Defending Division I champion Ramstein and reigning Division II champion Naples are among the 10 teams in action this weekend as the 2014 DODDS-Europe baseball season gets under way. Here’s a look at the season ahead.

Division I The Ramstein Royals ended the Patch Panthers’ three-year large-school title reign last spring. But the Ramstein triumph shouldn’t be mistaken for a clean transfer of power; it’s just a new phase in the rivalry that has defined the sport since its recent addition to the DODDS-Europe athletics menu.

Ramstein beat Patch in the inaugural DODDS-Europe Division I baseball championship game in 2009.

Patch won the next three titles before faltering last year. Ramstein played the runner-up to each Patch title before breaking through in 2013. Where the story heads from here is anyone’s guess.

Both coaches are cautiously confident that the thickening plot will twist in their favor. But each is realistic about the challenges ahead.

“I feel like we are starting this season off at a higher level than we did last season,” Ramstein coach Tom Yost said. “We must continue working to improve our skill level if we want a true shot at defending our title.”

Patch coach Drake Marbury offered a similar prognosis.

“We have a strong, experienced core returning,” Marbury said. “Our challenge will be to continue to improve as a team and develop our pitching staff.”

Yost and Marbury both have plenty of reason for the preseason mix of optimism and concern.

Ramstein will defend its title behind 12 returning varsity players, including senior third baseman Matt Sharpy, sophomore pitching ace Jonathon Oswald and catcher Antonio Ortiz, a first-team All-Europe selection as a sophomore last season. But only three of the returnees were season-long starters in Ramstein’s 2013 lineup, and Yost will lean heavily on promising but unproven youngsters to capably “fill those gaps.”

“Our boys will have to really focus on improving an aspect of their game each day we step on the practice field,” Yost said.

Patch, meanwhile, returns only nine varsity lettermen to Ramstein’s 12, but its returnees are more seasoned, including All-Europe selections Garrett Becker and Andrew Buxkemper and All-Region standouts Dylan Wagner and Parker Boyle. Each has made valuable contributions on the mound, at the plate and in the field, giving the Panthers unrivalled versatility among Division I contenders.

While history says that Ramstein and Patch will further their feud with a fifth straight championship showdown on May 24, the odds are that a previously marginalized program will eventually interrupt the streak.

Vilseck, an emerging force last year, lost many of the players responsible for that push during the summer moving season. But new recruits moved in as the old stars moved out, and longtime coach Dan Soulia said he expects his Falcons to be in the late-May mix.

Kaiserslautern coach Chris Grogan has similar aspirations for his Raiders squad. The return of senior standouts Lukas Amrhein and Elijah Martin and an influx of new upperclassmen has Grogan aiming high.

“I think KHS baseball is going to surprise a bunch of people this year,” Grogan said.

Lakenheath turned in a strong third-place finish last season, but returns just two varsity players. Coach John Gilmore said his young team’s fortunes will be determined by “how quickly they can learn the game.”

Fellow 2013 semifinalist Wiesbaden is in a similar predicament, bringing back six players and fielding a young team dependent on unproven options in the pitching rotation and batting order.

“Hopefully we can crash the party in the end to see if we can shake things up,” coach Steve Jewell said.

Division II/III While a two-team power structure has dominated the Division I ranks, DODDS-Europe’s more chaotic lower-division scrum has yielded fresh champions every season.

Naples took its turn on the throne in 2013, finishing off an unbeaten season by blasting Italian rival Vicenza 15-1.

SHAPE, Bitburg, Rota and AFNORTH have also celebrated Division II, Division III or combined Division II/III titles since the sport’s DODDS-Europe debut in 2009.

With that hopeful history in mind, the 11 teams that aren’t defending champion Naples will look to seize their opportunity in 2014.

While inexperienced overall, Ansbach boasts one of the division’s best returning duos in pitcher/infielder iron men Austin Benton and Bailey Ward.

Sigonella boasts an experienced player at seven positions, including junior pitcher/outfielder Tommy McManus, but the Division III school faces a constant uphill struggle against Division II competition.

Baumholder restarts its previously-folded program under new coach Erik Majorwitz and senior Taylor Moore, who will alternately pitch, catch and man an infield spot.

Vicenza returns eight players from its European runner-up squad, including pitcher/catcher Levi Martin and pitcher/shortstop Louis Veazey, and should contend again.

But it’s very possible that none of those upstarts will have what it takes to unseat the reigning Wildcats.

Longtime head coach Duke Marlow and assistant Ron Zimmerman bring back a formidable collection of talent from the team that rolled unbeaten to a European championship.

Shortstop.second baseman Jonny Bray and All-Europe first baseman George Shaffer give Naples a reliable defensive infield, a problematic area for many DODDS-Europe teams. The pitching is solid with returnee Zane Zimmerman leading a deep staff.

Even with the shine of its European title, however, Marlow said his team enters the season with something to prove, referencing the idea that the strict local regular-season schedule teams in Italy play makes them underqualified for postseason success.

“We realize that no one in Germany gives us much of a chance because ‘we haven’t been tested’ since we play in Region IV,” Marlow said. “We hope to prove them wrong again.”

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripes

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