SCOOPED — Raider second baseman Julia Quinn scoops up a ground ball during recent varsity softball action. (Rivet Photo)

SOFTBALL

Raiders 8, Wells 3: Nicole Bennett allowed just three hits while striking out four and Lexi L’Heureux-Carland had a pair of hits to lead the Raiders past Wells.

Wells quickly jumped out to a two-run lead in the top of the first, and would increase it to 3-0 going to the fifth inning. Both pitchers, Lexy Haye and Bennett, were sharp and had good defense backing them up.

The Raiders, however, got on track in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four times to take a 4-3 lead. Mackenzie Buzzell started the inning with a base hit and then with two outs and bases loaded, senior Amanda Gillette hit an opposite field triple to the fence, clearing the bases. L’Heureux-Carland would follow with a opposite field single to bring in the go-ahead run. The Raiders added four more runs in the sixth.

Yarmouth 9, Raiders 7: In a showdown of 3-0 teams, Yarmouth pulled out the win on a dropped infield fly ball with two out in the seventh inning, scoring two runs.

Yarmouth quickly jumped out with an unearned run in the first, but FA’s Makayla Cooper answered with a two-run homerun to center to put Fryeburg up 2-1.

Yarmouth continued to put pressure on Fryeburg and capitalize on some errors and would push their lead to 7-3. The Raiders stormed back in the fourth inning as Julia Quinn and Mackenzie Buzzell started with back-to-back hits and Cooper again came through in the clutch, delivering a two-run single to cut the deficit to 7-6.

Bennett tied the game at 7-7 with a solo homerun in the sixth. But a miscue led to two Clipper runs in the seventh, and FA was out of rally magic, going quietly in the seventh.

Cooper had a big day at the plate for the Raiders, going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI. Julia Quinn and Nicole Bennett added two hits apiece in the losing effort.

Raiders 11, Falmouth 9: On Monday, the Raiders (4-1) were eager to get back to business after the Yarmouth setback. They wasted no time scoring six runs in the first two innings to grab a quick 6-0 lead. Highlights were Makayla Cooper’s two-run single and Nicole Bennett’s three-run homerun to leftfield.

Bennett was cruising through four innings and then Falmouth answered with five runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Suddenly, the Raiders found themselves down 9-6.

The Raiders regrouped and erupted for five runs in the sixth inning. It started again with Julia Quinn and Mackenzie Buzzell getting hits. Amanda Gillette provided the Raiders with a big hit, knocking a double to deep left to plate two runs as Fryeburg would reclaim the lead for good 11-9.

Kristen Chipman and Gillette were repeat hitters with two hits apiece.

Next: Fryeburg traveled to York on Wednesday to face a 5-0 team with a good pitcher in Stephanie Rundlett, who has paced York with great control and numerous strikeouts. The Raiders then travel today to Greely, host Cape Elizabeth Friday and make road trips to Freeport and Sacopee Valley on Monday and Wednesday. All games are at 4 p.m.

TRACK & FIELD

On April 28, the Raiders traveled to Kennett High School for a five-school meet. This was a fantastic experience for the Raiders as they seldom compete against their neighbors.

The day was raw and windy, but all the athletes performed very well. Raider highlights include: Xiaoyu Yang in the high jump at 6-feet, Skye Collins in the 100m and the 200m, Colleeen Bullard ripping it up in the Buffalo Relay, Olivia Pelkie ran very well in the 100m, 200m and the 400m.

“This young athlete could blossom in the longer dash as she has the speed and the endurance. A rare combination and only a freshman. Coach Collins sees a very bright future, as do I, for Olivia,” FA Coach Kevin McDonald said. “I must thank Bernie Livingston and all the people that helped out with the meet. We had a fantastic time attending a very well-run meet. A class act on how a Track & Field meet should be run. Thanks to all the Mountain Milers for the support and help in making this a great experience for the Raiders.”

Last Friday, the Raiders traveled to Wells High School for a meet with Falmouth, NYA, Seacoast Christian and Kennebunk. Being the first league meet, there was excitement in the air. With only 16 boys and 12 girls, the Raiders did not fare well in the team standings as they only bested NYA, placing fifth in the six-team meet.

However, three Raiders met the state standard and punched their ticket to the State meet. Xiaoyu Yang jumped 6-feet in the high jump, Skye Collins ran 13.50 in the 100m and Anna Lastra ran the mile in 5:33.67. Other Raiders highlights include; Skye ran 28.51 in the 200m, just missing the state standard; Emily McDermith is closing in on the 400m mark, running a fine 1:09.09.

“I must mention a freshman, Emily Carty. Em has been on the injured list for a couple of weeks and has just started to come around. She ran 2:45.37 for the 800m and 6:06.07 for the mile. With some consistent work, we feel Em will be on that bus to States. A very nice accomplishment for a freshman,” Coach McDonald said.

On the boys’ side: Evan Wadsworth is making his mark! Evan has been away for two weeks, but has come back with a vengeance running the 100m and the 200m — just off the state standard.

