SARASOTA, Fla. — Dean Kremer was scheduled to start, and once he stepped onto the mound for that day’s spring training game, the Orioles right-hander would go right at his competition with his best stuff.

But hours earlier, in the clubhouse at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, Kremer was fully focused on beating a member of his own team. Back and forth the ball whizzed, popping between right-hander Matt Bowman and Kremer. The pair are the two best pingpong players in Orioles camp — in that there’s little debate, although who’s No. 1 and No. 2 is more contentious — and they put on a show in how to rally.

Kremer is the reigning pingpong champion from last spring training’s tournament. And while there aren’t plans this year for him to defend his title, each match of the best-of-three series between Bowman and Kremer looked like a heavyweight title fight.

Bowman believes he’s ahead of Kremer at the moment, but all that really matters is having an opponent who can keep it “very competitive.”

“In the moment, of course, we all hate losing,” he said. “But the objective is not to be the best. It’s just having someone at my skill level I can enjoy playing against.”

Their paths to the pingpong table inside Baltimore’s spring training clubhouse are quite different.

Kremer’s dad, Adi, played tennis under scholarship at the University of the Pacific. So Kremer and his two brothers were quick to learn racket sports growing up, and they had a pingpong table at their house.

“All our hand-eye were pretty good,” Kremer said. “We picked it up pretty easily.”

Bowman began playing later, once he arrived in the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. Inside the clubhouse was a pingpong table, and he learned the game was a fun way to pass the time before or after he pitched.

“I played, but I didn’t play a lot growing up,” Bowman said. “I think I got really into it, and I think my first big league paycheck purchases were an N64 [gaming system] and a nice pingpong paddle. I was there for three years, so I played there a lot and I had fun.”

But there’s more than baseline competition and fun — it can serve as a warmup before each pitcher fully gets loose.

Bowman called it similar to a “cup of coffee,” in that a good game of pingpong gets him fired up. And Kremer said it’s a legitimate workout when up against someone of Bowman’s caliber.

“When him and I are playing, it can get a little sweaty, as opposed to other guys,” Kremer said. “We’re both fairly competitive and very good, so the matches are fun, at least in my eyes.”

Two lockers down, Bowman leaned over. “I mean, it’s fine,” he goaded. “I wish you were a little better.”

Neither knew about the other’s prowess before they arrived in Sarasota. There is no pingpong table in the home clubhouse at Camden Yards, and Bowman didn’t arrive to the organization until midway through last season. But once Bowman began playing with Heston Kjerstad and Jackson Holliday, they quickly realized Bowman needed a higher level of competition.

And then Kremer discovered Bowman was the real deal.

“He’s very, very good,” Kremer said, with Bowman listening in. “He keeps everything on the table, which is the hardest part of pingpong. It’s not just about getting it on the table, it’s about commanding it. And there are not a lot of people who can do both, and he’s one of them.”

Still, Kremer, the reigning champion, gives as good as he gets. When he and Bowman pick up their paddles and begin a rally, the clubhouse stops for the show.