Edward Little High School relief pitcher Nick Gagne looks to first base during Wednesday’s game against Bangor in Auburn. Sun Journal photo by Daryn Slover

Another rainy Friday brought another round of postponements across the state and gave high school baseball coaches already juggling their pitching staffs another ball to toss into the air.

The season started on April 11 but some teams, such as Monmouth Academy, have played as few as two games due to postponements caused by the rainy weather and unsuitable field conditions. Coaches and athletic directors already are having to deal with the nightmare of finding room for make-up games in a short spring schedule that’s made more difficult to work around by school events such as class trips and graduation.

“There is just, right now, absolutely no room for (more postponements),” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said.

The Saints’ game at Old Orchard Beach was among the downpour of postponements Friday. That leaves Blackman’s team, barring any more postponements, 13 games left to play in 17 available dates.

“We’ve got three weeks left,” said Blackman, whose Saints are 1-2.  “The last playable week, we lose three days because of baccalaureate, graduation and Project Graduation. And with Memorial Day, we’ve got one game that week. Other than that, the next three weeks, we have four games every week.”

Blackman, whose options are already limited with the smallest roster (12 players) he’s had in 16 years at St. Dom’s, said he’s essentially telling all of his players, even the ones who didn’t expect to pitch this year, to keep their arms loose.

“It’s all hands on deck, of course,” Blackman said. “You have to be very cognizant of pitch count and innings pitched just because you’ve got to be able to maximize what you’ve got.”

“You’ve got to find an arm that you probably weren’t prepared to use,” Blackman added.

Two years ago, the MPA adopted the National Federation of State High School Associations pitch count rules, which allow a varsity pitcher to throw a maximum of 110 pitches in a day. It also requires four calendar days of rest for pitchers who throw 96 or more pitches, three days of rest for throwing 66 to 95 pitches, two days of rest for 40 to 65 pitches and one day of rest for 21 to 39 pitches. Pitchers who throw 20 or less pitches in a day require no rest between appearances.

Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said that rule gives coaches greater flexibility with their pitchers than the innings rule that preceded it. He and other coaches are taking advantage of it by scheduling make-up games for doubleheaders. On Saturday, the Mustangs (2-0) are playing two games at Spruce Mountain, one against the host Phoenix at 2 p.m., to be followed by a make-up game against Bridgeway (Madison/Carrabec).

The Mustangs will be giving up a home date against Bridgeway, but Palleschi said it’s worth it.

“In the state of Maine, you only have so many days, so many weeks to play,” he said. “I like the pitch count rule, but you’ve got to use the pitch count. It makes no sense for us to try to squeeze games in on a Friday and a Saturday or a Wednesday-Thursday. Instead of playing these back-to-back games, play doubleheaders because you’ve got the kid for the day. If a kid throws 21 pitches on Friday, you can’t use him on Saturday. But if you play those two games on Saturday …”

St. Dom’s has also given up a home game with Waynflete to play a doubleheader on the Flyers’ home field. Blackman said he plans to ask Waynflete if it will agree to a little-known rule in the MPA’s baseball bulletin that could put less stress on both of their pitching staffs

“The MPA allows us to play five-inning games (instead of seven) when you are playing a doubleheader against the same team on a given day,” Blackman said. “I think that would be a real benefit.”

Complicating things further for coaches is the impact the weather can have on their practice schedules and their pitchers’ throwing schedules to build up their arms.

Even though Edward Little (4-2) has played six games already and could have as many as 11 finished by the end of next week (barring more postponements), coach Dave Jordan has had to reach deeper into his bullpen than most seasons.

“We’ve used more pitching in six games this season than the number we’ve used in the entire season before,” said Jordan, who estimates he’s given the ball to 10 pitchers already this season.

Coaches also have to work around missed practices or predict when a game or practice might be postponed to keep their pitchers on their throwing schedule.

“One of the hardest things is trying to get their between-games throwing sessions in,” said Jordan, whose game against Brunswick was postponed Friday. “You don’t want to have someone do a longer bullpen session because you may need that person for a rainout makeup two days later or something. A person scheduled to throw (Friday) isn’t throwing (Friday), so you might have them throw Saturday or Monday.”

Adding frustration to the chaos is the fact that some teams still can’t get on their practice fields because they haven’t had an opportunity to dry out.

Monmouth has been on its field just twice this spring, Palleschi said, once for practice and for Wednesday’s game against Mt. Abram, which the Mustangs won 4-3. Every other practice has been inside. Building up the pitching staff and keeping everyone engaged at practice is a daily struggle after they already had to spend the entire preseason practicing in the gym.

“Our guys hit the mound for four out of five days of the week, and we try to continue that,” Palleschi said. “When we practice inside, our hitters need to see live pitching and our pitchers need to throw to live hitters. So we do that every day. Whoever’s turn it is to throw live, if the game’s not on, they’ll throw live.”

“You hope it keeps them sharp, but it’s not the same. As much as you do things to try to simulate a game, it’s not a game situation,” Palleschi said.

Mother Nature may have a few more curve balls in store for this spring, but most coaches are trying to keep a sunny outlook and make the most of a difficult situation.

“It presents us with huge challenges that can also be fun for the guys,” Jordan said. “A lot of these guys may not have had an opportunity as early in another season as they have this season. This is a chance to show what you can do.”

It could also be a chance for some teams with pitching depth to make the most of their strength, which may also lead to a more unpredictable regular season and tournament.

“The season’s going to be built for teams that have more than just your traditional one, two, even three arms,” Palleschi said.