Hard work, motivation, and unity: the secret to the success of Mazzieri’s team Italy.

Hard work, motivation, and unity: the secret to the success of Mazzieri’s team Italy.
01/03/2013
After five days on the practice field and two scrimmages a whole week of work has already blown by since the Italian National Team arrived in Peoria, AZ as they prepare for the 2013 World Baseball Classic

After five days on the practice field and two scrimmages a whole week of work has already blown by since the Italian National Team arrived in Peoria, AZ as they prepare for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The first game is scheduled on the 7th of March at 1:00 pm local time (9pm Italian time) and can be seen live on ESPN America.

Since the teams arrival a week ago, Manager, Marco Mazzieri hasn’t let up for even a minute. Always the first to arrive and last to leave, its easy to see the fire in his eyes and eagerness to represent his country’s colors on the world stage. We were able to catch up with him for a brief moment as the team took the field to begin their morning conditioning with their trainer Gianni Natale.

“In our first two outings we came out with a one and one record, but I’m pleased with the results especially since these were our first two games since the championship game at the European Finals back in September.” Mazzieri “The idea is to get better day-by-day. I was very pleased with my squad in the game that we took from the Mariners prospects 6 to 4 on Wednesday as they were technically sound and showed their athleticism against some of the top young prospects in the Seattle Mariners organization.”

Now its time however to realize that this group is about to change dramatically because on Sunday the Big League talent will be joining the team… “They shouldn’t have a problem feeling at home with this group. There are only five or six new guys in all, everyone else has already been with us at one point or another. Each and every one of my guys carry themselves with a professional domineer and they’re all extremely anxious to represent Italy.” Mazzieri “On Sunday we finish the first segment of our preparation for the WBC and enter into our second…”

 

Team Italy’s bracket in the tournament isn’t the easiest, as they will meet head to head with some of the world’s bests in Mexico, Canada and the USA. It will be a challenge, but Mazzieri always seems to get the best out of those who play for him.