Despite winning four consecutive exhibition games against Ontario-based colleges in Canada last week, the Team Italy U18 baseball squad lost an exhibition game against Kingdom of the Netherlands by a score of 8 to 0 at the Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training Complex in Bradenton, Florida on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
The Italians make their U18 Baseball World Cup debut against Japan on Friday, September 9, 2022 at Ed Smith Stadium in nearby Sarasota. First pitch is scheduled for 3 pm (ET). Facing the Dutch in the exhibition game, Team Italy made costly defensive mistakes which put pressure on the Azzurri pitching staff and made it a walk in the park for Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Team Italy U18 manager Francesco Aluffi said, “Our pitchers were decent, but we made some mistakes on defense that we paid dearly for. We were passive in the batting box and appeared to be spectators at our own game. Our opponent today is a good team as are all the others participating in the U18 Baseball World Cup. We will certainly have to improve the level of our game to be competitive here. We lacked the energy that we had in the final part of the European Championship and in the Canadian exhibition games, but I am convinced that we will find it again in the next two days. Perhaps our squad does not have the talent of other teams in this tournament, but we have always possessed the will to win and compete to the best of our ability." Forza #Italia!
by Roberto Angotti
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(Photo of Team Italy's Williams Wong in the batter's box against Kingdom of the Netherlands by MG-Oldman)
