Both Rimini and T&A San Marino walked away with two of three on the weekend, making things really tight at the top between Bologna, San Marino, and the Pirates, with Parma lagging behind at a 1 and 4 mark.
The Rimini Pirates walked away with two very important wins on the weekend in their matchup against UnipolSail Bologna. In a weekend that could have caused big issues for them they were able to rely on the duo of Enrique Gonzalez in game one and Mike Ekstrom in game two to lead them to victory on the bump, while with the bat it was the heavy hitting clutch performances by Mazzante and Romero that guided the Pirates on the offensive side of the ball towards the series win. Game three turned out to be a different story for the Pirates with the duo of Torres and Cherubini on the hill. The two allowed 13 runs to be put up by Bologna, the same club that managed just a single run and six total hits in the previous two games of the three game series. With Corradini expected to go back on the DL the Pirates are going to need one of their Italians to pick up the slack if they plan on heading back to the Italian Baseball Series in 2014.
T&A San Marino also had a very productive weekend in the wins loss column, as they were able to take two of three from Lino’s Coffee Parma on Friday and Saturday in San Marino. In game one on Friday evening it was a wild pitch that ended up plating the winning run in the bottom of the 9th for San Marino, while in game two on Saturday afternoon a late inning comeback was the back breaker for the visiting Parma club. 7 runs were picked up in the bottom of the 8th after Parma had taken the 4 to 1 lead on some shaky defense when San Marino booted the ball around in the top of the 7th. Both eventual wins came off Parma’s newest reliever, Toledo, as this right-handed sinkerballer struggled mightily on the mound in this his second weekend with his new club. In game three on Saturday evening, San Marino couldn’t get anything going against Yomel Rivera, suffering the 2-0 loss, with the two runs coming in the first inning when Marval homered to left with a runner on. From that point on Valerio Simone was lights out for T&A, but as was Rivera on the other side of the ball with his 4 hit complete game shutout. This upcoming weekend San Marino will take on Bologna in a home-away series for positioning in the standings, the same Bologna club that struggled mightily against the Rimini Pirates in games one and two of their three game set. Bologna’s offense accomplished only 6 hits and 1 run combined over the first 18 inning of the series, which added up to two heavy losses. In game three however Bologna’s bats came alive off of a weak Rimini mound, as they exploded for 13 runs and the win. This upcoming weekend they are going to need more out of Williamson, Panerati and their offense if they are going to compete with San Marino for the top spot in the league.
The one team that finds themselves with their backs to the wall is Lino’s Coffee Parma. After dropping their first five games of the second round of the IBL, they were able to salvage a huge win in San Marino thanks to a pristine performance by Yomel Rivera who threw a complete game four hit shutout. This upcoming weekend they will have to go up against the IBL’s hottest club at the moment, the Rimini Pirates. If Parma were to drop this series then any hopes of a finals bid may disappear in the blink of an eye, however if they win the series they’d climb right back in the race with three weeks to go.
