One week down in the IBL, and only one team left without a loss
After only one week of play in the 2014 addition of the Italian Baseball League only one squad remains undefeated, as the trio of San Marino, Rimini, and Parma all dropped their second game of the weekend. In Division A the defending IBL Champs, T&A San Marino find themselves already one game back of UnipolSai Bologna after they fell to Padova on Saturday evening in San Marino by the final of 7 to 5. On the weekend Bologna was able to put together a total of 17 runs in games one and two, all while not allowing a run on the defensive side of the ball. The story was a little bit different for San Marino, as Bindi’s (manager) club was able to produce a total of 10 runs in their two games with Padova, however their pitching struggled a bit in game two after a brilliant performance by Junior Guerra in game one (6 innings pitched, 1 hit, 11 K’s). Padova was able to bang out a total of 15 hits over 9 innings off of T&A’s mound, possibly highlighting the absence of Tiago Da Silva on the bump in the Italian game. Cooper gave up gave up 5 hits in 3 innings of work, being relieved by Simone who brought San Marino into the 8th. Andreozzi was the next out o the pen, but the young righty struggled mightily, giving up 4 hits, 1 walk, and hitting a batter, all of which opened the door Padava’s big 5 run 8th.
In Division B all four clubs walked away with series splits. In Parma the duo of Josè Sanchez and Jesus Yepez shut down Nettuno2’s offense in game one of their two game set, but in game two the tables were quickly turned on the home team when Nettuno2 took the game in extra frames by the final of 6 to 3. Nettuno2 is now a team that should with out a doubt not be overlooked. They are a young bunch that plays the game hard and will most definitely continue to grow throughout the year. Finally the last series to take place over the weekend was that between the Pirates and Nettuno in Rimini. The Pirates are expected to be the club that controls the division, however don’t tell that to Nettuno. In this series split Rimini took game one 3 to 0 thanks to brilliant performances by Ekstrom, Marquez, and Escalona. In game two the story was completely different as Nettuno’s offense collected a total of 15 hits off of Corradini, Patrone and Cherubini. The final in this one was 8 to 4.
