After crushing Greece in the opener, and then battling France for their second victory, Italy had an easy 15-0 five inning win against Belgium to move to 3-0 ahead of the big showdown Monday against undefeated Spain followed by Croatia on Tuesday to close out the opening round.
Carlos Richetti spread four hits over five shutout innings for the win, working out of a couple small jams while striking out six. Italy scored in every inning to take a 7-0 lead into the fifth, before an eight run outburst brought the game to an early finish. Stefano Desimoni went three for three with two runs scored, three RBI, and a walk to lead the offense, and Liddi, Reginato, Vaglio, and Savatini each had two hits.
Now the team heads to the key match against Spain, who they recently played in Italian Baseball Week, and should be one of the toughest opponents they will face.
