Team Italy manager Francesco Aluffi put his trust in starting pitcher Davide Montanari against Israel on day three of the U18 Euro Baseball Championship at Arrows Park in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Monday, August 15, 2022. The right-handed pitcher threw five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Reliever Diego Ghergolet looked sharp keeping runners off the bases with two strikeouts in the top of the sixth inning. Closer Filippo Venditti preserved the 9-0 shutout with two strikeouts in the top of the seventh inning.
The Team Italy offense went to work in the bottom of the second inning when scoring five runs. After Azzurri Juniors captain Tommaso Adorni walked, Sebastiano Catellani reached first base on a fielder’s choice and got into scoring position on a balk by Israel starter Ariel Eisenstat. An infield throwing error to first base resulted in Niccolò Funzione getting on base and Sebastiano Catellani crossing the plate for the first run of the game. Shortstop Edoardo Cornelli connected with a double. Then an outfield error allowed Niccolò Funzione and Edoardo Cornelli to score and Williams Wong to reach first base. The hot-hitting Manuel Zazza delivered an RBI triple down the right field line and later scored on a wild pitch to put Team Italy in control by a score of 5-0.
The Italians tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Alessandro Laise led off with an infield single and advanced to second base on a walk to Williams Wong. Manuel Zazza and Andres Annunziata followed with RBI singles. A sacrifice fly by Tommaso Adorni gave Team Italy a commanding 8-0 lead.
Team Italy added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Back-to-back doubles by Alessandro Volpe and Diego Luciani made it a 9-0 game.
ISRAEL-ITALY BOX SCORE
ISRAEL-ITALY LIVESTREAM REPLAY
Team Italy (2-1) returns to Arrows Park in Ostrava for a game against Germany (3-0) on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 11 am (local time) or 5 am (ET). The U18 European Baseball Championship round-robin play continues through August 18, 2022. The semifinals take place on August 19, 2022. The Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Games are on August 20, 2022. Forza #Italia!
by Roberto Angotti
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(Photo of Team Italy's Filippo Venditti and coach Davide Sartini against Israel in the 2022 U18 European Baseball Championship by Pavel Chorobik)