As the regular season in high school softball winds down this week, several of the Eastern Maine Class A teams are closer than ever.

Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, and Nokomis of Newport are proving to be among the top squads in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A North division and all of EM Class A. They’re all likely to at least host a playoff game or earn byes for the preliminary round, which begins June 5.

“There’s a group of us and we’re all pretty crowded,” Brewer coach Harry “Skip” Estes said Friday after his Witches beat Hampden 4-3. “The teams up north are all pretty strong. Any team can win any night. Even tonight, we made some mistakes, but we rebounded from that. Usually the team that makes the most mistakes doesn’t win.”

The last countable games around the state will be played Wednesday and Final Heal point standings will be released Thursday.

Regardless of where the four former Big East Conference teams finish, it will be a huge improvement over last season.

In 2006, Brewer led the way with an 11-5 record and finished fifth. Bangor, which went 7-9 for the No. 12 seed, upset the Witches 4-3 in the prelims.

Hampden, the No. 7 seed, went 11-7 and went out in the quarterfinals. Nokomis didn’t make the postseason at all.

This year, however, it seems likely at least one of those teams will at least get through to the semifinals. Last week’s standings had all four teams in the top eight with Bangor leading the way at the No. 2 spot.

Brewer, which was No. 6 last week, should make an upward move as the 13-2 Witches had their second four-win week of the season.

They beat Skowhegan 1-0, rolled over Lawrence of Fairfield 13-1, topped Messalonskee of Oakland 10-0, and rallied in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Hampden on Friday.

“It was pretty big,” Estes said of the week, which culminated with a seventh straight win.

The 11-4 Broncos, who were fourth in last week’s Heal points, may have lost to Brewer for the second time this year, but they got a big win May 22 with their second 2-1 victory over Bangor this season.

In addition to completing a sweep of the Rams, Hampden also won games against Lawrence (4-3) and Old Town (9-2).

Nokomis also beat Bangor 2-1 on May 24 after falling to the Rams 3-0 on April 27.

Bangor actually wrapped up its regular season Friday with a 4-1 win over Messalonskee of Oakland, which puts the Rams at 11-5 going into the playoffs.

As usual, pitching has made a big difference for all four teams. Aces Jordan McLain (Brewer), Lacey Littlefield (Hampden), Sam Besse (Bangor), and Patrice Cianchette (Nokomis) are all seasoned veteran starters.

“We all have pitching and that makes it strong and competitive,” Estes said. “And those pitchers work all winter to get ready.”

It has helped that they’ve got some backup, too, although Cianchette goes it alone.

McLain has had help from Hailey Smith and Julie Lorenz. Littlefield is frequently relieved by Michelle Wells, and Sam Bedore gets some starts to give Besse a break.

Nokomis (10-5) has seen the biggest turnaround of the four teams. The Warriors were 6-10 last year and failed to make the playoffs. Last week’s victory over Bangor, in which they scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, was their 10th of the season.

The Warriors closed out their week with a 9-2 loss to Lawrence of Fairfield Friday and also fell to Skowhegan 4-1 Wednesday but can finish the regular season with a huge win as they host Brewer today.

Nokomis beat Brewer 4-2 on May 7. The Witches, who also fell to Bangor 2-0 on April 20, haven’t lost since.

Hampden’s final regular-season game will also be today against Erskine of South China.

The move to the KVAC has been a good one for the four teams, which made the switch from the Big East Conference two years ago.

“This is our second year in the KVAC and I think we’re surprising some people,” Estes said.

Old Town, which also made the move two years ago, has struggled. The Coyotes are moving to Class B next year but will play in the Penobscot Valley Conference.

New Englands approaching

New England championships for two spring sports and one fall sport will all take place in the coming weeks.

First up is the New England outdoor track and field competition, which is set for June 9 at Fitchburg (Mass.) State College. The meet starts at 10 a.m.

The champion of each event in Classes A, B, and C will qualify for New Englands, and the next three finishers combined in the three classes will also qualify.

Maine’s top track and field athletes in Classes A and C did not attend last year’s New England meet because rain forced the postponement of the state championships. Class B athletes were able to participate.

Tennis and golf championships will be held June 18.

The tennis championships, in which awards will be given for boys and girls singles and doubles, are set for Conard High School in West Hartford, Conn. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m.

Waynflete of Portland’s Christine Ordway is the girls’ defending New England champion and won her second straight state singles title Monday.

The golf competition will be held at Bretwood Golf Course in Keene, N.H. The tournament starts at 8 a.m. but golfers can register 1-3 p.m. on June 17 and starting at 7:30 a.m. on June 18.

Field hockey all-star game set

The state’s top senior field hockey players will be in action July 14 in the Maine Field Hockey Association McNally Senior All-Star game, which will be held at Yarmouth High School.

The day will start at 2 p.m. with a clinic for those in grades 3-8. The clinic will be followed by an alumni game at 4 p.m. and then the all-star game at 6 p.m.

The game, which benefits the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, is named in honor of longtime Gardiner High coach Moe McNally.

The West all-stars beat the East 3-2 in overtime last year.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.