The semi-finals in the Italian Baseball League continued on Thursday after the All-Star break. Bologna improved to 7-3 in first place in the round robin with a 2-0 shutout over T&A San Marino. Joey Williamson and Raul Rivero combined for 14 strikeouts in nine scoreless, six-hit innings. Junior Guerra did his best to match the zeroes on the board, but eventually had to settle for the loss. A RBI double by Claudio Liverziani in the first and a RBI single by Juan Carlos Infante in the eighth put the two runs on the board. San Marino dropped to 5-5 and third place in the standings.
In the second matchup Rimini prevailed 8-7 over Parma, moving to 6-4 and into second. The Pirates took an 8-3 advantage with a five-run eighth. Parma tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth. But after the fourth run, Sandy Patrone stopped the bleeding and induced Renato Imperiali into a flyout to end the game. Alex Romero and Giuseppe Spinelli had two RBI apiece for Rimini. Osman Marval drove in three for Parma. Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez earned the win. Jean Toledo took the loss. Parma remains in fourth place in the standings with two wins in ten games.