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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by PhotoBass/FIBS) San Marino opens Italian Baseball Series against Parma with win Nederlands SERRAVALLE (San Marino) - San Marino Republic Titans won 3-1 against ParmaClima Parma Angels on Thursday-evening (September 1) in the opening-game of the best-of-seven Italian Baseball Series. The opener was quick-paced, as it took less than two hours to complete. San Marino is the reigning champion of the Italian Serie A. For many years now, the baseball-team of this independent republic (near Rimini) plays in the highest Italian league. Last year, the team won the title by winning what then was a best-of-five Italian Baseball Series against Fortitudo UnipolSai Bologna 3-1. This year, the Final is back to seven games. San Marino reached the Championship Final by winning the best-of-seven Play-Offs against Spirulina Becagli Grosseto Gryphons, 4-1. San Marino won its games with scores of 4-1, 13-3, 6-0 and 5-2. The lone win for Grosseto was a 5-4 win. Parma became the second finalist by winning against Bologna in its Play-Off, which needed all seven games. All seven games were close. Bologna won with scores of 8-4, 4-2 and 1-0. Parma's victories were all one-run differences, winning 3-2 twice and also winning 2-1 twice. Last Monday, Bologna nipped Parma 1-0 to force a seventh game. On Tuesday, Parma won 2-1 to reach the Final. This season, all games in the Italian Baseball League are 7-inning games, including the Play-Offs and Final. (September 1)

...Winning pitcher Henry Centeno Gutierrez... (© Photo: PhotoBass/FIBS) San Marino was retired in order in the bottom of the first inning by Parma-starter José Diaz Lezama, who has a double nationality, Venezuelan and Croatian. Diaz played in the Minor League for Miami Marlins in 2012-2016. The righthander also played in the Venezuelan professional league in 2013-2016 for Leones del Caracas. In 2018, Diaz played in Croatia for Olimpija Karlovac with whom he won the Championship-title. The following year, he again played in Croatia, this time for Vindija Varazdin and he also was a member of the National Team of Croatia during the European Championship. He then made his debut in Italy, playing for Gruppo Oltretorrente Parma in 2021, then transfered to ParmaClima Parma for this year. In June, Diaz was the starting and losing pitcher against L&D Amsterdam Pirates in a preliminary-round game during the European Champions Cup-tournament in Germany. Diaz then pitched two innings in which he gave up seven basehits and five earned runs. Pirates won with a 12-4 score. In the bottom of the second inning, San Marino opened the score when Gabriel Lino Correa led off with a homerun off of Diaz. Like Diaz, Lino was born in Venezuala, but he also played for the National Team of Spain during last years European Championship. After signing a professional contract at age 16 in December 2009, Lino played in the organization of Baltimore Orioles in 2010-2016. He then played in the Minors for St. Louis Cardinals (2017) and Philadelphia Phillies (2018). In the meantime, Lino also played in the Venezuelan Winter League for several seasons. In 2021, Lino played in the Spanish competition for Marlins de Tenerife. Parma was kept scoreless in the first three innings by Henry Centeno Gutierrez, who also comes from Venezuela. The righthander pitched in the Minors for Tampa Bay Rays (2011-2016) and Minnesota Twins (2017), but also played in Venezuela, Mexico and Japan. Last year, in Mexico, during the WBSC Final Global Qualifier for the Olympic Games, Centeno pitched against the Netherlands in two games. He was the winning pitcher in the Semi-Final against the Orange Team, striking out six batters and giving up only two hits in a 10-0 shutout-win. Since last season, Centeno pitches for San Marino. ...Catcher Gabriel Lino Correa batted in... ...all three runs for San Marino... (© Photo: PhotoBass/FIBS) Parma left two runners behind in the first inning, then another runner in scoring position in the second at bat. But in the top of the fourth, Centeno gave up the tying run. With one out, he walked Noel González Sanamé, who advanced on a grounder, then scored on a double by Leomartires Rodríguez Reyes. González is a Cuban-born player and is the son of former National Team-player Noelvis González. He plays for Parma since 2021. In that year, he also played for the Italian National Team during the European Championship. Dominican Rodríguez played professionally in the Minors of Los Angeles Dodgers. Since 2016, he plays in Italy, where he played earlier for Novara and Nettuno. Also in 2016 and 2018, Rodríguez played for the Spanish National Team during respectively the European Championship and the Super6. In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the score still tied at 1-1, Carlos Contreras Abreu took over the pitching for Parma, but he gave up two runs. The Dominican righthander has as long professional career. In 2014 and 2015, he appeared in 39 Major League-games for Cincinnati Reds as reliever. In the sixth, Contreras walked lead-off hitter José Ferrini Colmenarez, who moved into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Federico Celli. San Marino got runners at the corners when Oscar Angulo Gomez reached on an infield-hit. Both scored when Gabriel Lino Correa followed with a double. With that, Lino batted in all runs for San Marino. In the top of the seventh, American Dimitrios Kourtis took over the pitching for San Marino in what was the final inning of the game. Kourtis, who played for the Greek National Team during the 2016 European Championship, struckout three batters to end the game and earn a save.

San Marino Republic Titans - ParmaClima Parma Angels 3-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E ParmaClima Parma Angels 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 3 0 San Marino Republic Titans 0 1 0 0 0 2 X - 3 4 0 pitchers Parma Angels inn. SO BB H R ER José Diaz Lezama 5 6 1 2 1 1 Carlos Contreras Abreu, L (0-1) 1 1 1 2 2 2 pitchers San Marino Titans inn. SO BB H R ER Henry Centeno Gutierrez, W (1-0) 6 9 2 3 1 1 Dimitrios Kourtis, SV (1) 1 3 - - - - Homerun: San Marino: Gabriel Lino Correa (1)(2nd,solo,0 outs,off Diaz). Umpires: HP-Fabrizio Fabrizi, 1B-Alessandro Spera, 2B-Christian Zannoni, 3B-Luis José Salazar. Replay Umpire-Marco Taurelli. Pitch Clock Operator-Iglis Serafini. Official Scorer-Gianmarco Bedetti. Play-by-Play Scorer-Giacomo Santi. Technical Commissioners-Rodolfo Cristin, Pierfranco Leone, Lorenzo Menicucci. Starting Time-8:30 PM. Time Played-1:56 hrs. Site-Campo Baseball Comunale La Ciárulla, Serravalle (San Marino). Game Notes: Game 1 Italian Baseball Series 2022. San Marino leads series 1-0. Weather conditions at game time: Cloudy, 21° C (69,8° F); wind direction north-northeast; wind speed 6 kmh (3,7 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 92%.

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