1990 Italian Series

The 1990 Italian Series was won by Scac Nettuno. They defeated Ronson Lenoir Rimini in the final. It was the 13th Serie A1 title for Nettuno.

A new format was introduced this year as the playoffs were scrapped. Instead the regular season was extended, going from 42 games to 66. The two division winners would then meet in the championship series.

In the regular season, Nettuno was 54-12 to lead the southern league, while Rimini was 57-9 to win the northern league. Nettuno had been led on offense by UT Jeff Ransom (.374/.489/.658, 73 R, 83 RBI in 66 G), a former big leaguer, and Italian SS Ruggero Bagialemani (.358/.419/.583, 59 R, 69 RBI in 57 G). The pitching trio of ex-big leaguer Bob Galasso (16-1, 1.21, 182 K, 24 BB in 126 2/3 IP), Claudio Taglienti (13-1, 2 Sv, 2.42) and Massimiliano Masin (13-3, 3.28). Rimini's offense was paced by ex-MLBer 3B Greg Jelks (.363/.467/.822, 19 HR, 50 RBI, 47 R in 35 G) and C-OF Elio Gambuti (.399/.477/.685) while they also had three top-line hurlers in Roberto Cabalisti (1-1, 1.94), ex-MLBer Pete Falcone (17-2, a league-best 1.19 ERA, 183 K in 143 1/3 IP) and Paolo Ceccaroli (12-4, 5 Sv, 2.61).

Rimini won the opener on October 26, 2-1, but Nettuno took three straight (5-3, 6-3 and 13-1). Rimini then rallied to win 4-1 and 10-7 to even the series. In the finale, on November 4, Nettuno won a 3-2 affair to win a close Series. Galasso (2-1, 1.44), CF Roberto De Franceschi (.320/.320/.520) and 1B Guglielmo Trinci (.346/.433/.423) had led Nettuno in the Series, while Ransom hit only .200/.333/.280. Lacking Jelks for the Series, Rimini had a stellar effort from Gambuti (.586/.613/.793, 17 H in 7 G) but not as much from some of the other hitters and the star pitching trio underachieved: Ceccaroli (1-1, 2.65) and Falcone (1-2, 3.48) at least won games while Cabalisti gave up 7 runs in 3 innings.

Championship Series

• Scac Nettuno (54-12) beat Ronson Lenoir Rimini (57-9), 4-3.