Espressos and red wine: Italy's baseball team captivates Classic

Italy manager Francisco Cervelli celebrates with his players after reaching the World Baseball Classic semi-finals for the first time with a defeat of Puerto Rico (Alex Slitz) Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style.

Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy's fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to Monday's semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy -- who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded United States lineup during the pool phase -- kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6 quarter-final defeat of Puerto Rico. That win -- which sent Italy into the last four for the first time in history -- was the latest stop of an improbable journey for a team put together at the last minute and composed largely of American players with Italian descent.

Of the 30 players in Italy's squad for the tournament, 24 were born in the US while only three were born in Italy. Nevertheless, that has not stopped the team leaning heavily into their Italian heritage. Italy's captain, Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, came up with the idea of celebrating each home run with a jolt of caffeine, installing an espresso machine in the Italy dugout.

Speaking after Saturday's triumph over a strong Puerto Rico, Pasquantino said the Azzurri's exploits in the tournament are helping to boost the profile of a sport which remains an oddity in Italy. - 'Bringing people together' - "Italy was able to watch our game today, and it was on television out there," Pasquantino said. "And we've been on the front page of the newspapers.