NATIONAL SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES A1
DAY 5 RETURN GROUP
ITALPOSA FORLI’ – MY OFFICE PIANORO
Saturday 06/15/2024 5.00 pm; (+30′ to follow).
Field: O Buscherini Municipal Sports Center Via Orceoli Forlì
Italposa Forlì returns to the field to face the Blue Girls Pianoro. It’s the fifth round back in this A1 with a somewhat intermittent calendar. The Romagna team last played in Collecchio at the beginning of June, then they had a break due to the odd number of participants, and after the match with the Bolognese team they will stop again until 27 July. In between there will be space for the commitments of the national team, in particular the World Championships which will be hosted in Friuli and which will see several Italposa players involved: the preliminary list includes six of them, Cacciamani Gasparotto Giacometti Lacatena Piancastelli and Vigna, and in addition to them the coach will also be present Giulio Brusa who has been part of the Azzurri staff for some time. The obvious hope is that all six can be included in the final calls.
Laura Vigna and Alexia Lacatena have just returned from the USA, where they study and play with their college; Mambelli also returned with them, but is not yet in the mood for the senior national team. All three partially go to balance the two losses that Italposa has to deal with: the American pitcher Barnhill has reached the end of her contract, and moreover has withdrawn from the business to undertake her own work; Gasparotto will take part in one of the American Pro championships and will not return before mid-August.
Forlì and Pianoro arrive at this match tied in the standings, with a record of 14-8 and a three point advantage over Caronno who is currently the first excluded from the playoffs. The match promises to be balanced, as almost all previous matches between the two teams have been. This was also the case in the first leg, a 1-1 in which Forlì won game one well and then let game two slip away despite having taken the lead in the last defensive inning.
On the diamond of the “Buscherini” sports center the playball will be at 5pm with a repeat 30′ after the conclusion. Without Barnhill anymore, Forlì’s rotation consists of Cacciamani and Lacatena: with two Italian pitchers, manager Francisca will be able to manage them as he prefers, even if it is plausible that Cacciamani remains the starter of the first match and Lacatena simply takes the place of the foreign pitcher in the match evening. Pianoro will have its starters in Comar and Guevara, a Cuban pitcher against whom Forlì has historically always struggled.
The rest of the day’s calendar mainly features the clash between the top two, with league leaders Bollate visiting Saronno. Castelfranco – Caronno and Collecchio – Parma complete the picture; Macerata rests. The A1 series resumes on July 27th, Forlì will play again at home against Caronno.
