In the last match of the A1 softball series before the break for national team commitments, valid for the fifth day of the return round, Italposa Forlì takes the field today on their home diamond, at Buscherini, against Mia Office Blue Girls Pianoro (race 1 starts at 5pm, race 2 at 6.30pm).
Both for coach Francisca’s girls and for the Bolognese, currently tied arm in arm in third place in the standings, today’s match is worth a huge slice of the post season: a double victory for one of the two teams would essentially mean putting access on ice to the playoffs.
The next match will then be scheduled for July 27th: in between, the national team’s commitments, with the main course being none other than the World Championships which will be hosted in Friuli from July 15th to 20th and which will see several players from Forlì involved: the preliminary list includes six, namely: Cacciamani Gasparotto, Giacometti (in the photo), Lacatena, Piancastelli and Vigna. And in addition to them, coach Giulio Brusa, who has been part of the Italian staff for some time, will also be present at the world championship event.
Forlì returns to the field after observing last day’s rest period and enters this direct clash without Gasparotto, who flew to the USA, and the American Kelly Barnhill, who followed her by announcing the end of her career as a softball player after the last match with Italposa in Collecchio. Two such important defections could help the Blue Girls, who among other things are coming off four consecutive victories and who have also never conceded more than 2 points in the last five games.
On the other hand, however, Laura Vigna and Alexia Lacatena have just returned to Forlì from the USA, where they study and play with their college: together with them, Virginia Mambelli has also returned, but unlike her two teammates, she is not yet in the mood for the senior national team . All three therefore partially offset the two losses that Italposa has to deal with.
Forlì and Pianoro therefore 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 and is therefore the team to keep away. The match promises to be inevitably balanced, as almost all previous matches between the two teams have been. This was also the case in the first leg, where the two teams shared the stakes: 4-0 Forlì in game 1, 4-3 Pianoro in the replay.
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 evening match. Pianoro will have its starters in Comar and Guevara, a Cuban pitcher against whom Forlì has historically always struggled.
The other matches: Thunders-Rheavendors Caronno; Bertazzoni Collecchio-Pubbliservice Old Parma and Inox Team Saronno – Mkf Bollate; rest session for Macerata.
And. but.
