It’s been a whirlwind few weeks covering our high school sports teams as they are grinding through their respective playoffs. We’re now entering the home stretch of the school sports calendar with the final games scheduled (for now) this Sunday.

As expected, our softball teams have been dynamite, and as of Wednesday, we’re down to two in Cranston East and West.

The Bolts have been tremendous as they defend their title, and even despite losing last year’s phenom pitcher Izzy Sousa, the Bolts haven’t skipped a beat. 

They play Friday against Tiverton, who dealt them their worst defeat in two seasons on Monday to bounce them into the losers bracket. You can’t underestimate the Bolts, despite Tiverton’s juggernaut offense. Not sure who will win it all, but I could see the IF game be forced by the Bolts.

As for West, the Falcons will be taking on Chariho for a shot against La Salle in what could be a championship rematch. Chariho has seemed to have flown under the radar this year, but the Chargers are a game opponent. The Falcons beat them 3-0 earlier this season and have the championship experience under their belts. Not sure if either can take down the Rams, but I do see West getting by Chariho one more time.

Pilgrim fell to West to see its season end on Tuesday. Although the Pats had what it took to be a championship team, it just goes to show how much of a grind Division I is. Every one of the top five or six teams are championship quality. Skylar Hawes, Madison Tuirok and Gretchen Dombeck all return next spring, so the Pats will be right in the mix.

Toll Gate suffered an early playoff loss when Portsmouth pulled off the upset. The Titans have a young core as well, but it will be interesting to see who steps up to replace Delaney Wilson, who was the team’s best pitcher and hitter. 

The Hendricken baseball team is headed back to Rhode Island College to face Cumberland in the finals.

The Hawks cooled off quite a bit toward the end of the regular season and took some tough losses. There was a real question, at least for me, if this team got burnt out from playing so many games in such a short window.

The team’s championship mettle came in handy as it rebounded and worked its way through the pod playoffs. Game 1 is Thursday and Game 2 is Sunday. That does not bode well for the Clippers, who will face a Hendricken team that will be afforded plenty of rest.

I see Hendricken pulling off the repeat. I respect Cumberland, the Clippers have been among the best teams in the state and won the title just two years ago. I could see it going three games, but I have a feeling that the Hawks will empty the tank and take it in two.

Cranston East boys volleyball swept Hendricken on Tuesday to reach the state finals. North Kingstown is the favorite to clinch the other spot as the Skippers are unbeaten and the top seed.

Although NK has beat the Bolts three times this year, it’s hard to not like East’s chances. Am I picking them to win? No, but this is closer to 50-50 than people realize.

Charles Pincince and Dennis Dixon are arguably the top duo in the state up front, while Caleb Xum is arguably the state’s best setter. Darien Peterson has provided a quality fourth player as well to round out this group.

One thing that the Bolts are is hungry. Sure, every high school team wants to win, but this East team wants to win badly and its recent play has shown that. The team made easy work of Chariho in the quarters before cruising past the Hawks. NK is the favorite, as it should be, but the Bolts will have a shot come gameday.