Edward Little probably was a year ahead of schedule in its ascent to the elite in Class A North baseball.

The Red Eddies’ current top three pitchers — Jarod Norcross Plourde, Damien St. Pierre and CJ Jipson — were sophomores in 2015. At times, they proved almost unhittable.

“They threw 80 innings at the varsity level,” EL coach Dave Jordan said. “Plourde was first-team all-KVAC. St. Pierre allowed one earned run in 26 innings.”

Riding the crest of those tidy efforts, EL went 12-4 and soared to the No. 2 seed in the regional playoffs under first-year skipper Jordan. The Red Eddies took two out of three contests from eventual state champion Bangor, including the KVAC title game.

It’s a run that ended with a frustrating home loss to Mt. Blue in the quarterfinals, but it fueled expectations that the next year or two could be a special stretch on the diamond in Auburn.

EL also has one of the state’s top catchers in Brandon Varney, a three-year starter, and a proven double play combination with Austin Cox at shortstop and Drew Lashua at second base. Cox enters his second season as leadoff hitter.

Junior Tyler Blanchard and senior Varney add to the Eddies’ pitching depth. Each might be the No. 1 or No. 2 starter on many other teams.

“Varney didn’t pitch at all last year until Legion,” Jordan said, “and he struck out 11, 12 and 14 in his first three starts.”

Sophomore multi-sport athletes Grant Hartley (third base) and Maxx Bell (catcher, outfield) will vie for playing time in what should be a crowded lineup. Bo Norcross, Kyle Romero and Ben Harris also return with varsity experience.

Across the bridge, Lewiston welcomes Will Emerson, its fourth different coach in five years.

The Blue Devils are young with five juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen playing integral roles. Emerson will lean heavily on seniors Austin Wing (pitcher/third base), Corey Harvey (outfield) and Brady Cusson (second base).

“They’re all captains, and I think they will set the pace of how our season is going to go,” Emerson said.

Emerson is still getting to know his personnel. He sees depth among the pitchers and catchers.

Cusson, junior Jared Rubin, sophomores Brock Belanger, Gordon Beckwith, Evan Cox and Ben Chasse and freshman Hunter Landry all could see time on the hill. Belanger is the incumbent catcher, but Beckwith and junior Chris Osgood also may wind up there.

“We probably more depth than I want to admit right now with our 14 or 15 guys,” Emerson said.

Nick Powers and Eddie Turgeon are among the outfield hopefuls.

Lewiston made a late-season run to the preliminary round of the playoffs a year ago. Most of the graduation losses were up the middle: pitcher/shortstop Mike Wong, pitcher Kyle Ullrich and center fielder Ryan Bell.

“We’re going to have to be versatile,” Emerson said. “My best athletes are in the infield, and they’re probably all going to pitch.”

Oxford Hills was the top-ranked team in the region for the first half of 2015. The Vikings faded badly thereafter, in part because anticipated ace Will Frank, since graduated, battled arm problems all season.

“That put an awful lot of responsibility on two guys,” Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer said. “We’re a little deeper there this year. I don’t know if we have someone like (Bangor’s Trevor) DeLaite or Plourde, but we should be able to piece it together.”

Bailey West and Blake Slicer provide that experienced one-two on the bump. Sophomore Emery Chickering and freshman Colton Carson have excellent long-term potential.

University of Maine basketball recruit Andrew Fleming, playing baseball for the first time since his freshman year, is an interesting addition.

“He pitched very well on our trip to South Carolina,” Slicer said. “It’s good for him. Baseball is a slower pace than what he’s been doing.”

The Vikings should be solid defensively with three-year starter Matt Smith behind the plate and an intact infield of Tyler Curtis at first, Brayden Bean at second, Jake Spinhirn at shortstop and Troy Johnson at third.

Slicer, West and Jake Beauchesne return to the outfield.

“We played great at the start of last season. Then I think the schedule got a little tougher,” Slicer said. “We still have a lot of work to do when I look at us compared to some of the teams in our league, but I think we’ll be a bit better.”

Mt. Blue lost to Brewer in the regional semifinals, and its pitching took a serious hit from graduation.

With their 1A and 1B of Colton Lawrence and Amos Herrin departed, the Cougars will need veterans Ryan Pratt, Corey Rogers and Thomas Wing to eat up innings.

Young pitching talent waits in the wings in the person of senior Moses Clark, juniors Sean Testa, David McDonald and Alex Philbrick, and sophomores Hunter Bolduc and Ryan Nelson.

Pratt is rock-solid at shortstop. Ethan Andrews or Bolduc should settle in behind the plate.

“Look for us to be strong defensively,” Mt. Blue coach Christian Boileau said. “In order to make a run for a playoff spot, we will need to develop our pitching and progress offensively.”

The top three of Bangor, EL and Brewer may remain unchanged, with only the order in doubt. Oxford Hills and Hampden, with the bulk of its roster returning, are considered among the next in line.

koakes@sunjournal.com