Newsletter #3...The favorites are favoriting

Hoping to start and more importantly, finish this newsletter strong...Just the opposite of a certain basketball team from down the road...

If you were looking for drama atop the Class A boys' lacrosse world, it hasn't yet developed this spring.

And it may not.

There's some intrigue on the girls' side, but one boys' team, Falmouth, has run roughshod on the competition.

As expected.

The Navigators, who go to Cape Elizabeth for a state game rematch Friday night, entered the 2025 season not only as the defending champions, but as a heavy favorite to repeat, amid suggestions that they could be the best team the state has ever produced.

As we hit the midway pole of the regular season, those projections might have underestimated just how special this squad is.

Falmouth won its first six games by a composite 118-15 margin (that's an average victory of roughly 20-3). The Navigators, who often don't even play their starters in the fourth quarter or much of the second half, have ridden their prolific scorers Hayden Davis, Gio Guerrette, Joey Guerrette and Evan Yale and a smothering defense led by Indi Backman. Cam Sinclair is a college-caliber goalie, but he rarely even gets tested.

Beyond that, Falmouth features role players and reserves who could start on most other teams in the state.

Wednesday night, the Navigators made quick work of visiting Windham, 20-2, and gave coach Dave Barton his 100th career victory (with 93 of them coming in Falmouth).

"We've had a lot of great players here," Barton said. "I'm a lucky guy."

Falmouth has already steamrolled potential contenders Thornton Academy, Deering, Scarborough and Windham. Cape Elizabeth will get two cracks at the Navigators, South Portland has one and a trip to Thornton Academy in early June could be a test, but the team best equipped to make the Navigators sweat could be Yarmouth, the defending Class B champions.

The Clippers, who earlier this year held York to a single goal in a victory in a state game rematch, Wednesday did the unthinkable, shutting out Cape Elizabeth, 10-0, marking the first time the Capers had ever ended a game with a '0' next to their name and handing them their worst setback since May 14, 2007 (14-4 at NYA).

Suffice it to say that while Yarmouth, which has surrendered a mere eight goals in six games this spring, is focused on repeating as Class B state champion, it can't wait to measure itself against the Navigators May 23 in Falmouth.

"Falmouth will be a good test," said Clippers junior offensive standout George Brown.

"We're looking forward to playing Falmouth," said Yarmouth senior captain Ward Jenkins, who is part of the Clippers' imposing defensive unit. "It's a special team this year."

Speaking of special teams, the Kennebunk girls, one year removed from an upset loss to Yarmouth in the Class A state semifinals, has overwhelmed the opposition for the most part this season, despite still being relatively young.

The Rams held off Windham in their opener (10-6), but have since dominated three-time reigning Class B champion Greely, Cape Elizabeth, Portland and Yarmouth by a combined 58-11 margin.

Tuesday's 16-7 home over the Clippers was sweet indeed, as Kennebunk earned a measure of revenge from last year's playoff loss, erasing an early 3-1 deficit and riding five goals and eight assists from Camdyn Keenan to victory.

If Kennebunk defeats Biddeford Friday night, it will mark the 300th victory of longtime coach Annie Barker's tenure. She and her program have set the standard for the better part of the past decade and this year's squad appears primed to return to glory.

"There is definitely extra hunger (after losing last year), but we're just trying to be steady and to grow and be ready at the end of the line," Barker said. "We'll just keep on building. There's still room for improvement."

A scary thought indeed.

If Kennebunk does have a team to worry about, it could be Windham, which just posted the biggest regular season victory in program history Thursday, an 18-2 triumph over Yarmouth. The Eagles beat the Clippers for the first time ever, got seven goals from junior Abby Trainor and five more from senior Grace Joly, including the 100th of her career.

"We've got some pretty special kids who are all about the team," said longtime Windham coach Matt Perkins. "In a world being so selfish around us, to have a team that believes in each other and cares so much about each other, that says a lot."

In other lacrosse headlines, the Freeport, South Portland and Thornton Academy boys have all won four straight, Portland had its five-game win streak snapped by South Portland Wednesday (17-8) and North Yarmouth Academy continues to impress in Class C, improving to 4-0 with an 8-1 victory over Greely earlier this week.

On the girls' side, Cheverus has surged to 6-1 after wins this week at South Portland (15-5) and Falmouth (11-9). The latter victory was a first for the program, which had never defeated the Navigators. Freeport, the favorite in Class B, has now won six straight to start the season after Thursday's 14-5 home win over Wells, Gorham has quietly put together a 4-0 start to its campaign after beating host Portland (14-8) Thursday, Scarborough evened its record at 3-3 with a thrilling 9-8 home win over defending Class C champion Waynflete Tuesday and Thornton Academy continues to march along, taking a five-game win streak into a showdown Saturday at Cape Elizabeth.

Then there's the Deering girls, who lost their first four games by a composite 67-9 margin, but Tuesday at home, the Rams got in the win column with a 20-6 home victory over Edward Little.

"This win meant a lot to me, our team and our fans," said Deering's first-year coach Samantha Campobasso. "We’ve had a rough start to the season and weren’t playing to our full potential. (This win) says differently. The team is finally believing in themselves and each other. It’s good to see their confidence shining through, the confidence that I've had in them all along. We still have some work to do but we are all willing to put that work in."

