After the French Elite League and German Baseball-Bundesliga we’ll now continue with our ‘2008 in Review’ series with the Italian Baseball League and the Dutch Hoofdklasse.
T&A San Marino
T&A SAN MARINO stunned the favored teams from Bologna, Grosseto and Nettuno in the 2008 Italian Baseball League season and won their first championship. In fourth place with a 25-17 record after the regular season, they reached the Italian Series thanks to six wins in nine games during the semi-final round.
And even there they were the underdog, facing DANESI NETTUNO in a back and forth best-of-seven series. SAN MARINO needed a 7-5 victory in the decisive seventh game to accomplish the greatest achievement in club history.
T&A also played in the European Cup, finishing in third place at the tournament in Grosseto. After the withdrawal by CORENDON KINHEIM, they also received an invitation for the inaugural European Cup Final Four in Barcelona, Spain, where they lost 2-3 against NETTUNO in the finals.
What the stats say
SAN MARINO didn’t were at the top of the statistical categories, they just played better than the other teams down the stretch. They scored 236 runs (4th in league) after batting .277 (4th) with an OBP of .372 (2nd) and a SLG of .384 (4th). The pitching staff combined for an ERA of 3.68 (4th) and allowed 188 runs (4th). The defense only was behind FORTITUDO’s with 45 errors, which led to 34 unearned runs all season long.
Martin Vazquez (.380/.485/.540) was their most important offensive force with a league-leading 62 hits. He hit five homeruns, scored 30 runs and drove in 30. James Buccheri batted .327 (.378/.469) with three homeruns, twelve doubles, 28 runs scored and 18 RBIs. Both combined for 22 of the 47 stolen bases by T&A. Max Di Biase (.294/.361/.411) led the club with 33 RBI. Shortstop Seth La Fera also had a fine season with a .291 batting average (.434/.348), 31 runs scored and 20 RBIs.
The injury replacement for Juan Figueroa, the Venezuelan former Major Leaguer Horacio Estrada, probably was the most important acquisition last spring. He stabilized the pitching staff with a 4-2 record and an ERA of 2.27 in eleven starts during the regular season. In the playoff phase he helped to win important games, including the decisive seventh game in the Italian Series. He struck out 61 (20 walks) in 63 1/3 innings. Tiago Silva (ERA 1.92, 4-4, seven starts) had a team-high 70 strikeouts (twelve walks) in 65 2/3 innings. Brian Looney (ERA 1.46, 49.1 IP, 49 SO, 8 BB), Pedro Orta (ERA 1.80, 20 IP, 20 SO, 6 BB) and Peter Nyari (ERA 3.38, 18.2 IP, 22 SO, 13 BB) had a nice season out of the bullpen. Matteo Tonellato (ERA 4.83, 3-3, 63.1 IP, 23 SO, 38 BB) and Mattew Marrone (ERA 5.72, 2-3, 39.1 IP, 27 SO, 12 BB) struggled to keep up with Estrada, Silva and Looney.
The 2009 season is going to start for SAN MARINO with the European Cup at the beginning of April, probably in the South-Italian city Matino. Besides the acquisitions of two members of the Netherlands Antilles National Team and the leaving Mattew Marrone, the offseason was quite so far for the IBL champion. However they need to add depth for the offensive and defensive side of the team, if they want to defend their title this year.
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Rangers Redipuglia
De Angelis Godo
Telemarket Rimini
Cariparma
Montepaschi Grosseto
Fortitudo Bologna
Danesi Nettuno
