High school baseball season opens today with one team from the Shoals seeking a third consecutive state title, another trying for a return trip to a championship series and several others looking to take last season’s deep playoff runs even further.

With back-to-back titles, Shoals Christian has been the dominant Class 1A program in the state the past two seasons. With a solid nucleus returning from 2011’s title run, the Flame are preseason favorites to make it back to Montgomery to add another championship trophy to a growing school trophy case.

Coach Jason Anderson isn’t predicting another title but is optimistic the Flame, who were 33-21 in 2011, will be competitive.

“We have the opportunity to be very competitive if we continue to work and build on each day,” he said. “I’m very excited about the quality of young men we have returning and the young talent we have coming up. It’s a group that works extremely hard and have very good team chemistry.”

First-team all-state first baseman and TimesDaily All-Area Player of the Year Taylor Brackin is among the players Anderson must replace. But the nucleus of the team — including starting pitchers Devan Traglia and Will Bishop, who combined for a 24-5 record — returns intact. Catcher Charlie Kelley, another all-state selection who hit .421 with 59 RBIs, returns along with Aaron Bowman, who hit .348 with 41 RBIs.

Here’s a look at some of the other teams around the area:

Class 6A

Warren Fowler’s first season as the head coach at Florence was a strange one. The Falcons started the season 1-15 and finished 8-25, but five of the wins were in area play, which was good enough to qualify for the playoffs. Florence lost to eventual state champion Huntsville in the first round but his nine returning starters got a taste of the postseason.

Junior shortstop James Hillhouse, who led the team in every offensive category, is the franchise player but the Falcons should be improved around him. The entire infield returns (Evan Horne, Rivers Starkey, Ethan Eck), along with catcher Wil Lovelace and outfielders Isaac Dillard and Cress Jacobs.

“We played solid defensively from the mid-season mark on last year and should continue to defend well this season,” Fowler said.

Fowler said the Falcons have a deeper pitching staff, including senior starters Kelly Coleman and Kyle Girsch. He also expects to have a better hitting team with a year of experience behind them.

“We have to prove ourselves at the plate against quality pitchers,” he said. “We found ourselves overmatched for much of last season, but we have some quality at-bats under our belts and that should help us at the plate.”

Class 5A

Muscle Shoals has a wealth of returning talent and a new coach in David Langston, and the Trojans hope to again return to form after missing out on the playoffs in 2011. The Trojans are top-heavy with seniors (12), including pitchers Nick Arndt and Seth Woods, who combined for seven of the team’s 16 wins last season.

Langston has an all-senior infield that features shortstop and UAH signee Houston Looser (.384). Huntington signee Hunter Dreaden (.328) anchors the outfield to go along with Auburn commitment catcher Blake Logan, who hit .366 and also picked up three wins.

Langston arrives off a long stay at Northwest-Shoals, which shut down its athletics program last spring. He helped build the Patriots into a state power, and hopes to do likewise at Muscle Shoals.

Langston is eager to see how his four top of the rotation pitchers, that includes Dylan Epperson in action,

“It’s important that these guys stay healthy and get better as the year moves on,” Langston said. “They have the potential to have a great year.”

At Russellville, the Golden Tigers (34-9) put together a memorable regular season, piecing together a school-record 31-game winning streak. But David Ward’s team couldn’t find a way to get past area rival Athens, which captured area title and then eliminated Russellville in the second round of the playoffs.

The Golden Tigers will be young, with only three seniors on the roster. Ward must replace 10-game winner Ryan Bowling and offensive leaders Austin Hulsey, John Batchelor, Nathan Vincent and TJ Lindsey, who combined for 25 home runs and more than 100 RBIs.

Logan Ezzell, who hit .336 with 6 home runs, is Russellville’s top returning offensive performer.

Class 4A

How good was Class 4A, Area 16 in 2011? The four teams all finished tied for first place in the area standings and had to go to a playoff just to determine which two teams qualified for the postseason. Once in the playoffs, Brooks made it all the way the state championship series before falling to UMS-Wright in the eighth inning of the deciding game.

The area will have somewhat of a different look. Brooks (29-14) lost Nick Masonia, the Class 4A player of the year and the state’s all-time home run leader, to graduation as well as four other key players, and Deshler made a coaching change after going to the semifinals in 2010 but bowing out in a three-game first-round series to Ardmore.

Brooks coach Russ Robbins isn’t in a rebuilding mode despite losing five key players to graduation. Instead, he’ll build around returning starters Mason Castile (.404), Drake Tucker (.390) and Devin Henson (.303), who combined for 143 hits.

“We need the returning players to keep producing and we need about five or six guys to step in and play key roles,” Robbins said.

Deshler, which won the playoff scrum to claim the area title, has a new coach in Jason Fuller but also lost three key players from a 23-15 team. Fuller lost all-state performers Dylan Boston and J Gardiner in addition to 7-game winner Collin Willis, but does have six position players returning. Skyler Kirchner (.398) and Justin Cantrell (.385) are solid up the middle, while outfielders Tucker Norwood (.320) and TJ Riner (.288) also return.

“We need to focus more on our running game and our short game this season,” Fuller said.

At perennial power Central (19-18), coach Jerome Lambert is retooling his lineup after losing his top six hitters and top two pitchers.

Only three of seven seniors and two of seven juniors have varsity experience, so Lambert will be working with an inexperienced team.

