Italy is number 9 in the world

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) realeased the 2016 baseball and softball rankings and Italy is seeded at number 9 in both sports.

The baseball rankings see Italy advance from the eleventh to the ninth spot and become the number 1 country in Europe behind Canada and before The Netherlands. Japan maintains the number 1 spot, with the USA in second position and Taiwan third.

The first ever softball rankings are based upon results in world tournaments sanctioned by the WBSC (80%) and youth world tournaments santioned by the WBSC (20%). Women and Men softball are ranked as different categories.
"This is a milestone for our sport" said Dale Mc Mann, President for WBSC softball division.

Italy is ninth im Women rankings. The Netherlands (seventh) lead amongst european countries, while Czech Republic is right behind the azzurre in tenth place.
Japan leads and the USA are in second place, followed by Australia and Canada.