Admit it. You woke up at an ungodly hour this morning to watch the Red Sox play the MLB season opener in Japan.

If you're still awake this evening, you'll get to watch another New England product on the tube.

Brunswick's Joanne P. McCallie - AKA Coach P - and the Duke women's basketball team face Arizona State at 7 p.m. on the ESPN networks - 1, 2, U, 360 - in a second-round game in College Park, Md.

Meanwhile, former McAuley standout Ashley Cimino got to witness greatness Monday night in California. Candice Wiggins – Cimino's teammate at Stanford – tied a school record by scoring 44 points Monday in the Cardinal's 88-54 second-round win over UTEP.

Stanford faces Pittsburgh in a regional semifinal Saturday in Spokane, Wash.

A total of 10 pitchers and catchers start spring practices this afternoon in softball - despite the sunny weather outside, practice will probably be inside.

But if you're a Cape Elizabeth softball player, the unexpected day off from school doesn't mean you can enjoy a free Monday afternoon.

"We're practicing today," Capers Coach Joe Henrikson said earlier this afternoon..

Good thing. Starting today, Cape Elizabeth defends its Class B softball championship.

Falmouth graduate Bryant Barr got only three minutes of playing time but No. 10 Davidson upset No. 7 Gonzaga 82-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Omaha, Neb.

And, for the record, I picked Davidson to upset the Zags in all 26* of my brackets.

(* - just an estimate)

Ralph Mims, a former Brunswick boys basketball standout, finished up his four years at Florida State on Tuesday. Akron defeated the Seminoles 65-60 in the first round of the NIT - also known as the "We're No. 66!" tournament.

Mims averaged 11.6 points for Florida State, which finished 19-15.

With the release of the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament brackets, several Mainers will be on national television when the "madness" begins Thursday.

Bryant Barr (Falmouth) and No. 10 Davidson face No. 7 Gonzaga in a first-round men's tournament game Friday in Raleigh, N.C., while Ashley Cimino (McAuley) and No. 2 Stanford face No. 15 Cleveland State in a first-round women's tournament game Thursday in Palo Alto, Calif.

Joanne Palombo McCallie and No. 3 Duke face No. 14 Murray State on Sunday in College Park, Md., in a first-round women's tournament game. McCallie (better known as "Coach P") played at Brunswick and coached at the University of Maine, and she's pretty familiar with this tournament thing – three years ago, McCallie's Michigan State team played for the national championship.

Moments after being named the Travis Roy Award winner Sunday in Lewiston, Biddeford's Tony Dube spoke highly of the three finalists for the award, Falmouth's Derek Kump, Lewiston's Jon Roy and Messalonskee's Matt DelGiudice.

"Derek Kump, I used to play against him in youth hockey and he's always been a great goalie. In my opinion he is still the best high school hockey goalie in the state. Jon Roy is a tremendous competitor and I played against him two years in the state game. He never made it easy for me. Matt DelGiudice, also a great player, I didn't get to see much of him because he was in the East but I saw him (Saturday) in the all-star game and he impressed me a lot."

There wasn’t a Travis Roy Award in existence when Jeff Libby was at Waterville High School, playing for Norm Gagne. In fact, Libby is astounded at the growth of high school hockey since 1992, his senior year.

“You see teams today, and some of the better teams that didn’t even exist a few years ago, programs like Bonny Eagle and Gray-New Gloucester/Poland," said Libby, who played at the University of Maine and in the AHL. "Any time you can get teams and get people involved, that’s great for hockey.”

Libby will be the keynote speaker at Sunday's Maine Class A Hockey banquet in Lewiston, where the Travis Roy Award will be presented to the top senior in Class A hockey.

***

To learn a bit more about Travis Roy and his charitable foundation, check out www.travisroyfoundation.org

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel caught up with former Mt. Ararat pitching standout Mark Rogers, who is at spring training at the Milwaukee Brewers' minor-league camp in Arizona.

The Brewers took Rogers with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2004 draft. Rogers underwent surgery on his right shoulder in January of 2007 and missed all of last season.

Biddeford defenseman Brian Dumoulin will forgo his senior year of high school hockey to play for the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs.

Dumoulin helped Biddeford win its second Class A championship on Saturday, and finished the season with 13 goals and 48 assists.

Cony's Rachael Mack has been named the 2007-2008 Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year for Maine.

Mack is a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award, which will be announced later this month. Mack is Cony's first player to win the award. The senior forward averaged 18.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and shot 74 percent from the free-throw line. Mack is a finalist for the state's Miss Maine Basketball award and was a first-team KVAC selection.

Mack plans to play basketball at Colby College.

Biddeford goalie Tony Dube had high praise for his goaltending counterpart Saturday night after the Tigers won their second Class A championship.

"I think it was a goaltending battle right to the very end," said Dube, who stopped 27 shots in a 4-1 win over Lewiston. "Lewiston kind of faltered a little bit, I guess you could say, and we capitalized. Cam Poussard played a hell of a game tonight. He's going to be really good in a couple years. My guess is by his junior year, he will be the best goalie in the state of Maine."

Poussard, a freshman, made 26 saves for the Blue Devils.

***

From the "That's quite a long game" department:

The Michigan High School Athletic Association designated co-champions in high school hockey this weekend after Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary's skated to a 1-1, eight-overtime tie in the Division 1 championship game.

