DAIKIN PARK (Houston) Months before he was distributing espresso shots and cheek-kisses to home-run hitters in the dugout and handing out bottles of wine to the players on the best team in Italy's baseball history, Vinnie Pasquantino was bored on Thanksgiving. So, the countrys best baseball recruiter used the holiday to reach out to prospective players, as he had done for much of the year after committing to the team for the World Baseball Classic in early 2025. "It was kind of messed up thinking about it, but I didnt have a whole lot going on, and I was like, Oh, this would be a good day to hit everybodys Instagram DMs," Pasquantino told me ahead of Wednesday's game against Mexico. "So, there was a lot of DMing that day. Thats when the WhatsApp was created for the group. Its been a lot of fun trying to help create this team." The seeds were being planted for what would become the WBC's improbable juggernaut, a group consisting primarily of prospects and novice MLB players who quickly blossomed into the tournaments success story by stunning much more experienced and decorated rosters along the way with their own distinctive panache. The Italians left the best U.S. roster ever assembled dumbfounded in an upset victory on Tuesday. One night later, they bulldozed a Mexico squad that nearly made it to the WBC finals three years ago. That capped the Azzurri's perfect 4-0 start to the competition to win Pool B and advance to the quarterfinals. "I'm, like, weirdly emotional tonight, to the point I'm thinking about crying," Pasquantino said in his postgame press conference after his three-homer performance over Mexico helped send Italy through to the next round, "which is funny for a tournament in March." Really, though, this represented so much more than normal March baseball for the teams captain, who was so moved by his experience playing for Italy in 2023 and his trip to the country before that WBC that he spent the better part of the last year doing whatever he could to help the Italian Baseball Federation field the best roster imaginable for this tournament. The near-catharsis was the culmination of all the effort that led into Wednesday night. "I committed in what would have been spring of last year, right at the beginning of spring training, letting them know that I was in," Pasquantino told me before the Mexico game. "From there, it was, All right, who do we need to go get? Send me phone numbers. Ill make cold calls, whatever I need to do." After receiving a target list of players to call from Italys coaches and staff, the Royals gregarious first baseman hit the recruiting trail. "I think they know I have a bigger personality, so it was more from their end, If we really need a guy, will you call him?'" Pasquantino during our chat before Mexico's game. "And I think from my end, it was like, Why dont I just call everybody?" "I think he reached out to everyone," Italy infielder Andrew Fischer confirmed. "He took this team by the reins, brought us together." "Youve got to find out whos eligible and things like that," Pasquantino added, "but once we were able to find out different things about guys, thats when the phone calls really started." Some pitches, like the one to Pasquantinos Royals teammate Jac Caglianone, were easy. Some fell short, like the one to Red Sox standout Roman Anthony. Pasquantino had a conversation with the 21-year-old talent, but it never got far. Anthony told me he had no plans to participate for any team in the World Baseball Classic, and was set on staying in Boston's camp, until USA manager Mark DeRosa called. His Red Sox manager, Alex Cora, thought that was an opportunity he wouldnt want to miss. In other cases, Pasquantinos perseverance paid off. He pestered veteran pitcher Michael Lorenzen about joining the squad for years. "When Vinnie asked me if I wanted to play, I did tell him I would only do it if I was a two-way player," Lorenzen said. That hasnt happened, at least yet. For now, Italy is just happy to see Lorenzen thriving on the mound, where the veteran MLB pitcher blanked USAs star-studded lineup for 4.2 scoreless innings in the upset victory that Italy manager Francisco Cervelli described as one of the best days of his life. "Everybody in Italy should see this," Cervelli told reporters after the win over the USA. "We're doing it for them, for the kids. It can happen. It's possible." Anthony was in the losing dugout of that Italy win, one that threatened to end USAs run before it could ever really get going. Maybe that defeat wakes up Team USA, which is still fully capable of avenging its 2023 finals defeat and going all the way, thanks to Italys win against Mexico on Wednesday. To this point, though, its been Italy having most of the fun. "It's unbelievable how close this group has gotten in such a quick timeframe," said MLB veteran Jon Berti, who played for the Cubs last season. "Vinnie gets a huge credit for that. He set the tone early for us. He's an awesome leader, very fun to be around and kind of drew everybody in and together." Pasquantino was also responsible for the professional manner in which Italy handled the biggest baseball win in its countrys history. In the aftermath of avenging a 2023 loss to Mexico, Team USA stayed back hours after the win sharing stories and sipping drinks together in the clubhouse. "Theres some guys dragging today," DeRosa said to reporters the following day, hours before suffering one of the most surprising