Danesí Café Nettuno Edges Fortitudo Bologna 1-0 to take 2009 European Champions Cup

Written by: Jerry Milani on 22nd June 2009

Danesí Café Nettuno Edges Fortitudo Bologna 1-0 to take 2009 European Champions Cup | read this item

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Jeff Farnsworth threw eight shutout innings and catcher Manuel Gasparri drove in the game’s only run with a second inning single, as Danesi Café Nettuno defeated league rival Fortitudo Bologna, 1-0, on Sunday for its second straight European Champions Cup title.

Farnsworth allowed just five hits in his eight innings, striking out 14, and reliever Carlos Pezzullo pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save.

“This win showed that the quality of European baseball is continuing to rise, and I am proud to be able to help Nuttuno – one of the most storied clubs in European baseball – to this historic title defense against its rivals,” Farnsworth said after the win.

logonettuno1 On Saturday, Jesus Matos held Europe’s best-hitting team down for eight innings to lead Fortitudo Bologna to a 6-0 win against the L&D Amsterdam Pirates, while Giuseppe Mazzanti drilled a clutch three-run home run as Nettuno turned back Kinheim, 6-4. The wins advanced both teams to the all-Italian club final.

Mazzanti, who won the IBL batting title last season with a .392 average, had struggled this year, but the Nettuno third baseman broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the sixth and added the three-run home run an inning later to erase a 4-3 deficit. Reliever Giovanni Carrara allowed three hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings to pick up the win.

Eurosport 2 will broadcast the final on a delayed basis tonight at 8:15 p.m. (CET), and will repeat the broadcast on June 26 at 3 p.m. and June 27 at 1:45 p.m. Eurosport 2, the fastest-growing TV channel in Europe , broadcasts to 35 million households in 11 languages across 46 countries.

Share on Tumblr

Topics: European, International, Italy