by Franco Morabito
After three years in Serie B, Fiorentina Baseball returns to Serie A: a deserved achievement for a club like the red and white one, born in 1981 from the merger of the Firenze Baseball Club and the Lions, which boasts an important history with 13 appearances in A1 and the same number in A2 . Now these two championships have been unified and promotion was achieved at the end of the play-offs won in game 4 in the 13th inning against the Falcons Torrepedrera from Romagna. A return to the past for the red and white ‘Lions’ who roared back after years of suffering, but during which they never gave up and in the end the sporting results proved that handful of diehards who have the ‘beat and run’ right in the heart.
The President of Fiorentina Baseball is Stefano Canali, the technical manager Federico Sassoli and the general manager Marco Duimovich, 50 years old, the heart and soul of Florentine baseball, first as a player, then since 2005 as coach and manager.
Duimovich, a return to Serie A that you wouldn’t have sworn to at the beginning of the season.
“The promotion came without us expecting it, we had put together a good team for the play-offs but without thinking of winning them. The credit goes entirely to the boys, they gave their all.”
Is there anyone in particular to whom you dedicate this success?
“To Pier Paolo Vita, a true pillar of baseball, who was a passionate president from 1993 until his death in 2016 and to whom the former Cerreti facility in Campo di Marte is named”.
Which is what you train on and play matches on.
“Yes, even if the lack of lighting forces us to work at impossible hours, penalizing the kids who, being amateurs, all also have other commitments, work or study. And this doesn’t even encourage the presence of the public.”
With Serie A you will also have to strengthen the team.
“We have a roster of good players, around twenty, but to have a calm season we will have to have five-six more, perhaps drawing on the foreign market. Even if there is a problem with this.”
Which?
“We are without sponsors, the Serie A championship involves costs that we will not be able to face alone. I hope that private individuals and institutions can give us a hand, after all, participating in the top championship and carrying the red and white colors around Italy brings prestige also to the entire movement and to the city of Florence”.
Among other things, Fiorentina Baseball is a constantly growing reality.
“We have around 200 registered athletes, under 12 men’s and under 15 women’s teams, the under 18 men’s team and first men’s and women’s teams, as well as a franchise with Chianti and Cosmos”.
How is the baseball season structured?
“The championship starts in mid-April and ends in mid-September. But preparation for the next season will start as early as November.”
Besides you and Sassoli, who makes up the technical staff?
“Pitching coach Antonio Figueroa, coach Federico Pucci and Simone Burci. Accompanying managers Andrea Fioravanti and Stefano Lucattelli”.
2023-09-12 03:47:34
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