Italy to face All Star Team in preparation for European Championship title defence in September
The Italian Women's National Softball Team will gather together to play an All Stars Series, a friendly event scheduled from May 27 to 29 in Caronno Pertusella and Legnano. The National Team will face a selection of foreign stars from Serie A1 for three days of top-level softball action.
The series will showcase eight games over three days, all in short format (three innings each), with a tie-break inning at the end of every game. This format is designed to help the Azzurre fine-tune their preparation for the European Championship in Prague this September, a qualifier for the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup 2026/2027.
All matches will be streamed live on the FIBS YouTube Channel 3.
Schedule
- Tuesday, May 27, from 5:00 PM, two games will be played at the "Francesco Nespoli" field in Caronno Pertusella.
- Wednesday, May 28, also in Caronno, will feature four games starting at 2:00 PM.
- The series concludes on Thursday, May 29 in Legnano, with two final games starting at 5:00 PM.
The 19-player Italian roster features the following athletes:
- Claudia Amato – UTL
- Michela Vincenza Barbanente – OF
- Laura Bigatton – P/OF
- Priscilla Brandi – 1B/UTL
- Ilaria Cacciamani – P/OF
- Elisa Cecchetti – C/UTL
- Izabella Kayleigh Cimino – UTL
- Felicia Di Pancrazio – OF
- Marta Gasparotto – C/IF
- Noemi Giacometti – OF/C
- Giulia Metaxia Koutsoyanopulos – IF/OF
- Giulia Longhi – IF
- Alice Nicolini – P
- Alessandra Rotondo – IF
- Chiara Rusconi – P
- Melany Sheldon – IF
- Christina Clara Toniolo – P
- Silvia Torre – IF
- Laura Vigna – OF
The head coach is Craig Montvidas, joined by pitching coach Greta Cecchetti, coach Paola Sarassi, mentalcoach Rafael Colon and video analyst Lacey Warmington. Alessandro Muccino and Tommaso Carfì take care of Strength & Conditioning, Stefano Frassine is the trainer, while Elena Signorile serves as team leader.