilman began with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Waynflete’s Brandon Ameglio in the first round, trailed top-ranked Justin Brogan of Falmouth, 2-4, in the second round when Brogan had to retire with an injury, then beat Ellsworth’s Evan Toothaker, 6-2, 6-2, in the Round of 16 and North Yarmouth Academy’s Bryce Tetreault, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarterfinals. Monday, Gilman finally met his match as he was dispatched, 2-6, 1-6, by fourth-ranked Nick Mathieu of Mt. Ararat, who went on to lose to Falmouth’s Brendan McCarthy in the final, 1-6, 2-6.

Gilman’s teammates Eli Breed and Gabriel Torres weren’t as fortunate.

Torres, seeded 10th, was a 6-1, 7-5, winner over Deering’s Tyler Butler in the second round, defeated Mt. Desert Island’s Luke Horton, 6-2, 6-4, in the Round of 16, then lost to McCarthy in the quarterfinals, 1-6, 2-6.

Breed, who was unseeded, beat Kennebunk’s Alex Pearson, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round and advanced in a second round walkover against Mt. Blue’s Sullivan Abbott, but he was finally defeated, 3-6, 2-6, by Mathieu in the Round of 16.

Scarborough’s Ogden Timpson, the No. 6 seed, beat Bangor’s Josh Landry in the second round, 6-0, 6-0, and blanked Boothbay’s Nick Gorey, 6-0, 6-0, in the Round of 16, but in the quarterfinals, Timpson was sent home by third-ranked Isaac Salas of Waynflete, 3-6, 1-6.

In the girls’ competition, Cape Elizabeth’s Liv Clifford, who was unseeded, won two matches: defeating Hall-Dale’s Nicole Pelletier in the first round, 6-2, 6-0, and Spruce Mountain’s Taylor Boynton in the second, 6-0, 6-0, but she was ousted by third-ranked Bethany Hammond of St. Dom’s in the Round of 16, 0-6, 0-6.

Scarborough’s Laura Henny and Megan Nathanson each won one match.

Henny downed Mt. Blue’s Eryn Doiron, 6-4, 6-2, then was eliminated by seventh-seeded Abby Blakely of Camden Hills, 1-6, 1-6.

Nathanson beat Lucinda-Callie Winger of PCHS, 6-1, 6-0, then lost to No. 12 Sage Winter of Marshwood, 6-4, 2-6, 2-6.

Baseball

The baseball regular season has come to a close and Scarborough and South Portland were awaiting the final standings at press time.

It looks like the Red Riots will be the top seed in Western A for the first time since 2002 (that season, South Portland was first in the Northwest Division of Western A due to the poorly conceived open tournament). The Red Riots capped a 14-2 campaign (their best since a 16-2 season a decade ago) with wins over visiting Sanford (7-6, in eight innings), visiting Thornton Academy (7-3) and host Gorham (4-0). Against the Spartans, South Portland let a 6-1 lead slip away, but prevailed on Zac Marles’ sacrifice fly. Jon Vickers got the win in relief and Robert Graff had three RBI. Cosmo Romano and Sam Troiano (who scored the winning run) both had multiple hits. In the win over the Golden Trojans, a six-run fourth inning blew the game open. Troiano and Dylan Farrell-Reny both had two-run hits. Graff struck out nine in five strong innings to earn the victory. Henry Curran threw a four-hitter against the Rams to cap his tremendous regular season. Marles had a clutch two-run hit. The Red Riots open the playoffs by hosting a quarterfinal round contest next week.

Scarborough, which started the year 0-4, finished on a 9-2-1 run to wind up 9-6-1, which will likely place the Red Storm fifth in Western A and necessitate a preliminary round playoff game next week. Scarborough closed the regular season by beating visiting Gorham and host Noble by 5-0 scores before falling at Marshwood, 3-2. Ben Greenberg and Zach Carreiro combined on a five-hit shutout against the Rams, as Cam Brochu scored twice. Jack Hughes threw a five-hit shutout against the Knights, as Brochu, Carreiro, Nick Lorello and Austin Pemberton all had multiple hits. The Red Storm let a 2-0 lead slip away against the Hawks.

In Western B, Cape Elizabeth fell short of the playoffs. The Capers closed with losses at Falmouth (10-0, in five innings), at Wells (5-0) and at home against Greely (1-0, in eight innings). Cape Elizabeth was held scoreless the final 33 innings of the season, only managing seven hits in its final three games. The Capers wound up 4-12 and 12th in the region, but only 10 teams made the postseason.

The baseball playoffs begin Tuesday with the preliminary round. The quarterfinals are Thursday, June 12 and the semis Saturday, June 14. All games will be played on the field of the higher seed.

Softball

On the softball side of the diamond, Cape Elizabeth capped its first ever 16-0 campaign with a 10-6 home win over rival Greely Monday. Prior to that landmark victory, the Capers defeated host Falmouth (6-1) and Wells (11-4). Against the Yachtsmen, Katie Rabasca threw a five-hitter, Mary Perkins had three hits and Elise Flathers and Ashley Tinsman added two apiece. In the victory over the Warriors, Tinsman, Anna Goldstein and Tess Haller all hit home runs and Emma O’Rourke had three hits. Against the Rangers, Cape Elizabeth scored six runs on wild pitches and Flathers and Rabasca both had multiple hits. Rabasca got the win, with Goldstein recording the final out.

“This is so exciting for us, especially for the seniors, because we won states as 9/10 (year-old) all-stars and this is basically the same team,” said Flathers.

“We’ve played everybody who was tough,” Capers coach Joe Henrikson said. “There were really few easy games. I thought we were capable, but we almost lost to Lake Region and Poland. Fryeburg was really tough. Wells, Greely, Falmouth, Yarmouth. They were all really tough.”

