Personal: Born in Modena, Italy, Erika Piancastelli moved to California with her family when she was five years old. She has a twin sister. Piancastelli's mother, Loredana Auletta, played softball for Italy in the 2000 Olympics, and her father, Pier Piancastelli, played baseball in Italy. Piancastelli's hobbies include reading, going to the beach, and trying new coffee shops and restaurants. She also competed in basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and swimming as a child. Piancastelli lists McNeese State softball coach James Landreneau as a person who has made a difference in her life and models her game after David Ortiz. Her proudest accomplishment is going to the Olympics with Team Italy. Piancastelli has two dogs named Jax and Deuce and wears No. 20 because her mother and father also wore it during their careers.
2024 Championship Season: Piancastelli claimed a share of 15th place with Kathryn Sandercock after accumulating 1,358 leaderboard points, including 1,040 win points. She also tallied 258 stat points. Piancastelli was a starter in all 15 games, posting a .273 batting average with 12 hits. She tied for second in the league with five doubles and added two home runs. She drove in six runs while drawing three walks and tied for fourth in the league with nine runs scored. She closed the season with a five-game hitting streak, including a two-hit performance against Team Kilfoyl in the season finale. She belted her 18th home run of the AU Pro Softball Championship Season in an 8-3 loss, moving into a tie for first place in Championship Season history. Piancastelli tallied a season-high 190 leaderboard points against Team Kilfoyl on August 17, earning MVP 2 honors with a double and three runs batted in. She ended Week Two with an MVP 3 performance against Team Kilfoyl, posting two doubles en route to 150 leaderboard points. Piancastelli slugged a solo home run against Team Wallace on August 3. She posted eight games with 100 or more leaderboard points, including all three contests during Week One.
2023 Championship Season: Piancastelli completed her fourth Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball season in 28th place on the leaderboard with 1,154 points. She was a starter in all 15 games and ranked ninth in the league with a .295 batting average. Piancastelli recorded at least one hit in 6 of 7 games from August 5-19. She collected MVP 2 plaudits against Team Romero at AU Pro Games at the Little League Softball World Series on August 9, going 1-for-3 with a solo home run. Piancastelli also tallied a season-high three hits against Team Romero on August 5, including a double, and drove in all three runs for Team Faraimo in a 10-3 setback. She opened the season with a two-hit performance against Team McCleney on July 28 and closed the season with seven games of 100 or more leaderboard points.
2022 Championship Season: Piancastelli finished in 15th place on the leaderboard with 1,424 points. She tied for eighth in the circuit with 1,060 win points. Piancastelli started in all 15 games and had a batting average of .282 with 11 hits, including three home runs and 10 runs batted in. On August 7, she hit her second grand slam of her Athletes Unlimited career, driving in five runs. She also had a four-game hitting streak from August 14-21.
2021 Championship Season: Piancastelli earned 23rd place on the leaderboard with 1,278 points. She scored nine runs and started in all 15 games. Piancastelli had a batting average of .256 with 11 hits, including five extra-base hits. She tied for the league lead with 10 walks and drove in 10 runs, which tied for sixth in the circuit. She also hit three home runs and was hit by a pitch twice.
2020 Championship Season: Piancastelli ranked fourth on the leaderboard with 1,840 points. She tied for sixth with 490 stat points and her 220 MVP points tied for third place in the league. Piancastelli started in 14 of 15 games and had a batting average of .327. She tallied 17 hits, including 11 for extra bases, and tied for the league lead with nine home runs. Piancastelli drove in 15 runs, which was good for a share of third place in Athletes Unlimited. She also had 14 runs scored, which ranked sixth in the circuit, and accumulated 46 total bases, finishing second among all players.
International Experience: Piancastelli has been a member of the Italian National Team since 2015 and was an All-World Team selection at the 2024 WBSC World Cup. She started in all five games and ranked second on the team with a .438 batting average. Piancastelli tallied seven hits, including three doubles, while adding two runs batted in and authored a 3-for-5 performance against Puerto Rico. She competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, going 2-for-15 in five games with both hits coming against Team Canada. Piancastelli helped Team Italy qualify for the Tokyo Olympics by going 5-for-17 with one home run and two runs batted in at the WBSC Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier. During the 2021 European Softball Championship, Piancastelli batted .545 with 12 hits and 15 runs scored. She played for Team Italy at the 2023 Canada Cup and WBSC World Cup Group C event with current Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball player Andrea Filler, batting .250 (4-for-16) with one home run and four runs batted in during the WBSC World Cup Group C event. Piancastelli also competed for Team Italy at the 2014 U-19 European Championship. Teaming up with Filler, she led Italy to a Gold medal at the 2024 WBSC European Championship, starting in all nine games and belting two home runs with a tournament-high 12 runs batted in. Piancastelli also tied for the tournament lead with five doubles and boasted a tournament-high .962 slugging percentage.
Other Professional Experience: Piancastelli has played for SGH Galaxy Stars in the Japan Diamond League since 2022. In 2022, she compiled a .289 batting average with seven home runs and 26 runs batted in. Piancastelli paced the Japan Diamond League with nine home runs in 2023 and is a three-time recipient of the Top 9 Award. On July 9, 2022, Piancastelli participated in Major League Baseball’s FTX Home Run Derby event in London, England, earning MVP honors after slugging 15 home runs in two rounds. She also competed in the Home Run Derby X event in South Korea.
At McNeese State: Piancastelli was a four-year letter winner and started 234 of 235 games from 2015-2018. She finished her career with a combined 19 school and Southland Conference records. Piancastelli had a .401 batting average and holds McNeese career records for hits (253), home runs (75), runs batted in (212), runs scored (228), walks (229), doubles (62), and total bases (548). She also holds the Southland Conference's career records in home runs, runs batted in, walks, runs scored, and total bases, while sharing the career doubles mark. Piancastelli was the first player in McNeese State history to earn NFCA All-America honors, receiving the honor twice in 2015 and 2016. She was also a four-time NFCA All-Region and All-Southland Conference honoree. Piancastelli was named Southland Conference Hitter and Player of the Year four times and was the 2015 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. She received All-Louisiana distinction all four years and was a three-time pick as Southland Conference Softball Student-Athlete of the Year. Piancastelli was named the 2018 Louisiana Hitter of the Year and was a four-time recipient of the McNeese State Female Athlete of the Year award. She set the McNeese single-season home runs record three times during her career and was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient.
