The Bucks have no intentions of slowing down.

BUCKFIELD – When a team loses the best player in the conference to graduation and still thinks it has improved, it’s not good news for the rest of the conference.

But that’s the outlook in Buckfield this year. Despite the departure of East-West Conference Player of the Year and staff ace Steve Abbott, the Bucks appear to be even stronger this season, even in the pitching department.

A nucleus of four seniors with four years of varsity experience will lead the Bucks into their season-opener today against 2003 Western Class C finalist St. Dom’s. That nucleus is hoping to take the next step after finishing last year 16-3 and one game shy of a Class D state championship.

Senior pitchers Scott Wetherell and Chris Savage head a deep and versatile pitching staff that will make the Bucks the favorite to win the EWC again this season.

“This is the best pitching staff we’ve had in our four years,” Savage said.

Wetherell, Savage and fellow senior Harry Hayes give the Bucks a top three in the rotation that would be the envy of many Class C teams, let alone Class D. While none of them are overpowering, they do give opponents different looks from the mound.

Wetherell, a fireballer, and Savage, a crafty right-hander, both have four years of big-game experience. Hayes, meanwhile, keeps hitters off-balance with a dancing knuckleball.

“I’ve been working on it since fourth grade, and it still needs some work,” Hayes said. “It worked pretty well in preseason against Mountain Valley. There was one kid that chopped at it like an ax.”

Throw in senior lefty Jake McAlister, sophomore Matt Lowell and freshman Jamie Henderson and coach Chuck Williams should be able to keep their top arms fresh for the playoffs.

“We do have a couple of spots on the schedule where we’re playing four games in four days, so those guys are going to come in real handy when we can get them in and save Scott and Chris for later on, hopefully,” Williams said.

When the Bucks think “later on,” they usually think of two-time defending Class D champions North Yarmouth Academy, which has knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs the last two years, including last season’s Western D championship.

“We’re looking forward to playing them, but I wish we were playing them in the regular season,” Hayes said. “We need to work hard, though. NYA isn’t just going to say, Here, you guys can have one because most of you are seniors.'”

The Bucks, particularly their senior core, know that from experience, and they have plenty of experience back. Only Abbott and Brendan Harvey are missing from last year’s starting nine.

Opponents can expect a confident, but not cocky, Buckfield team that plans to go far this season.

“The only year we didn’t really go deep in the playoffs was our sophomore year and we had a lot of people hurt right before the playoffs then,” Savage said.

Injuries have hurt them the last two years. Savage and senior catcher Jeff Russell missed some time early last season with different ailments. But both are back healthy this year, and so is the rest of the squad.

Despite their good health, talent and experience and their impressive record last season, Buckfield still has room to improve. Williams hopes no one knows that better than his senior leaders.

“I hope that we can hit the ball a little bit better than what we did last year,” Williams said. “I don’t feel last year that we actually hit the ball the way we could.”

“For some of the seniors, this is their fourth year on the team, and I think they’re ready,” he added. “I hope they’re ready.”

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