Summary
Only six of Italian baseball’s 30 Serie A clubs remained undefeated after Week 2, with seven teams sweeping a doubleheader. The big winners were all in the circuit’s fourth pool, Girone D, which began play with Grosseto, Macerata, and Nettuno all piling on runs on their opening weekend. Elsewhere, Parma became the only undefeated team in Girone A, Fortitudo Bologna claimed the same honors in Pool B, and Godo and San Marino remain equal atop the Series’ third group.
Highlights
Bologna nearly pulled a collected Johnny Vander Meer against Cervignano, with three pitchers combining for 12 no-hit innings over a Sunday doubleheader. In the opener, Murilo Brolo — generally referred to as Murilo Gouvea when playing for the national teams of Brazil and Italy — was perfect through 4.1 frames and did not walk or hit a batter while striking out 11. Raúl Rivero then added a pair of perfect innings and four more Ks, thus putting Bologna only an error away from a perfect game.
Maurizio Andretta, who pitched two years of junior college ball in the U.S., then unleashed five hitless frames on Cervignano in Game 2, punching out seven and walking three in the 2-1 win. Andretta was Fortitudo’s first signing of the off-season, and has allowed only two hits in his two starts, collecting 10 strikeouts. Alex Bassani earned the save with four innings of one-hit pitching, allowing an unearned run while collecting eight Ks. In total, Bolognese pitching surrendered one hit and three walks in 16 innings, ringing up 30 batters on strikes.
The game of the weekend, however, might very well have been contested in Brescia, where the city’s Ecotherm-sponsored nine remained deadlocked at zero with Poviglia in the Saturday nightcap until the ninth. The tourists’ Julio Almora was excellent, striking out eight in six innings, but Héctor Ponce had been just as good for Brescia through eight, striking out 11 in eight innings, while permitting only four hits and a walk. A pair of relievers, however, gifted a win to the visitors by issuing three consecutive two-out walks, a runner already standing on first with a free pass. The hosts could do nothing against Poviglio’s second pitcher, Frank Medina, who whiffed six batters and allowed a single hit in a dominant three-inning relief stint.
Grosseto rapped seven doubles and eight singles in its 12-1 win on Saturday, with former Los Angeles Angels’ minor leaguer and José Herrera striking a pair of two-baggers. Herrera, who has starred for Olimpija Karlovac in Croatia’s national league the past few years, collected a pair of 3-for-5 efforts on the weekend, scoring four time and driving in three.
Elsewhere, Eddy García continued his incredible dominance for Godo in a 7-3 victory over Crocetta in the clubs’ second Saturday contest. Although the right-hander once more allowed a single marker, he sent down 15 on strikes in only 5.2 frames, giving him a league-leading 25 punch-outs in a mere 11.2 innings. In total, 54.3 percent of opposing batters have returned to their dugouts without hitting García fairly.
Among the weekend’s top hitters, Gionni Luciani had a four-hit game for Hotsand Macerata on the second day of play, lashing two doubles and driving in four. The Marches’ top club defeated Grosseto 1952 by a score of 15-5 in Game 1, but only after a seven-run top of the eighth. Niccolò Cinelli had a rare batting line of 0-for-0 with a run and five walks for the hosts. In the rubber match, Aliangel López and Spanish national teamer Leslie Nácar combined on a shutout and Javier López went 4-for-5 with four ribbies.
San Marino coasted to 9-3 and 15-2 victories, with long-time Phillies’ minor leaguer Gabriel Lino providing the firepower. The backstop blasted a brace of longballs in the first game of the doubleheader, adding a double and driving in four. In the nightcap, another round-tripper made him Italian baseball’s home run leader.
Standings
Girone A | W | L | T | PCT | GB | H | A | RF | RA |
Parmaclima | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 2-0 | 2-0 | 40 | 5 |
Ciemme Oltretorrente B.C. | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 23 | 22 |
Platform-Tmc Poviglio | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 28 | 17 |
Cagliari B.C. | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1.5 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 21 | 15 |
B.C. Settimo | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 2-0 | 0-2 | 14 | 25 |
Campidonico Grizzlies Torino | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 3 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 15 | 31 |
Ecotherm Brescia | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 3.5 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 14 | 27 |
Senago Baseball | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 16 | 29 |
Girone B | W | L | T | PCT | GB | H | A | RF | RA |
Unipolsai Fortitudo Bologna | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 2-0 | 2-0 | 33 | 7 |
Camec Collecchio Baseball | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1 | 3-1 | 0-0 | 16 | 13 |
Padova B.S.C. | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1.5 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 19 | 5 |
New Black Panthers A.S.D. | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 14 | 16 |
Itas Mutua Rovigo | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 2-0 | 0-2 | 15 | 27 |
Sultan Allestimenti Navali Cervignano | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 3 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 9 | 16 |
Metalco Dragons | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 3 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 9 | 24 |
Tecnovap Verona | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 3.5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 5 | 12 |
Girone C | W | L | T | PCT | GB | H | A | RF | RA |
Hort@Godo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 2-0 | 2-0 | 32 | 15 |
San Marino | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 2-0 | 2-0 | 51 | 6 |
S.S.D. Modena B.C.- Soc. Coop. | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1.5 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 21 | 15 |
Farma Crocetta B.C. ASD | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 0-2 | 2-0 | 22 | 18 |
Torre Pedrera Falcons S.C. | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 2-0 | 0-2 | 19 | 36 |
Longbridge 2000 Bologna | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 3 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 18 | 39 |
Mediolanum New Rimini | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 3.5 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 9 | 23 |
Fontana Ermes Sala Baganza | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 12 | 32 |
Girone D | W | L | T | PCT | GB | H | A | RF | RA |
Hotsand Macerata | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | – | 2-0 | 0-0 | 27 | 5 |
Nettuno B.C. 1945 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | – | 2-0 | 0-0 | 22 | 2 |
Spirulina Becagli BBC Grosseto | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | – | 2-0 | 0-0 | 20 | 2 |
Big Mat BSC Grosseto 1952 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 5 | 27 |
Athletics Bologna | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 20 |
Academy of Nettuno Baseball Orange | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 22 |