The Italian Baseball and Softball Federation (FIBS) announced the coaching staff serving under Baseball National Team manager Francisco Cervelli.
Alessandro Maestri (39, pictured above), a former right-handed pitcher who reached the Triple-A level for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) and played 96 games over three seasons for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), will serve as the pitching coach. Maestri represented Italy 41 times internationally, including the World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2017.
He was Team Europe’s pitching coach at the Global Baseball Games 2024.
The rest of the staff includes coaches Tomas Bison, Michele Gerali and Andrea D’Auria. Bison is the General Manager of the Regensburg Legionaere in the German League. Gerali is the only coach returning from the 2024 staff. D’Auria is a former Italian Baseball League star infielder who played 120 games for the National Team, including the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
Bison will also serve on the U-23 staff under Cervelli. The pitching coach will be Roberto Corradini, a former right-handed pitcher who has represented Italy 24 times internationally. The staff also includes coaches Cristian Gnudi and Alessandro Fanfoni.
In 2025, Cervelli will lead Italy at the U-23 Baseball European Championship (August 5 to 9 in Trebic and Brno, Czechia) and the Baseball European Championship, hosted by Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands from September 20 to 27.