Team Italy national baseball team prepping for Euros, Classic

ROME - The Italian national baseball team will begin its preparations for defending the European Champion title.  CEB’s 2012 European Championship will be held in the Netherlands this fall.

Italy’s biggest rival, the Netherlands, is the reigning world champion after having won IBAF’s 2011 Baseball World Cup that was played in Panama last October.

During the 2010 European Championship in Germany, Italy took down the Netherlands 8-4 in the championship game and 11-3 in the round robin opening round.

Azzuri pitching coach Bill Holmberg and coach Gianni Natale have summoned the entire prospective pitching staff to begin understanding the various roles and what service the pitchers may offer skipper Marco Mazzieri. The team trainer will also be on hand to keep an eye on the risk of injuries.

"They will be getting some light work in. I have already been contacting all the players and their respective club coaches," said Holmberg.

"We say that the important thing is to start working together for the players and staff and begin to build the relationship and feel things out," Holmberg noted.

The pitchers being brought into camp are as follows: Marco Grifantini, Justin Cicatello and Adam Clerici (Parma); Mark Di Felice, Carlos Pezzullo and Roberto Corradini (Rimini); Tiago Da Silva and Chris Cooper (San Marino); Luca Panerati, Matteo D'Angelo, Cody Cillo e Nick Pugliese (Fortitudo BO); Giovanni D'Amico, Carlo Richetti e Valerio Simone (Nettuno).