Rhibo La Loggia drop their first game of the afternoon to Fiorini Forlí by the final of 7-6, however in game four of this best of five series Rhibo proved to be too strong for their competition as they were able to walk away with the 9-5 victory.
In game one Rhibo La Loggia looked as if they were going to sweep the series right out from under Forlí after they were able to put up a quick 6 runs in the first two innings of play, however in the top of the third Forlí began to make a push of their own off of Elisa Brandino, picking up three to cut the lead in half. In the top of the 5th Forlí had another successful inning, as they were able to cross 4 more runs in order to take the 7-6 lead. From that point on Ilaria Cacciamani took over on her way to picking up the ‘W’ for her club. Cacciamani pitched 5.1 innings in relief of Mara Papucci, where she gave up only 1 hit and walked just 2. In the box for Forlí it was Montanari, Ilaria, and Carlotta that did most of the damage with the bat, all going 2 for 4, helping to extend Forlí’s season for yet another game.
In the second game of the afternoon it was Rhibo La Loggia who came out on top, successfully punching a ticket to their second consecutive ISL finals, where they will hope to defend their 2013 title. The final in this decisive game was 9 to 5, with Lindsey Beisser picking up the victory with her complete game performance on the rubber (7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO). Suffering the loss for Forlí was Ilaria Cacciamani. This game four turned out to be a little sloppy on the defensive side of the ball for both clubs with Forlí committing a total of 5 errors, and Rhibo 2. At the plate for Rhibo it was Jessica Camello that led the way with her 3 for 4 day, where she also scored twice and drove in a run. Beatrice Ricchi also had a nice day, going 2 for 3 with 1 RBI. Rhibo will now move onto the Italian Softball series where they will faceoff against Bussolengo.
In the Bussolengo, Bollate series things were definitely a little tighter as the two needed a total of five games to decide the victor. In game four on Saturday afternoon it was Bollate that was able to walk away with the three to nothing victory with their Italian ace on the hill, Greta Cecchetti (7 IP, 4 H 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO). Cecchetti successfully out pitched her counterpart, Alice Ronchetti who suffered the loss for Bussolengo after she gave up one in the 1st and 2 in the 4th. The big blow in the 4th came off the bat of Vander Zanden when she tripled to center, driving in both Bigatton and Draaijer.
In game four of this best of five series it was Bussolengo that came right back with the win in front of their home crowd. Bussolengo took this game by the final of seven to nothing on the back of Kimberly Bruins who punched out a total of 12 Bollate batters on her way to the victory. Bussolengo scored 1 in the 1st and 4th, 2 in the 5th and 3 in the 6th. Both Villirillo and Bortolomai drove in two runs each, with Bortolomai also knocking out a two run shot over the center field fence to help push her club to a decisive game five.
The decisive game five turned out to be quite the pitchers dual that come down to a dramatic ending in the bottom of the 7th, when Bussolengo was able to walk off Bollate by the final of one to nothing. For Bussolengo it was once again Kimberly Bruins that picked up the complete game victory for her club, allowing only a total of 3 hits on the afternoon. Greta Cecchetti’s performance wasn’t that far behind as she allowed only 4 hits on the day, but did suffer the loss when Bortolomai singled to left field in the bottom of the 7th to drive in the games winning run. Bussolengo will now move onto the finals where they will go up against Rhibo La Loggia in what is expected to be a tightly contested series.
