World No. 8 Italy will compete in the Canada Cup to warm up for the XVII Women's Softball World Cup. The Azzurre will debut on Monday, 10 July, against No. 2 Japan and face the hosts and No. 5 Canada the following day. They will play on 13 July against TC Colorado and No. 21 Greece and face No. 9 Australia and No. 6 Mexico on 14 July. The Canada Cup playoffs will start on Saturday, 15 July.
On Sunday, Italy beat No. 9 Australia, 7-3, in an exhibition game. Manager Federico Pizzolini used his four pitchers, Alexia Lacatena, Alice Nicolini, Christina Toniolo and Ilaria Cacciamani.
Japan shut out Canada, 4-0, in another exhibition game.
The 2023 Canada Cup features a very special guest, the Ukraine U-19 National Team.
Italy will host the Women's Softball World Cup Group C from 22 to 26 July and the world championship round from 15 to 21 July 2024.
Canada and Japan will also compete in Group C, which includes No. 22 Venezuela, No. 26 Philippines and No. 29 New Zealand.
Czechia and New Zealand are scheduled to play exhibition games from 12 to 19 July in Forlì.
Australia, with a different roster, will compete in Group A, opening the XVII Women's Softball World Cup first stage on Tuesday, 11 July, in Dublin, Ireland. The group includes No. 1 USA, No. 3 Chinese Taipei, No. 16 Great Britain, No. 17 Ireland and No. 43 Botswana.
Group B features N. 4 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Netherlands, No. 11 China, No. 12 Spain, No. 28 Cuba and No. 38 South Africa and is scheduled from 18 to 22 July in Valencia, Spain.