defeats in WBC history against an unafraid, unyielding, undefeated Italy squad. Pasquantino knew that a 3-0 start wouldnt mean much if Italy turned around and had a similar letdown the next day against Mexico. So after the win against Team USA, he told his group that once midnight hit, it was time to turn the page. "We had a good time in there," Pasquantino told me, "but nobodys dragging over here today." The results of a 9-1 win against Mexico backed that up. This Team Might Be Different Three years ago, Pasquantino was part of an Italy roster that advanced out of WBC pool play without hitting a single home run. This time an example of the strides the country has taken since then it has already launched 12. Italys offense ranks second in the tournament in both home runs and OPS, despite lacking the established MLB talent that other rosters possess. It does, however, have the best arms it has ever taken to the tournament in Lorenzen and Aaron Nola, a plethora of intriguing young MLB talents in Pasquantino, Caglianone, White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, Marlins outfielder Jakob Marsee and Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone and promising prospects in Fischer, Aldegheri, Dante Nori and Sam Antonacci. Pasquantino knew for Italy to succeed, he had to foster the right environment for the youthful group to feel comfortable. Quickly, he noticed the unusual confidence the teams recent draft picks already possessed. "The first day we had a workout, Andrew Fischer talked a bunch of crap about the music I was playing," Pasquantino told me, "and I was like, All right, you take it. I was just playing simple EDM music. But thats when I kind of knew, all right, this team might be kind of different. "These guys just arent scared, and thats the coolest part, and thats where I feel like its my job to let them know, like, yeah you shouldn't be scared, this is what you should be doing, having a good time, having a blast, playing with your chest out." Their fearlessness has been evident throughout the tournament. Aldeghiri, a 24-year-old Angels prospect, threw 4.2 scoreless innings in his lone start. Nori, a 2024 first-round pick of the Phillies, is 6-for-12 with two homers. Antonacci, one of the top position player prospects for the White Sox, has two extra-base hits. And Fischer, a first-round pick of the Brewers last year and theEnergizer bunny personified, is 3-for-8 with a home run. "My personality, sometimes, is not really easy to work with," Fischer told me. "Im an extrovert. Im from Jersey. I dont really care a lot of the time what some guys think of mebut I just come in with a very loud personality, and fortunately enough, they took me in with open arms. "Vinnies done a great job kind of taming me back but also letting me be myself," Fischer continued. "Theres been times I wasnt sure how hed react, and I see he has my back, and I feel very good about it, and other times that Im not sure how he would react and he puts me in my place, and I respect him because hes been in the game a long time. So, hes a great leader, great captain." I Wish My Grandfather Was Still Around Even when Pasquantino started the tournament 0-for-12, Antonacci described the captain as the team MVP because of the way he made his teammates feel so comfortable. The slow start offensively did bother Pasquantino, who told Cervelli he would understand if he got dropped from the clean-up spot in the order, but he also knew the value he was providing outside the batters box. "Ive been dog s--- at the plate," he said Wednesday afternoon, before his breakout performance. "Im not hiding from that. It doesnt feel the best right now. But what I see the captaincy being, its not about performance in my opinion, its about what you can bring to the team. I know these guys are looking to me for mostly offense, which I havent been able to provide, but showing them, like, Look, guys, its not going well for me right now, that doesnt mean it cant go well for the team. Thats what this games all about. "Im not going to have it every night, and I havent had it the first three games. It doesnt mean I wont have it tonight." On Wednesday against Mexico, he found it. In his first at-bat, he snapped his skid with a solo homer to start the scoring. Then came another in the sixth, and another in the eighth, all pulled out to right field at Daikin Park. Three homers meant three espresso shots awaiting in the dugout. Finally, he was downing the coffee and not just handing it out. It was the first time at any level of baseball that Pasquantino could remember homering three times in a game. "The Hall of Fame reached out," Pasquantino said. "It's the first time they've ever reached out for something of mine. They liked the bat. I said, I need the bat for a few more days." One day, Pasquantinos goal is for Italys roster to be composed of actual Italy natives. There are only three on the roster in pitchers Aldegheri, Gabriele Quattrini and Claudio Scotti. For now, though, the focus is on growing the game in the country and showing kids in Italy what is possible. And the best way to do that is by winning games with this group of primarily Italian-Americans. It seems to be working. "Someone sent me a clip. [Italy's] prime minister gave us a little bit of a shout-out this morning," said Berti, an eight-year MLB veteran who grew up in Michigan. "I wish my grandfather was still around. He would be loving this."

