Italy’s baseball team wants to be among the teams that will participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The manager of the blue team made it clear in an interview given to the FIBS federal website: that Mike Piazza who wants to bring the Italian flag back to a high level.
“We definitely started off on the right foot – says Piazza -, with Andrea (Marcon, ed.) and all the staff have shared some clear and defined strategic objectives, and it is with these in mind that in recent months we have built the platform for the development of the talents that will lead us to qualification for the next Olympics. We absolutely must create an Italian baseball culture that allows us to compete with the best, first of all at a European level, because this is where qualification will come from, and therefore on the international stage. To do this, it is necessary to build connections and bonds with realities ahead of us, in order to learn and use all the tools that can make us grow. In this, the path of the last Classic is helping us a lot: we have brought the ‘Italy’ brand into the spotlight of world baseball, new and historic friends have come forward to collaborate and help the program from a technical point of view and from the States New sponsors such as Steel Sports, SFIAC and CIBPA have arrived from the United States and Canada.”
Then on the Pitchers and Catchers Camp he had with the Kansas City Royals he says: “Nick Leto and the Royals were amazing. The Federation has signed an agreement that looks decidedly forward. Our pitchers and catchers have been introduced to several MLB teams and have been able to work with many top-notch professionals in Surprise’s amazing facility. Phil Cundari made himself completely available to Club Italia and started an individual relationship with our boys and coaches which we already had the opportunity to test in the match in Tampa. This also creates new opportunities: for example Ettore Giulianelli stood out and was invited to an audition at the beginning of next year; Matthew(Bocchi, ed.) had a personalized evaluation at the Driveline Baseball laboratory in Scottsdale, which the staff was able to visit to learn about the latest technologies for scouting and game data analysis. Driveline is a partner of the Korean League (KBO), with which we have started a project with a view to 2026, while next year we will collaborate with the CTBA, thanks to the agreement developed by coach Joe Hsu(Ambassador of Italian baseball in Taiwan, ed.).
To reiterate the importance of being embedded in these contexts: Caitlyn Callahan at Surprise held pitching workshops and labs with coaches, while the KC technology team explained the use of Trackman metrics (partner ufficiale WBSC, ndr)“.
On the College Series in Tampa: “Even in this case it is a structural partnership. The Uuniversity of Tampa hosted the games and offered to do so every year, at least until the Los Angeles Games. This has led the scholarship program, with a possible offer already in the works, to report on college-eligible players through a scouting and data analysis tool run by Anthony Lucchese e Matthew Boccardi and, overall, an eye-opening experience for the young players who were able to see first-hand and understand the benefits of going to college for personal and on-field development. The staff was able to set up a uniform method for evaluating players based on their age and ability and a system for preparing rosters for U-18, U-23 and Elite events through LA 2028.”
Finally Mike Piazza concludes by saying: “Every year Club Italia will have pre- and post-championship activities, in the United States or in Asia, as is known, the objective is to extend the season on the prospect field to at least 9 months and to provide everyone with an individual plan which also includes the off-season, as we started at the Olympic Camp and finalized, after the preparatory analysis, in Collecchio. And when possible and functional, even during the season and without neglecting Europe: there are preparation activities, especially friendly matches and tournaments for different categories, on whose calendar we are working together with the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
Without a solution of continuity, between Italy and the many parts of the world that support us and want to collaborate, obviously including Europe”.