Cape Elizabeth will likely be tested in the quarterfinals next week, as potential foes include Fryeburg, Leavitt or Poland.

“We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Flathers said. “We want it all to come together. We’re having so much fun. We have so much team chemistry. It’s one of the best teams I’ve been on.”

In Western A, defending state champion Scarborough was seeking a perfect regular season when it went to rival South Portland Wednesday afternoon. The Red Storm improved to 15-0 by romping at Westbrook (17-0), rallying to stun Biddeford (10-9) and dominating host Portland (20-0, in five innings). Against the Blue Blazes, Scarborough was scoreless the first four innings, then erupted. Lilly Volk threw a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and Brittany Plowman and Alyssa Williamson both had three hits. The Red Storm blew a 6-1 lead against the Tigers and found themselves down, 9-6, heading to the bottom of the seventh, but scored four times to escape. Megan Murrell’s third hit, a two-run single, won it. Ashley Gleason also had three hits. Scarborough will be the top seed in Western A for the eighth time in nine seasons.

South Portland entered its final against Scarborough ranked fourth in Western A with a 12-3 mark following a 15-9 victory at Gorham and a stunning 10-9 come-from-behind home win over Bonny Eagle. Against the Rams, Abby Young’s five hits paced a 22-hit attack. Sarah Micucci added four hits and winning pitcher Olivia Indorf finished with three. The Red Riots were down, 9-1, early to the Scots, but roared back and won Miranda Gleason’s game-winning single in the seventh. It was Gleason’s third hit of the game. Indorf also delivered three more hits. South Portland could have moved up to the No. 2 spot with a win over the Red Storm, but project to have a bye into the quarterfinals regardless.

The softball playoffs begin Tuesday with the preliminary round. The quarterfinals are Thursday, June 12 and the semis Saturday, June 14. All games will be played on the field of the higher seed.

Boys’ lacrosse

All three local boys’ lacrosse teams won’t just take part in the playoffs, they all have their sights set on winning a championship.

South Portland has already set new benchmarks for consecutive victories in a season and wins in a regular season, in addition to rewriting the program record-books for individual statistics. The Red Riots improved to 11-0 with a 26-1 drubbing of host Massabesic and a 19-1 home victory over Bonny Eagle on Senior Night. Against the Mustangs, Jack Fiorini and Thomas Leddy both had four goals, while Duncan Preston and Andrew Whipple scored three apiece. Fiorini had four goals and Preston and Whipple each had three in the win over the Scots.

In regards to the record-books, Leddy now holds top honors with 56 goals in a season and is tied for first with Eugene Arsenault with 147 for his career. Leddy also holds the benchmark for goals in a single game (10). Whipple has already set a season record with 40 assists, including a single-game high of seven, and has the career mark with 86. Fiorini has 72 points (40 goals, 32 assists), which is five shy of Harrison Keithly’s program mark of 77, set in 2010. Preston has 106 ground balls this season (including a game-high 17), which is four shy of his own record, and holds the career mark with 262.

South Portland, ranked first in Western A, got to measure itself at four-time defending Class A champion Scarborough Thursday night (see theforecaster.net for game story), then will have homefield advantage for the postseason.

Scarborough, as it always does, is peaking late. The Red Storm improved to 8-3 and extended their win streak to three by handling visiting Gorham (14-4) and host Biddeford (12-5). Cam Loiselle had four goals and Chris Cyr and Christian Neelon each added three against the Rams. Scarborough (third in Western A) finished at home against South Portland Thursday night and hoped to move up to second. 

Defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth took an 11-0 record into its finale at rival Falmouth Wednesday night (see theforecaster.net for game story). The Capers, who have the top seed in Western B wrapped up, extended their two-season win streak to 15 by downing visiting Yarmouth last Friday, 9-4. Cape Elizabeth was down in the second half, but rallied to win behind five goals from Owen Thoreck.

The lacrosse playoffs begin with the quarterfinals Wednesday.

Girls’ lacrosse

There’s been plenty of drama on the girls’ side as well, with 50 minutes not always being enough.

Cape Elizabeth is third in Western B with an 8-3 record heading into its finale, a home showdown versus nemesis Waynflete Friday (see theforecaster.net for game story). The Capers extended their win streak to four games by triumphing at Greely (9-6) and Falmouth (10-7) and at home over Western A contender Marshwood (11-8). Abby McInerney had four goals against the Rangers. Freshman Mariah Deschino scored three times against the Hawks. Cape Elizabeth will wind up anywhere from first to third in the region and will host at least one playoff game.

In Western A, Scarborough finished the regular season 7-5 after sandwiching wins over host Westbrook (16-10) and visiting Biddeford (12-1) around a 14-12 overtime loss at Cheverus. Against the Blue Blazes, Bailey Adams had four goals and Ainsley Jamieson three. Jamieson, Abby Mills, Kaitlin Prince and Hadley Yescott all scored twice against the Tigers. In the loss, the Red Storm played without several key players, who were unavailable, but got five goals from Sydney Hersey and led, 11-8, before the Stags rallied to force OT.

“The girls stepped up and I’m very proud of them,” Scarborough coach Marcia Wood said. “I thought we were going to get blown out. Not that we couldn’t do it, but we’re so young. We actually had eight players out today.”

The Red Storm will likely be the No. 3 seed for the tournament.

“I’m excited and re-motivated for playoffs,” Wood said. “We’ll be ready no matter what.”

South Portland might be Scarborough’s first foe. The Red Riots finished 6-6 after a 15-3 home loss to defending Western A champion Massabesic and a 10-8 win at Noble. Shae O’Brien had three goals in the victory. South Portland was ranked sixth at press time.

The lacrosse playoffs begin with the quarterfinals Wednesday.

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