After months of training to get ready for the U17 European Baseball5 Championship, Team Italy is fired up for the upcoming challenge in Sofia, Bulgaria. Italian manager Maurizio Balla said, "On paper we can play on par with all the opponents. It will be on the field that will determine our chances of doing well. We have well-trained and motivated athletes. We have fifteen to twenty minutes to implement the game plans we studied in our final workout in Colorno."
Team Italy competes in six five-inning games during the two-day elimination round beginning on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 11 am (local time) with a contest against Germany. The Italians later play Group B games against Romania at 12:30 pm and Israel at 4:30 pm. On the following day, Team Italy competes against Greece at 10:30 am, the Netherlands at 1 pm and Lithuania at 3 pm.
Host Bulgaria, France, Turkey, Moldova, Latvia, Belgium and Czech Republic are in Group A. The top four teams from each group will advance to the playoffs on Friday, November 18, 2022. The remaining teams will enter the 9th-14th placement round. The final will take place Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 2 pm.
The following players will represent Team Italy in the U17 European Baseball5 Championship: Iacopo Cavedon (Rimini 86 Bc), Beatrice Deregibus (Aosta Bugs), Alessandro Micheli (Bc Pesaro), Giada Cardani (Porta Mortara Bs Novara), Chiara Pecorelli (Acli Rivello), Arianna Ponzi (Giovanile Collecchio Soft), Filippo Sabatini (Lion's Baseball Nettuno) and Riccardo Sana (Aosta Bugs).
Forza #Italia!
by Roberto Angotti
U17 EUROPEAN BASEBALL5 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
