In the last round of the first round, Junior Parma scores another very important double in the direct clash in Novara against Porta Mortara, now three points behind (as are Ares) in the race to avoid the last place which will force to the salvation play-outs. With the 3-2 in game one and the 12-8 in game two, the Angrisano team’s consecutive victories became 5, arriving at the halfway point with a record of 6 wins and 8 defeats.
The Junior started game one by putting runners on base, but without taking advantage of the opportunities created. In the first 3 innings, in fact, the attack left 6 runners on the bases before finally managing to break the deadlock in the fourth with two outs thanks to Matteo Barba’s single which drove Mattia Maioli home. On the mound, Gian Marco Zoni controlled Porta Mortara’s attack rather easily for 5 innings, but in the sixth – with a defensive error, a hit and an intentional base – he filled the bases giving way to Federico Dallatana. In relief, Mattias Caffi’s single however allowed Porta Mortara to score the two points of the overtaking. The Piedmontese team also relied on the bullpen, but against the left-handed Cerami in the final rounds Michele Sorvillo’s bat was decisive. In the seventh, with two out, his double resulted in the tying run scored by Saverio Amoretti (2/3 in the game), while in the ninth a ball raised in the foul zone and caught on the fly by the Novara second baseman became the decisive sacrifice fly with the winning run to home plate by Stefano Giannetti.
In game two the first five men in the line-up decided the match in Junior’s favor already in the first three rounds. To the 2 runs scored at first, with the base ball to Francesco Tinarelli (1/3 but also 3 base balls and 5 runs scored) and consecutive singles by Stefano Giannetti (2/3 and 3 base balls), Saverio Amoretti (4/6 ) and Michele Sorvillo, another 5 followed in the third (with Amoretti’s double with bases full). Porta Mortara tried to stay in the wake with 3 points between second and third taking advantage of an empty pass from the departing Davide Montanari. Thus it fell to Alessandro Viani to stop the Piedmontese attack, at least until the seventh when Anselmi’s double brought the home team back into contact. Still leading 9-7, the Junior nevertheless found the decisive breakthrough in the ninth, scoring another three points by taking advantage of the 4 base balls granted by the Porta Mortara pitchers and the hits of Amoretti and Nicolò Mordacci again. With a larger lead it was also easier for Tommaso Tosini to close the game and his 2.1 innings pitched with his first save in Serie B.
