Softball is two weeks in and we already have seven undefeated programs, four of them with at least four wins, three of them allowing fewer runs across an entire week than most teams allow in a single inning. The pitching depth in the state right now is real. Let's hand out some credit.
North Yarmouth Academy is 6-0 and the math doesn't make sense.
Six games. Sixty nine runs scored. Four runs allowed. Four shutouts. The Panthers sit at the top of the Power Rating board with a 98.5 PIR and a 0.7 opponent runs per game number that you double check three times before you believe it. Class D South was supposed to belong to a couple of programs this year. Through six tries, NYA is the only one who has shown up.
Medomak Valley is doing the same thing in B South.
Four wins. Fifty seven runs scored. One run allowed. Three shutouts. The Panthers (the other ones, the bigger ones, the ones in Waldoboro) are scoring 14.2 and giving up 0.2 a game. PIR has them at 98.4, second in the state. Whoever is throwing for Medomak Valley right now is throwing fastballs that the rest of B South has not figured out yet. We will see what happens when Gardiner and Cony come into focus, but the early book on the Panthers is that you do not want to be the team scheduling them next.
Cheverus is 4-0 and the SMAA looks different this year.
The Stags are 4-0 in A South with a PIR of 98.3 and an opponent runs per game of 0.2. Three shutouts already. Cheverus has not been a top-three statewide softball name in recent memory. They are right now. The first real test comes when Scarborough and Gorham firm up. For now, the SMAA conversation has a new program at the top of it, and the teams behind them are taking notes.
The Class C South arms race is on.
Dirigo is 4-0 with a 98.1 PIR and a +4.2 differential. Telstar is 4-0 with a 95.6 PIR and three shutouts on the books. Down the road in Bucksport, the Golden Bucks are 4-1 with two shutouts of their own. C South has three teams with sub-four opponent runs per game numbers and a clear top tier already. This is going to be a regional final you do not want to miss in June.
Gardiner, Oxford Hills, and the rest of the unbeaten board.
Gardiner sits at 3-0 in B North. Oxford Hills is 5-0 in A North, which means both Oxford Hills programs (baseball and softball) are sitting on identical top-of-class records two weeks in. Down East, Washington Academy is 4-0 in C North. Penobscot Valley jumped on the radar with a 13.5 ppg average and a 92.6 PIR after only two games. Nokomis in B North is 3-0 and posting +11.3 a game.
Seven undefeated programs across nine classes. By Memorial Day weekend that number will be one or two. Every game between now and then is a chance for somebody to take a swing at the top.
Big games, big numbers, big innings.
Vinalhaven took the ferry to the mainland and put up 20-0 on Wiscasset, who also drew a 20-2 from Forest Hills the same afternoon. Bucksport ran an 18-0 on George Stevens Academy. The Westbrook over Deering/Portland co-op was 19-1. Kennebunk hung an 18-1 on Sanford. York closed out the week with a 17-0 shutout at Wells on Friday.
Thirty five shutouts across the state in seven days. The bats will warm up. Right now the arms have a head start.
How GameIQ is doing.
GameIQ is the engine that powers the projected line on every game you see on the Slate. Last week it went 117 for 134 on softball calls, which is 87.3 percent. Season to date the engine is sitting at 168 for 196, or 85.7 percent. That is a higher hit rate than we are seeing on the baseball side, partly because softball margins of victory are wider in April and partly because the early softball field has separated faster than the early baseball field has.
The biggest miss this past week was Edward Little knocking off Lewiston 3-2 on April 29 in a one-run game where GameIQ had Lewiston favored at 64 percent. The other notable upsets were Maine Central Institute over Mount View, Leavitt over Erskine, and Skowhegan over Brewer, all in close games. All Access members get every projected line, every spread, and every post-game grade. The engine is live and pulling its weight.
What we're watching this week.
Medomak Valley draws Lincoln Academy. NYA goes on the road. Cheverus has a Scarborough date that will tell us where the real top of A South sits. Dirigo and Telstar are not on the same schedule yet, but C South is going to start sorting itself out fast. And Penobscot Valley plays games three and four of their season, which is when teams either confirm what the early numbers said or start to come back to the field.
Updated standings run every morning on the rankings page. DSI is the depth-of-schedule grade we use to keep an eye on whose 4-0 was earned and whose was scheduled. The glossary has every term we use, in plain English.
Last note. Maine softball is in a quietly excellent stretch right now. Pitching staffs that would not have looked out of place on a college roster ten years ago are showing up at MVC Saturday meets and SMAA Tuesday doubleheaders. We are tracking every game, every at-bat, every defensive inning. All of them count.