Pitching and defense wins championships at all levels of baseball, including American Legion Zone III, which begins its post-season tonight with a slate of three games.

With a spot in next weekend’s state tournament in Augusta on the line and a schedule that will require at least one of the two zone finalists to play three games in three days, pitching depth is at a premium. Adding to the burden, the Saturday and Sunday games will be nine rather than seven innings long, and pitchers are limited to to 12 innings over the course of the weekend.

Yet a wealth of hurlers, no matter how good, means little if they have a sloppy defense behind them.

No. 2 Bessey Motors may have the most pitching depth in the zone, as its opponent Friday, No. 7 Cole Farms, is all too well aware.

Bessey swept the three games between the teams this season without using staff aces Joe Baker and Corey Tielinen. Corey Saunders, Matt McDonnell, Chris Jennings and Mike Stacy combined to hold Cole Farms to just three runs total.

Cole Farms isn’t as loaded as Bessey, but the Gray-New Gloucester-Yarmouth squad played very well down the stretch, winning five of its last six regular season games. Tim DeLuca and Louie Bernardini are the top arms on one of the most improved teams in the zone.

Pitching hasn’t been an issue for No. 3 Gayton Post 31, which has enjoyed remarkable consistency on the mound from Dustin Longchamps, Ryan Turgeon, Luke Potter and Zack Timmermeyer all season. Run support, however, has been a problem, one which Gayton would like to have solved in time for tonight’s game with No. 6 Mechanic Falls.

“I’ve actually been very happy with our pitching. Hopefully, we can break out of our hitting woes,” said Gayton coach Don King.

Gayton took two-out-of-three against Mechanic Falls this year but some of those hitting woes can be traced back to the game they lost. The two wins, both by one run, came in a doubleheader earlier this month. Alex Smith tossed a no-hitter in Mechanic Falls’ only win, 5-3, but Mechanic Falls can’t afford to repeat the eight errors it made in that game.

“If we play good defense, I think we can win,” said Mechanic Falls coach Walter Cary.

No. 4 Andy Valley has a number of potential starters to choose from, including Brad Bryant, Brandon Smith, Dustin Gilbert, Chris Brewer and Scott Wetherell, for its tilt with No. 5 Smith-Tobey.

“We’re playing a lot better,” said Andy Valley coach Jeff Gilbert. “We’re hitting the ball and the defense is more solid.”

Lisbon’s John Tefft and Chris Kates could see time on the hill for Smith-Tobey, which lost two of three to Andy Valley during the regular season.

Locke Mills, the regular season champion and top seed, earned a first-round bye and awaits the winner of the Smith-Tobey and Andy Valley matchup. The pitching rotation of Terry Collins, Richie Ross, Corey Wing and Kyle Kipikas is a big reason why they’ll only have to win two rather than three to earn a berth in the state tournament.