Defending Class I champion Portsmouth moved to 6-0 on the season behind 4 innings of one run baseball from pitcher Keegan Taylor and a pair of hits from all-state outfielder Mike Montville and Jack Gonsalves.

 Coe-Brown got a pair of hits from Zach Branco (2 for 4) and Tucker White, including White's home run that was the Bears only run of the game. Jesse Guckert pitched well in defeat, giving up three runs and six hits over seven innings. 

 We are proud to announce our partnership with Calero & Sullivan Baseball Management and want to highlight the baseball traveling teams program the group has been running for baseball teams all over New England.

 Enrique "Kike" Calero played professional baseball in the Houston Astros organization and carried his lifelong knowledge and experience into the coaching ranks at the college and high school level. Calero has specialized in representing professional Latin American players and has recently worked extensively with USA Baseball Training Centers in Newington, N.H.

 Jason Sullivan joined Calero after establishing one of the top law practices on the Seacoast with Sullivan Law offices (the proud sponsor of Portsmouth high school coverage). Sullivan received his Bachelors degree from UNH and his law degree from the University of San Diego.

 " We are very excited to introduce our program to the high school baseball teams in New Hampshire, " said Sullivan. " This is a great opportunity for baseball teams in New Hampshire to compete in Puerto Rico against teams at the highest level and just as importantly, develop their skills in both a highly competitive environment and tropical climate."

 The trips to Puerto Rico are 5 days long (Thursday to Monday) and includes a weekend tournament, team practices, sight seeing as well as dining and hotel accommodations. " The response from the coaches, players and parents has been tremendous and we're only expecting the level of participation to grow with our affiliation with NHsportspage," said Sullivan. " Teams from all levels of New Hampshire baseball will have the opportunity to compete at a time of year when baseball is usually put on hold during the fall and winter months."

 Red Sox Hall of Famer Bob Stanley has accompanied teams to Puerto Rico with Calero and Sullivan and will continue to be a major part of the program.

 For information on how send your team to Puerto Rico for world class baseball visit http://www.caleroandsullivan.com/ and ask about the discount on travel and accommodations you receive when you mention NHsportspage.com.

 Can anyone break the Portsmouth dynasty? That's the question this spring. The answer could be St. Thomas, which finished second in the regular season and lost to the Seacoast-based Clippers in the state title game. Or Lebanon, which finished the '09 regular season 13-3 and returns a ton of talent... or for that matter any of a half-dozen clubs in this competitive division.

 Word has it there are still pockets of snow in the backwoods at the top of the state, though North Country teams like Pittsburg and Colebrook don't lose games to the white stuff anymore.

 Meanwhile, south of the mountains, the season is in full bloom, and all over the state the 2010 baseball season has reached its mid-point and beyond. There have been some upside surprises this season, like Salem and Souhegan, while other clubs like Winnacunnet in Hampton has underachieved. But baseball is baseball, and on any given day, most any team in the state can, with a strong starter on the mound and a little luck, beat most any other club.

 As the season turns the corner and teams begin thinking playoffs, a look at the 2010 season at roughly the halfway mark:

 It's June, and the Boston Celtics are about to meet the Los Angeles Lakers in yet another east coast/west coast NBA Final; the Boston Red Sox are confusing their fans, beating the best teams (Tampa Bay) and losing to the bottom-dwellers (Kansas City)... and the Bruins are playing golf.

 England is the odds-on favorite in World Cup soccer (North Korea, meanwhile, is the longest shot at 200-1 and organizers reportedly worry the North Koreans might torpedo the South African Navy if they don't do well).  

 Closer to home, it's all about NHIAA playoff baseball this time of year. Tournament play begins Thursday, as the best high school teams in the Granite State get down to the serious business of deciding who is the best in each of the state's four high school divisions.

 While Nashua North, Portsmouth, Somersworth and Pittsburg are arguably the best teams in their respective classes, questions fill the air like Quebec smoke. Can Keene repeat in the state's large school division and become the first team to win back-to-back Class L titles since... well, Keene, in 1997.

 Can Portsmouth do something no team has ever done in Class I; namely, three-peat. Not to mention extend its 59-game win streak into 2011. Is Pittsburg for real, and can Somersworth finish the 2010 season without a dent in its so-far perfect ‘10 record.

 The semifinals in this spring's NHIAA baseball tourney are set for this Tuesday and Wednesday, and some compelling match-ups are on the menu. 2009 Class L champion Keene remains in the mix in the state's top division, and Class I Portsmouth will try to extend its 61-game winning streak when it meets Con Val.

 In Class S, Pittsburg, with the Chase brothers and a strong supporting cast, is looking at a championship game berth and a second state title in two years.

 The following is a quick look at the games:   

 Class I

 Both Lebanon, a pre-season pick to go deep into the playoffs, and Bedford, which seemingly came out of nowhere after a lackluster April to reach the semifinals, loom as Portsmouth's major obstacles to a third straight state title, though the #1 Clippers have business to attend to before any talk of a Class I championship game.

  A flurry of music and dance opened the 2010 World Cup in the purest sport on Earth Thursday. On domestic ground, will Paul Pierce ever show up vs. the West Coast. And can old man Tim Wakefield shake off the years and make the knuckler flutter before he's sent out to pasture?

 Closer to home, the Bishop Guertin boys captured the Division 1 lacrosse title this week in Nashua, beating Exeter 15-10. In Division 2, Bow High School prevailed 14-13 over the Bedford Bulldogs in extra time. Derryfield defeated Kingswood in Div. 3, 12-11.

 The Hollis Brookline girls made all of Souhegan Valley proud, taking the girls' Division 3 lacrosse crown over Kearsarge 10-4 at Southern New Hampshire University.

 And whatever happened to Spartan Dwight Barbiasz, who leapt seven feet in the high jump three years ago for MHS?

 (Other questions persist. Will open conflict darken the Korean peninsula before August, and is all that crude ever going to stop gushing into the Gulf (I'm just lucky I listened to my bride and didn't buy shares in BP last month, despite my broker's recommendation).

 Which brings us to New Hampshire schoolboy baseball.

 Often there comes a point in a long season when a team at the crossroads faces its demons, and finds a spirit that turns a potentially disastrous season into a great one. That happened to Winnisquam High and Portsmouth Christian Academy this spring, sometime in late April.

 Portsmouth Christian opened the spring without a win in two weeks.

“After we started out 0-3 I had my doubts, but the kids… started playing better, started to believe in themselves, and it just went from there,” PCA head coach Chip Andrews recalled after his club beat North Country power Pittsburg to win the Class S crown on June 12.

 At Winnisquam High School it was an early-season loss that prompted the pivotal soul-searching. “After the Mascoma loss we took a look at ourselves and realized we had to work hard every time out… and we did,” coach Fred Caruso recalled recently. And the Bears went on to compile a 19-2 record and beat favored – and previously unbeaten – Somersworth to win the Class M title.