Italy also beats Croatia 6 to 2 at the ‘Gaspardis’ in Ronchi dei Legionari
Clear path and good indications for the blue staff from the Italian Baseball Challenge. Excellent performance from the mound against the Balkans, previously defeated by Switzerland.
Before the start of the second commitment in the pre-European triangular tournament he welcomed Matt Harveywho returns to the national team after the unforgettable victory against the Kingdom of Holland at the Classic in March, not as a player, but to work together with the staff and help the national team’s pitchers with his experience.
The Ronchi Black Panthers celebrate with the first pitch ceremony Dario Bazzarinia local glory who 50 years ago was among the protagonists on the field of the first Italian victory against the United States in the Intercontinental Cup on the Parma stage.
The presence of Italy draws a good crowd to the ‘Gaspardis’, which the two teams on the pitch honor with a good match.
The Italian lineup doesn’t change much compared to the match against Switzerland, with Alberto Mineo and Giulio Monello exchanging the roles of designated hitter and catcher. The first ball is in the hand of Gabriele Quattriniwhile the Croatian starter is Jose Mendoza.
Nathanael Batista he inaugurates the game’s hits with a double against the fence, but, after Paolini’s diamond serve that pushes him to third base, Mineo and Celli are eliminated at the plate by the pitches of Mendoza, who is very effective in the lower part of the strike zone.
However, it is Italy who breaks the deadlock in the third attack, with Mercuri, on second base due to an error by the opposing defence, who advances on Batista’s out and scores the 1-0 thanks to the hit by Ricardo Paolini.
Quattrini closed his performance after 4 innings with only one hit, a single by DH Gales in the fourth inning, rendered harmless also thanks to a spectacular sliding catch by Federico Celli on Rumora’s difficult sprint.
Croatia equalized without taking a single hit against Michele Vassalottiin the fifth attack, which opens with Garcia’s error on Smith’s serve and continues with 3 strikeouts by the blue reliever, who however also concedes a base and 3 wild throws which make it 1-1.
Croatia sports a great fifth defense, with the third baseman Antonio Horvatic on the shields: it is he who opens the double play on Monello’s serve, after the valid bunt of Sebastiano Pomaand it is he again who intercepts a very hard line hit by Batista, with Mercuri on base for balls.
He’s the lefty Justin Olic the second pitcher fielded by the Balkans and his entry gave the Azzurri the advantage, with the base balls patiently obtained by Paolini and Garcia, both advanced with the sacrifice of Mineo, and the double in the center of Federico Celli for the 2-1.
In the seventh round Italy changes a lot: Andrea Sellaroli comes on at second base, Tommaso Battioni at shortstop and Mattia Aldegheri on the mountain. The Parma Clima pitcher dominates the Croatian batters with his fast drive and the 6 outs of his 2 innings are all strikeouts, but in the seventh the tie comes due to an error by Garcia and a single by Stancicas soon as the blue relief offers more elaborate launches.
In the seventh the Azzurri fill the bags with 2 bases for balls and Batista’s single which lead to the change on the Croatian mound, with the entry of Jose Diazwho in turn concedes the base to Garcia and Italy’s new lead, which is rounded to 4-2 with a passed ball from the catcher Smith on Celli’s third strike.
The Croatian pitcher for the eighth inning is Carlos Garcia, definitely having difficulty hitting the strike zone. His entry brings 4 consecutive bases and the consequent 5-2. The blue Garcia, Robel, hits a long sacrifice fly for the final 6-2.
Mattia Sireus he takes care of closing the game with 3 consecutive strikeouts.
Italy will continue its preparation for the European Championship between Ronchi and Cervignano until Wednesday, when it will move to the Czech Republic for two friendly matches against the hosts scheduled in Brno on 21 and 22 September.
In a second match of the Italian Baseball Challenge decidedly dominated by attacks, in the early afternoon it was the Swiss to prevail 19-10 over the Croatia. After the back and forth of the first 2 innings, which ended at 8-7 in favor of the Croatians, between the fourth and seventh the Swiss scored 6 times, then putting themselves decidedly out of reach in the eighth, with another 6 scores.
2023-09-18 07:15:32
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