MIAMI (AP) — Francesco Servelli doesn’t believe Italy can sneak up on its opponents at the next World Baseball Classic in three years.
“We are no longer Cinderella,” the Italy coach said after Italy were eliminated from the tournament on Monday night after losing 4-2 to Venezuela in the semifinals. “Three years from now, they’re going to take us seriously. We have a group of young players who are going to play in the next Classic. What they experienced today will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
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The Azzurri’s shocking 5-0 start to reach the WBC semifinals for the first time has shined a spotlight on a soccer-mad country where baseball is not as popular as many other countries competing in the WBC. Players spoke of providing an exciting foundation for future growth and success.
“Playing in front of that big of a crowd and seeing how loud they were during the game and no one thought we could win, it was a lot of fun to be able to do that with everybody,” center fielder Jakob Marsee said.
Italy took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning on Monday when Michael Lorenzen’s two-out walk allowed back-to-back singles by Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez.
After the final, the Italian players remained slumped on the bench railing, watching Acuña and other Venezuelan stars celebrate on the pitch in front of them, while the pro-Venezuelan fans at Loans Warehouse cheered. They stayed there for about 10 minutes, hugging each other and saluting some fans behind the dugout.
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“We just wanted to make sure we waved to the Venezuelan fans that were here tonight,” captain Vinnie Pasquantino said, “and the Italian fans that were here because the atmosphere was unbelievable.”
Cervelli then addressed the team.
“I just told the guys, they’re the winners of this game,” he said. “Nobody expected what they did. They were champions… They revolutionized Italy. They put another sport on the map, which is good.”
Of course, we expect this young roster, made up of a handful of major leaguers and many minor leaguers, to return with more experience in the WBC going forward.
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They hope baseball’s popularity in Italy will soar by then.
“We were told… seven million people were watching the game tonight in Italy,” Pasquantino said of the broadcast in Italy, which started at just 1 a.m. Tuesday. “It’s incredible. In my opinion, that’s why we have this tournament. To have such an impact every few years is incredible. The goal of this team – and we’ve talked about it a lot – is to impact Italy and we did that.
“So for us, we didn’t have success on the pitch tonight, but we had success in Italy. That’s what this is all about.”
The Azzurri were the tournament’s surprise, a surprising 8-6 loss to the United States in pool play, before Pasquantino defeated Mexico 9-1 in the WBC’s first three-homer game. Italy then defeated Puerto Rico 8-6 to advance to Monday night’s semifinals.
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“I’m really excited to be around these guys and represent my family,” said Massey, who is entering his second season with the Miami Marlins and playing Monday in front of a crowd he’s not used to seeing. “Looking ahead to this season, all I want to do is bring it back to Miami and be able to do that in October.”
The Italian team’s celebrations throughout the game were loved by many and attracted widespread attention. They celebrated with an espresso after every 12 home runs and brought bottles of wine after every win — getting more expensive with each batch.
They don’t pay much attention to the criticism of them from the outside world. Some criticized the list for being largely composed of Italian Americans, many of whom had never been to Italy.
Pasquantino said he hopes that can change.
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“To the kids in Italy, just know that we’re doing this for you,” he said. “We hope that 20 years from now, the Italian team at the World Baseball Classic will be all Italians, like Italian-speaking people from Italy. That’s our goal. To be an ambassador for that is very humbling for me, and I hope one day we can see that.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB