Italy took home the gold at the Junior European Championship in Ostrava this past Sunday after they were able to just get past the Netherlands with a 3 to 2 victory. The game was a tightly fought battle that saw Holland get on the board first in the top of the 3rd with a two out mini rally that crossed Takke for the first run of the game on a single to left off the bat of Wijst. The 1-0 advantage wouldn't last very long as Italy would counter with 2 runs of their own off of one hit, three walks, a hit by pitch and an error. The Italians tacked on another run in the bottom of the 7th on a sac fly off the bat of Monello, which plated Ricci for the 3-1 advantage. In the top of the 9th Holland did all they could to close the 3-1 gap on the scoreboard, as they were able to get to 3-2, however Pecci was able to get Berkhout to strikeout swinging to end the ball game and the tournament in favor of the Junior Italians. Walking away with MVP honors was Andrea Sellaroli who went an impressive 11 for 24 (.458 avg.) in the tournament with 5 walks, 1 RBI and 10 runs scored.
