Farma Crocetta concluded its pre-season last weekend by suffering two defeats with Palfinger Reggio Emilia 3-2 and with Poviglio 3-1 in the last round of Parma Spring Training, in which it finished fourth, behind Parmaclima, Collecchio and Poviglio itself.
However, the indications from the Italian pitchers Montanari, Bigliardi and Borella and from the Cuban Carrillo, involved in five innings in Sunday’s game, in which a few too many errors, a bit of tiredness and a still not optimal condition in the batter’s box determined the defeat. But beyond the results, which are irrelevant, in view of the opening day scheduled for Saturday, when the ambitious Rimini will arrive at the Stuard-Fainardi, the discordant note arrives in the infirmary: the young shortstop Alessandro Laise broke his nasal septum in attempt to collect a rebound during the friendly against Reggio. He will most likely have to miss the first two weekends of the championship.
The team entrusted to Gilberto Gerali for the first season nevertheless presents itself at the start of the championship with renewed ambitions: to the young but already competitive roster of last year it has added two big names, former Parmaclima and Italian national players such as the left-handed winger Sebastiano Poma and the former base Alex Sambucci, who however were hired respectively as athletic trainer and hitting coach of all the club’s teams, despite being available for possible employment also as players: We didn’t hire them to win but above all to consolidate the technical staff – he explains Gerali – and then certainly to raise the technical level of the team, providing young people with an important incentive to improve and an example in the way of being on the pitch”. In short, their arrival will not affect the company project, based on the development of young people in the area and beyond: “There will be space for everyone and clearly evaluations will then be made based on performance. – these are the words of the coach – The team is built to be as competitive as possible, taking into account the development of the younger players. Everyone must feel important and stimulated by their arrival.” The foreign pitcher is new, the Cuban Eriel Carrillo, who has already been a protagonist in the Italian championship for two seasons, first with the Rimini uniform and then with the Grizzlies Torino. He has the task of guaranteeing depth in the match open to non-Italian pitchers. His personality and professionalism will also be exploited for the growth of the Italian pitchers, all very young, starting with the “star” Davide Montanari, who arrived from Junior, but who has already made his debut with Farma in the last championship, thanks to the agreement technician with the Via Parigi club, but also Jacopo Borella, Riccardo Bigliardi, Marco Bassi and, if necessary, Alex Viloria, who however will be absent in the first two weekends of the season due to personal commitments: “We are certainly a bit short, especially now that we have to deal with Bassi’s injury and the absence of Viloria – Gerali continues – but I have a lot of confidence in the growth of our young pitchers”
In the championship which begins on Saturday with the two matches against Rimini, Farma sets no limits: “The club’s objective is to give the technical staff the most professional approach possible and the results must arrive accordingly. We will always go on the pitch to win with the aim of improving ourselves every day”, concludes the coach.
THE OPPONENT
Rimini, which will host Farma, presents itself as a newly promoted luxury team, after the relegation two seasons ago and the prompt recovery last year. The Romagna club has recalled one of the most beloved flags of the glorious club of Via Monaco, the former historic captain Mario Chiarini, to entrust him with the role of General Manager, who immediately entrusted the team to a core of loyal former teammates: the The former Venezuelan pitcher Dorian Castro, protagonist with Telemarket in 2005, has been appointed as the helm, while the coaches will be Andrea Evangelisti, Lorenzo “Lole” Avagnina, Daniele Del Bianco and Mattia Pandolfi.
But the big names don’t end there: shortstop Luca Pulzetti has arrived to take over the keys to the defense after thirteen years in San Marino, while catcher Marco Baccelli and pitcher Gianluca Tognacci have returned to base. Among the receivers, then an old baseball acquaintance from our area, Alejandro Chacon, protagonist with Reggio Emilia. Among the wingers, the Cuban former Macerata and Athletics Bologna player Jesus Baro has landed in Rimini. New names among the foreigners: for the pitching mound. The two foreign pitchers are Venezuelan: Edward Paredes, 25 years old from Maracay will be the starting pitcher. He has five years of experience in the New York Yankees organization and last year pitched for Codogno in the Serie A.
The relief will instead be Kevin Sosa, also Venezuelan, born in 1995, in Italy for ten years now, almost all spent among the ranks of Grosseto.
THE OTHER OPPONENTS IN THE GROUP
In addition to Rimini and Farma, Group C also includes Padova, which Farma will face away on the second day, and Cagliari which last year came close to the quarter-finals, but lost its most representative Italian player , Gabriele Angioi, who moved to Parmaclima, the New Black Panthers Ronchi dei Legionari, a young team but full of talent and enthusiasm, which last year defeated Collecchio in the first phase, qualifying for the Poule Scudetto and Rovigo, a team always difficult and difficult to face.
FORMULA
The Serie A championship is divided into a first phase with five groups of six teams: in the first, called “Elite”, the six top teams are included, who will face each other in three weekly matches of seven rounds and another four groups which include two weekly matches of nine rounds. At the end of the first phase the top four in the Elite group are qualified for the quarter-finals. The top teams from the other four groups face each other in two series called Preliminaries 1 with the best of three games of nine rounds and the two winners will challenge the fifth and sixth of the Elite group in two series of best of five games of nine rounds. The two winners will advance to the quarter-finals, while the two losers, together with the two losers of Preliminary 1, will participate in the Poule Salvation together with the teams classified from second to sixth place in groups B, C, D, E.
THE DAY’S PROGRAM IN GROUP C
Saturday 20 April
PARMA: Farma Crocetta-New Rimini GARA1 at 3.00 pm; RACE 2 at 8.00 pm
Sunday 21 April
CAGLIARI: Cagliari-Padova MATCH 1 at 09:30; RACE 2 30 minutes after Game 1
ROVIGO: Rovigo-Black Panthers Ronchi MATCH 1 11.00 am; RACE 2 3.30pm
2024-04-18 17:16:12
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