Returning starters Ben Thomas and Murphy Harrison combined for 38 RBIs, while Drew Brown scored 15 runs. Zach Broadfoot (3-2, 2.79) heads up a retooled pitching staff.

“We’re going to be relying heavily on inexperienced players and underclassmen,” Lambert said. “We could have multiple freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup.”

Wilson coach Brad Chaney is in a similar situation as Lambert, having to rebuild a roster that lost 10 seniors, including standouts Russ Bowling and Tyler Dolan.

William Riddle has been a constant for the Warriors at shortstop as a four-year starter. He hit .388 with 23 RBIs and 10 stolen bases for the Warriors (18-9). Outfielder Austen Oakley (.308) also had three wins and two saves.

Chaney likes the team’s chemistry and expects the team to improve as the season goes along.

“We have a group of guys that enjoy competing and pushing each other to get better,” he said.

Class 3A

At Lauderdale County, Trent Patterson has eight key players returning from a 37-18 semifinals team.

The infield, anchored by shortstop Jacob Newton (.396, 8 HR, 50 RBIs) and includes Seth Edwards (.348, 5, 46), Dalton Holt and Adam Berryhill returns. Pitcher/outfielder Adam Lamar, an Alabama-Birmingham signee who hit .348 and drove in 48 runs, will also head up the pitching staff after winning 8 games and striking out 108 and posting a 1.38 ERA.

Six players have been fixtures in the starting lineup since the eighth and ninth grade.

“We endured some hard knocks in the maturity process, but we hope to continue to see good results from the growth and experience of having played lots of baseball together,” Patterson said.

Sheffield won the Area 16 title on the way to a 30-16 record for coach Chuck Smith, and the Bulldogs should again be in the mix to make a deep playoff run.

Although staff ace Blake Beavers is now at North Alabama, returning pitchers Davey Smitherman, Simon Ridgeway, Ryan Ruggles and Austin Evans combined for a 19-11 record with 4 saves.

Among position players, Cole Baker hit .374 with 3 home runs and 42 RBIs. Ridgeway is coming off a season in which he hit .378 and Eric Yarbrough returns after hitting .382.

“It’s a goal to win the last game, and that’s the case again this year,” Smith said. “The guys are really committed to it, and so is the community. This is a new team and they have to build confidence and learn to work together.”

Coach Eddie Matthews begins his third season at Rogers with six returning starters from last year’s 20-14 team. Senior first baseman Josh Burchell returns after hitting .370 as a junior. All three outfielders — Frankie Stewart, Robert Herston and Mick Rogers — return, along with junior shortstop Alex Woodard and junior third baseman Caleb Morrow.

“We have a good mix of seniors and juniors with a lot of varsity experience, with some younger players supplementing at some key positions,” Matthew said. “We hope to improve on previous seasons and compete for a playoff spot.”

Class 2A

Mars Hill (28-13) went to the third round of the playoffs in defense of its state title and the Panthers should again be in the hunt for a championship.

The Panthers will feature three left-handers in the starting rotation, led by two-time all-state selection Glenn Irby, hard-throwing Thomas Burrows and Collin White. The threesome has combined for 30 career wins. Right-hander Colby Smith joins them after collecting 7 wins as a sophomore.

Burrows slugged 15 home runs while hitting .450, while Irby batted .340.

Among coach Jay Mitchell’s concerns are playing improved defense.

“We made some errors that led to two losses against American Christian in the playoffs,” Mitchell said. “We need to tighten up on defense to help limit our pitch count.”

Mars Hill will be challenged by Hatton (28-19), which extended the Panthers to three games before falling in the second round of the playoffs, while Michael Cole hopes that with six returning starters Lexington will improve on last season’s 14-21 mark.

Three players who hit over .314 are among six returning starters for Donnie Hastings at Red Bay (11-18), while at Cherokee, first-year coach Kimmy Dale Isbell has seven starters returning as he attempts to rebuild the program.

“Our goal is to build the tradition back at Cherokee High School,” he said.

Class 1A

There are several other area teams that could prevent Shoals Christian from defending its title. Hackleburg (24-13) made it to the third round of the playoffs and played through the devastation of April’s deadly tornado outbreak that nearly wiped out the town. Coach Rod Hudson is eight wins away from 300 and has five returning starters, including four position players. Senior CF Justin Gallaway hit .351, while junior C Drew Jones returns after hitting .333. Derek Bishop hit .315 as a junior at second base, and Seth Moore compiled a 5-3 record with a 3.23 ERA as a sophomore.

Hudson must replace team leaders Clint Frederick, Derrick Gober and Curtis Randolph, however.

Coach Greg Hamilton has quietly built a solid program at Vina. Hamilton is optimistic that with eight returning starters, including Nic Schmittou, Clay Pierce, Adam Pharr, Drake Hester and Taylor Hamilton, the Red Devils (19-11) could make a deep playoff run.

At Waterloo, Barry McFall continues to rebuild what traditionally has been a good program. Four of the five returning starters hit over .300, including outfielder Dillon Guthrie who hit .390.

Hal Mills begins his first season as head coach at Covenant Christian and there’s little doubt he’ll field one of the youngest teams in the state. Five returning starters are eighth- and ninth-graders, and the roster does not have a senior but does have five seventh-graders.

“We’re counting on everyone to contribute,” Mills said.