OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – After earning a spot on the Italian National Softball Team, Micaela Abbatine opened her international playing career with a gold-medal performance in the Women's European Softball Championships last week in Ostrava, Czech Republic. 

"The Italian coaches had followed my college season and they had seen me play in a workout and saw potential in me," said Abbatine. "After this past season at Maryland, they invited me out. I played two weeks with a local club team in Saranno and after that, I was invited to the Italian National Team training camp with 18 other players selected from around Italy."

Abbatine earned a spot on Team Italy's 17-player championship roster after playing with Saronno, a club team in Saronno Varese, Italy. Her dual citizenship, which she obtained after nearly a year-and-a-half long process, earned her a chance to represent the country which her great grandparents were born in. 

"My grandma recently passed away in December, and she was one of the reasons that I decided to play here this summer - kind of dedicating it to her," said Abbatine. "My first visit to Italy, she was here with me. When she was fighting cancer, we always talked about me coming here and making the national team and playing for Italy, so I'm using this opportunity to make her proud."

The Big Ten All-Defensive Team outfielder appeared in eight games and started in five of the 12 tournament games Team Italy played in on its way to the 2019 European Championship. She finished the tournament with four runs, two hits, three RBIs and a double. After playing internationally over the summer, Abbatine is excited to return to Maryland with added experience to help her compete throughout the fall and into the Big Ten season.

"It's been a great experience to play internationally on a new stage. I'm really using this experience to not only prepare me for the fall, but definitely for next year in the Big Ten season. I feel a lot more confident in my skills now playing in a totally new environment and on a totally new team. It's been a big adjustment, so coming back to Maryland with this experience and this opportunity is going to be really exciting."

Next, world-ranked No. 9 Italy will compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Softball Europe/Africa Qualification Event for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020, July 23-27 in Utrecht, Netherlands.