Bologna continues to fly high, while the others fight on for a spot in round two
UnipolSai Bologna is pretty much assured a spot in the second round of this year’s Italian Baseball League, while the others still have their work cut out for them if they want to move on. In Division B Padova currently has the upper hand on San Marino by a half a game, and Godo by full game. T&A San Marino will have a chance to make up that ground with a win over the Rimini Pirates on Tuesday evening in San Marino. One thing, and only one thing is for sure out of Division B, and that is that Nettuno2 will not be moving onto the second round of four come June.. Other then that, the top two spots in the division are still up for grabs between Rimini, Nettuno, and Parma. This Friday and Saturday Nettuno will head north to San Marino, Parma will welcome in Padova for two games, Bologna will face off against Nettuno2, and finally Godo will have to go up against Rimini in Rimini.
Bologna took two games down in Nettuno on Friday and Saturday. The tensions ran high in this series, but when the dust settled it was Bologna that once again proved their 2014 dominance over the rest of the league as they better their overall record to 11 and 1. Game one on Friday was a close one, with the dual of Williamson and Rivero winning out over Lorezo and Rodriguez by the final of one to nothing. On Saturday evening the game turned out to be a little more lopsided with Bologna coming out on top 6 to 1. In this one Bologna picked up 5 runs in the first two innings, while on the defensive side of the ball the duo of Panerati and De Santis were able to pretty much shut down Nettuno’s offense, all except for a solo shot off the bat of Nunez in the 4th. On a side note, Frailyn Florian was spectacular out of the pen for Nettuno, going 7 innings, and allowing only a single run. Nettuno will look to turn around their current three game skid when they head north to take on San Marino this weekend.
Up in Padova, at the moment the city has something to be excited about with their team currently clinging to the 2nd spot in Division A. The newcomer to the league has faired very well thus far with the duo of Uviedo and Acosta on the bump, especially when their opponent counters with Italian mound. This past weekend when Tommasin Padova welcomed in Rimini for a Friday and Saturday two game set they both exchanged blows back and forth, with Padova embarrassing Rimini by the final of 13 to 3 in a shortened 7 inning ball game on Friday, before Rimini came back to return the favor on Saturday night with their ace Ekstrom on the hill. This upcoming Friday and Saturday we’ll have to see what goes on when Padova head to Parma to take on Lino’s Coffee Parma, yet another team fighting for a chance at the second round. Rimini on the other hand may have an easier fight when they welcome in Godo for two, but they defiantly should not take the likes of Calero and Riberio lightly when the two team on in the foreigner game.
Just as Padova, the Godo Knights are a team that some may say are outreaching their limits thus far in 2014. A team out of Division A, a division that was suppose to be run by both Bologna and San Marino. Up until now Bologna has lived up to all the hype, however San Marino has stumbled mightily out of the gates up until this past weekend, which has given life to not only Padova, but also the Knights. With all this said, Godo may have let a couple of opportunities slip away this past weekend when they went up against Parma on their home turf. Game one went by the final of 2-1 in favor of Parma, while game two was also taken by the visitors in extras by the final of 8 to 3. Two games did slipped away for Godo, but its not the end of the line for the Knights just yet, if they are able to put on a good show this weekend and next, they will have a chance to climb back in the race when they faceoff head to head against San Marino and Padova. As for Parma, they’re going to have to put on a better display offense when they meet up with Padova this weekend. A lack of run support could mean big problems when they welcome in Tommasin for a two game set.
T&A San Marino put their efforts into high gear this past weekend against Nettuno2, scoring a total of 19 runs in two games, while banging out 29 hits on the offensive side of the ball. Their mound didn’t do so bad either, as the T&A pitchers didn’t allow a single run in 18 innings of play, of which included a perfect 5 innings of work by Valerio Simone on Friday evening. It’s going to be a quick turnaround for San Marino with their makeup game on Tuesday evening against Rimini, before heading into their weekend series with Nettuno. As for Nettuno2, the road doesn’t get much easier for them with Bologna on Friday’s and Saturday’s schedule.
