This past weekend the Adriatic LNG Rovigo youngsters celebrated their conquering of the Winter League title at the youth level. The ‘Ragazzi’ out of Veneto, Italy, beat out the Black Panthers of Ronchi dei Legionari 5 to 3 in the finals in order to proudly hoist this year’s championship trophy. It was an intense and closely fought battle in a game that featured great pitching and defense across the board, a trend that is becoming more relevant in youth games as kids are now beginning to play ball up and down the Italian peninsula year round. More time on the diamond equals more prepared and better ballplayers, which is helping to dramatically raise the level of competition in Italy, but not only that… Those young athletes who find themselves participating in the great game of baseball year round will also soon realize the benefits that the sport has to offer such as the development of simple skills like hand-eye coordination, the acquisition of many close friendships, the lessons on the importance of determination and hard work, and how powerful teamwork and cooperation can be, all being learnt though the competition and sportsmanship and that baseball represents.
As the trend continues with spending more and more time on the diamond, the level and quality of the game will undoubtedly improve thus improving the chances of discovering talents such as Liddi and Maestri. Increasing the hours on the field will have a direct impact in upping the number of ball players that will one day make it to the ‘Bigs’. For now the kids on the diamond will continue their march towards greatness, and who knows.. those champs out of Rovigo today may one day head ‘State Side’ and become World Series Champs on baseball biggest stage.
