The echo pervaded Callahan Family Gym. It was an unusual sound on Monday afternoon for this point in the preseason at Auburn’s Saint Dominic Academy.

In previous years, the reigning Class C champions would have been limited to 10 designated players — eight pitchers, two catchers — for a week of advance workouts.

Thanks to a Maine Principals’ Association rules change, there are no more labels. It’s still optional, but everyone is invited to participate in the throwing, catching and conditioning rituals to give themselves a head start toward Maine’s elusive spring high school sports season.

Bats and organized fielding drills are not permitted until next Monday.

“It’s strictly an arm-strengthening week,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “You’re not supposed to be really evaluating anything else other than strengthening boys’ arms.”

Most coaches and players expected to enjoy the rarest of rarities, thanks to winter’s unseasonable warmth: A chance to showcase and survey those skills on the diamond, from the first day of workouts.

Four to six inches of snow fell Sunday night into Monday morning, foiling those plans.

At Oak Hill High School in Wales, coach Matt Bray and a nearly full complement of players stubbornly fought the elements, hitting the paved parking lot for about 10 minutes for the purpose of playing long toss. Then the Raiders acquiesced to the stiff, twilight breeze and raced back into the gym.

“We’ve got some freshmen, and I’m excited about this week, because I don’t normally get to work with them this early,” Bray said.

Every coach’s strategy was different. At Lisbon, Randy Ridley ran an abbreviated workout that was even more streamlined than in years past, with only four pitchers and two catchers.

He plans to invite other players for an optional walk-through, starting Tuesday.

“I understand the whole process of what they’re trying to do,” Ridley said, “but over the years we’ve tried to do all those things, not overwork anybody, and we haven’t had a lot of arm issues.”

Of the three triangular MVC rivals, separated by about 10 miles of two-lane highway in each direction, Lisbon has the fewest concerns about its battery.

Last season’s No. 2 and 3 pitchers, Tyler Halls and Noah Francis, return for the Greyhounds, along with incumbent catcher Nick Lerette.

“Today we threw about 15 pitches apiece. We didn’t strain our arms too much,” Lerette said. “As the week goes on we’ll start tuning it up. I think it’s a big difference from the actual tryout. When everybody is here, it’s hard to focus on just pitching.”

Doughty Diamond at Lisbon was ready for action on Friday, so Ridley expects that the Greyhounds will be outdoors after a few more days of sun and 45-to-50-degree temperatures.

For now, they have the privilege of practicing in the school’s brand new gymnasium. To the naked eye, it’s double the size of the former digs. Players wheeled out a bullpen cage and a strip of artificial turf Monday.

“We’re able to do a lot more,” prospective pitcher Troy Galarneau said. “We’re not so confined to two lanes. We can have people warm up off to the side if we need to. We can have a cage. Things aren’t bouncing off the wall.”

Blackman welcomed 19 players, including seven, to St. Dom’s season-opening workout. 

Even though it’s the smallest turnout of his terrific tenure (five state titles and only one playoff loss shy of the regional finals), the coach couldn’t help but think the gym was too crowded.

“We may play it by ear and give it a couple days, and then we might just cut it back and go with strictly pitchers and catchers,” Blackman said. “I like this week to really work with the pitchers and catchers, to kind of mold them. We have an arm strengthening program which we’ve always used that I’m comfortable with. We need space. We need to really be able to focus on them.”

St. Dom’s has only one returning pitcher, sophomore Gavin Bates, and one senior, Nate Richard, with varsity experience.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Bates said. “Unfortunately the snow came, so we’ve got to stay inside, but it’s better than last year when we had to shovel. We’ve just got to stay loose.”

“It gets everybody’s arm going,” Richard said of the modified schedule. “Instead of starting off day one, doing nothing, everybody has stuff going on.”

It has been six weeks since the end of Oak Hill’s basketball season in a playoff loss at Poland. That’s the opposite of what the Raiders have endured the past three Novembers, when their journey to three consecutive football state titles cut into the first week of basketball and wrestling practice.

Forgive the Oak Hill delegation for feeling stir-crazy. 

“It’s a conditioning week, really, for our arms and our bodies, because we’ve been off for what feels like three months,” senior pitcher Jonah Martin said. “It’s nice, but it’s Maine, so there’s no place to play outside. Just yesterday, me and a couple buddies were out here hitting balls in the field. Then the snow came in.”

Martin and Matt Clifford both have experience as pitchers and catchers, but the Raiders enter the season with unanswered questions in both categories.

“We’re working on accuracy and repetition,” Clifford said. “We see more new faces and try to see what we’ve got for talent coming up.”

Oak Hill has five exhibition games on its schedule, including a multi-game play day. 

Factor in the extra week for nearly half his team, one the Raiders wouldn’t have enjoyed in the past, and Bray is all in favor of the change.

“That’s huge. Everybody gets a chance to get started and get out early on,” Bray said. “With Tommy John (surgery) and all these elbow issues, kids having shoulder surgery their junior year, I think this is the way to go.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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