Italy won the opener of the European Baseball Series against the Netherlands on Friday evening.

The team of new manager Gilberto Gerali downed the reigning European Champion 3-2 at Gavagnin ballpark in Verona, Italy. Two more games of the exhibition series will be played on Saturday and Sunday in Italy.

Kalian Sams gave the Dutch team a 1-0 lead with a solo home run leading off the fourth inning. But in the bottom half of the frame Nicola Garbella tied the contest with a home run. In the sixth RBI singles by Alex Sambucci and Mattia Reginato put Italy in front 3-1. Sams scored in the ninth on a RBI single by Dudley Leonora, but the Netherlands didn’t complete the comeback and went down in the first match of the series.

Source Link: http://www.mister-baseball.com/eubs2017-italy-wins-opener-verona-friday-night/