There wasn't much baseball and softball action this week, as Mother Nature had other ideas, but the week wasn't completely devoid of action.

Scarborough ace Erik Swenson produced a gem Monday night, no-hitting Falmouth in a 1-0 victory, in a rematch of last year's Class A South Final. The University of Maine-bound Swenson allowed just one walk as the reigning state champions stayed perfect. The Red Storm host Gorham in a can't-miss affair next Saturday. Speaking of the Rams, they won their fourth straight contest Thursday, beating visiting Windham (8-0) behind senior ace Wyatt Nadeau's latest gem (five shutout innings, three hits, 10 Ks). Cape Elizabeth posted 19 runs, including a 10-run inning, in a 19-6 win at York Wednesday. Deering has won two straight, downing Windham (11-1, in six-innings) and Westbrook (5-4). Greely continues to cement its status as the Class B South favorite, improving to 7-0 with recent wins over Cape Elizabeth, Edward Little and Poland, giving longtime coach Derek Soule his 350th career victory in the process. South Portland won its first four games and almost captured a fifth, but lost Thursday in nine-innings at Marshwood (2-1). Thornton Academy and Falmouth had a game suspended by bad weather Wednesday. The Navigators held a 4-0 lead in the top of the second, so for now, the Golden Trojans remain undefeated. The Waynflete/NYA co-op team has won four of five after a 12-1 win at Traip Academy in their last outing.

Cheverus' reigning Class A state champion softball team hadn't played a game since last month before finally returning to action Thursday at Marshwood and prevailing, 14-0, in five-innings, to improve to 4-0. Sophomore star Addison DeRoche was masterful on the mound again (five shutout innings, one hit and one walk allowed, 12 strikeouts) and she launched another prodigious home run to boot.

The Stags have a pretty big contest coming up Monday at Windham (see below). The Eagles didn't play a game for eight days, but Thursday at home, they solved Kennebunk and its ace, Julia Pike, 4-0, to also make it four straight to start the year. Freeport is 6-0, scoring over 10 runs per game entering a compelling contest at 6-2 Greely Friday. The Rangers have already scored 101 runs this spring. Gorham improved to 6-0 after Thursday's 10-3 home win under the lights over Thornton Academy. The Rams are scheduled to go to Cheverus for a makeup game Tuesday. After scoring 15 runs in a 15-0 (four-inning) home win over Sacopee Valley Thursday, two-time Class D champion NYA has a 5-0 record and a 78-16 run differential to date. South Portland got in the win column Monday with a 19-6 (five-inning) victory over the Deering/Portland co-op squad.

In case you missed it

Here's a look at game stories that have been posted since last week's newsletter:

The site's first feature, on Yarmouth three-sport standout Celia Zinman

Greely edges Cape in another baseball thriller

Cape girls rally to stun Yarmouth, earn first victory

Longballs lead Falmouth past Cheverus

NYA boys stay perfect with win over Greely

Kennebunk girls pull away to beat Yarmouth, earn a dose of revenge

Yarmouth boys blank Cape in historic fashion

Windham girls make history with decisive win over Yarmouth

Portland High has a new football coach

And if you missed my radio spot with Mannix and Mannix from last week, here's the link:

https://thebigjab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/MMM-5-2-25-Michael-Hoffer.mp3

I also got a chance to join Matt Gagnon on his WGAN morning show Wednesday. Here's that link:

https://wgan.com/morning-news/michael-hoffer/

Polls

Here's this week's Super6 polls, which includes teams from Thornton Academy to Freeport, through games played Thursday, May 8th:

Baseball
1 Scarborough
2 Greely
3 Gorham
4 South Portland
5 Thornton Academy
6 Falmouth

Softball
1 Cheverus
2 Windham
3 Gorham
4 Freeport
5 NYA
6 Greely

Boys' lacrosse
1 Falmouth
2 Yarmouth
3 Thornton Academy
4 South Portland
5 Windham
6 NYA

Girls' lacrosse
1 Windham
2 Thornton Academy
3 Cheverus
4 Freeport
5 Gorham
6 Falmouth

A look ahead

There's plenty of compelling action on tap next week and it looks like the weather will actually cooperate.

Softball fans from far and wide will congregate in Windham Monday afternoon when the Eagles host Cheverus in the teams' first meeting since their epic Class A South Final showdown last June (won by the Stags, 2-0, in 10 innings). Both teams are undefeated and this is likely the first of three showdowns this spring.

Tuesday, Cheverus turns right around and hosts Gorham, perhaps the region's third-best team at this juncture. Scarborough and Thornton Academy meet in a sneaky-good girls' lacrosse contest, while on the boys' side, NYA and Yarmouth renew their ancient rivalry.

Wednesday, Cape Elizabeth's boys' lacrosse team hopes to get back on track when it hosts Windham.

Thursday, Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth meet again in baseball, this time in Cape Elizabeth. South Portland at Cheverus is another compelling matchup, while Scarborough at Cheverus girls' lacrosse could produce some fireworks.

And of course, next Friday, I'll be back with another newsletter.

Hard to believe the site hits the one-month-old mark this coming Thursday! If you haven't subscribed yet, please join in the fun and spread the word! Thank you!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there and here's to the Celtics getting their act together before it's too late...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Michael

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffersports@yahoo.com