The last weekend of the 2014 semifinals turned out to be an exciting one in both of the three game series played out between UnipolSai Bologna vs. the Rimini Pirates and T&A San Marino vs. Lino’s Coffee Parma. When the dust settled on Saturday evening in Rimini it was the Pirates that found themselves locked to the play-by-play of the Parma – San Marino game, and when the final results came in of Parma’s walk off win there was a huge sigh of relief followed by the rejoice of a finals bid even after they had dropped their game to Bologna by the final of 3 to 2. With the Rimini Pirates now officially being the second IBL finalist, the baseball fans across Italy will now get a chance to see a rematch of the 1992 finals that saw Rimini take down Bologna three games to none in that year’s best of five finals. All the action in the Italian Baseball Series is set to kick off on the 15th of August in Bologna, Italy.
The 2nd of August turned out to be a night that will be remember for a long time as both the Rimini Pirates and T&A San Marino fought it out till the very end on two fields located at the opposite ends of Emilia Romagna. Going into the evening just one game separated these two teams with Rimini having the one game advantage over San Marino, but San Marino having the tiebreaker if by chance both clubs finished with identical records. Starting out with the Bologna – Rimini game in Rimini, it was Bologna that made the Pirates sweat a little after Oeltjen (Bologna) smacked a solo shot, which put the game at its final of 3 to 2. With the game in the books as a loss for Rimini all they could do was hope on an upset in Parma, a game that turned out to be a back and forth battle till the very end, with San Marino tying the game up on three separate occasions, including in the top of the 9th at 4-all. With Rimini paying close attention to the play-by-play in Parma they were able to follow the eventually walk off win when Ugolotti was able to cross home plate on a fielders choice off the bat of Desimoni, which broke all of Rimini’s worries into excitement for their third consecutive finals bid where they will face off against UnipolSai Bologna.. making it an IBL Finals that hasn’t been seen since ’92.
Rimini gets into the Italian Baseball Series not thanks to the characteristics that were thought to have dominated the league this year, but maybe thanks to weakness found in their closest opponent, San Marino, on the defensive side of the ball. The Pirates hit only .223 in the semifinals, making Parma the only other club to perform worse with the sticks at a .207 mark, while San Marino put up a .255 average and Bologna a .258. In the runs scored category it was Bologna that once again made the way with 88 runs scored, San Marino with 68, Rimini with 62, while Parma was able to push across only 46. On the defensive side of the ball it was San Marino that lost out after they committed a total of 24 errors, making them the worst among the four. T&A also finished last in ERA at 4.11, while it was Bologna that led the way at a 2.75 mark, Rimini at 3.71 and Parma at 3.73. With all the numbers in Rimini better hope that their offense turns around in time for the Italian Baseball Series, however the Pirates did take four of six games from UnipolSai Bologna in the semifinals round…
Before the beginning of the Italian Baseball Series both T&A San Marino and the Rimini Pirates will be locked up in the best of three 2014 European Champions Cup Finals, which begins on Thursday the 7th in Rimini before moving to San Marino for Friday’s game and the if necessary decisive game three on Saturday (all games are set 9 pm local time).
