MOBILE, Ala. | Playing for her home country,
Virginia Mambelli helped Italy capture the 2026 U-22 Women's Softball European Championship earlier this month.
Italy posted a perfect 9-0 record to claim gold at the tournament, defeating Czechia twice in the span of a week to complete the sweep. Mambelli and Italy capped off their run with a 2-0 win over Czechia in Saturday's gold medal game at Arrows Park Ostrava.
The championship victory over Czechia was its second in six days, as Italy had already defeated Czechia, 4-1 in round-robin play.
Italy opened the tournament with a 19-0 rout of Ireland, and followed it up with wins over Belgium (15-0), Spain (9-5), Germany (10-5) and Czechia to close out round-robin play unbeaten.
Mambelli's best game of the tournament came against Ireland where she had a home run, drove in three, scored twice and was hit by a pitch.
In the Championship Round for medal contention, Italy defeated Israel (8-1) and France (3-0), and then escaped with an 8-7 win in eight innings over the Netherlands in the semifinals.
In her nine games, Mambelli recorded six hits – two doubles and a home run – and drove in seven runs, while scoring five runs as well. The Forli, Italy, native walked once and was hit by pitch six times, and had a .440 slugging percentage and a .846 OPS. Mambelli also reached base safely in all nine contests.
The event marked the third time that Mambelli has competed at the international championship event. In her 27 career games at the tournament, she now has 23 hits, six doubles, three home runs, 22 runs scored, 29 RBI and a .338 batting average. Mambelli has drawn 10 walks and been hit by pitch 11 times.
The Jaguar infielder earned second-team all-Gulf Region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association following the 2026 season. In her first season with the program, Mambelli led the team with a .314 batting average and a .579 slugging percentage. Of her 38 hits, 16 went for extra-bases, including seven home runs, which were tied with
Olivia Branstetter for most on the Jaguar roster. Mambelli also drove in 27 runs and scored 14 times.
Mambelli was hit by a pitch a team-high 15 times, which ranks in the Top 10 at South for a career and fourth-most for a season. The 15 HBPs ranked second-most in the Sun Belt and were tied for 24th nationally.
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