An Italian Softball League breakdown
With less then a month to go before the start of the Italian Softball League each organization participating in this year’s league are busy putting the final mark of approval on their rosters. This year’s league consists of 12 clubs, which have been divided into 2 divisions of 6. Lets take a look at each roster to check out some of the changes that have been made this offseason.
‘A’ Division
RHIBO LA LOGGIA (2013 Champions)
Both Amanda Fama and Jessica Camello have been confirmed off the championship roster. A new name to this year’s club will be Sandra Bosdachin, along with Carola Moreo and Arianna Dall'O. Leading the defending champs as the head coach are Maria Grazia Barberis, with Luca Rinella and Corrado Setti as her assistant coaches.
LEGNANO
Clare Louise Warwick has been confirmed as the only foreigner thus far. The Team will be coached by Salvatore Esposito (head coach), Francesca Pino and Roberto Durot (assistant coaches). The rest of the roster will be very similar to what Legnano played with in 2013.
BOLLATE
It looks to be like a rebuilding year for Bollate. The club has decided to play their season without any foreigners on their roster, as they will look towards their young talent this year. The Cecchetti sisters, being the most experienced of the bunch, will be leading the way in 2014.
CARONNO
There‘s little news out of Caronno. Manager Argenis Blanco has been confirmed, but the team is still in search of a foreigner to help lead their young roster.
NUORO
Paola Cavallo will be back in action in 2014, and team manager Rodriguez Cueto will be able to count on foreign pitcher Kori Waugh and catcher Amy Moore as they look to make an impact this year.
STARANZANO
Federico Pizzolini will be the team’s head coach, with Denis Malusà and Maurizio Filiput assisting him. The Slovenian, Masa Kusar, has been confirmed, and the team is still out in search of a foreign pitcher. Expect the rest of the roster to look as it did a year ago.
‘B’ Division
CASERTA
It will be a year of some change for the normally protagonists out of Caserta in 2014. The organizations will be following the tutelage Armando Aguiar, who will be doing his best to keep up the winning culture that Caserta has grown accustomed to.
BUSSOLENGO
A couple of players will be heading to Bussolengo this year from Bollate’s, Valeria Bortolomai, Valentina Marazzi and Lara Buila. From Caserta, Alice Ronchetti, will look to make a splash with her new club and from Bologna, Sabrina De Mastio and Sofia Bergamini will most certainly add some depth. Luisa Maria Medina (head coach) will have plenty of experienced athletes to fill in his lineup card with.
UNIONE FERMANA
Being confirmed as the team’s coaches are Noelvis Matos, John Escobar. On the hill in the foreign game look for Monica Perry to make an impression on the rest of the league just as she did a year ago in Holland.
FORLÍ
Forlí is another club that will be looking towards its youth in 2014. We’ll just have to wait to see how the season will play out, and see who’s able to step up.
OLD PARMA
There has been little change to Old Parma’s roster. The clubs has added a foreign pitcher, Beatriz Parejo Alonso, as well as Federica Bianchi off of Langhirano’s 2013 roster.
COLLECCHIO
Collecchio will be heading into the season without three key names that were on their 2013 roster, Fabiana Prati, Martina Pellacini and Jessica Delfante. In their place look for these up-and-coming names to fill in gaps: Paola Marchi, Debora Carpena, Chiara Repetti, Giulia Fattori, Arianna Padovani. The club as has also added two new foreigners to the bunch, catcher Melissa Roth, and pitcher Maddie Holub, both out of the US.
