What is the best high school sports rivalry on the Seacoast?
Frank Coppola Sports editor, Portsmouth Herald Right now, it’s Portsmouth against St. Thomas in baseball. The two neighboring foes played in last season’s Class I final, and there’s a good chance we’ll see a rematch in a few weeks. The enrollment at St. Thomas, a private school, has many students who otherwise would have attended Portsmouth High. So when these teams meet on the athletic field, many of the players used to be teammates when they were younger. The most obvious case now is St. Thomas sophomore Jordan Bean, who led Portsmouth to the Little League World Series in 2006. Now he’s one of the top pitchers for St. Thomas. Portsmouth’s athletes sometimes seem to have a chip on their shoulder when they play St. Thomas, perhaps feeling spurned by those who instead choose to attend STA. Expect another football-sized crowd if these teams meet again for the state championship.Jay Pinsonnault Sports editor, weekly publications Sure, Portsmouth and St. Thomas has developed a nice basebal
