Mister Baseball

The surprisingly strong start for EUROPROMO hit its first speed bump. They lost their first game of the season against MACERATA. With the sweeps by LEGNANO and FORLI, three teams are now 7-1 and lead the standings in the Italian Softball League. The other five clubs will fight for the last spot in the playoffs for the reminder of the year.

MOSCA MACERATA upset the HORNETS in game one, winning 7-2 after two RBI by Megan MacKenzie and three hits, two runs and a RBI by Bianca Novelli. Yue-Fen Sun was the only hitter that impressed for EUROPROMO with three hits, including a homerun. The second game featured an old-fashioned pitchers duel between Ashley Hamby and Serena Settlemeier. Hamby won it, while striking out ten in seven innings.

Last year’s champion LEGNANO beat SANTONIT 5-4 and 4-3. They overcame a 1-3 deficit to win the game on a two-run homerun by Monica Verga in the seventh frame. The second part of the doubleheader was thrilling as well. BOLLATE tied the contest with Brenda DeBlaes homerun in the bottom of the seventh. But AMGA came right back and scored the winning run in the top of the first extra inning through a RBI-single by Simmone Morrow.

The third club with a 7-1 record, FIORINI FORLI defeated MUSEO D’ARTE NUORO twice. Eva Trevisan hit a homerun in a 9-2 victory in the first match. Sara Avanzi drove in three. Christen Bedwell had three hits in four at-bats. The outcome of the second game was open until the last frame, when Stefania Vitaliani scored the decisive run for FORLI on an throwing error by 1B Paola Cavallo. Kasi Carroll received the win after striking out nine in three perfect innings of relief.

CASSA PADANA PARMA also swept their two-game series last weekend. They won 4-3 and 2-1 against DES CASERTA. In the first game they blew the lead several two times, but answered every time right away and scored the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI-single by Veronica Fontano and an error by catcher Pierra Rezza. The second game also was decided in the final seconds of regulation. DES CASERTA tied the match on a sac fly by Francesca Seguella in the top of the seventh. But PARMA answered immediately, scoring the second and game-ending run on a fielding error by 3B Simona Spacciante.

Results:
Macerata - Europromo 7-2, 0-1
Bollate - Legnano 4-5, 3-4 (8)
Parma - Des Caserta 4-3, 2-1
Forli - Nuoro 9-2 (6), 1-0

Standings:
Legnano 7-1
Forli 7-1
Europromo 7-1
Parma 4-4
Macerata 3-4
Des Caserta 1-6
Bollate 1-7
Nuoro 1-7