Baseball: Parma Clima won 1-0 by San Marino. The challenge continues
The third game of the Italian Baseball Series ended up in the hands of San Marino with the result of 1 to 0. A decisive hit by Pieternella in the seventh inning that pushed Ustariz home, based on ball and second thanks to a sacrifice. San Marino was able to count on the excellent performance of Kourtis, an almost untouchable result for six rounds. Once again the ducal attack wasted an excellent performance by Luis Lugo, no points, two hits and ten strikeouts in five rounds: the home lineup scored only one hit with Noel Gonzalez. The defeat, first of the season, was charged to Marc Andrè Habeck, who took over from Lugo starting from the sixth inning.
The chronicle
Guido Poma has lined up an unprecedented formation for these playoffs. An ankle injury remedied in the last training session by Manuel Joseph prevented him from taking the field to the Dominican shortstop, replaced in the role by Battioni. The ducal skipper has moved Gonzalez to second base with Astorri designated and Flisi right outside. The formation was also revolutionized with Gonzalez climbing to the third spot, Sambucci to the fifth and Astorri to the sixth. Particularly the choice of putting three left-handed people (Desimoni, Gonzalez and Mineo) in a row from the second to the fourth spot.
San Marino brought Celli back into the role of center winger by sacrificing Pulzetti and using Pieternella as a designated hitter. Dimitri Kourtis climbed the mound, perfect in the role of closest in the first game of the series and preferred to Baez and Palumbo.
Lugo started the match with a rare four strikeout inning. Ferrini, Celli, Angulo and Lino all ran into the law of three strikes but Celli reached first base by turning the third one, missed by Mineo.
Parma Clima put the first hitter, Koutsoyanopulos, on base thanks to four balls but Desimoni, Gonzalez and Mineo were unable to advance him beyond the first cushion.
The first valid of the match was made by Batista in the second inning, an insidious sprint to the left outside which on Battioni and Desimoni missed the intervention giving a double to the opponent: Lugo reacted with class and closed the fraction with two consecutive strikeouts against Leonora and Pieternella.
Kourtis still showed some control problems and in the second half of the second round he granted two free bases to Sambucci and Rodriguez: the San Marino pitcher, however, recovered happily and eliminated Flisi and Battioni at the plate.
A perfect double play initiated by Rodriguez neutralized the effects of a single by Ferrini in the third inning and, after the change of sides, Gonzalez made the first valid of Parma Clima, a single in the center made useless by the subsequent hold of Celli on a sprint of Mineo.
The fourth round ended in a wink with the two attacks subdued by the throws of Lugo and Kourtis, both protagonists of a “three out of three down”.
Lugo also brilliantly interpreted the fifth round obtaining the ninth and tenth elimination at the personal plate of the evening while it is included in the second part of the same while the “video check” is included in the action which corrected a first base arrival of Flisi initially judged. except.
The game entered the home straight with the teams on zero to zero and no corridor ever advanced beyond second base.
Parma Clima replaced Lugo after 72 pitches with Marc Andrè Habeck. The ducal relief initially eliminated Ferrini but then was not helped by the defense which is not a turning point in an out a groundball by Celli towards Battioni: a joke in defense of Angulo’s choice and a strikeout greeted with an ovation by the Cavalli public (after a crazy pitch), however, allowed the hosts to get out of the thorny situation unscathed.
Parma Clima’s sixth attack ended with a good contact from Desimoni – a flying line from Angulo – a strikeout by Kourtis against Gonzalez and a sprint by Mineo easily tamed by Celli.
In the seventh, San Marino took the lead. Ustariz got a base for ball, was pushed to second by a sacrifice from Batista, to third by a beat on second base by Leonora and to point by a single by Pieternella.
The last assault of Parma Clima against the nearest Baez was useless, who defended the victory of the guests with three easy eliminations.
Tomorrow evening (Tuesday 6 September) race four with foreign pitchers. Playball at 20.30.
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