PALFINGER REGGIO EMILIA defeated AVIGLIANA BASEBALL 3-1 in the best-of-five series for the championship in the Italian Serie A2 and to earn a spot in the 2009 edition of the Italian Baseball League.
Daustin Nielsen pitched a complete game shutout to lead PALFINGER to a 6-0 victory in game four of the series on Saturday evening. In the afternoon game AVIGLIANA had delayed the series end with a 10-0 shutout. They had lost the first two games on September 14.
Nielsen pitched 16 2/3 innings in the series with an ERA of 0.54. Andrea Perracino led the offense with a .643 batting average, three runs scored and three RBI. Paul Macaluso went three for nine with two doubles and a homerun, scoring five times. On the losing side Martin Mondino batted .455 and Stefano Carganino had an ERA of 2.53 in 10.2 innings pitched.
REGGIO EMILIA was in first place after the regular season in group B with a 28-8 record. They swept the semi-final series versus PREFABRICATI CODOGNO 3-0 (10-0, 9-1, 11-1) to reach the finals. AVIGLIANA, which was relegated from the IBL after the 2007 season, needed five games to eliminate ANZIO BC (1-14, 3-1, 14-13, 6-13, 11-7). AVIGLIANA also had a 28-8 record during regular season play, but in group A.
Results Finals:
Avigliana – Reggio Emilia 2-13 Box score
Avigliana – Reggio Emilia 3-6 Box score
Reggio Emilia – Avigliana 0-10 (7) Box score
Reggio Emilia – Avigliana 6-0 Box score