HOUSTON — At the beginning of their charmed run in the World Baseball Classic, Italy hoped its roster — loaded with young, talented major and minor leaguers of Italian-American descent — could stack together a few wins and sneak out of pool play.
Now, the Azzurri are headed to the semifinals in Miami — and believe they can win the whole thing.
Their latest triumph, an 8-6 victory against Puerto Rico on Saturday afternoon in front of 34,291 at Daikin Park, reinforced that their perfect run through Pool B — which included a victory against Team USA — was no fluke. And it left players and coaches alike beaming, not just at what they’ve done but what their success will do in a country with limited history in the sport.
“Imagine doing this for the first time and arrive to the semifinal,” said Francisco Cervelli, the longtime major league catcher in his debut stint as Italy manager. “It’s amazing. This is great. This is one of the best chapters of my life.”
The sentiment wasn’t Cervelli’s alone. Following a leadoff home run by Puerto Rico’s , Italy answered with four first-inning runs, chasing 2024 American League Cy Young runner-up after he recorded just one out. The Italians tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning and withstood a shaky eighth inning to advance to the semifinals, the farthest run of the six WBCs in which they’ve participated. Italy will face the winner of the Japan-Venezuela quarterfinal matchup on Monday night at LoanDepot Park.
Featuring a lineup with an average age of 23.8, the Italians ambushed a shorthanded Puerto Rican team missing a number of stars because of injuries and insurance issues. Regardless, Italy’s last three victories — against the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico — came against three countries rich in baseball history, whereas Italy has had only two players born and raised in the country make the major leagues.
The magical week has landed the team’s games on television in Italy and the results in newspaper pages.
“And that is what this tournament is about,” said Italy captain , the Kansas City Royals’ first baseman and a key recruiter in getting young talent to join the team. “Yes, it is about winning the tournament and trying to be the best baseball team, but it’s about getting eyeballs and bringing people together on the sport, which is why I think so many teams are having a blast playing. Because you’re playing for your country and you’re playing for that national attention of, hey, look, it’s the Dominican Republic or it’s Venezuela or Nicaragua. Wherever the country is, they’re represented.
“And, yeah, Italy doesn’t have the greatest development in baseball, and that’s what we’re trying to do right now. And if we continue to be successful with this — I mean, there was baseball being played at bistros and cafes in Italy tonight over there. That doesn’t happen. Without the group that we have, it just doesn’t happen.”
What those in Italy saw was a continuation of the dangerous lineup that has carried the team. The first inning illustrated the Italians’ game. Following a pair of walks, Pasquantino lined an RBI single up the middle. , the Seattle outfielder, followed with the same. , the Kansas City outfielder, laced an RBI single to right field. Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina pulled Lugo, but Italy added one more run on a J.J. D’Orazio sacrifice fly to exit the first with a 4-1 advantage.
More of the same came in the fourth inning — all with two outs. Pasquantino, Canzone and Caglianone walked to load the bases. Andrew Fischer, a first-round pick by Milwaukee out of Tennessee last year, smoked a ball toward the wall that a fan reached over to grab, plating two on an interference double. D’Orazio, like Cervelli a Venezuela native with Italian heritage, scored two more on a perfectly placed double down the right-field line. And suddenly a close game was 8-2, the decidedly pro-Puerto Rico crowd silenced.
The relentlessness of the Italian team that stunned the United States — and allowed the Americans to advance to the quarterfinals by beating Mexico in pool play — had shown up again.
“You win the USA game,” Pasquantino said, “and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, we’ve got a real shot here, to not just shock the world but to do some things.’ “
Said Cervelli: “The key was the victory against USA. Those guys beat one of the best teams in the world, best players in the world. Now they’re going to believe. They’re going to believe. I believe.”
The belief never wavered, even in a hairy eighth inning. After starter Sam Aldegheri, one of the two Italian born-and-raised players to play in the big leagues, lasted just 1⅓ innings and Cleveland prospect Dylan DeLucia followed with four vital shutout innings, Cervelli turned to veteran , who allowed a single and walked two. In came reliever Joe La Sorsa, who induced a run-scoring groundout before re-loading the bases with a hit-by-pitch, allowing a run to score on a wild pitch and yielding two more on a Christian Vázquez single to make the score 8-6.
Cervelli called on Boston reliever , who escaped the inning with no more damage and returned in the ninth. He allowed a leadoff single, but an strikeout and two flyouts ended the game. Andrea Bocelli’s “Con Te Partirò” played over the stadium’s speakers, as it does after every Italy victory, and the team celebrated on the field as it readied for a trip to Miami against another powerhouse.
“I built up specifically for this,” Weissert said, “so I’m always ready early, going into spring training. It wasn’t a question of if I can do it … I can handle the pitch load.”
Italy is getting reinforcements, too. Cleveland shortstop , a Venezuela native whose grandfather is of Italian descent, plans to join the team in Miami. It’s easy to see why.
“With everything that’s going on, they all want to come,” Cervelli said. “The doors have always been open. It makes him very proud that he will be in this position to do so, even if it’s for one game. Hopefully it’s better to have two.”
