All-Europeans Jack Buffington of Vicenza and Logan Porchie of Naples traded victories and losses Friday and Saturday as the Southern Region baseball season got under way with a gathering of all four regional teams in Naples.

Buffington and the Cougars claimed Friday’s opener 4-3 behind three unearned runs, but Porchie and the Wildcats rebounded to take a 6-4 triumph Saturday.

"Porchie against Buffington is the matchup everyone down here wants to see," Naples coach Duke Marlow said by telephone Saturday.

"Buffington has a great curveball that our batters have trouble catching up to."

In other weekend baseball:

Naples 12, Aviano 8: Friday at Naples, the Wildcats banged 17 hits to outslug their guests.

Hohenfels 11-18, Wiesbaden 10-6: Saturday at Wiesbaden, Will Karafa came on in the final inning of the opener to register the save, then went the distance in the nightcap to claim the victory.

Karafa went 2-for-2 with a triple to back his effort in Game 2. Riley Coopers went 2-for-3 with a triple.

Hohenfels managed just seven hits in the nightcap, but all came at crucial times, according to Wiesbaden coach Steve Jewell.

"Whenever we’d give up a couple of walks, they’d get a hit," he said by telephone Saturday.

Ramstein 14-24, Lakenheath 0-2: Saturday at Ramstein, sophomores Jon Groteleuschen and Shane Foley combined for a one-hitter in the opener, and Finn Friedenberger tossed a no-hitter in the nightcap, called after two innings by the two-hour time limit.

Groteleuschen struck out five in his three innings of work, surrendering a ground single to Alex Federenko.

Foley came on in the final inning and struck out the side.

Foley delivered a three-run homer in the nightcap to cap Ramstein’s 20-run second inning. In spite of playing just two innings, Ramstein All-European Josh Sloan got nine at-bats, hitting safely in five, including two doubles and a triple.

Sloan’s fellow All-European, Matt McDonald, stroked a double and a single when he wasn’t being drilled. He was hit by pitches four times.

Bamberg 8-1, Mannheim 7-11: Saturday at Mannheim, Bamberg’s Eric Ozuna picked up the opening-game victory on Brandon Fields’ hit that drove home the winning run.

" ... Ozuna kept us off-balance," Mannheim coach Frank Macias said in an e-mail, "and we were unable to capitalize down the stretch." .

In the nightcap, the batting of Andrew Simmons, 3-for-3, and Sam Nevinger, 3-for-4, made a winner of Thomas Findlay, who was 3-for-3.

Heidelberg 7-6, Vilseck 6-7: Saturday at Heidelberg, All-Europe pitchers Jamal Pope of Heidelberg and Kyle Krajcovic of Vilseck locked up in the opener. Pope, who struck out 12 and allowed just three hits and two earned runs, picked up the victory when Jimmy Montfluery’s RBI double drove in Ben McGee in the sixth inning.

Montfleury and Joseph Patrick each stroked two of the eight hits the Lions managed off Krajcovic, who struck out nine and walked just one.

In the nightcap, two hits and two Heidelberg errors contributed to a three-run third that put the Falcons up 7-4.

The Lions added two runs and were bidding to tie the game with the bases loaded and one out against starter and winner Tyler Hall, but closer Ryan Nelson entered and picked up the save by getting a pop-up and a grounder to short.

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