Former McNeese All-American Erika Piancastelli reached one of her lifelong goals last weekend by helping her Italian National team qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after defeating Great Britain5-0 at the WBSC Softball Europe/Africa Qualifier in Utrecht’s, Netherlands.

“It still hasn’t hit me yet, it doesn’t feel real,” Piancastelli said. “This summer was huge for Team Italy. We won the European Championship in the most extraordinary way, then two weeks later we came back and won the Olympic Qualifiers. It’s an amazing feeling and knowing that all our hard work has paid off makes it even better.”