I was one of the few lucky enough to see the McNally Senior All-Star Field Hockey Game Saturday night. Some people will laugh and not be able to appreciate that. I know, because I used to be one of them.

Yes, it’s been humid and hot, but if you’re a hockey fanatic or just looking to chill out then then the Kennebec Ice Arena is the place for you this weekend.

Gardiner Area High School senior Kyle Stilphen, who capped his high school career Saturday with a two-run single to end the Class B state championship game, was named the Press Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram boys athlete of the year at the paper's annual awards banquet Sunday evening.

Stilphen, who will attend the University of Maine in Orono and play baseball, also helped Gardiner to the Class B state title in football and was a finalist for the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, given to the state's top senior football player.

Stilphen is also a finalist for the Dr. John Winkin Mr. Maine Baseball award, given to the state's top senior baseball player.

Often, even the best high school baseball lineups have a considerable drop off once you get past the middle of the order. In Saturday's Class D state championship game, just past the middle of the order was where Rangeley hit its stride.

The bottom three hitters in the Laker lineup, Ben Morton, Jordan Richard and Ross Gordon, went a combined 5 for 9 in Rangeley's 3-2 win over Katahdin. Richard reached base all three times he came to the plate, and scored the Lakers' first run.

Morton drove in a run in the sixth inning with a single up the middle.

It was the second consecutive game the bottom of the Laker order came up big. In the Western Class D final against Richmond on Wednesday, Richard and Gordon led off the third inning with singles, and scored on a Luke Hammond hit. The Lakers won that game, 3-0.

The Gardiner Area High School baseball team will play for the Class B state championship Saturday, its first appearance in a state title game since 1947.

This week, Valley High School boys basketball coach Dwight Littlefield retired after 31 years on the Cavaliers' bench.

Littlefield will be remembered for the state record six straight championships, and the 101 game win streak. He should be remembered just as much for deflecting all of the credit for Valley's accomplishments back to his players and assistant coaches.

On Tuesday, Littlefield praised all his former assistant coaches, including Luke Robinson and Sean Watson.

"All my assistant coaches were a big part of our success," Littlefield said.

The Richmond High softball team will try to dethrone two-time defending Western Maine Class D champion Buckfield on Wednesday night (7:30) at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish.

The Cony High School baseball teams has loads of talent and it is all very young. The Rams had just two seniors on the roster in Saturday's 7-3 loss in the Eastern A semifinal at Morton Field, starting third baseman Greg O'Neill and starting first baseman Cory Nason.

I ran into Hank Burns at the Oxford Hills-Cony baseball game Thursday at Morton Field in Augusta and had a nice conversation with the former Vikings coach. Burns, who wrote a column for the Sunday Telegram (which later became a harness racing column) has always been a character.

Forrest Dwyer was struggling early in the Western C quarterfinal game between Winthrop and Hall-Dale on Thursday, leaving Winthrop coach Marc Fortin with a tough decision.

When Dwyer walked three batters in the third inning, Fortin considered taking Dwyer out of the game in favor of Jake Steele. No. 3 pitcher Easton Morang was unavailable because he pitched in Tuesday's Mountain Valley Conference game.

The Cony softball team advanced to the Eastern Maine Class A semifinals with a 3-0 victory over Hampden Academy on Thursday. The Rams scored all three runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by RBI doubles from Amy Jones and Maegan Cloutier.

The performance lists for the New England track and field championships are out, and several area athletes are poised for strong performances Saturday at Thornton Academy in Saco. The meet starts at 10 a.m.

The Western C prelim baseball game between Monmouth Academy and Telstar was delayed 52 minutes because of lightning strikes in the area. The game was first stopped for lightning at 6:38 p.m. with a runner on third and two outs in the top of the seventh inning. It started again at 7:30 p.m. and the inning ended after one pitch when Monmouth Devin Robbins reliever Devin Robbins finished a strikeout.

This afternoon I saw a softball game in which Sacopee Valley pitcher Whitney Stacey was called for two illegal pitches in the seventh inning against Madison. The last of those two came with two out and runners on second and third, and allowed the winning run to score.

The Erskine Academy softball team completed another step Tuesday in its remarkable turnaround from a year ago. The Eagles, who finished 4-12 last season in Eastern A, advanced to the Eastern B quarterfinals with a 4-0 victory over Maine Central Institute in South China.

To see Waterville freshman Cam Sawyer now, you'd have no idea how reluctant he was to move into the leadoff spot in the Waterville batting order a few weeks ago.

"It took some getting used to," Sawyer said following Waterville's 6-4 win over Erskine in the Eastern B prelims on Tuesday. "I was a little hesitant."

Sawyer had another strong day in the leadoff spot for the Panthers, scoring two runs, driving in two more and reaching base all four time he came to the plate.

"Now I'm used to it," Sawyer, Waterville's second baseman, said. "I enjoy it. There's pressure, there's nerves, then you get to the plate for your first at bat and it goes away."

The Western C prelim baseball game between Monmouth and Telstar is being delay by lightning. Play was stopped at 6:38 p.m. MPA rules state that play can not begin again until 30 minutes after the last strike.
Telstar leads the game 8-3 with two outs and a runner on third in the top of the seventh. The Rebels scored four times in the first without the benefit of a hit.

Waterville and Erskine played once in the regular season, with Waterville taking a 9-2 win on April 30. The teams play again on Tuesday in a Eastern Class B prelim game at Waterville.

Waterville scored seven runs in the third inning to take control of the regular season game against the Eagles. It was the first win of the season for Waterville, which ended the regular season with six consecutive victories.

Waterville is the No 6 seed in the tournament, the highest the Panthers have been ranked since entering the 2001 Eastern A tournament as the top seed.

The week high school baseball teams have been waiting for all season has arrived. Playoffs begin this week with preliminary round games on Tuesday. Quarterfinal and semifinal games will be played Thursday and Saturday, respectively

Messalonskee softball coach Leo Bouchard made a promise, and his players were doubtful he would actually go through with it. But the Eagles lived up to their end of the bargain, so Bouchard lived up to his.

Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson has much more than a casual interest in the final Eastern A Heal points standings. Five teams get a first-round bye in Eastern A, and entering the week, Oxford Hills, Skowhegan and Hampden were within five points of each other in the battle for the No. 5 spot.

Of course, a first-round bye doesn’t guarantee anything — Skowhegan won the bracket from the No. 12 seed last spring, beating No. 6 Cony in the regional final. Still, it’s fun to speculate on the final standings, so Paul McCarty, one of Johnson’s assistants, got out his calculator.

“My buddy Paul did it before it came out on Tuesday, and he was right on the button,” Johnson said.

This was one of those games that was interesting from beginning to end. there was only one 1-2-3 inning, and Maranacook certainly earned its 4-3 victory Tuesday afternoon.