Western Maine Conference observers sizing up Poland’s prospects in the preseason looked at the Knights’ young but talented squad and probably concluded that they were a year away from being a competitor.

But now, four games into the season, the Knights (3-1) are off to the best start in school history and looking like a team to be reckoned with this year.

The Knights have shown good balance through the first quarter of the season.

“Our bats have been alive. All of our wins have been by 10 runs or more,” said Poland coach Charlie Green.

“Our pitching has been awesome. That’s really been the key,” Green added. “They’re all throwing strikes, and that’s what we tried to improve from last year.”

Poland’s pitching staff consists of three sophomores and just one senior, No. 1 starter Nick Berube, who has yet to give up an earned run in six innings. He’s backed up by a lot of depth, including juniors Kyle Purington and Eric Piper and sophomores Max Levine, Nate Spencer and Alex Smith, who picked up a win in his first varsity start Wednesday against Lake Region.

Many of those juniors and sophomores saw considerable playing time last year, and Green said he’s noticed a big difference in how relaxed and focused his players are this season.

“Even though it’s a young team, it’s a young team that’s got some experience, so they’re not letting the little things bother them that bothered them before,” he said.

The Knights will get a better idea just how improved they are in their next two games. They play Greely and Gorham, two of the top teams in the conference, back-to-back on Saturday and Monday.

Gray area

One of the teams expected to battle Gorham and Greely for WMC supremacy is Gray-New Gloucester. The Patriots are trying to rebound from an 0-3 start in which they were shut out the first two games of the season.

“It’s a little frustrating,” said coach Aaron Talon. “The kids are pressing a little bit, and even we as coaches are pressing. But I’ve told the kids that it doesn’t matter how many you win in April and May. It’s how many you win in June when they count.”

Talon has no complaints about the performance of his pitching staff so far. Shane Corcoran and Lou Bernardini have been excellent on the mound, and Jesse Huff showed that he can be a solid No. 3 starter as the Patriots showed signs of snapping out of it in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over Yarmouth. Huff settled down after a shaky first inning to shut down the Clippers the rest of the way. Huff, who’s also shown an excellent glove at shortstop this season, struck out 11 and yielded just three hits in his outing.

Mowing ’em down

Mt. Ararat’s Mark Rogers is quickly emerging as the most dominant pitcher in the state, and he’s only a junior.

The 6-foot Rogers is 4-0 this season in four starts, with four complete games and 62 strike outs. He struck out 18 against Mt. Blue, but that’s not his season-high. He fanned 19 against Skowhegan last week.

Rogers was the only underclassman to make the All-KVAC first team last season, so it’s not like he came out of nowhere.

“He prepared himself this winter. He spent a lot of time on baseball this off-season, whereas he’s never really done that before because he played hockey,” said Mt. Ararat coach Craig Rogers. “He spent a lot of time with Dale Plummer. I think he’s throwing right now like he was in the Legion season last year. His velocity has picked up a little bit. He’s gotten bigger and stronger and I think that plays into it. I think he’s throwing the best he’s ever thrown.”