The Italian Baseball Softball Federation (FIBS) is officially set and ready to go for the , which is scheduled to get underway from he 22nd through the 24th of January at the . This year’s event will feature a Japanese star studded coaching staff, of which will include the likes of Ex-Big Leaguer and two time WBC Champion, Akinori Iwamura, the pitching coach of the Hawks - NPB 2015 Champions, Shinji Kurano and the General Manager of the Fukushima Hopes (Industrial League) Go Ono. These three names will look to bring the experience and knowledge of the current WBSC’s (World Baseball Softball Confederation) top ranked nation for Baseball and Softball, Japan.
Offensive Instruction
Akinori Iwamura
2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic Champion with Japan.
10 year career in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) where he was a 6 time Gold Glove recipient at 3rd and a 3 time All-Star.
Major League Baseball Experience with the Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland Athletics between 2007-2010.
Pitching Instruction
The two names taking care of the pithing instruction, Kurano and Ono, will be focusing on the Japanese Kudo Method.
Shinji Kurano
10 years in the NPB, with the Fukuoka Hawks where he pitched to a 4.59 ERA over a 164 appearances, racking up a 19 and 9 record overall record.
Kurano is the current pitching coach for his old club, the Hawks, winners of the 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Go Ono
Pitched for the San Marino in the IBL in 2003 before being picked up by the Seibu Lions in the NPB, where he played for the Japanese professional team in both 2004 and 2006. Currently Ono is the General Manager of the Fukushima Hopes in the Japanese Industrial League.
