Haarlem, Netherlands — The record says 4-0. The afternoon said something closer to a fight.
Italy stayed perfect at Honkbalweek Haarlem on Tuesday, but it took a two-run eighth — both runs driven in by pinch hitters — to shake a stubborn Czechia side 3-1 and avoid the tournament’s first real scare. The Azzurri move to 4-0; the Czechs, fresh off shocking No. 2 Chinese Taipei a day earlier, fall to 1-3 with their pride intact.
For six innings this was a pitchers’ duel nobody expected to be one. Davide Montanari was the best arm on the field, spinning six innings of one-hit, shutout ball with six strikeouts, and Czechia starter Lukáš Pacal matched him for four. Italy’s only early run came the quiet way in the third — Gabriele Angioi singled, stole second, and scored on a Noel Gonzalez groundout. A 1-0 lead felt larger than it was.
It didn’t hold. Once Montanari handed off, Czechia found the tying run in the seventh: Jan Pospíšil singled, moved up on a balk, and came home on a Max Prejda single back through the box. Suddenly the unbeaten favorites were knotted 1-1 with a team that had every reason to believe.
That’s when Italy’s bench won the game. In the eighth, Alberto Mineo — pinch-hitting, because of course he was — laced a double down the left-field line to score Gonzalez, and Lorenzo Morresi, also off the bench, lined a single to right-center to bring in Angioi. Two swings, two pinch hits, two runs, and a 3-1 lead that finally felt safe.
“It was just a matter of time, because we’ve got a great team,” said Mineo, whose tournament line now reads a video-game .714. “We trust everybody on the bench. It was just a matter of time before we found a spot to score the couple of runs we needed.” On the small-ball approach that’s defined Italy’s week: “Those little things — when we do them right, we’ve got a very good chance to win ball games.”
Morresi, who delivered the insurance run, kept it simple. “It’s been great — great for the team, great for everybody, great for Italian baseball,” he said, before nodding to the catcher hitting in front of him: “Alberto is a veteran. He plays really well. It’s unbelievable to have him.”
The man pulling the levers is a familiar one to American fans. Italy is managed by Francisco Cervelli, the former big-league catcher, and he’s building something he refuses to apologize for. “It means a lot. Winning is always good, because you create a culture, an expectation — a rule that we expect to win,” Cervelli said. “If you’re part of this team, it’s to win. But we also came here to work, to prepare ourselves for the future, for the Premier 12.” Of Mineo, his pinch-hitting hero: “He’s the captain of the team. He’s ready all the time. Today, pinch-hitting, he got an RBI — but he’s the man of the team. Everybody feeds off him.” And of his leadoff man: “Angioi is my leadoff. Everybody pays a ticket to see a guy like that, because he plays so hard.”
