Italy confirmed as Blind Baseball European Champions
Italy defeated Great Britain, 7-2, in the Final on home soil in Nettuno, the Baseball City near Rome, to confirm as the Blind Baseball European Champions.
Italy opened the score in the bottom of the first. With one out, Danny Oliveri, Giorgio Napoli, Giovanni Santamaria and Fabio Trombini reached on consecutive singles. Italy scored five runs before Great Britain could get the second out, and the at-bat ended by the run-limit rule.
Steven Smith singled to lead off the second, but Italy fot out of the inning with a double play.
Great Britain got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth, when Italy's lead had grown to 7-0.
"I'm delighted," commented Italy's manager Marco Corazza. "Great Britain came ready to compete, and it resulted in a good game. We won because we succeeded at putting the ball in play constantly early in the game. I'm also happy because every player on the roster took the field in the Championship Game."
Italy won the tournament outscoring the opponents 50-3
The defending champions beat Germany 10-0, the Netherlands 15-0, Czechia 9-0 and Great Britain 9-1 in the Opening Round before winning the Championship Game.
The third-place game between Czechia and the Netherlands was suspended with no score after four innings. The Netherlands finished third, thanks to their win in the Opening Round against the Czechs.
The Final Standings
- Italy
- Great Britain
- Netherlands
- Czechia
- Germany