They finished the regular season 9-7 and, when the final Heal Points are released today, they’re probably facing a difficult preliminary game in the post-season. But considering what the Poland Knights have been through, it’s hard to consider the 2004 season anything but a success. The Knights’ season started with high expectations, but then the sudden resignation in April of coach Charlie Green, who built the program from the ground up, loomed over them as they began their rugged Western Maine Conference schedule. Still, with the help of some good pitching and the steadying influence of their new coach, Scott Fennessy, the Knights persevered, and appear headed to their first non-open tournament postseason berth in the program’s history.

“I’m pretty proud of the players all the way around, said Poland coach Scott Fennessy. “They fight.”

The Knights have gone to battle with a solid pitching staff led by Jerry Goss, Alex Smith and Max Levine.

“We’ve pitched Alex in some pretty hard games, so his record could be better. And Jerry’s really come through,” Fennessy said. “He’s 4-2 and has our lowest ERA, under 2.00. Alex, you take away the Gorham game, and he’s probably under 2, and Max is around 3.00. So we’ve had some great pitching.”

Bottom feeders

On most teams, the 3-4-5 spots are considered the heart of the batting order. The way they’ve been hitting lately, though, the 8-9-1 hitters in the Oak Hill lineup have made the Raiders offense tick.

Catcher Kyle Lunn, center fielder Kyle Harrington and left fielder Mike Eaton continued their hot hitting in Tuesday’s 9-2 win over Erskine. The trio accounted for six of the Raiders’ 10 hits, scored four runs and drove in four. Lunn is batting .488 with 25 RBIs and 18 runs scored out of the seven spot, while Harrington is hitting .465 with 19 runs and 12 RBIs. Their ability to get on base has paid off for Eaton, who’s driven in 19 runs, an unusually high number for a leadoff hitter, while batting .465.

All three players have stolen eight bases apiece.

Conference tilts

Weather permitting, Oak Hill will host MCI today at 4:15 p.m. in the KVAC semifinals. Winslow and Erskine meet in the other semifinal, with the winners of both games advancing to the conference championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Camden Hills. If today’s games are rained out, Oak Hill and Winslow, as the top two seeds, will automatically advance to the final.

The MVC is also playing a conference championship, its first ever, for both baseball and softball tonight at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College. The participants depended on the outcome of yesterday’s overflowing slate of games. Several teams that were still alive for a spot in the championship, including the Georges Valley softball and Mountain Valley baseball teams, were forced by recent rainouts to play double-headers yesterday. Jay and Telstar also had a shot at sending teams to both the softball and baseball finals.

Tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for students. The event also includes a ceremony recognizing the conference’s first, second and all-academic teams.