In the battle against the Kingdom of the Netherlands to determine the Group B top seed in the U12 European Baseball Championship semifinals, Team Italy manager Stefano Burato gave the ball to starting pitcher Edoardo Chiesi. He surrendered three runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts in two innings of work.
The Azzurrini got on the board in the top of the third inning. After an infield single by Lorenzo Pilatti and a double from Kevin Wong, an RBI groundout by Gianmaria Fontana gave Team Italy its only run of the contest. The Dutch went on to score one run off reliever Sabino Vitrani in the bottom of the third inning and another run off relief pitcher Mattia Manzotti in the bottom of the fourth inning. Filippo Prisacarcu showed promise when he struck out one of the two batters he faced in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Box Score
Despite the 5-1 defeat to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Team Italy is still advancing to the semifinals to face undefeated Germany at Ahorn Ballpark in Paderborn on Friday, July 5, 2024 at 6 pm (local time). The host country beat the Czech Republic 5-4 to take the top seed in Group A. The Czechs and the Dutch clash in the other semifinal game earlier in the day at 3:30 pm.
Expect Italian U12 skipper Stefano Burato to utilize the winning combination of hurlers Daniele Macor and Gualtiero Magnani when it counts most against Germany since they did not pitch against the Dutch.
U12 European Baseball Championship Schedule and Results
Forza #Italia!
by Roberto Angotti
