Italy slugs its way past Puerto Rico to reach WBC semifinal

HOUSTON – Team Puerto Rico fans tried to do what Mexico’s and USA’s fans couldn’t do, help their team beat Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

Italy didn’t allow the crowd of 34,291 at Daikin Park to dim its offensive fury Saturday afternoon at Daikin Park, which witnessed another offensive onslaught from the Italians. 

Francisco Cervelli, Italy’s Italian-Venezuelan manager, urged his players not to let the crowd dictate the game.

“I don’t know if you’ve been to a game in Venezuela or in the Dominican Republic,” Cervelli said. “You put 15,000 people, and the noise is incredible. You are here, another 30,000. And this is winter ball.

“It’s loud. It’s Latin baseball. What we experienced today, every day we play, we’re never going to be a home team. And it’s great. The feeling, it’s unbelievable, and I love these kind of games, no matter what the result.”

During pregame you would have thought it may be impossible as the cowbells and drums rattled throughout the stadium. Puerto Rico’s blue and red was all but painted through the seats. 

“Yeah, I just want to say that we appreciate our Puerto Rican fans,” Puerto Rican manager Yadier Molina said. “They’ve always supported us. When we were in Puerto Rico, at that beautiful ballpark, it was amazing. I know that.

“There’s also a lot of Puerto Ricans in this city. We knew we had that factor in our favor to see the ballpark full of Puerto Ricans. So many flags out there. We would have loved to have win this game, not just for us, but for them as well.”

Italy made quick work of deflating the Boricuas’ ruckus to beat Puerto Rico 8-6 in the quarterfinals of the WBC to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals for the first time.

‘Amazing’

“It’s amazing,” Italy’s captain Vinnie Pasquantino said. “I don’t think it would be hyperbole to say this is the best day in Italian baseball history, just getting here. It’s the farthest the team’s ever been.

“I was a part of the team in ’23 that lost to Japan in this round. And now obviously we’ve made it a little bit farther and we still have a lot of work to do.”

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Italy (5-0) has marched to the semifinals in dominant fashion by continuing their undefeated run. Cervelli’s crew has scored seven or more runs in every game, including eight or more against the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico. 

Puerto Rico’s fans had much to celebrate right away with a leadoff home run. However, the key for Italy was an aggressive approach at the plate. Instead of relying on the home run like in the previous two games, Italy had a series of baseball hits to overtake Puerto Rico.

Italy jumped on Seth Lugo

Puerto Rican right-hander Seth Lugo, who has a 10-pitch repertoire, recorded only one out. Cervelli instructed his team to be aggressive at the plate. His line up answered with a four-run first inning. 

Pasquantino initiated Italy’s scoring once again. After Sam Antonacci and Jakob Marsee walked, the Pasquantino hit a single that brushed shortstop Darell Hernaiz’s glove. Dominic Calzone followed with a single. Italian-Puerto Rican prospect Jac Caglianone added another single to drive another run. 

J.J. D’Orazio then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 in the first. Italy had another four-run rally in the fourth.

“The plan was to attack Lugo because we knew they had four lefties,” Cervelli said. “We also have a bunch of lefties. So the guys followed the plan the way they should.

“There was a lefty, a very complicated lefty, but they tried and tried, and they got him out. And that’s how we were able to win the game.”

Puerto Rico rallied late, but it wasn’t enough. After scoring two runs in the first two innings, the Boricuas were held scoreless until the eighth inning. The young Puerto Rican team scored four runs but it wasn’t enough to catch the hot Italian team. 

With many Puerto Rican veterans missing, they knew they had a disadvantage. Nonetheless, Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina was proud. He also helped unify his team. They played for each other and cheered each other on like family. 

“In regard to the locker room, we have a lot of youngsters who are hurting,” Molina said in Spanish. “Their jersey hurts. Their soul is something that’s really hurting.

“But I do want to say that I’m very proud of our team, very proud of what we’ve done. It’s a young team. It’s a team that represented our island without any reproach, and they fought to the end. We all fought to the end. We were able to unify a country once more.”