The expansion of the playoffs to four teams will give the three battleships the possibility of being able to aim for the Scudetto, but their path is certainly challenging

Traveling companions will be Big Mat Grosseto, a loose cannon, and Tecnograniti Senago. In the other grouping, together with Macerata, there are also Nettuno and Modena, who won their respective groups. Ronchi and Godo complete the New Black Panthers group.

The Opening Day has been moved to the “Nino Cavalli” in Parma: Marcello Saccardi’s ducals and Lele Frignani’s Bolognese will compete against the Italian pitchers. For the clubs Bocchi and Fabiani are in the ballot, for guests it should be Andretta’s turn. «It would be convenient for us to save some Italian pitchers – says the manager from Parma Saccardi – to insert him in the games on Friday and Saturday to replace Lugo and DeLeon, who were absent this weekend. The Guillen match will start on Friday evening and then we’ll see what the evolution of the matches will be». UnipolSai could rely on the new arrival Cristopher Molina, former triple A of the Dodgers, and Raul Rivero in the two free games of the “Falchi”. Other new faces for the final phase are Rondon and Luis Gonzalez for Parma and the Antillean shortstop Seferina for Bologna.

The other challenge in group G faces the debutant Big Mat Grosseto and the San Marino. In the second year of Serie A, the Maremma won a historic qualification, thanks to a streak of eight successes (before two stops in Nettuno), also scoring eight home runs (four by Serie A leader Marcos Diaz). “We enter on tiptoe – says the manager Stefano Cappuccini – but we don’t start beaten: the team is growing race after race”. The Tuscans have a doubt Garcia Del Toro, Doriano Bindi has added two new pitchers to the roster: Nelson Hernandez, a 26-year-old from Venezuela, and Temesh Lourens, a 31-year-old from Curaçao.

The program of the first day

Gir. F. Friday: 8.30pm New Black Panthers-Hotsand Macerata, 9pm Nettuno-Comcor Modena; Saturday: 15.30-20 Nettuno-Modena, 15-20 Ronchi dei Legionari-Macerata.

Gir. G. Thursday: 8.30 pm Parmaclima-UnipolSai Bologna; Friday 20.30 Bologna-Parma, Big Mat Grosseto-San Marino; Saturday: 16-20.30 Grosseto-San Marino; 20.30 Bologna-Parma. Senago and Godo rest.