The race is on for 4th in the IBL

Unipol Bologna kept on running ahead of everyone else this weekend, remaining two games up on the rest of the competition even after T&A San Marino and Rimini both swept there series. Nettuno was also able to put some distance between them and the other two squads who are right on their tail, as Palifinger Reggio Emilia split in their series with Ronchi dei Legionari and Parma was swept by first place Bologna.

Nettuno got off to a shaky start this season when they lost their first two games to Parma on the road. However ever since then Bagialemani’s team has gone 5 and 1 (the one loss coming to San Marino in a series split).  This is all exciting stuff for the team that had a black cloud hanging over them before the season even began as a majority of their funding was lost due to a sponsor pulling out at the last minute leaving them in question to even participate in this years Italian Baseball League. Since those first two losses this team has shown its fight in taking two from Reggio Emilia, going one and one with the 2012 IBL Champs (San Marino) and just this past weekend taking sweeping a visiting Novara team. As this season continues to mature it’s going to be interesting to see where this team ends up.

Now heading north of Nettuno to take a look at a struggling Parma team… A team that after winning their first two games against Nettuno has gone in the exact opposite direction of the club that they beat, loosing 5 of their last six. However its not like this team is laying down for their competition, they’ve hung tough with everyone that they have taken the field with. In fact, just this last week they took the undefeated Bologna team into extras where they came up just short of stealing the victory on the road. Munoz’s team is just one click away from getting things back on track, and when they do… watch out, because they’re going to pick up speed and fast.

At the moment the other team that seems to be sticking around in the
standings is Palfinger Reggio Emilia. So far this season they have proven to be a real thorn in the side of their adversaries. Palfinger took one against San Marino, just about walked away with one in Nettuno (loosing in extra’s), marched right through Novara, and stumbled a bit at home this past weekend against The New Black Panthers but still came out with a split in the double header. Overall the team is playing above expectations as they are supporting a 4 and 4 record. We’ll just have to wait and see what they are able to muster-up this weekend when they take on Unipol Bologna and their undefeated record.

Will we be seeing any other clubs make headlines this year? You can almost bet on it! As the summer gets going its going to be a lot of fun watching The New Black Panthers and Grosseto steal some big games against the league's favorites, and if Novara can catch a stong performance out of Calero on a day where he gets some run support they too will be upsetting a club or two.