Carosone, Italy undefeated through opening round of European Championship

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Carosone, Italy undefeated through opening round of European ChampionshipCarosone, Italy undefeated through opening round of European Championship
Ezio Ratti

Italian National Team celebrating at European Championships.

Ronchi Dei Legionari, ITALY – Three-time All-American and current softball assistant coach Emily Carosone and the Italian National Team went undefeated in the opening round robin slate of games at the 2021 Women's Softball European Championship.
 
Italy dominated the Group A pool, outscoring opponents 67-0 and winning all four contests in run-rule fashion to finish 4-0. Italy joined the Netherlands, Israel and Spain as the only teams to go undefeated in Round Robin One.
 
Carosone and Italy opened competition Sunday with a 9-0 victory against Russia in five innings before topping Poland in four innings on Monday, 10-0. Tuesday marked the final day of competition of Round Robin One. Italy cruised to a pair of three-inning wins over Bulgaria, 27-0, and Hungary, 19-0.
 
Starting three of the four games at second base, Carosone went 2-for-7 at the plate with four runs scored. She held a .444 on-base percentage during the first wave of games, reaching base in four of her nine plate appearances.
 
The second wave of round robin action begins Wednesday. Italy will be grouped with Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic in Group E. Italy will open competition against the Czech Republic at 5:30 a.m. CT before returning to the field to face Spain at 1 p.m. CT.
 
Italy will face Germany Wednesday at 5:30 a.m. CT and then await placement for the third and final wave of round robin competition. All round robin games will be completed by Friday. The placement and medal games will all take place on Saturday.
 
Fans catch stream every game of the tournament on the WBSC Europe website.
 
The 2021 Women's European Championship serves as a qualifier for the World Games 2022, which will be held in Birmingham, Ala. in July 2022. The United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, China and Australia have already qualified for World Games 2022.
 
Italy clinched a spot for the Tokyo Olympics after winning the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic qualifier. Italy will open the games against the United States Tuesday, July 20 at 10 p.m. CT.