Only one local team, Cape Elizabeth boys’ lacrosse, still entertained title dreams as this edition of the Sentry headed to press.
Several other Capers and South Portland squads fell short of their ultimate goal.
It’s been quite a week and here’s what you might have missed:
Boys’ lacrosse
Senior standout Keegan Lathrop hopes to lead Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team to another state title, but the road won’t be easy. File photo.
Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team, the three-time reigning Class A state champion, hasn’t had an easy time of it this year, as injuries to key players led to three losses in the season’s final five games, but once the playoffs started, the Capers returned to form. Ranked second, Cape Elizabeth took care of No. 7 Bangor in the quarterfinals, 13-2, last week. Keegan Lathrop paced the offense with seven goals, while Tom Hennessey added three and Will Picarillo won 14 of 17 faceoffs.
The Capers (12-3) advanced to battle No. 2 Thornton Academy (12-3) in the state semifinals. The teams split this year, both winning at home, as Cape Elizabeth won, 16-9, May 11 and the Golden Trojans returned the favor, 10-5, 10 days later. The Capers had won four of six prior playoff meetings ,with last year’s 15-8 victory in the semifinals the most recent.
If Cape Elizabeth moved on to Friday’s state game at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland at a time to be announced, it would face No. 1 Falmouth (15-1). The Capers split with the Navigators this year (winning 7-6 in Falmouth April 24 and losing at home May 15, 11-10). Cape Elizabeth is 8-3 all-time versus the Navigators in the tournament, with an 18-7 win in the 2022 state final the most recent.
South Portland, the No. 9 seed, rolled at No. 8 Hampden Academy (18-7) in the preliminary round, but Saturday at Falmouth, the Red Riots were eliminated, 19-7, as they wound up 8-8.
Tennis
Cape Elizabeth’s girls’ tennis team got within a point of the state final.
The Capers, seeded fifth in Class B South, blanked No. 4 Medomak Valley (5-0) in the quarterfinals, then defeated No. 8 York in a rain-shortened semifinal (3-0). Monday, Cape Elizabeth gave No. 2 Yarmouth all it could handle before falling, 3-2, to wind up 9-6. The Capers won handily at first doubles, 6-2, 6-1, behind sophomores Gillian Lench and Emma Gebhart. Rosi Gonzalez and Kaia Craig then pulled out a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 victory at second doubles.
“That was one of the most stressful matches we’ve played,” Gonzalez said. “The third set, no one knew what was going to happen.”
“Even though we weren’t playing our best at the beginning, we kept the energy up,” Craig said. “Once we won the second (set) we were feeling much more confident about the tiebreaker.”
Cape Elizabeth lost at first and second singles and the match came down to Elena Rosenberg at third singles. Rosenberg gave Yarmouth’s Sabina Petrucci all she could handle, but ultimately lost, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Capers coach Sarah Boeckel said the most impressive aspect of the battle between Petrucci and Rosenberg was that after splitting sets, neither player appeared tentative the rest of the way.
“Which is always hard to do when it’s the third set and you know you’re determining the (overall) match,” Boeckel said. “I really love that Elena just played to win, and didn’t get tight, and same thing for Sabina. That was a great match.”
Baseball
South Portland’s reign as the Class A baseball state champion has come to an end.
The Red Riots, seeded seventh in Class A South, got past No. 10 Deering, 6-2, in the preliminary round, then lost a slugfest at No. 2 Falmouth, 19-12, to end up 11-7. South Portland fell behind, 13-3, and could have rolled over, but roared back with eight runs before ultimately falling short. Curtis Metcalf tripled, singled, scored twice and drove in three runs, while Hudson Iacuessa had two hits, two runs and two RBI, Kason Lewis added two hits and two RBI and Easton Healy also produced two hits.
“Outs were difficult. They were hard to come by,” said South Portland coach Mike Owens. “They’re always hard to come by against a team like that. We just didn’t have it today. We were down 10 and I just wanted to get (seniors who haven’t played a lot this year) at-bats and they put together great at-bats. All of a sudden the inning kept going. I was proud of them to come out and compete in that situation.”
