Group B: Croatia – Italy
Italy 276 021 4 22 21 1 Croatia 300 010 0 4 9 4
Italy used Croatia’s pitching to get rid of all frustration from Monday’s ninth-inning loss to Spain. The Squadra Azzurri put on an offensive show and blew by Croatia 22-4. Croatia actually led 3-2 after the first, but Italy added 13 combined runs in the second and third to decide the outcome early. With the win Italy improved to 4-1 in the first round. Croatia dropped to 1-4.
Alex Liddi and Alessandro Vaglio hit home runs for Italy. Five players scored at least three runs in the game. Liddi and Vaglio combined for six RBI. Vaglio also scored four times. Mattia Mercuri collected four RBI. Ross Vukovich hit a two-run home run for a short-lived Croatian lead.
On the mound Ludovico Coveri, Filippo Crepaldi and Gianfranco Rizzo shared the workload for Italy with the latter picking up the win. Matko Dabo conceded ten hits, 12 runs (9 ER) and four walks in 2 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Photo by Ezio Ratti/FIBS