02/10/2024 2 Minute Read

Final practice for Team Italy scheduled in Pesaro on October 20, 2024 prior to Youth European Baseball5 Championship

Manager Maurizio Balla has called up seven boys and seven girls for final preparations for the Youth European Baseball5 Championship in Clermont-Ferrand, France from October 29-November 2, 2024. The Team Italy Baseball5 skipper comments on the new WBSC regulations and the departure of Filippo Sabatini after signing with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Team Italy Baseball5 manager Maurizio Balla has one more opportunity to train and strategize with his 14 players in Pesaro on Sunday, October 20, 2024 prior to the start of the Youth European Baseball5 Championship, which will follow the new WBSC rules implemented to the international competition.

He said, "For the first time our team will have to deal with the new regulations, already adopted at the 2023 U18 World Championship, which requires three males to be fielded in the first set, three females in the second, leaving the eventual third set free. We have been working on this innovation for some time. I will bring eight players to France, four males and four females, so the numbers are really limited. It would have been better to have the possibility of calling up ten athletes, to avoid having to lose a set due to the lack of players.”

Team Italy Baseball5 manager Maurizio Balla will have to decide which eight players will compete in the Youth European Baseball5 Championship and which six will serve as reserves. With an eye to the future, he has called up thirteen-year-old Stefania Bechelli from Rimini and three other young prospects born in 2009. Italian skipper Maurizio Balla also commented on former Team Italy Baseball5 standout Filippo Sabatini, who ventured down to the Dominican Republic after signing a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He said, “I am very sorry that Filippo is no longer with us because someone with his skills cannot be replaced, but I am happy for what he has done. He deserves it, he is used to playing at a high level whatever he does.”

In regards to his goals for Team Italy in the Youth European Baseball5 Championship , manager Maurizio Balla was realistic. He commented, “Our goal will be to reach the Super Six. Lithuania, Turkey, France and Spain will likely be better than us, but we want to be right there with them.”

The players are expected to report to Pesaro: Cristian Agresta (Rho Baseball), Antonello Ambramarie (Thunders & Dragons Castellana), Stefania Beghelli (Rimini 86/Falcons Torre Pedrera), Irene Bellusci (Acli Rivello), Pierfrancesco Bernardi (Aosta Bugs), Cloe Bonomo (Aosta Bugs/Canavese), Lorenzo Briganti (Cral Enrico Mattei), Iacopo Cavedon (Rimini 86/New Rimini), Martina Ganili (Aosta Bugs), Alessandro Micheli (Bc Pesaro), Chiara Pecorelli (Acli Rivello), Federico Sana (Aosta Bugs), Leila Sanna (Firenze Softball), and Marco Taiariol (Braves/Bollate Baseball),