Since the disintegration of the province of Havana, Mayabeque emerged onto the domestic baseball scene as an underdog. No one, not even their own supporters, was willing to bet a cent on their chances.
However, in this campaign, the team proved to be a formidable offensive force, demonstrating the best hitting balance among the 16 teams that participated in the National Series qualifiers.
In that leap, much of the credit goes to the work of the technical team. I recently interviewed the batting coach, Nacho González, for this same space; today, Vannoi Arado, the man who leads the team, will speak.
"It may seem like a contradiction that after hitting so well, we couldn't remain competitive, but the fact is that we have a rather young pitching staff, with an average age close to 23 years, and that inexperience hurt us, especially in the later innings of games," says Arado.
The director of the so-called Huracanes emphasizes the progress shown by several young players with promising prospects developing at the provincial school. He applauds the form of the number one in his rotation, José Norbelis Betancourt, and hopes that Mario Batista can contribute in line with his potential in the upcoming island tournament.
"One great thing we have is that all our athletes are from the province," he noted. "They are not reinforcements who can choose to return to their territories at any time, leaving us with an unfinished project."
Arado does not hide his satisfaction with the performance of his team and realistically addresses the inevitable question about Mayabeque's qualifying options for Series 58.
"Classifying is quite a big word," he notes. "I do believe that we will face more challenges and get closer to privileged positions, but it is still too early to dream that way. There’s a group of players who will have more maturity, and we hope they will be ready for more demanding commitments. The years will speak for this team; it's all about stabilizing our foundation for a while."
Filed under: