Good pitching has been hard to come by in the Mountain Valley Conference in 2013. And it may be getting harder to find, in the short and long term.

Slugfests aren’t the norm, yet. But the top teams in the conference are feasting on bad pitching. Dirigo and Winthrop, the third-  and fourth-ranked teams in the Western C Heal Points, respectively, are averaging 10 runs per game. No. 2 Monmouth is scoring nine runs per game, and top-ranked St. Dom’s a little over seven runs per game.

MVC coaches went into the season predicting that pitching would be down. The biggest need they saw was for true aces, and, in fact, few have emerged through the first three weeks of the season.

“We’re not seeing those dominant pitchers like we have in the past,” Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said. “Everybody’s got a No. 1, but it’s not a big No. 1, and hitters are catching up to it.”

“I think there are two quality pitchers, (Oak Hill’s Ryan) Riordan and (Spruce Mountain’s Peyton) Kennison,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “When you get beyond that …”

And the ranks are thinning even more. Riordan is battling a sore arm, as is another of the league’s top starters, Jimmy Theriault of St. Dom’s. 

In the past, coaches didn’thave to worry about much beyond their No. 1 starter. Teams could usually make it through the season with two dependable starters, spotting other starters only when necessary.

Now, coaches may be forced to place more of a premium on depth, and finding a hot hand or two to ride into the playoffs.

“I think coaches are now thinking, ‘Uh, oh, do we have to develop a No. 3 and No. 4?'” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer said.

Palmer believes the decline is an ongoing trend. If that’s the case, the switch away from aluminum bats last season may have only temporarily stemmed the run-scoring tide.

Vikings answering call to arms

Oxford Hills has few complaints about its pitching. It’s the biggest factor in their 8-1 start.

“The pitching has been great,” Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer said.

Senior Ryan Godin and juniors Walter Feeney and Dalton Rice lead a staff that has not surrendered more than four runs in any game this year.

Slicer credits their ability to throw strikes, the steadiness of the defense behind them and the veteran Vikings’ experience with keeping baserunners to a minimum.

“The KVAC South is young. You can’t overlook the fact that we’re an older team than most now, so our pitchers should have an upper hand, throwing juniors and seniors at sophomores,” he said. “When we get up north, we’ll see how our pitching holds up.”

The Vikings will see the best the KVAC North has to offer on Friday when they host Hampden Academy (7-1), the top-ranked team in Eastern A.

First pitch for Friday’s game has been moved back to 4:30 p.m.

Short hops

The start times of two key MVC matchups schedule for Saturday have been changed so as not to conflict with prom. St. Dom’s and Spruce Mountain will meet at Spruce Mountain’s Griffin Field at 9 a.m. Oak Hill hosts Dirigo at 10 a.m… Other big games to kick off the second half of the season over the next week include: Buckfield at Forest Hills (Saturday doubleheader), Spruce Mountain at Dirigo (Monday), Oxford Hills at Lewiston (Monday), and Monmouth at Oak Hill (Wednesday).