Team Italy slugger Chris Colabello joins T&A San Marino for 2018 European Champions Cup

T&A San Marino manager Mario Chiarini could not be happier to see lifelong friend and former teammate Chris Colabello arrive in Italy recently to help his squad in the European Champions Cup in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from June 6-10, 2018. Azzurri slugger Chris Colabello said, "I am here because of my friendship with Mario Chiarini. I told him if I remained an unsigned free agent that I would come for the European Champions Cup." Joined by Team Italy's Lorenzo Avagnina, Tommaso Cherubini, Lodovico Coveri, Alessandro Maestri, Nick Morreale, and Mattia Reginato, Chris Colabello is in good company on T&A San Marino manager Mario Chiarini's squad. With a third place finish in last year's European Champions Cup, the 34-year-old MLB veteran hopes he can power T&A San Marino into the finals in 2018.

Current 2018 Serie A1 leader UnipolSai Bologna (13-1), who lost to reigning Euro Cup Champion Curacao Neptunus (the Netherlands) in the 2017 finals, looks for revenge should a rematch occur this year. UnipolSai Bologna possesses a plethora of past and present Team Italy players including: Filippo Agrettti, Justin Cicatello, Filippo Crepaldi, Daniele Frignani (two-time Olympian and current manager), Robel Garcia, Alessandro Grimaudo, Claudio Liverziani (coach), Beau Maggi, Giuseppe Mazzanti, Luca Panerati, Andrea Pizziconi, Nick Pugliese, and Alessandro Vaglio. UnipolSai Bologna's strong arsenal of pitchers Jorge Martinez, Raul Rivero, Andrea Pizziconi and Antonio Noguera will be put to the test against the best teams from the Czech Republic, France, Germany and the Netherlands in the 2018 European Champions Cup.

Just two games behind UnipolSai Bologna in Serie A1 under manager Paolo Ceccaroli, A.S.D. Rimini (11-3) brings plenty of experience to Rotterdam in search of the 2018 Euro Cup title. Cuban-born Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez, a 43-year-old former German national team pitcher who played in Italy from 2010 to 2014, is the patriarch of the Rimini squad. International ambassadors Francisco Logan Duran (Dominican Republic), Raul Ruiz (Venezuela), Ricardo Hernandez Sanchez (Spain), and Kevin Kelly (Holland) round out the star-studded pitching staff. The reigning Italian Baseball League champion's secret weapon is Spanish shortstop Oscar Angulo, one of Europe's finest offensive players for the past five years. The A.S.D. Rimini roster also includes Team Italy players Alex Bassani, Federico Celli, Nico Garbella, Yuri Morellini, and Samuele Zucconi. The five-day international competition will be streaming live at Forza #Italia! #LetsMakeItHappen

by Roberto Angotti