Class A

After suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Deering in last year’s state championship game, Brewer is hoping to heal its wounds with another Eastern Maine title and another return to the state championship game. The Witches’ primary competition out of the KVAC North will be rival Bangor and Hampden Academy. In the South, Cony and Mt. Ararat are the early favorites but could be in for more headaches because that half of the league appears to have more depth this season. Edward Little has one of the deepest starting rotations in the East. Lewiston returns two all-KVAC second team outfielders in Alex Wong and Robbie Leeman, plus a young but experienced pitching staff. Oxford Hills has arguably the best two-way player in Eastern Maine in catcher Matt Verrier, who will be handling an inexperienced but promising pitching staff. Brunswick and Skowhegan should also figure into the playoff picture. Mt. Blue and Leavitt will continue to rebuild.

Class B

When you’re the defending Western Maine champion and have eight starters returning, as Cape Elizabeth does, the title of favorite is yours until you lose it. Western Maine Conference rivals Greely and Yarmouth may wrest it away from them eventually. After a down year, Poland has new coach Don King and a lot of firepower to start challenging the conference elite, led by all-conference selections Nick Douglass and Casey Ray. With a lineup anchored by 2008 MVC co-MVP Justin Staires, Mountain Valley figured to have a shot at coming out of the Mountain Valley Conference as a dark horse, but ace Matt Laubauskas has a torn labrum and won’t be able to throw this year, if he plays at all. Lisbon has a good shot at filling its usual spot in the Class B tournament with a solid starting rotation of Tyler Brown, Marcus Bubar and Frank Angelico. Pitching is always the strength of another playoff perennial, Oak Hill, and this year will be no different with Ben Rines and Cody Plourde leading the mound corps. The Raiders’ offense also appears to be improved, and they will battle Gardiner, Waterville, Camden Hills and Lincoln Academy in the KVAC.

Class C

Defending Western C champion Livermore Falls brings back four four-year starters – Caleb Baron, Ryan Jackson, Kyle Stebbins and Josh Tainter, as well as standout junior pitchers Willie Brown and Derrick Castonguay. If the Andies can fill the holes graduation left in the middle of the infield and outfield, they could make it two in a row. Regional runner-up St. Dom’s could be right there to challenge them again. The Saints will move to the MVC next year and should have little trouble from their Class C competition in their final WMC season. Their lineup, led by Greg LaBonte, Casey Parker and Richard Paradis, is as deep as ever. They have a number of quality arms but no ace has emerged in preseason. Even though Aaron Fenstermacher and James Moulton are the only senior starters back, Dirigo will follow the same formula that led it to the Western C semifinals last season, pitching and defense. Winthrop won its first MVC title in 27 years last year but was hit hard by graduation. They have one of Jordan Conant, Easton Morang and Riley Cobb returning to defend the title. Hall-Dale and Wiscasset also figure prominently among the league contenders. Telstar was a No. 12 seed in last year’s tournament and pulled off a first-round upset of fifth-seeded Monmouth. Although the Rebels have top starter James Kimball back and the Mustangs return all-conference outfielder Parker Ferland, the two teams’ rankings could even out this year. Jay needs a young pitching staff to come through to make a deep run in the playoffs. Mt. Abram hopes bringing back some mound experience will help it continue building into a playoff contender.

Class D

Since North Yarmouth Academy moved to Class C before 2006, this has been a two-horse race between Richmond and Rangeley, and it should be again. Rangeley, the defending state champions, lost Ben Bliss to graduation and Luke Hammond to Deering, but the Lakers lost just four other seniors and have some reinforcements coming, including Quinn Philbrick, who missed last season with a knee injury. Buckfield has been the show horse during the last three seasons and will likely return there with a solid mix of veterans such as Tyler Weymouth and Kyle Rines and a promising freshman class.