Parma faithful keep believing with Italian Baseball Series game three win over Bologna
Having suffered back-to-back losses to UnipolSai Bologna over the weekend in the best-of-five Italian Baseball Series to determine the Serie A1 Champions, ParmaClima returned to the friendly home field confines of Stadio del Baseball “Nino Cavalli” in a must-win situation on September 4, 2018. Before the contest, ParmaClima leadoff hitter Aldo Koutsoyanopulos echoed the sentiment that having home team advantage was critical. He said, “Playing at home is important. We want to give the Parma faithful something to cheer about.” The 23-year-old outfielder acknowledged that ParmaClima’s was on the brink of elimination, but all the team needed to do was get back to baseball basics. The Southern California native said, “We have to stick to what we’ve been good at all year by playing the game hard. Being the leadoff hitter doesn’t change the fact that all of us have to give our all. We need to play together.“
ParmaClima executed its game plan and proved too tough for UnipolSai Bologna on this memorable night as the home team won 9-1 under the lights in Parma. 
The ever faithful fans were on their feet early in the bottom of the first inning when Aldo Koutsoyanopulos tripled and scored on an RBI groundout by Segundo Paolini for the first run of the game. ParmaClima struck again in the bottom of the fourth inning when a single by Segundo Paolini was followed by a two-run home run from Charlie Mirabal. Winning pitcher Erly Casanova threw a complete game, struck out eight hitters and limited Bologna to just one run. Losing pitcher Antonio Noguera left the game with Unipolsai Bologna trailing 3-0 with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Reliever Andrea Pizziconi could not get the third out before surrendering two more runs to make it a 5-0 game. Another ParmaClima two-out rally ensued in the bottom of the eighth inning. After Alex Sambucci walked, Sebastiano Poma tripled and added an insurance run. He also scored on an infield error to give Parma a 7-0 advantage. The ParmaClima offense was not done scoring and put up two additional runs after consecutive singles from Stefano Desimoni, Luca Scalera and Aldo Koutsoyanopulos.
Born in the picturesque coastal community of Laguna Beach and raised in nearby Mission Viejo, Aldo Koutsoyanopulos may be thousands of miles away from his family in sunny California, but the Parma faithful have made him feel at home in Italy. 
He said, "My team has welcomed me with open arms. We truly have been a family all year long. My experience has been great here in Italy. It’s much different here than it is at home. I come from a place much different than the historic cities here in Italy.”
With the 9-1 victory over Unipolsai Bologna, Aldo Koutsoyanopulos and his ParmaClima teammates are hoping to make history of their own by coming back from a two-game deficit to win the best-of-five Italian Baseball Series. Down two games to one, ParmaClima faces another must-win scenario at Stadio del Baseball “Nino Cavalli” on September 5, 2018 at 2:30 pm (EDT). Watch the live stream at Should ParmaClima win and even the Italian Baseball Series, the Serie A1 Championship game will take place at Stadio "Gianni Falchi" in Bologna on September 8 at 2:30 pm (EDT). Forza #Italia! #LetsMakeItHappen
by Roberto Angotti
