1987 Italian Series

The 1987 Italian Series was won by Trevi Rimini. They beat defending champions Mamoli Robinetterie Grosseto in the final. It was the fifth Serie A1 title for Rimini.

Grosseto had won girone 1 at 32-10. They then cruised through the quarterfinals in a sweep but needed 7 games to get past Bologna in the semifinals. C Keith Keomeiji (.365/.519/.647, 53 R, 48 RBI, 50 BB in 42 G) and SS/2B John Cortese (.382/.468/.624, 53 R, 53 RBI in 42 G) led their offense. On the mound, they had a potent staff. Rolando Cretis (11-2, Sv, 2.79) led the league in wins, Rich Olsen (10-1, 1.38) led in ERA and Alfio Boscarol (1-0, 6 Sv, 2.95) led in saves while Alessandro Cappuccini (5-1, 1.89) was also productive.

Rimini won girone 2 at 28-14 then also had a first-round sweep, but also swept Nettuno in the second round. UT Dave Malpeso hit .347/.395/.819 with 10 homers and 23 RBI in 18 games, C Elio Gambuti batted .416/.492/.611 with 31 RBI in 29 games and RF Giuseppe Carelli produced at a .348/.464/.542 clip. Former major leaguer Rick Waits (10-4, 1.80) and Paolo Ceccaroli (6-1, 2.05) led the staff.

Grosseto took the opener, 3-2, but after that it was all Rimini. They won 5-1, 10-1, 6-3 and 1-0. Carelli hit .444/.524/.722 with 4 RBI in the finals while Malpeso batted .294/.429/.647 with 4 runs. Rimini only had to use three pitchers as all excelled: Waits (2-0, 1.00), Ceccaroli (1-1, 1.59) and Giuseppe Pruccoli (1-0, 1.00). The situation was reversed for Grosseto as only Cretis (1-1, 1.65) fared well in the finals, Olsen (0-1, 4.61), Boscarol (0-1, Sv, 8.10) and Cappuccini (0-1, 11.25) all struggling. Their regular-season hitting stars both did not fare well - Keomeiji was 2 for 18 with 2 walks, Cortese 2 for 19 with a double and a walk. LF Riccardo Luongo (.313/.450/.375) and 2B/SS Marco Foschiani (.353/.353/.412) hit the best for them in the finals, Foschiani scoring 3 of their 7 runs.

Playoffs

1st Round

• Mamoli Robinetterie Grosseto (32-10) beat BKV Milan (17-25), 4-0
• Norditalia Nettuno (30-12) beat Vape San Marino (24-18), 4-1
• Trevi Rimini (28-14) beat Rome (18-24), 4-0
• Biemme Giocattoli Bologna (30-12) beat World Vision Parma (24-18), 4-3

Semi Finals

• Mamoli Robinetterie Grosseto 4-3 Biemme Giocattoli Bologna
• Trevi Rimini 4-0 Norditalia Nettuno

Championship Series

• Trevi Rimini 4-1 Mamoli Robinetterie Grosseto