2026 World Baseball Classic: Cervelli Doubling Up On Starters Nearly Got Italy to Title Game

MIAMI – Out to a 2-0 lead after the second inning, for a while on Monday night it really did seem like Italy could keep its unexpected run going at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

This team of young stars and bit-part players in Major League Baseball got out to a lead against Venezuela, a team with a loaded lineup, behind the arm of Aaron Nola, probably the biggest name on the Italy pitching staff, and made it stick until the seventh despite the bedlam of a heavily Venezuelan crowd that packed into loanDepot Park.

Alas, it was not to be. Michael Lorenzen, who had originally be named as the starter for Italy by manager Francisco Cervelli, himself a native of Venezuela, lost the lead in the seventh and Italy fell 4-2. Venezuela will go on to face the United States for the championship on Tuesday night at 8 p.m., making their first appearance in the WBC championship game. It’ll be the third straight appearance in the final for Team USA, which got here despite nearly not getting out of pool play following a shocking 8-6 loss to Italy.

Cervelli, looking for an edge, made a smart move by starting Nola, who has finished in the top 10 in the balloting for the National League Cy Young award on three different occasions, then following with Lorenzen, who threw four scoreless innings in the upset win over Team USA, behind him. It just didn’t quite work out.

After loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Italy’s best chance to lengthen the lead evaporated when Venezuela’s Angel Zerpa fanned leadoff hitter Sam Antonacci on four pitches. It was the last time Italy would have a baserunner

After allowing a leadoff walk to Andres Gimenez, who came on to pinch hit for Gleyber Torres, Lorenzen struck out Wilyer Abreu and William Contreras. With Jackson Chourio, Venezuela’s No. 9 hitter, coming up, it looked like perhaps Lorenzen could get to the eighth with the lead maintained.

Alas, Chourio singled on the first pitch he saw from Nola, and then Ronald Acuna Jr. followed with a single on the first pitch he saw, scoring Gimenez. The two singles came so quickly that a call to the bullpen would have only gotten a pitcher out of his seat before the game was tied. Then Maikel Garcia singled on the third pitch of his at-bat, Chourio scored and Venezuela had the lead. Three-time batting champ Luis Arraez then worked the count full and singled, scoring Acuna to make it 4-2.

Each successive hit made the Venezuelan fans more raucous in the loanDepot Park seats; high up in the right field corner in section 202, beer was sprayed into the air in celebration – a costly celebration in a park where a 16 oz. beer costs $16, but hey, when your team is in the midst of a rally and everyone around you is also cheering for the same team, go crazy, folks, go crazy.

And go crazy they did.

While the loss sends Italy home, this run, these six games the Azzurri played in Houston and Miami, will have a lasting effect on baseball in Italy, a country that has, believe it or not, had a professional baseball league since 1948. Suddenly, Italian newspapers were covering baseball. Italy’s games were televised across the country, and perhaps more Italians will pay a little more attention to an American game that has been played in their country for over 100 years.

“I think my message is just that baseball’s a fun game, and this tournament has been able to bring a lot of people together,” Italy captain Vinnie Pasquantino said when asked what his message to the Italian people was. “I would just say, if you’re in Italy, think about what baseball could be, with how the game is growing the way that it is and this tournament giving us a showcase to get to televisions and to newspapers and to radio in Italy.”

While the United States, Latin American, and Asian countries all have different styles of baseball, Pasquantino acknowledged before the game that while Italy may not have it’s own style yet, it will in years to come.

“I think the Italian brand of baseball is just take some espresso shots and get after it right now. So I think that’s the brand that we’ve created right now, and we’re still trying to figure out — I think as you build development cultures in different spots, you learn what players are good at, what they adapt to well,” he said. “So I would think, with looking at more of a soccer culture now, you’re probably looking at faster, more athletic baseball players. You probably go from there to then start building out the skills of baseball. I’d imagine that’s how we’re going to try to figure that out.”

Sure, they’re headed home short of where they hoped. A berth in the championship game and a rematch against Team USA would have, undoubtedly, drawn even more attention to a team of 29 Italian-Americans and Sam Aldegheri in Italy. But just because they’re out doesn’t mean Italy should forget about baseball or this team that proudly represented their heritage.

“Just keep paying attention. We’re going to come over there,” Pasquantino said of the team’s goal to keep the momentum going for Italian baseball. “We’ve already been talking about plans as individuals we can do as players of what we can do to help even more. This kind of feels like the first step. And just keep paying attention, because we’re going to be here.”

It’ll be different in three years, Cervelli said.

“We are no longer the Cinderella, and this is an important — in three years they are going to take us seriously. We have a group of young players that are going to participate in the next Classic,” the manager said following the game. “What they experienced today, they are going to take it away from the rest of their lives, a spectacular noise at the stadium, and my team was spectacular, fantastic, a group of friends, guys that support each other. I wish I could have that kind of team for 162 games.”

Forza Italia, as they say. Forza!

Photo: The Italy team console each other after losing to Venezuela at a World Baseball Classic semifinal game, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)