“Coach Collins is fired up about this young man and rightfully so. With some consistent work Evan may not only be on the bus, but might see a podium in his future at states,” Coach McDonald said.

Christian Bedell is also running very well. Christian has improved his 800m time in every meet and his mile time is dropping, as well.

Gage Flower continues to improve in the javelin, setting a new PB. The 4x100 relay ripped it up with four rookies — Yangkai Lin, Siyaan Chang, Pan Xu and Gage Fowler — all earning their varsity letters by scoring in the meet.

“These athletes were asked to do something they were new at. They accepted the challenge and scored for the TEAM. We are very happy for this relay team and look forward to more success in the future,” the coach reported. “Overall, a nice start for Raiders Track & Field.”

TENNIS

The Fryeburg Academy boys are off to an excellent start. The boys are 3-0 on the season with wins over North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth and Greely.

“The boys’ team is a contender this year to do damage,” Coach Chriss Chaffee said. “We are there with Cape, Waynflete and Falmouth. The boys will give their best every match and will get the job done. Our main goals and focus is to work hard, play hard, and trust to give everything. We aren’t going down without a fight, and we have the will to win it all this year.”

Teodor Antelj is FA’s number one this year and is confidently one of the top players in the state. He is playing with a lot of confidence and has a great game.

“He has a lot of experience and is a great ball striker. He knows how to win and as long as he stays focus he will do great things this year,” Coach Chaffee said.

Tristin Rother is the boys’ number two singles player and his coach loves his attitude and his mindset on the court.

“He goes out there and takes care of business. He has a very pretty game. He can do anything out there and has a good head on his shoulders. He is an awesome player, and is super talented,” Chaffee said. “Teodot and Tristin are a great 1 and 2 punch and are top players and athletes for this sport.”

FA’s number 3 is captain Jonathan Burk. Jon is a class act, his coach says. He is one of the most polite, mentally tough kids out there. He is a great athlete and person. He has a great attitude and great effort out there on the tennis court and in practices. He works hard every day and is always looking to improve.

The number one doubles team is Nacho Calleja and Nikola Vuleta. They are returning players from last year’s team.

“They have a lot of power and are aggressive players. They can strike fear into a lot of opponents and overpower them. They just have to work on their control and they will win a lot of close matches. They may not have a huge amount of experiences but they want to win,” Coach Chaffee said.

Jordan Lowe is a surprise this year. He is an amazing golfer, but also can hit a tennis ball very well. He shows a lot of potential, being mentally tough out there and showing an eagerness to improve his tennis skills. He is a super-talented golfer, but just a great athlete and kid in general. He has a great positive attitude.

The Fryeburg Academy girls are 0-3 on the season, so far, with losses to North Yarmouth Academy, Greely and Yarmouth.

“Although the girls have lost, overall in the matches they have shown a great positive attitude. They have shown the ability to try their best and go out there and have fun. The great thing about the girls is they are eager to learn and improve. They can only get better,” Coach Chaffee said. “They may be outplayed, but they never give up. They never have a bad attitude. They lack experience against most teams we are playing and have really just started to get into competitive match situations. All the girls are doing the best to their abilities, but Catherine Ashley, who plays number one, played an awesome match against Yarmouth’s number 1 player and beat her in three sets. Catherine is a junior and she is also the captain of the team. She has a lot of heart and a lot of fight. She is also a very smart player. She represents the team well.”

Another great surprise will be doubles team Elizabeth Gryzb and her sister, Emily.

“They are a dynamic duo out there. They are extremely athletic and have improved tremendously each and every day. They play very well out there together. They go out there and give everything. Every point and every match. Every practice,” Coach Chaffe said. “You can see they are fighters and are all heart.”

FA has Cape Elizabeth, Waynflete and Falmouth coming up, which will be key matches for the boys for playoff spots and see how they fare against the top three teams. The FA girls are working on goals everyday, one practice and match at a time.

“Our will as a team is everything. If we go out there with wanting to win and wanting to improve, work hard, day in and day out. If we grind, we will never be outhearted,” Coach Chaffee said. “We will be a successful team on paper on the court and each player will be successful with that mind set.”

FIGHT FOR THE DISC — In action against Amherst JVA, Raider Ultimate player Esmeralda Hernandez battles for possession. FA players pictured include Thu Pham (#2), Sydney Andreoli (#18) and Erin Friberg (in the background). (Photo by Joseph Kelly)

ULTIMATE

The FA girls’ varsity ultimate team had their season opener on April 28 at the Wainwright Athletic Complex against South Portland. The girls played a strong game, showing their ability to work well together to string together passes in their scoring attempts.

Defensively, they were able to stop South Portland from scoring and ended up winning the game 13-0.

The JV squad was also able to show good teamwork as they worked up the field on offense. With only two returning players on the JV roster, the new players showed what they had been able to learn over the previous three weeks. They earned their first win of the season, a 10-5 victory over a combined team from Cheverus and Scarborough.

On Friday, May 1, the girls’ varsity team traveled to Amherst, Mass., to compete in the 24th annual Amherst Invitational. The Amherst Invitational is a competitive regional tournament that drew talent from Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

As the reigning state champions from Maine, the Raiders were accepted into the tournament, though having played their first game only three days prior to the start of the tournament, FA was seeded 10th out of 10 teams.

