Playball. The Italian Serie A baseball season begins today and, amid yet another reform that modifies the formula and structure of the competition, it is New Rimini’s big day. The Pirates are on stage in Parma on the Crocetta diamond (3pm and 8pm), the first opponent in a tough group that also includes Ronchi, Padova, Rovigo and Cagliari. In game 1 the pitchers of Italian training (Afi) will be on stage, in the evening foreigners can also take to the mound. Tonight New Rimini, which will field Paredes, will find Carrillo as its opponent. “The boys conveyed good sensations – explains the manager, Dorian Castro –. The team is growing, is united and has a great desire to compete with its opponents. I know Crocetta, they are always at high levels and have strengthened themselves a lot. That’s good, playing against strong teams allows you to grow faster and there is great motivation.” Today groups B, C (that of New Rimini), D and E begin to play.
Group A, however, will start next weekend. It is the grouping of San Marino, Fortitudo Bologna, Bsc Grosseto, Bbc Grosseto, Parma and Macerata. A sort of “top six”, of seeded teams. The top four in group A will have direct access to the playoff quarter-finals. The top-placed teams from groups B, C, D and E will play two finals, with the winners occupying fifth and sixth place in the quarter-finals and the losers challenging the bottom two from group A for seventh and eighth place, again in the playoff quarter-finals. All the others in groups B, C, D and E will play the Relegation Poule (together with the losers of the last play-offs), redistributed into a group of eight teams and two groups of seven. The last of the three groups will finally have to deal with the playouts. Two out of three will be relegated.
In the cauldron, it should also be remembered that group A has three games of 7 innings in each round, the other two of 9. The Italian vice-champions of San Marino, who will make their home debut on Friday 26th with Macerata, will play two friendly tests precisely with the Marche players tomorrow in the Serravalle stadium. The start of race 1 is scheduled for 2pm. The whole group is at the disposal of manager Bindi.
