The coaches in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A North division will tell you to watch out for the same teams this season: Bangor, Brewer and Skowhegan. In the KVAC A South, it’s Cony and Edward Little, with Oxford Hills also returning to the mix after an off season last year.

In central Maine, two teams are contenders, three are rebuilding and another is hoping to move up to contender status after taking a big step last season. Here’s a look at how they each stack up:

Skowhegan lost two players to graduation and two more who decided to go out for track, but the returning group is a strong one. Junior Becca McCarty is one of the top pitchers in the conference, and newcomers Kady Esty and Amanda Johnson are also fine pitchers.

The lineup includes standouts like Sam Gray, Megan and Makayla Hancock and Whitney Jones. Coach Lee Johnson said the only infield position which wasn’t set in preseason was second base, and he felt he had quality players to fill that void.

“Defense and pitching, we’re going to be pretty solid,” Johnson said. “I think we’re going to have one of our better hitting teams that we’ve had in a while.”

At Cony, virtually everybody is back from a team that reached the Eastern A semifinal a year ago — including two dominant pitchers in Micah Wilson and Jasmine Trott. Wilson throws consistently in the 50 mph-range, while Trott uses more of a finesse style to keep batters off-balance.

And they’re backed by the best offensive team the Rams have had in years.

“We came pretty close last year, and we should be stronger now,” Cony coach Rocky Gaslin said. “We have a lot of kids who can hit and, obviously, play the short game. But the biggest thing we have is depth. That’s the key for us.”

Messalonskee was helped and hurt by transfers this season. The Eagles lost starting infielder Stacey Boulette when she transferred to Lawrence, but gained another pitcher when freshman Sarah Boynton arrived from Maranacook. Boynton will team with junior Chelsea Smith to give the Eagles two capable pitchers.

“Sarah Boynton just makes our pitching staff that much deeper,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said. “I don’t have a problem with a two-headed monster.”

The Eagles were shut down by some of the league’s best pitchers last spring, but Bouchard believes the offense is deeper this season.

Mt. Blue is looking to use a group of 10 returning players to make a run at a playoff spot. After winning 11 games in 2007, the Cougars finished 4-12 last spring and missed out on the postseason.

Coach Mary Berry resigned after two seasons, and the new coach is Paul Rodrigue, who has spent most of the last decade at the college level. In preseason, Rodrigue was deciding between seniors Kaitlynn Bartlett and Katrina Campbell for the pitching chores.

When Nokomis has its whole team together, the Warriors will have a powerful offense and a nice defense. But April vacation and band trips will cut into that. The Warriors have three senior offensive standouts in shortstop Autumn Silke, center fielder Erin Knight and third baseman Sammy Moore, and freshman Marissa Shaw, who was a starter in field hockey and basketball, has already impressed at first base.

Lawrence has one of the top players in the KVAC A in first baseman Megan Lovley, a player coach Joey Marcoux puts among the top six hitters in the league. She’s one of five seniors on the roster as the Bulldogs try to make the leap from 1-15 to playoff contention.

The Bulldogs aren’t going to challenge KVAC A North powers Bangor, Brewer and Skowhegan, but should be more competitive this season with the experience they gained last year.