With the IBL’s Round Robin Semifinals in the books, the two clubs emerging from the 6 week, 18 game schedule that will be taking part in this year’s Italian Baseball Series (Finals) will be the 14 and 4 (23-5 in the regular season) UnipolSai Bologna and the 9 and 9 (18-10 in the regular season) Rimini Pirates… a rematch of the 2014 Finals that saw Bologna emerge as the Champs of the IBL in a series that went 7. Dropping out of the playoffs after coming up short in the round robin round was T&A San Marino (8-10) and Tommasin Padova (5-13). The Italian Baseball Series will be getting underway on the 3rd and 4th of September in Bologna, Italy, while games 3, 4 and the if necessary game 5 will be taking place Rimini on the 5th, 6th and 7th. If the series is to go to games 6 and 7, then they will be held in Bologna on the 12th and 13th. On a side note, UnipolSai Bologna did take 8 of the 10 meeting with the Rimini Pirates thus far in 2015.
Heading into this finals series between UnipolSai Bologna and the Rimini Pirates, both clubs seem to stack up quite evenly across the board in regards to the stats accumulated during the round robin semifinals… top two in avg., runs allowed and defense.
On the offensive side of the ball it’s Bologna that leads the way over Rimini by a slim margin, with a batting average of .257 to .251. They also banged out 1 more homer (10 to 9), struck out 31 fewer times at the plate (103 to 134, successfully stole 13 more bases (24 to 11) and reached base 2 more times via the base on balls (88 to 86). Rimini does hold the upper hand however in the number of top ten batters in the IBL, with Mazzanti, Olmedo, Zileri and Romero all breaking the list for Rimini vs. only Suarez for Bologna.
When it come to defense, it’s once again Bologna who leads the way with a team ERA of 2.24 to Rimini’s 3.38… meaning that the Pirates conceded a full run more on average per game. With that said, two arms for Rimini that have the potential to appear at least three times over this best of seven finals are amongst the top three names in the league… Candelario (0.99 ERA) and Escalona (1.50 ERA), while Bologna’s side features one of the top three in Raul Rivero and his 1.14 earned runs against average. Rimini does hold the advantage when it comes to the glove… having committed 2 less errors in the filed (13 committed by Rimini to Bologna’s 15), and both clubs features catchers that are well know for shutting down the running game, as Bertagnon is expected to be behind the dish for the Pirates, while it should be the combination of Rodriguez and Sabbatani for UnipolSai Bologna.
This Thursday (series opener 9:00 pm start time) in Bologna will almost most certainly be a matchup which will feature the two best arms in the IBL, Raul Rivero and his 1.14 ERA for Bologna vs. Alexis Candelario and his 0.99 ERA for Rimini. If Rivero doesn't get the nod for Bologna, it will be Fleming with Rivero sure to be backing him up out of the pen for at least an inning or two followed up by the hard throwing Cova at the backend of the game. As for Rimini, they should have three names ready out of the pen, with Escalona to get some work in before his start on either Monday or Tuesday, the newly acquired Leslie Nacar and finally Victor Moreno to close things off at the end of the game. Friday’s game will also take place in Bologna (9:00 pm start time) and will feature both clubs Italian starters… with Richetti being a sure thing for Rimini, and either De Santis or Panerati going for UnipolSai Bologna. Out of the pen both clubs have a number of names that they could go to, however the two names to look for in tight situations will be Roberto Corradini for Rimini and Filippo Crepaldi for Bologna.
Game 1 will be televised live on RaiSport2, with all the action expected to get underway at 9:00 pm local time in Bologna, Italy.
