1997 Italian Series

The 1997 Italian Series was won by Cariparma Parma. They beat Caffe Danesi Nettuno in the final. It was the fourth straight Serie A1 final between these two teams.

Nettuno had dominated the regular season at 46-8. Their offensive leaders were 3B Todd Trafton (.448/.583/.845, 25 2B, 54 R, 67 RBI in 49 G), CF Roberto De Franceschi (.429/.504/.659, 74 R, 59 RBI in 51 G) and 2B Alberto D'Auria (.377/.469/.651, 73 R, 77 RBI in 54 G). They had several good pitchers in win co-leader Francisco Oliveras (14-3, 3.25), Diego Ricci (12-1, 3.93), ERA champ Massimiliano Masin (9-0, 1.69) and Pietro Cianfriglia (3-1, 5 Sv, 2.52).

Parma was 38-16 for second place in the regular season but did better in the playoffs (pulling off a sweep, while Nettuno needed six games). C-RF Luigi Carrozza (.402/.474/.676, 53 R, 54 RBI, 17 SB in 47 G), 2B Massimo Fochi (.393/.490/.704, 16 HR, 66 R, 59 RBI in 54 G) and SS Luis Martinez (.395/.448/.835, 24 HR, 65 R, 88 RBI, 20 SB in 48 G) had been a stellar trio, Martinez leading the league in both homers and RBI. The mounds corps had been led by Dave Richards (10-3, 3.50, 131 K in 115 2/3 IP), Fochi (3-3, 3 Sv, 3.09) and Paolo Ceccaroli (3-3, 4.57). Mattia Salsi had gone 11-2, but with a 7.16 ERA.

Championship Series

• Nettuno 4-3 Parma
• Parma 23-21 Nettuno
• Nettuno 10-4 Parma
• Parma 3-2 Nettuno
• Parma 11-4 Nettuno
• Nettuno 12-7 Parma
• Parma 13-3 Nettuno
• Parma wins series 4-3