2013 Italian Series

The 2013 Italian Series featured Rimini versus defending champion T&A San Marino. Rimini won the first two games of the best-of-five but San Marino took the last three to win the title. They became the third team to win three straight Italian titles and the first since the 1960s. The road team won all five games of the Series. Jim Magrane was named the Series MVP, going 2-0 with 2 earned runs in 21 innings, including a dazzling game 5 on two days' rest.

Teams

Rimini had the best record (27-3), offense (257 R) and pitching/defense (108 RA). LF Alex Romero (.444/.512/.634) won the batting title and was second in RBI (41). SS Jack Santora (.384/.469/.442) was 5th in average and RF Mario Chiarini (.324/.402/.472, 43 R, 39 RBI) led in runs and was third in RBI. Roberto Corradini (11-3, 1.79) was third in wins and 5th in ERA, while Enorbel Marquez (7-1, 6 Sv, 1.33) was third in ERA.

T&A San Marino was nearly as good (25-3 in the regular season), was 3rd in runs (223) and was 3rd in runs allowed (122). CF Carlos Duran (.421/.473/.651) was second in average and 4th in RBI (37) and he was well supported by LF Willie Vasquez (.328/.424/.575, first with 7 HR), RF Mattia Reginato (.315/.394/.540, tied for 2nd with 6 HR) and DH Jairo Ramos Gizzi (.290/.414/.484, tied for 2nd with 6 HR). Tiago Da Silva (12-1, 2.07) tied for the win lead and was second with 126 strikeouts while Jim Magrane (10-3, 2.84) was 4th in wins. Darwin Cubillan (1-0, 4 Sv, 1.49) was little-used as their closer given their strong run differential.

Games

• September 13: Rimini 4, San Marino 1. Both starters turned in fine efforts, with Jim Magrane allowing one run in 7 innings for San Marino and Yorman Bazardo one run in 5 1/3 IP for Rimini. Rimini scored in the top of the second. 3B Ramon Castro singled off Magrane; with two outs, he stole second. 1B Giuseppe Spinelli walked and C Riccardo Bertagnon singled in Castro. In the bottom of the second, San Marino tied it. With one away, CF Carlos Duran singled and stole second. RF Mattia Reginato singled him to third and 1B Joe Mazzuca's sacrifice fly brought him home. After that, both staffs cracked down, with Enorbel Marquez tossing 5 2/3 shutout innings of relief after replacing Bazardo (Marquez got the win) and Darwin Cubillan tossing 3 shutout innings in relief of Magrane. In the 11th, though, Cubillan faded. 2B Adolfo Gomez singled and was bunted over by Spinelli. Bertagnon walked and DH Jim Buccheri singled in Gomez. Chris Cooper relieved Cubillan and CF Leonardo Zileri got some insurance with a two-run double, his third hit of the day.

• September 14: Rimini 11, San Marino 7. In a slugfest, Rimini gets 3 runs from LF Alex Romero and 3 RBI apiece from 3B Castro and RF Mario Chiarini. For San Marino, 2B Francesco Imperiali is the leader (3 H, 2 R, 2 RBI) while RF Reginato goes deep. Sandy Patrone wins in relief of Roberto Corradini, while Tommaso Cherubini notches a save. Tiago Da Silva gives up 11 hits and 7 runs in 6 1/3 IP to take the loss.

• September 20: San Marino 4, Rimini 2. Longtime minor league and international veteran Magrane (San Marino) squared off with former major leaguer Bazardo again and the two engaged in another duel. In the 4th, LF Romero homered off Magrane for a 1-0 lead. In the 6th, San Marino rallied. 3B Giovanni Pantaleoni singled and LF Vasquez walked. Marquez again replaced Bazardo but the Cuban-German was not as sharp as in his first outing, serving up a 3-run homer to DH Ramos. CF Duran then doubled. RF Reginato grounded him to third and 1B Mazzuca grounded Duran home for a 4-1 edge. In the 8th, Cubillan replaced Magrane and gave up a double to C Bertagnon and a single to DH Buccheri. After one out, SS Jack Santora and Romero both drew walks to close it to 4-2, but Cooper replaced Cubillan to face the cleanup and #5 hitters of the Rimini offense; he fanned 3B Castro before retiring LF Chiarini to end it.

• September 21: San Marino 3, Rimini 0. San Marino was outhit 6-4, but won to tie the Series. Da Silva (5 H, 3 BB in 7 2/3 IP) and former infielder Seth La Fera (1 H, 1 BB in 1 1/3 IP) combined on the shutout, while Corradini took the loss. San Marino got most of its offense in the second. DH Ramos Gizzi and CF Duran both singled. RF Reginato struck out, but 1B Mazzuca doubled home Ramos Gizzi and 2B Imperiali grounded in Duran for a 2-0 lead. In the 8th, they got insurance; Mazzuca doubled and Imperiali walked to open the frame. Carlos Pezzullo relieved Corradini. C Simone Albanese bunted both men over. SS Daniel Bittar was intentionally walked to bring up 3B Pantaleoni, who hit a sacrifice fly.

• September 22: San Marino 4, Rimini 1. San Marino finished their comeback at Stadio Comunale. Magrane starred for the third time in the Series; on one day of rest, he allowed two hits in seven shutout innings. Marquez was not as good for Rimini, though he was not bad either. In the second, 1B Mazzuca tagged him for a one-out homer. In the 6th, RF Reginato hit a one-out double, Mazzuca was intentionally walked and C Albanese hit a two-out RBI single. In the 9th, San Marino doubled their lead in the 9th. Mazzuca singled off Patrone, who was replaced by Pezzullo. 2B Imperiali bunted Mazzuca over, then Albanese singled him in. Bittar singled. Cherubini relieved and tossed a wild pitch to score Albanese, who had a role in 3 of the 4 San Marino runs as a result. In the bottom of the 9th, Rimini finally got on the board. Santora singled off Cooper and Romero hit into an Imperiali error. Cubillan relieved and got Castro to hit into a double play. Chiarini singled in Santora to close it to 4-1, but Gomez grounded out to end it.

Sources

• Italian Baseball federation
• Mister Baseball