Italposa Forlì wins the Emiliano-Romagnolo match against Mia Office Pianoro. The two teams tied in third place in the standings faced each other with no holds barred, giving rise to two uncertain matches until the final stages, for game two two extra innings were necessary. Game one ended with a score of 5-4 and game two ended in the ninth inning 7-5 again in favor of the Romagna team. Two diametrically opposed games in the scoring sequence: in game 1 Italposa leads 5-0 for 6 innings then thanks to a couple of defensive errors the advantage vanishes and at 5-4 a cold Cacciamani freezes the result, while in game 2 it will be the ‘Italposa chasing the opponents ahead until the sixth 0-4, Mambelli Virginia becomes the protagonist, first in the seventh he hits the home run of the draw 4-4 and then in the ninth inning he repeats the joke with the home run that decrees the final victory 7-5. In the standings, Italposa remains third in the standings with a margin of two games over Pianoro and the simultaneous double defeat of Caronno in Castelfranco increases the margin to five games over the Varese team.
Race 1
The first inning opens with the Emilian attack filling the bases with one out but Cacciamani with a K and a fly ball on the diamond closes the second half unscathed. In the bottom part of the second half Italposa gets the first two batters on base on hits but a defensive double play nullifies everything. In the second round the Romagna team passes, Mambelli on base for a hit followed by two outs, it will be Laghi’s single that pushes Mambelli forward and finally Cerioni’s long double that brings home the first two points for Mambelli and Laghi, 2-0 partial. In the next round, the third, Italposa replicates two consecutive doubles by Giacometti and Cacciamani worth one point which will become two on Spiotta’s sacrifice fly, Cacciamani’s point, with the bases full. In the fourth round, another Forlì point, three consecutive singles by Cerioni, Vigna and Giacometti bring the score to 5-0. In the fifth inning Lacatena, one of the three (Vigna and Mambelli) returning from the USA replaces Cacciamani and is welcomed with a couple of singles that close the gap 5-2, it will then be a defensive error on a single by Moreland that further reduces the gap 5- 4. In the last round Cacciamani gets back on the platform and with three quick eliminations of which 2 strike outs he closes the match with a 5-4 victory for Forlì.
Race 2
If in game 1 Forlì was in the lead for a good part of the match, in game two it immediately finds itself chasing, Pianoro opens with two points in the first round, Forlì struggles on the throws of the Cuban Guevara, the Emilian teams score again in the fourth and fifth inning bringing the score to 0-4. In the sixth round the revival of Italposa with Cortesi who with the bases full hits a single for the 1-0 then Spiotta, again with the bases full, files a baseball and second automatic point for Forlì 2-5. With Cacciamani back on the pitch, Emilia’s seventh attack did no damage while in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and a runner on first, Mambelli Virginia in the box hit the first pitch sending it well over the fence, a homerun worth the two points of the tie and goes into extra innings. With the score 4-4 the first tiebreak was canceled by the defenses. In the ninth inning with two outs, a single to the center by Di Pancrazio gives Pianoro the lead, 4-5. The last Forlì attack opens with Cacciamani’s single which allows Giacometti to run home from second and the ball lost by the catcher makes it a 5-5 draw. Onofri Carlotta lands a sacrifice bunt that advances Cacciamani to second. In the box Mambelli presents Virginia who this time waits for the second pitch but the result is the same along HomeRun by 2 points 7-5 the score and end of the match.
Double invigorating victory for the Forlì team, a third place with 4 days to go gives us hope of achieving their eleventh consecutive appearance in the post-season. Nothing has changed at the top of the table, in the clash between the top of the class Bollate wins game 1 6-2 against Saronno, game two postponed due to rain. Finally, the all-Parma clash between Collecchio and Old Parma ended in a draw, game 1 won by Collecchio 6-3, while game 2 went to Old Parma 7-1, thus bringing home its third victory of the season. Now the championship stops for the break for the Softball World Cup which will take place in Friuli from 15 to 20 July and will resume on 27 July with the sixth day of the return round where the Forlì team will still play on the Buscherini diamond against the Varesine team of RheaVendors Caronno. Next Saturday the final four of the Italian Cup will be played on the Buscherini diamond, featuring the teams of MKF Bollate, InoxTeam Saronno, Rheavendors Caronno and Italposa from Forlì.
