The best-of-three European Champions Cup Final started on Thursday evening in Rimini with a 2-1 victory of T&A San Marino over ASD Rimini. A RBI double by Joe Mazzuca and a sac fly by Joe Persichina in the fourth were all the run support needed for Junior Guerra and Darwin Cubilan.
The best-of-three series continues on Friday evening at Serravalle Stadium in San Marino. The Titans need just one more win to clinch the European Champions Cup title. It would be there first since 2011, when they defeated Cariparma Parma in the final.
Rimini, which lost the final to Unipol Bologna last year, tried its best to come back from the two-run deficit. But they managed only one run after a RBI double by Adolfo Gomez in the seventh. They then had the bases loaded with one out, but Giuseppe Spinelli got thrown out at the plate on a groundball to third and Leonardo Zileri struck out to end the threat.
Overall the Pirates put runners on base in seven of the nine innings, but Guerra and Cubilan kept them to the single run in the seventh. Guerra finished with 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 frames, conceding six hits, a run and three walks. Cubilan closed it out with 1 2/3 innings for the save.
Enrique Gonzalez took the loss, surrendering six hits and two runs in six innings. Jose Escalona followed with three scoreless frames. Gomez finished with a 3-for-4 performance. Jairo Ramos and Mazzuca had two hits apiece for San Marino.