The first game of the tournament was against Watchung Hills from New Jersey. Fryeburg started off to a slow start offensively and they were not able to capitalize on the few turnovers that were forced. Watchung Hills quickly pulled away and earned a 15-3 victory.

The second game was against Lexington and proved to be a much closer game. Early on, there were long, drawn out points as neither team seemed able to beat the other teams defense. Unfortunately, Lexington’s offense clicked before FA could and they pulled away with a 13-5 victory before time elapsed. Captains Sydney Andreoli and Bridget Bailey were able to work well together in moving the disc up the field past Lexington’s zone defense late in the game.

This teamwork was the beginning of a trend that would continue into their third game of the day against PVPA (Pioneer Valley Performing Arts). The first half against PVPA was a bit disappointing as they made quick throws from player to player without the FA defense being able to clamp down. FA was unable to score and trailed 8-0 at halftime.

Coach Emily Strahler gave an inspirational halftime speech and sent the girls back onto the field, imploring them to give it their all for the last half of the day. The intensity was ratcheted up, but unfortunately the first point after half ended with junior Ariel Fogden being injured. This seemed to motivate the rest of the team to play for her and they were able to shut down PVPA with stifling zone defense and string together beautiful offensive drives. They brought the score back to 9-13 before time elapsed, ending Saturday pool play with a 0-3 record. The following day, May 3, started with the last pool play game against Amherst Regional High School JVA. Fryeburg Academy still seemed to be playing with the same intensity they had ended Saturday with. They were able to string together passes up the field for scores as well as hit long throws deep. Defensively, they continued to play a zone defense in which Sydney Andreoli seemed unstoppable. Amherst often attempted deep throws, only to have Bridget Bailey and Abby Davis rip down the D’s. Esmeralda Hernandez was excellent in the cutting position as she set up both in and deep cuts that were incredibly effective at generating space for the catch. Early in the game, she laid out on a scoring attempt and really set the tone for the whole team. Both Amherst and Fryeburg players made very athletic plays throughout the game and Fryeburg walked away with its first win of the weekend, a 12-5 victory over one of the home teams.

The win put the Raiders into the 7th/8th place game against Longmeadow, who had also ended in their pool with a 1-3 record. Despite a long bye between rounds, Fryeburg was able to bring the intensity to the game that they had brought in the morning.

Senior captain Erin Friberg made excellent cuts toward the handlers to advance the disc down the field in a more controlled manner than the long game. The combination of the short and the long game made it difficult for Longmeadow to stop FA from scoring. In the last game of the tournament, Fryeburg was able to pull away with an 11-6 victory, ending in seventh place.

Coaches Emily Strahler, Chris Strahler and Coreen Hennessy had a great time working with the girls over the weekend and watching the team progress in their skills and teamwork. The amount of change that occurred in the players was spectacular and it sets a great tone for the rest of the season. The coaches are looking forward to watching the team progress even further and seeing each player become the best she can be.

BOYS’ LACROSSE

Waynflete 13, Raiders 4: A quick start by the Waynflete Flyers sank the Fryeburg Academy Raiders on May 1, 13-4. With the win Waynflete improves to 2-1 on the young season while Fryeburg drops to 0-3.

After the Flyers scored the first 4 goals on the afternoon, the Raiders showed some life after a time called by Coach Rick White. Fryeburg’s Joe Schrader scored at 2:17 on an assist from Ryan Caracciolo on a power play to cut the lead to 4-1. The Raiders scored one more time in the first quarter at 1:22 to cut the Flyers lead in half 4-2 when Caracciolo received a nice crossing pass from Schrader for the one-timer to beat Graham Ratner (11 saves) in the net for Waynflete.

In the second quarter, Hank Duvall for Waynflete got things started 17 seconds into the quarter on a power play goal on a give and go play from Will Nelligan to make the score 5-2. Fryeburg Academy would answer with a power play goal at 10:51 when AJ Worcester found a wide open Corey Thibodeau on the back side pipe that he put into the back of the net. From there, Waynflete goalie Graham Ratner would keep the Raiders off the board until the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Flyers continued to put pressure on Raider goalie Malik Mobley. Waynflete scored eight unanswered goals.

In the fourth quarter, Schrader stopped the run by the Flyers when he scored a power play goal at 11:14 on a pass from Jermiah Schrader.

Waynflete had 31 shots to Fryeburg’s 15. FA goalie Mobley made 20 saves.

Falmouth 15, Raiders 2: Holding a 29-7 shot advantage, Falmouth built a 9-1 first half lead and rolled to a win over the Raiders behind six goals from senior attack Bryce Kuhn.

Ryan Caracciolo and Joe Schrader scored the Raider goals, assists by Corey Thibodeau and AJ Worcester.

FA goalie Malik Mobley made 14 saves.

Next: Fryeburg (0-4) hosts Lake Region on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and Freeport next Thursday, May 14, at 4 p.m.