The game was stopped after 109 minutes and set a new national record for most overtimes in a game. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, two games have been played to six overtimes – Anchorage East (Ak.) defeated Anchorage Bartlett 3-2 on Feb. 6, 2001 and Edina (Minn.) defeated Eden Prairie 3-2 on Feb. 25, 1998.

BIDDEFORD 4, LEWISTON 1: Nick Reny scored the go-ahead goal on a shorthanded effort in the second period, helping Biddeford complete a 24-0 season and win its second consecutive Class A championship.

WINSLOW 4, YORK 3, OT: At the Colisee in Lewiston, Nick Thorne scored with 4:14 left in overtime to clinch the Class B championship for the Black Raiders.

Winslow's Jesse Little made 37 saves as the Black Raiders defeated the Wildcats for their 10th Class B championship.

Ben Grant, Jeffrey Browne and Sean Bourgeois scored for Winslow while Dan Powers, Jake Posternak and Devin Zucker scored in the final seven minutes of the third period for York.

Breanne Fortiguerra concluded her final season as the Red Storm coach on Tuesday, when her team capped off a 20-0 season with the Tier II championship.

"When the girls came to practice, they practiced," Fortiguerra said. "And when they came to games, they showed up to play."

But Fortiguerra is also one of the pioneers of girls hockey in Maine, who played on the boys hockey team at Massabesic and then played on USM's women's team. Since she began playing hockey, she's seen the women's game evolve in Maine.

"There's definitely a lot more talent now in girls hockey," Fortiguerra said. "Even when I started coaching six years ago, there were girls who were deciding to become hockey players. It's a lot more competitive for men to play college hockey and for women it was easier. But now it's more difficult. Still, on my team there are probably at least six girls that will play college hockey, if they want to do so."

Girls hockey will begin MPA competition in December.

BIDDEFORD 2, KENNEBUNK 1, OT: Trevor Fleurent's goal with less than four minutes left in the first overtime gave the Tigers their second consecutive Western Class A title.

Biddeford will face Lewiston at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Colisee for the Class A championship.

LEWISTON 5, WATERVILLE 2: Jon Roy scored three goals, including two in the second period, as the Blue Devils (19-3-1) won their fourth consecutive Eastern A championship.

Lewiston goalie Cam Poussard made 28 saves. Zach Jochem and Cameron Bishop scored for Waterville (14-8-1).

Lewiston will face either Biddeford or Kennebunk in the Class A championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Colisee in Lewiston.

On that note, it looks as if the Western A final between the Tigers and the Rams will start past 8 p.m.

One team has already secured its berth in Saturday's state hockey championships, as Winslow defeated Gardiner 5-4 in overtime Tuesday night in the Eastern Class B final in Orono.

Winslow will face either York or Greely - the Western B championship is at 7 tonight at the Colisee in Lewiston.

Waterville plays Lewiston for the Eastern A title at 6 tonight at the Cumberland County Civic Center, followed by Kennebunk-Biddeford for the Western A title.

Despite the slick weather, no postponements so far from the Maine Principals' Association.

The Lewiston hockey team played the final game of a four-game day Monday at the Colisee, and the Blue Devils' 5-1 win over Lawrence ended right around the time most people were turning off the TV after the nightly news.

However, Blue Devils Coach Norm Gagne plans to catch up on his sleep tonight. He didn't arrive home in Gorham until 1 this morning and returned to Lewiston High, where he's a staff member.

The Blue Devils have a light skate this afternoon, in preparation for Wednesday's Eastern Class A final against Waterville. Here's to a good night's sleep for the veteran coach.

***

If you're on the Kennebunk hockey team, don't plan to watch the end of the Boston Bruins game tonight. Only minutes after Kennebunk's 2-1 win over Falmouth on Tuesday in a Western A semifinal, Rams Coach Don Hill was making plans for a 9 p.m. practice for his team tonight at the Biddeford Ice Arena.

Biddeford, Kennebunk's opponent Wednesday in the Western A final, has a 2:20 practice scheduled for today.

No. 1 BIDDEFORD 7, No. 12 SCARBOROUGH 3: Cam Madore scored three goals for the Tigers, who won their 22nd straight game Monday at the Colisee. Biddeford scored four goals in the second period to break open a 2-1 game, and finished with five power-play goals.

Tony Dube made 15 saves in two periods for the Tigers, who face No. 2 Kennebunk in the Western A final Wednesday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Jacob Rutt scored two goals for Scarborough (8-14-1), which took 13 penalties.

Zach Jochem's goal with less than five minutes left became the game-winner for No. 3 Waterville, which defeated No. 2 Brewer 4-3 at the Colisee.

John Massey had three assists for the Purple Panthers, who eliminated last year's Class B champion from the playoffs.

Waterville will face either No. 4 Lawrence or No. 1 Lewiston on Wednesday in the Eastern A final at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Joey York scored both goals, including the game-winner with 2:02 left in the second overtime, as No. 2 Kennebunk defeated No. 3 Falmouth 2-1 in the first Western A semifinal.

Brewer and Waterville are tied at 2-2 in the opening minutes of the third period at the Colisee.

Because there are plenty of seats available this afternoon at the Colisee in Lewiston. It's an MCI crowd - friends and family - so far for a Western Class A semifinal between Falmouth and Kennebunk, which kicks off a four-game day-night regional semifinal affair at 3 p.m., followed by:

Brewer vs. Waterville at 5 p.m. (Eastern A)
Biddeford vs. Scarborough at 7 p.m. (Western A)
Lewiston vs. Lawrence at 9 p.m. (Eastern A)

Keep in mind these are all scheduled face-off times.