A dozen local baseball, softball and lacrosse teams are on the championship brink.

Regional championship and state semifinal week brings the opportunity to play for a state title Saturday, and 12 teams in central Maine are in the mix, with games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here’s a look at what’s next for the central Maine teams still standing:

 

Baseball

 

Skowhegan will face Bangor in the A North final and Monmouth will take on Lisbon in the C South title game Tuesday. Richmond, meanwhile, will play Searsport in the D South championship game Wednesday at 3 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College.

The Class A North final at Morton Field in Augusta is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Greyhounds and Mustangs will play at 3 p.m. at St. Joe’s.

For the sixth-seeded River Hawks, reaching this point was hardly a given, as they had to play higher seeds in the regional quarters and semis. Skowhegan was up for the challenge, however, earning a 6-4 win over third seed Messalonskee and then a 5-2 win over Lewiston that coach Mike LeBlanc said exemplified his team’s relaxed mentality at this stage in the season.

“I think they’re too young, most of them, experience-wise and age-wise to even let things bother them,” he said. “They just go out and play the game like they’re playing a game they love to play, and they’re just having fun while they do it.”

One of the best examples of that stress-free approach has been sophomore Jackson Quinn, who will likely get the ball Tuesday.

“He’s been around baseball a long time,” LeBlanc said of his hurler, the son of college pitching coach Garrett Quinn. “He’s probably the most composed pitcher I have. He doesn’t seem to let things bother him.”

Monmouth will look to take down the defending state champions and make its first title game in Class C, and its first overall since winning the Class D championship in 2001. Richmond will continue a June rivalry with Searsport, as the two programs have won each Class D title since 2015.

 

Softball

 

Skowhegan will play Bangor on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Cony High School in the A North final. Hall-Dale and Madison will play for the C South title on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at St. Joe’s. Winslow and Nokomis will meet for the B North title at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Brewer High School.

No. 2 Skowhegan is trying to make its fourth Class A final in five years and sixth in eight against a giant-killing Bangor team that already ousted No. 1 Messalonskee and No. 4 Brunswick. In B North, a spot in the state championship will go to one of two unlikely teams; Winslow got the eighth seed after going 4-11 in the regular season but upset No. 1 Old Town and No. 5 Foxcroft Academy en route to the regional final. Nokomis has withstood star shortstop Camryn King’s torn ACL to emerge from the field.

“We were down in the dumps, because she’s two outs (in the field) that we probably couldn’t have gotten and two runs that we couldn’t have gotten,” Nokomis coach J.D. McLellan said. “And then, all of a sudden, everybody realized that they can’t just sit back anymore, waiting for her to do something. And they just picked it up.”

Nokomis has gotten by with some defensive reshuffling, some increased scouting and some big hits, such as the three-run home run from Megan Watson that led the Warriors to a win over No. 2 Ellsworth in the semifinals. Clutch pitching from Mia Coots, who has allowed one run in the last two games, hasn’t hurt.

“As terrible as I thought it was going to be (after King’s injury),” McLellan said, “it’s picked right back up. Hopefully we can keep going the rest of the way.”

Hall-Dale and Madison will meet for the first time since Hall-Dale rallied for a 4-3 walkoff win — the only loss of the season for the two-time defending champions.

“We’re very excited,” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc said. “We want to play the best, and right now Hall-Dale is the best, having beaten us. … We’re very fortunate to have the opportunity.”

LeBlanc downplayed a revenge factor for his players, saying they’ve been locked in on winning each game as it has come.

“We’re just focusing our energies on what we need to do to win, and less on what they’re going to do,” he said. “If we play our game, we’re confident we can win.”

 

Lacrosse

 

In boys lacrosse, there are two Wednesday games as top-seed Messalonskee takes on Marshwood in the Class B semifinals. In Class C, No. 2 Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon hosts Wells. In girls lacrosse, No. 3 Messalonskee meets Greely in the Class B semifinals, while Class C second seed Maranacook/Winthrop plays Waynflete, with both games scheduled for Wednesday.

The Messalonskee boys will look to continue a dominant season, one that saw it outscore opponents in the regular season 162-43 before winning its first two playoff games by a combined score of 43-1. Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon has been just as formidable, going 11-0 in the regular season in Class C before beating St. Dominic 20-1 to make the semifinals.

In girls lacrosse, high-powered Messalonskee, fresh off of an 11-8 win over Mt. Ararat in the quarters, will try to reach its first state final since 2017. Maranacook/Winthrop, in only its second season of competition as a program, has used an experienced defense and a balanced scoring attack to build a 10-3 record and come one win away from a state final.

“We have come a long way with our zone defense, and it really has made a difference for a lot of the kids,” coach Shawn Drillen said. “It provides them with a ton of confidence that they can shut down the best player from another team.”

Drillen said Waynflete has an impressive pedigree, but he likes his team’s chances.

“It’s sort of like David vs. Goliath in that regard,” he said, “but I feel like if you look at our film and their film, and you look at our scores and their scores … we’re right there with them.”

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