Bologna and Rimini will have their say
Over this past weekend there were very little significant changes up and down the IBL standings. The only major movement had to do with T&A San Marino and Nettuno, as the two are now tied once again for 3rd in the league at 21 and 9 thanks to a sweep by San Marino over Novara, and a split by Nettuno against Yepez and Ronchi dei Legionari. These two clubs are looking good at the moment to get in to the 2013 postseason, however with Parma sitting just two and a half back of the two have a much easier schedule on paper, Munoz’s club should not be counted out just yet.
In San Marino’s series with Novara, Bindi’s club was given a break by not having to go up against Calero (Novara’s foreign ace). They did exactly what they needed to do in terms of final results, coming out of the 
weekend series with two victories. However game two turned out to be a little bit more then what was forecasted for T&A as they had a really tough time with a club they should have taken care of quite easily. 9-6 was the final in this one, but a 9-6 victory that saw Bindi ejected, and an alarming 4 defensive errors. In then end a win is a win and they did pick up a game on both Parma and a Nettuno club that fell to a brilliant performance by Jesus Yepez in game two of their series at home against Ronchi dei Legionari. The Venezuelan southpaw threw 157 pitches in 9 innings of work and struck out 14 Nettuno batters faced. When the weekend was finished Parma is most likely the club that suffered the most by falling another game back of the last postseason spot in the standings by splitting with the first place Rimini Pirates in a Friday-Saturday home-away series. Friday evening in Parma it was the home team that out played Pirates, while in Rimini on Saturday a 9-2 loss by Munoz’s club saw 6 different arms come out of the pen, as the 7 pitchers used in the game couldn’t silence the offense of the best overall club in the league. Next weekend Parma will have a chance to pick up a half game on both Nettuno and San Marino when they face off with Novara at home in a makeup game that was previously scheduled to take place on May 25th.
Onto the remaining schedules for San Marino, Nettuno and Parma. Next weekend San Marino will have to take on a New Black Panthers club on the road, and their tough lefty Yepez, before finishing off their regular season with the one and two in the league, Bologna first then Rimini. Nettuno’s schedule also brings the one and two in the IBL to the forefront, but finishes off a little bit easier with a series against Grosseto, in Grosseto. As for Parma, well they will go up against Novara for 3 games (one at home and two on the road), Grosseto twice, before finishing off against a dangerous Reggio Emilia ballclub in a home away series on the 23rd and 24th of August. You decide, who has the upper hand in terms of postseason chances?
Finally next weekend Rimini will face off against Unipol Bologna for the 2013 European Champions Cup in a best of 3 series that begins on Thursday, August 1st in Bologna, and continues on Friday, August 2nd in Rimini, with an if necessary game scheduled for Saturday the 3rd in Rimini. All games can be caught on RaiSport 2. (Thursday live, Friday and Saturday the broadcast begins at 22.30 local time.)