In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth, ranked fourth, rolled past No. 12 Fryeburg Academy, 14-4, in five-innings, in the quarterfinals, as Gabe Harmon tripled, singled, scored twice and drove in five, Ceroi Mello had two RBI and Max Hayward, Jameson Bryant and Jimmy Hollowell all scored two runs. Brady Inman earned the victory. Saturday, the Capers went to No. 1 Greely and fought to the final out before falling, 5-4, to finish 11-7. Harmon scored on an error in the top of the third to give Cape Elizabeth a short-lived lead, but by the seventh inning, the Rangers were up by four. The Capers refused to go quietly, scoring three times, once on a Hayward RBI ground out and twice more on an error, but a Hollowell groundout with a runner on base ended it. Harmon had three hits in his swan song, while Andy Choi added two hits.
“I’m extremely proud of the effort,” Cape Elizabeth coach Donny Dutton said. “That was a hell of a baseball game. Tip your cap to those guys, they just made one more play than we did. That’s just baseball sometimes. You can’t give a good team three runs late in a ballgame. We chipped away, but fell just a little short. We had great at-bats. We did things to get us close. We put balls in play and made them make mistakes.
“I still believe our group is a really good group of players. It’s a good season. I think this group was better than the group we had last year. I believe in all 21 of those dudes over there (in our dugout). I have nothing but respect for them.”
Cape Elizabeth graduates six seniors, with Harmon the most notable departure, but the returning players saw a lot of high pressure innings and will be primed to keep the Capers near the top of the heap in 2025.
“I want the seniors to be successful, not just in baseball, but in life,” Dutton said. “This loss is only going to motivate the younger guys as we rebound for next year. It was a blessing in disguise to deal with the adversity we had to deal with. Getting the younger guys quality varsity innings, we were fortunate.”
Softball
South Portland’s Annalise Soucy makes a catch during last week’s playoff loss to Portland Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald
South Portland’s softball team, the No. 4 seed in Class A South, got just one playoff game, as it fell at home to No. 5 Portland, 3-2, last Thursday in a foggy quarterfinal. The Bulldogs built a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth, where the Red Riots’ bats finally came to life, as Phoebe Dodge singled home Jillian Edgar, then scored on a ground out to cut the deficit to one. South Portland put the tying run on in the bottom of the seventh and Baylie Littlefield bid for a game-tying hit, but it was caught to bring South Portland’s season to an end at 12-5.
“The girls fought hard and I’m very proud of them, especially being so young, staying in the game,” Red Riots coach Drew DiMauro said. “The bottom part of our lineup got us back in the game. We thought we’d have more offense today, but every time we squared one up, it seemed to be right at somebody. It was just one of those days. How else do you want to go down? Square up a ball that was right at her. We went down fighting.”
A lot of younger players, who got invaluable experience this spring, will return in 2025.
“One through 12, these kids love each other,” DiMauro said. “They’re one unit. They made it fun to coach them every day. It’s exciting to see what the future entails for some of the younger ladies. Baylie is coming back. She was on 90 percent of the season for us.”
Outdoor track
South Portland’s Arnaud Sioho took part in three events at the New England championships last weekend. File photo.
Fresh from leading South Portland’s boys’ outdoor track team to its first Class A state championship in over two decades, junior Arnaud Sioho continued his dominance at Saturday’s New England championships in Durham, New Hampshire. Sioho won the triple jump with a top jump of 48 feet, 4.75 inches, and also tied for 10th in the 110 hurdles (14.76 seconds) and came in 31st in the high jump (18-4.5). Matthew Berry was 21st in the 300 hurdles (42.03).
In the girls’ meet, Cape Elizabeth’s Hadley Mahoney came in ninth in the mile (5:06.13). Emma Young placed 18th in the 800 (2:21.57).
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