The morning of the last day of Club Italia LA28‘s stay in Tampa was truly special. In fact, the Azzurri, together with the University team, went to the Davis Islands neighborhood, hit hard by the passage of Hurricane Milton, to help families dispose of the rubble and household goods piled up outside their homes.
A gesture promoted by Robert Pennino and by the Italian-American community of Tampa, much appreciated by the locals and also by the media, who wanted to be present to witness the nice gesture of the players of the two teams involved in the 2024 College Series.
In the afternoon, the final match on the diamond, for an ‘internal’ match between Italia Blu and Italia Bianca, lined up as follows by the staff, each with a ‘loan’ from the Spartans:
Blue Italy
Cornelli 2B; Chacon RF; Cinelli C; Cumbo LF; Annunziata 1B; Wong DH; Volpe CF; Laise SS; Bertoldi 3B; Marciano P.
White Italy
Barbieri CF; Cimini 2B; Morresi RF; Mouthpiece DH; Stella C; Shrimps 1B; Bruno LF; Angioi SS; Download 3B; Rescue DH; Marelli P.
Four quality innings, which ended, for what it’s worth, at 1-1, and with a rotation that gave the pitchers employed, Aldegheri, Zanchi, Right, pompon e Virgadaulain addition to the starters, the way of working on different details without stress.
The recommendation of Phil Felix Cundaripitching coach of the Reading Fightin Phils, AA of the Philadelphia Phillies, who spent the entire Olympic Camp with the blue pitchers, closed the day and the final meeting with the team:
“What more than anything else I hope you take home from here is the philosophy of work. Never save yourself: here near us in this area, there are high school kids who wake up at 5 to train and go to school 1 and a half hours away. There is no excuse not to put in the effort.”
The experience of the training period between Arizona and Florida is precisely what the Development Coordinator of the blue teams, Gianguido Pomahe expected for the Club Italia: “It is the beginning of a path that we need to get to know professional realities to which we must aspire and also come into contact with Italian young people from different countries who are very eager to wear the blue jersey, to also understand from their enthusiasm the value of what we represent.
The work with the staff, both the permanent one and that of the very high level specialists who joined us to give their contribution to the national team was truly excellent from everyone, without exception.
However, I want to say a word in particular Felice. He possesses infinite knowledge, which he transfers with a perfect way of presenting himself. He is a very calm person, I would say humble in approaching others, but he is equally determined and precise. He often deals with kids this age in single and double-A and we have all seen and learned several things from him that we didn’t know.
Andrew Crescihitting coach for the Houston Astros, after all the work done with us here will create a platform that everyone can access to upload videos and get feedback on the development of their individual programs.
The same goes for pitchers: the work started with Cundari will continue on the web, both in terms of analysis and on specific points to improve in the off-season.
Specifically regarding the off-season, and in particular the pitchers, we have scheduled a meeting in Collecchio on November 3rd which will also involve those who were not here.
I would like to conclude with thanks to the entire Italian-American baseball community of the University of Tampa, Robert Pennino e coach Joe Urso in the lead, who really went out of her way to give us truly impeccable hospitality.
I also want to thank the guys, because compliments on their behavior that Nick Leto brought to us by the operators of the Surprise facility are not something that always happens and they also give an idea of the value of the group we have.”
from Tampa, Florida, Marco Landi
