Italy is preparing for the World Baseball Classic, the prestigious event which will start on March 5th. Our national team will be the protagonist in the group that will be staged on the Taichung diamond (Taipei in China) where they will face Cuba, Holland, Panama and the hosts (the top two classified will advance to the quarter-finals, scheduled in Tokyo).
The approach path of Mike Piazza’s men begins at the sports center of Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale (Arizona): a part of the blue team will in fact gather in this location until March 1st for a pre-season camp. From March 3, the entire Italia Baseball roster at the Classic will meet in Taiwan, where the Azzurri have a couple of friendlies scheduled on the 5th and 6th before the start of the World Baseball Classic. The following are invited for the meeting:
ITALY WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC CALLED UP FOR MEETING IN SCOTTSDALE
| No. | Surname | Name | POS | Year of birth |
| 1 | AIELLO | VINCENZO | RHP | 1998 |
| 2 | ANNOUNCED NINO | ANDRES ANTONIO | C | 2005 |
| 3 | BASSANI | ALEX | RHP | 1990 |
| 4 | BIAGINI | JOSEPH CARLO | RHP | 1990 |
| 5 | MOUTHS | MATTEO | RHP | 1996 |
| 6 | CASTELLANS | RYAN MICHAEL | RHP | 1996 |
| 7 | DEOTTO | ALESSANDRO | C | 1995 |
| 8 | HERCULANES | ALESSANDRO | RHP | 2004 |
| 9 | FANTS | NICHOLAS | LHP | 1996 |
| 10 | SIEVE | NICOLA LUCIANO SATHYA | RHP/OF | 1992 |
| 11 | GARCIA | ROBEL ESTIWAL | IF | 1993 |
| 12 | GAVIGLIO | SAMUEL JOSEPH | RHP | 1990 |
| 13 | HARVEY | MATTHEW EDWARD | RHP | 1989 |
| 14 | LORENZINI | BRAXTON RYAN | RHP | 1995 |
| 15 | MARCIANO | JOSEPH JAMES | LHP | 1995 |
| 16 | MASTROBUONI | MARCUS ALLEN | C | 1993 |
| 17 | MINEO | ALBERTO | C | 1994 |
| 18 | MORRESI | LORENZO | C | 2001 |
| 19 | PAULINES | RICARDO | IF | 1999 |
| 20 | PINAZZI | NICOLE’ | LHP | 1999 |
| 21 | ACCOUNTANTS | MARCO | C | 2004 |
| 22 | SCAFIDS | CHRISTIAN PAUL | RHP | 1997 |
| 23 | SCOTTI | CLAUDIO | RHP | 1998 |
| 24 | TIMBANELLS | VINCENT THOMAS | R | 1998 |
| 25 | VALENTE | JOHN MARCO | IF | 1995 |
| 26 | VOLPE | ALESSANDRO | OF | 2005 |
| 27 | VASSALOTTI | MICHAEL ANTONIO | RHP | 2000 |
| 28 | WOODS | STEPHEN HUGO | RHP | 1995 |
Photo: Photo LiveMedia/Claudio Benedetto