The table is set in the Italian Softball League playoffs, with two very intense best of five semifinals series to kick off on Saturday. The two series are made up of the first place clubs in each division facing off with the second place team in the other, and the first two games of the series will be played on the second place clubs home diamond, while in games 3, 4, and 5 the first place club will have home field advantage.
The reigning champs, DES Caserta, will be taking on Rhibo Softball La Loggia in La Loggia on Saturday (Game one 18:00 Game two 20:30) in hopes of getting back to the finals yet again. This will be no easy task for DES Caserta as they are taking on a club that finished 19 and 10 in the regular season to go along with the leagues best team batting average in .329. The chore of shutting down these hot swinging bats will be given to a pitching core that finished with the best overall team ERA, 1.45 runs per 9 innings. In terms of individual players to look out for on the offensive side of the ball for both clubs we’ll first take a look at the leagues top 15. La Loggia finished the season with Jessica Camello leading the league with a .622 average, Amanda Farma at .485, Sara Avanzi at .378 and finally Isabella Dalbesio at .358. Now for Caserta, Giulia Longhi, Emily Bledsoe, and Alice Fiorio all are hitting in the high .300’s and on the top 15 list as well. On the mound, Caserta will is coming into the series with the best overall pitcher in the league, Dagmar Bloeming. Dagmar finished the year with a 0.34 ERA, 13 wins, 1 loss, and an impressive 123 K’s. On La Loggia’s side its Femke Van Dusschoten, who is considered the ace of the bunch. The Dutch native comes into the series with a 1.31 ERA, 9 wins and 2 losses.
Next onto the semifinals matchup between the club with the best overall record at 26 and 4, Sanotint Bollate, and their opponent Dino Bigioni Unione Fermana. The series will kick off on Saturday with a double header (Game one 18:00 and Game two 20:30) in Montegranaro. When it comes to team balance, Sanotint Bollate is the team talk about. The club from Lombardia finished off their regular season with a team batting average of .315, a group that was lead by the heaving hitting bats of Saskia Kosterink (.506, 14 RBI, 9 2B, 5 HR) and Kristen Wadwell (.500, 20 RBI, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR). If Unione Fermana is going to have any chance in this one, they are going to have to find a way of containing these two offensive threats, and who better to do this then the number two pitcher in the ISL, Kimberly Reeder, who finished at 12 and 1 with a 0.72 ERA and a league leading 127 strikeouts. On Bollate’s side of the ball it will be Greta Cecchetti who will most likely matchup with Unione Fermana’s ace. Her line to finish the regular season wasn’t to shabby either, 12 and 1 with a 0.83 ERA and 122 K’s
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