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San Marino is the fifth-smallest country in the world with just under 34,000 residents calling the nation home. That¡¯s small enough that the entire population of the country -- which is landlocked by Italy surrounding it -- could fit into every big league stadium, including MLB¡¯s smallest ¨C the Cleveland Guardians¡¯ Progressive Field, which holds 34,830.

Despite the long odds, San Marino can also lay claim to its first Minor League player: Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Alessandro Ercolani. The right-handed pitcher began playing at the age of six after a friend of his enrolled in the sport, but it wasn¡¯t the highlight-reel homers or superstar players that first caught his eye. It was the stadiums packed with screaming fans.

¡°All the fans, all the people around -- it's like something in Italy you can¡¯t imagine,¡± Ercolani said before a recent Greensboro Grasshoppers game. ¡°In Italy, you never see a stadium like this -- in soccer maybe -- but the vibes gave me my dream, my goal.

(It¡¯s a good week for San Marino sports: One day after our conversation, the country¡¯s national football team won its first game in 20 years.)

While the rest of his friends were playing soccer, Ercolani was heading to baseball practice after school before watching highlights like ¡°the most insane catches in baseball¡± at night. By the time he was 12 years old, Ercolani had a sense that he was getting pretty good at this strange sport, so he got his Italian passport, making him eligible for the Italian national team.

¡°If I go out, I say I¡¯m from Italy, just because it's easier for people to understand,¡± Ercolani explained about the relationship between the two countries. ¡°Because if I go out in America and say I¡¯m from San Marino, no one would know. ¡®What is San Marino?¡¯¡±

After making his debut for the U-15 team, life moved quickly for the 6-foot-2 righty. During the pandemic and at just 16 years of age, he joined T & A San Marino, which plays in Italy¡¯s Serie A and whose stadium was just a short walk from Ercolani¡¯s home.

¡°I was living, like, two minutes away from the field,¡± he said. ¡°So, when I was younger, I was going there every day.¡±

Considered one of the top leagues and teams in all of Europe, Ercolani dominated with 13 strikeouts and just one earned run in 7 2/3 innings while facing men some 10 to 20 years older than him.

Mentored by German national team pitcher and former Dodgers Minor Leaguer Markus Solbach and Italian pitcher-turned-pitching coach Alessandro Maestri, Ercolani received some quick instruction and advice before turning pro -- which happened early the next spring and made news in San Marino.

¡°It struck his character, his stubborn nature, to become a baseball player at all costs," Pirates scout Tom Gillespie said at the time. "So we -- in the end -- are happy to provide the opportunity at the highest levels. Obviously it will then depend a lot on him, but if we made him sign a contract of six years, it shows that we are aware of his great potential.¡±

¡°When I first got to Pirate City and saw 4, 5, 6, baseball fields all together, it was kind of crazy for me,¡± Ercolani said.

After pitching in the Arizona Fall League as the youngest pitcher on the circuit last year, watching his fastball continue to tick up the radar gun, Ercolani made his debut in the rotation with the Grasshoppers this spring. After battling injuries and some mental roadblocks, the right-hander was moved to the bullpen, but that doesn't necessarily mean the end of his time as a starter.

¡°He's young, so he's had a really good year -- knock on wood -- and hopefully finishes really strong,¡± Greensboro pitching coach Matt Myers said. ¡°Last year, he got to go to the Arizona Fall League, which says a lot about what the organization thinks about him because that's where you send what you think are some of your top prospects. For the game to slow down for him as he plays more and he continues to get more mature, the sky's the limit on what he can do.¡±

¡°The main thing is how you think,¡± Ercolani explained, ¡°because, in Italy, it was just throwing without thinking about what I have to do or before the game. Right now, I'm thinking before the game to make a plan, and thinking during the game, like, which pitch is bad or is better than the other?¡±

The end goal will be to reach the Major Leagues as the first player from San Marino to accomplish the feat. That path looks a little brighter after Samuel Aldegheri became the first Italian-born and developed player to reach the Major Leagues, picking up his historic first win one week later.

"Whenever I [heard] the news, I was really happy for him," Ercolani said. "I obviously sent a message of congratulations and everything. He was really excited, obviously, because I know it's difficult in general to reach MLB. All the sacrifice you have to do in general to reach that goal, that dream, and he reached it. This is the best feeling ever.¡±

Listed on Italy¡¯s provisional roster at the 2023 World Baseball Classic but never called up to the active team, Ercolani is excited by what¡¯s to come. He hopes that he and Aldegheri can be role models for the next generation of Italian ballplayers and a sign of hope for what¡¯s to come.

¡°I really want to help people trying to reach this,¡± Ercolani said. ¡°Because we need an entire movement.¡±