Kaiserslautern and Naples come into the DODEA European softball championships with the top seeds, combining for just one loss all season.

This leaves the duo as “the hunted” when teams converge onto the Kaiserslautern Military Community on Thursday through Saturday.

For the Wildcats (9-2, 9-0 in Divisions II/III), this is business as usual, as they are the defending Division II champion and they have rolled through the regular season.

Coach Amy Driscoll, though, has warned her team about complacency, recalling the 2019 Division I champion Wiesbaden squad that started the tournament with the longest odds.

“(Wiesbaden) went in as the (eight) seed and they win the whole tournament, which I just think is a great story. I tell (my players) that every year,” Driscoll said. “We can be undefeated in the season, but it means nothing going into the tournament. I just have to keep hammering that home to them so that they don’t go in with the mindset that we got this, we got it.”

For the Raiders (13-1, 14-1 in Division I), meanwhile, it’s a new experience. They completed last season with an 8-9 record.

After running through most of the regular season unscathed, Kaiserslautern coach Zac Robinson said he expects to get the best from every opponent. In the last week of the regular season, that’s what they got, dropping the first game of a doubleheader against crosstown rival Ramstein.

“We try real hard not to see ourselves as being the hunted,” Robinson said. “We say all the time we’re playing against ourselves and we’re trying to beat the team we were last week.”

Here’s a closer look at the two tournaments:

Division I

The Raiders have an advantage over almost every other team in the tournament: They already have faced all Division I opponents in at least one doubleheader.

Granted, they played Wiesbaden on opening weekend almost two months prior, but they have wins against all. Only Ramstein (11-3, 11-3) can also boast that, which the Royals completed May 13 with a 20-1 win over Kaiserslautern.

“I think it does help some, but then again, when you play a team early in the season, middle of the year, later on they might have had huge improvements,” Robinson said. “We still have to be like, OK, it’s time to compete against whoever shows up.”

Kaiserslautern and second-seeded Ramstein are near the top of a crowded Division I race, with four teams posting league records of .500 or better.

Wiesbaden (8-4, 6-4) and defending champion Vilseck (10-5, 5-5) bring their set of challenges, as they have the pitching talents of Lyndsey Urick and Lily Bravo, respectively. Both Robinson and Ramstein coach Kent Enyeart also pointed out Lakenheath and Stuttgart as teams that could make some noise after playing them tough during the season.

“You’ve got to take it pitch by pitch, inning by inning, game by game,” Enyeart said. “You just never know what’s going to happen. This year, there’s four or five teams that are legit contenders to win it.”

For Kaiserslautern to come out on top, the team will rely on its defense and pitching through junior Bevanie Cleark and senior Aries Garrett.

At the plate, the Raiders’ bats pack a lot of punch, whether it’s through that duo or senior third baseman Ariyanna Garrett and junior second baseman Selam Foery. The offense has been held in single digits just twice – both coming in the last two weekends of the season (7-3 vs. Vilseck and the loss to Ramstein) – en route to 208 total runs.

What Robinson said makes this squad so special is the camaraderie, and that could put them atop the pile at the end.

“One of the things I’m most proud of about this group is they’re really together,” he said. “They’re bonded, and we don’t have egos or any little cliques. They’re all really one group that likes to play softball and likes being around each other.”

The Royals are hoping to bounce back after not reaching the title game for just the second time in a non-COVID-19 year since 1999, according to Enyeart.

They have their ace in the circle with junior transfer Madison Mihalic, while senior Lily Rethage and sophomore Arianna Chambers can step in when called.

Although the offense has reached double digits in just more than 50 percent of their games, the Royal have not been shut out this season.

“These girls work just as hard as any other team, and I always have the confidence in them that they can beat anybody,” Enyeart said. “We just want to peak at the right time, and I think right now, we haven’t quite reached that peak.”

Division II/III

The Wildcats didn’t lose too many pieces from their 2022 team and even picked up a few pieces in transfers, freshmen and even new players coming out for the team.

Seniors Rebecca Lee, Kennedy Rascoe and Cadence Quintana and sophomore Jeweliana Martinez lead the way. Lee and Martinez can fill either part of the battery, creating a good combination. Martinez’s freshman sister Kapriana has stepped up to varsity play well, and Driscoll pointed out Lucy Black, who’s sister was on last year’s squad and this year joined, as someone who has stepped up for Naples.

The result has been an unbeaten record against division teams, and the Wildcats’ only losses came April 7-8 against the defending D-I champion in Vilseck.

“We’ve definitely had a successful season,” Driscoll said. “I have quite a few of my starting returners back, so I’ve been very fortunate in that aspect.”

The one thing that concerns the Naples coach is the results are littered with either blowouts or close games and nothing in between.

For example, on the opening weekend, the Wildcats hammered Vicenza in the first game but had to survive the Cougars in a 12-11 victory. Naples held on for a 13-11 victory over Rota on May 5, following up with a 22-6 win the next day.

“When we play Friday games, I feel like we don’t play as well,” Driscoll said. “I don’t even know what it is because that was a home game against Rota, too, so I can’t even blame it on a bus trip or anything. Saturdays just seem better for us for some reason.”

The bad news for Naples: The elimination games begin Friday. The good news: The title game is Saturday.

related stories

• DODEA-Europe softball championships scores