Imagine you’re a hitter in high school baseball. In just one week this spring, you could face an intimidating group of pitchers.

Such as Cody Bowker of Thornton Academy, who compiled a 0.40 ERA last season. Or Kyle Skolfield of Gorham, who threw a no-hitter in the playoffs. Or South Portland’s Nolan Hobbs and Andrew Heffernan, who combined to win last year’s Class A state championship game.

Welcome to pitching-rich Class A South, where seemingly every team has an ace and some feature more than one college-bound pitcher.

Sanford senior outfielder TJ Curley won’t quite get the aforementioned trifecta, but the Spartans open the season on April 22 against Gorham – which can throw either Skolfield, who will pitch next year for the University of Southern Maine, or senior Colin McDonald, who will play at UMaine. Then the Rams host Thornton in their third game, on April 28.

Last season, Curley hit .392 and was an all-SMAA first-team outfielder.

“I take the whole day before and just prepare for whatever I’m going against, because (the pitchers have) gotten pretty good,” Curley said. “You can’t just walk in and not be prepared.”

Curley said if he knows he’s facing a hard-thrower like Bowker, who tops 90 mph, then he’ll go to the batting cage and crank up the velocity. If he’s facing someone like Heffernan, known for his command and ability to spot breaking pitches, then he’ll use pregame drills that reinforce staying back and driving the ball the opposite way.

And nearly every game is a challenge for the hitter, Curley said.

“The talent has always been there, there’s always been a pitcher or two in Maine that has been good,” he said. “It’s just gotten more. Instead of one or two good pitchers, now we have 10. I just think it’s travel ball and they have the access to things to get them better.”

The typical cold weather early in the season, and rainy days that keep hitters inside, doesn’t help, either.

“Hitting is about seeing the ball out of the hand, in real time, and you can’t really replicate that,” Curley said. “The beginning of the year, the pitchers will definitely have the advantage until the hitters catch up.”

Bowker, who led Class A South in 2021 with a .448 batting average, said the key is to not be intimidated, get the front foot down, “and then swing the bat. You have to swing the bat to get hits.”

“They’re absolutely tough to hit and it’s not BP coming in, but you can still compete and get your hits,” Bowker added.

Other top pitchers in Class A South include Falmouth’s Bennett Smith and Eli Cowperthwaite, Bonny Eagle’s Mason Ryan, Thornton junior lefty Josh Kopetski, and Kennebunk’s Quinn MacDonald.

“And those guys are legit throwing hard. Almost every team has a legitimate No. 1 kid who throws at least in the mid-80s,” said Cheverus Coach Tony DiBiase.

In Class B South, hitters have to contend with left-hander Zach Johnston of Greely, who’s bound for Wake Forest, and Blaine Cockburn of Freeport (0.85 ERA), who’ll pitch next for UMaine.

“Pitching always wins, but I do think our pitching is a little ahead of our hitters,” said South Portland Coach Mike Owens, who in 2019 had Hunter Owen (now at Vanderbilt) and Noah Lewis (UMaine) on his staff. “It’s not difficult to look at our college prospects, and 70, 80 percent of them are pitchers.”

While any baseball player can work year-round on his craft and improve, most coaches and players feel pitching workouts are more transferable to game situations. In a pitcher’s early teen years, the extra work strengthens arms and “adds velo,” Bowker said. Then it becomes more about being able to replicate your motion and working on the craft.

Falmouth Coach Mike D’Andrea, a pretty fair pitcher in his own day at UMaine and in the Atlanta Braves organization, ticked off a number of other factors that favor pitchers. He’s convinced the current legal bats lack the pop of previous models. Pitchers throw fewer innings because of pitch count rules, so hitters have fewer at-bats against the top players. Most high school teams have a pitching coach.

“And pitchers are all throwing three pitches,” D’Andrea said. “When I played, it was fastball and curveball and it was very rare to see a change-up. Now they’re using slide-steps, quick pitches, two-seamers, cutters. The game has changed.”

Ted Williams always contended hitting a baseball was the hardest thing to do in sports. That challenge is what makes it fun, said Thornton junior outfielder Henry Lausier, who hit .350 as a sophomore.

“I think every team has great pitching and I think at a certain point in your baseball career, you’ve got to go up there and be the best that you can be no matter who’s on the mound,” Lausier said.