(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & San Marino Baseball)
  Dudley Leonora & Gilmer Lampe successfully open season in Italy
Nederlands
       BOLOGNA / COLLECCHIO / PARMA / RHO / RUSSI / SALA BAGANZA (Italy) / SERRAVALLE (San Marino) -
The new season in the Italian Serie A went underway on Friday-evening (April 1) with a game that was played abroad.
It was San Marino, that captured the title last year, that opened the season at home (in the oldest republic in the world) in the one game that was schedule last Friday.
Like last year, there are four Pools with a total of 30 teams, who participate in the First Round.
In the Opening Weekend, games were only played in Pool A, B and C.
Coming Friday-evening, the first games are scheduled in Pool D.
Six Dutch players will be active in the Italian league this season.
Five of them have played in the Dutch big league.
Dudley Leonora is one of them and he had a strong debut, hitting 3-for-4 with a homerun and four RBI's in his first game on Friday.
Leonora played as infielder (1B, 3B) for Curaçao Neptunus in the last four seasons, but this year, he is one of the outfielders of San Marino (Pool C).
Leonora also played in the Dutch big league for Kinheim (2015-2016) and Hoofddorp Pioniers (2017).
Outfielder Gilmer Lampe, who last season won the Dutch Championship-title with L&D Amsterdam Pirates will play again for UnipolSai Fortitudo Bologna (in Pool B) for whom he earlier played in 2018.
Lampe played for Pirates in 2016-2021.
Before that, he played for UVV (2014-2015).
Outfielder Victor Draijer will make his debut in Italy, like Leonora.
After having played in the big league for Kinheim (2015-2016), Amsterdam Pirates (2018-2019) and Hoofddorp Pioniers (2020), Draijer last season played for HCAW.
This year, Draijer will play for Nettuno 1945 in Pool D.
There, he will be a teammate of catcher Rudy Van Heydoorn, who played in the Dutch big league for ADO (2012) and Neptunus (2013).
Nettuno will play its first game coming Friday.
Also playing in Italy this season will be righthanded pitcher John Michael Halley, who plays for Itas Mutua Rovigo (Pool B).
Last year, Halley pitched in the Dutch big league for Hoofddorp Pioniers, but returned to Aruba halfway the season.
Initially, he was back on the roster of Pioniers for this season, but earlier this year, he decided to play in Italy instead.
The sixth player is 22-year old Aruban outfielder Jorge Espinal, who was added to the roster of Nettuno 1945 in February.
He earlier played in Italy in 2017 and 2018 for Macerata in Serie A2.
Thereafter, Espinal played for Verona in the 2019 season.
Pool B
Pool B also has two leaders that won twice.
At Stadio Baseball Gianni Falchi in Bologna, UnipolSai Bologna played a double-header on Saturday against Itas Mutua Rovigo and won twice.
Bologna won 8-3 and 13-3 (7 innings).
In the first game, Gilmer Lampe was the designated hitter for Bologna and was 0-for-2, but he walked twice and batted in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
In the second game, Bologna rallied for five runs in the first inning and added three more in the next at bat.
With an 8-3 lead, the home-team had another 5-run rally in the seventh to reach a mercy-rule run-difference.
In this game, Lampe again was 0-for-2, but also got two more walks and scored a run on a balk in the first inning.
John Michael Halley was the starting pitcher for Rovigo, but his stay on the mound lasted only 1/3 inning.
He walked three batters, gave up three basehits and got credited with five earned runs.
Camec Collecchio won twice on Saturday in a double-header against Tecnovap Verona at home in Campo Baseball Comunale in Collecchio.
The home-team won 4-0 and 4-3.
In the second game, Collecchio led 3-0, but Verona came alongside in the top of the eighth inning.
Collecchio then won in the ninth inning on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Andrea Pasotto with one out.
Pool C
Pool C has three leaders after the Opening Series.
On Friday, April 1, there was one game scheduled.
San Marino, which last year captured the title in the Italian Baseball League, opened the season at home with a convincing 12-1 win in 6½ inning against Torre Pedrera Falcons from Riccione.
The team from San Marino collected eleven basehits, including the above mentioned three by Dudley Leonora, who was the leftfielder.
...Dudley Leonora...
(© Photo: San Marino Baseball) |
Leonora flied out in his first at bat in the second inning.
He batted in a run with a single in the third and fourth inning, then added a 2-run homerun in the sixth.
Oscar Angulo also homered for San Marino.
Starting pitcher Luca Di Raffaele struckout eleven batters in the four innings he threw.
At Campo Baseball Comunale La Ciurulla Cittá di San Marino in Serravalle, the reignining champion recorded another big win on Saturday, this time with a 15-0 score in 5½ inning.
The home-team rallied for ten runs in the second inning.
In this game, Leonora batted 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in.
San Marino is one of three teams that won both games in the Opening Weekend in Pool C.
On Saturday, Hort@Godo hosted Mediolanum New Rimini Pirates at home in a double-header.
At Stadio Baseball Godo Antonio Casadio in Russi, the home-team won 10-3 and 7-4.
In the opener, Godo rallied for four runs in the fourth and seventh inning.
In the second game in the evening, Godo-starter Eddy Garcia Del Toro struckout ten batters and gave up three hit in six innings.
Farma Crocetta played a double-header on Sunday (first game at 10 AM) against Fontana Ermes Sala Baganza and won 10-3 and 4-0 at Campo Comunale Matteo Mussi in Sala Baganza.
In the second game, Crocetta-starter Randy Consuegra Almanza struckout eight batters and gave up only one basehit in six innings.
Pool A
Two teams won twice in Pool A.
Playing at home at Stadio Nino Cavalli at Centro Sportivo Aldo Notari in Parma, ParmaClima Angels played a double-header on Saturday against Settimo.
The team from Parma won 12-1 and 10-0, both in 6½ inning.
In the first game, the team of Manager (and former National Team-player) Gianguido Poma collected 13 basehits, including two homeruns.
In the second game, Canadian/French starter Marc-André Habeck struckout ten batters in five innings.
Ciemme Oltretorrente recorded two small wins in this Pool in an away double-header on Sunday against Senago Baseball.
At Centro Sportivo Rho Molinello in Rho, the visitors won 10-9 in ten innings in the first game, then won the next game with a 6-4 score.
In the opener, the score was 6-6 after nine innings.
Oltretorrente then rallied for four runs in the top of the tenth.
Senago answered with three runs, but ended up short.
Oltretorrente collected 16 basehits, including five by Giovanny Rosales Motta, one being a homerun.
In the second game, Oltretorrente led 5-0, then the home-team scored scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The visitors then added an insurance run in the eighth.
This time, Rosales recorded three basehits.
Senago produced only one basehit off of four pitchers.
(April 5)
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