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. Russell Henley didn't get the memo. The horn sounded at 12:09 p.m. ET Thursday pausing the opening round of the 2026 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass due to a line of showers moving through the area. The PGA Tour instructed players to hold in place. Henley did the opposite."I didn't stay in place," he said Thursday after an opening 4-under 68. "I was beside the clubhouse, we ran in because I thought it was going to be like a tornado, it was raining really, really hard."The hard rains didn't last long, and the PGA Tour resumed play after only 21 minutes. Henley almost didn't make it back to the course.He was on the par-5 second hole near the green, which is only a couple hundred yards from the clubhouse. As play was getting set to resume, Henley was getting ready to eat some food when a fellow pro gave him a heads up."When I went inside I was hitting the lunch table and Ben Griffin said, 'You have a restart in four minutes,'" Henley said. Lunch plans were quickly dropped, and Henley scurried back out to the course."It was kind of a quick, stressful 10 minutes or whatever it was," Henley said. "But made it on time."Sounds like Henley owes Benny Booms a drink in the near future.This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Players 2026: Russell Henley almost misses restart after weather delay

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Manager Mark DeRosa says his premature comment about the United States having already punched its ticket to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals before facing Italy was just an overly confident statement and reiterated Thursday he knew nothing was guaranteed at that point.DeRosa had made that remark on MLB Networks Hot Stove before the 8-6 loss to Italy on Tuesday that caused the U.S. to lose control of its WBC fate. The U.S. still advanced to a Friday quarterfinal matchup with Canada thanks to Italys 9-1 win over Mexico on Wednesday.Its just an overly confident statement on Hot Stove, period, the end, DeRosa said. And its my fault. I felt good about where we were after Mexico.DeRosa also talked about the fresh start the star-studded U.S. team has now that its loss to Italy didnt prove fatal to its title hopes.New lease on life for the boys, certainly, he said. I put ourselves in a tough spot. Tip our hat to Vinnie Pasquantino and Italy, truly. Went into that game a little overly confident and got a huge wake-up call.DeRosas comment prior to the Italy game garnered plenty of scrutiny after that loss, particularly since he had kept usual starters Bryce Harper, Cal Raleigh, Alex Bregman, Brice Turang and Byron Buxton out of his starting lineup. The U.S. needed to beat Italy to guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals. Losing left it subject to a series of tiebreakers, pending the result of Wednesday's Italy-Mexico game.He explained those decisions Thursday. DeRosa said he wanted to give starts to Ernie Clement and Paul Goldschmidt because they could end up playing major roles off the bench at some point. He also said he was limited in which pitchers he could use because of guardrails set by MLB teams, who typically restrict how much their players throw at the WBC due to injury concerns.When I looked at the lineup, I felt confident going in bottom line, DeRosa said. I mean, I also look at it from a players perspective. Like, Bryce harper was struggling a little bit. I know its three games, but from the dugout I played with him for a long time so its like, OK, maybe we get him off his feet a day. We get Goldy in there. We allow (Harper) to work with Sean Casey, Matt Holliday, maybe something clicks. And we get him right back in there and going.'DeRosa also had mentioned before Tuesdays games that some of the U.S. players were dragging. The team buses had left later than usual after a Monday night victory over Mexico as players stayed in the locker room celebrating the win.Listen, us hanging out in a clubhouse is everything I ever dreamed of creating, DeRosa said. Youve got to buy into this thing super quick and try and create a team. For those players to invite the coaches in and for us to spend time together and enjoy a huge win that we hadnt had in 20 years was something that, I looked around the room and it was super special to me.We did not lose sight of the fact that we had to go out and play well against Italy. They played a hell of a game. They smacked us in the mouth early. They got up big. We went into that game prepared to win it. I think theres a couple false narratives out there. But, no, I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios that could take place.The U.S. is making some changes to its pitching staff heading out of pool play and into the quarterfinals.Lefty Tim Hill and right-handers Will Vest and Tyler Rogers are stepping in for two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, Michael Wacha and Ryan Yarbrough. DeRosa said left-hander Matthew Boyd also has left the U.S. team to return to the Chicago Cubs spring-training camp.And I completely understand that, DeRosa said. Theres a lot of pressure from the parent clubs to get these guys ramped up for the start of the season."If hes going to be the opening day starter for the Cubs, we had to guarantee him innings the games got to dictate now. Pool play is a different animal. Trying to weave our way through it from a pitching standpoint, all bets are off now.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb