Baseball U-15 Restores Hope

It’s been a while since hope had been lost with a Cuban baseball team. Failure after failure, some very painful, erased the joy not only of fans, but of players themselves, who stopped enjoying the field and that translated into many defeats.

In recent months, however, two talent teams, the one that participated in the Little League Series in the Dominican Republic, and the U-15 national team, managed to restore hope to the fans, desperate for a competitive squad in the international arena and recover old glories.

Neither of them won the title in their respective tournaments, but the enthusiasm generated is undeniable proof that the gold medal is not essential, sometimes it’s enough to give 100% and show the determination that has always characterized our national teams.

Fans know that we faced a rival superior in quality (pitchers of up to 90 mph, something that many pitchers in our elite tournament can’t achieve), and that’s why we appreciate the effort of these boys, who got us jumping off our seats on several occasions while watching their performances until late at night during the tournament.

Being able to watch them live is a gift that is appreciated and longed for in other events. It’s also the best way for the athletes themselves to come out strong when the results are not the best, and everything that’s said when they return sounds like mere justification.

In this case words aren’t needed, everything was seen in the Hermosillo baseball field, where the sweat of our athletes was the best witness of that saying: we’ll leave our skin on the field.

I know that after 10 years, when these boys should be protagonists in their respective territories and even in the national preselection teams, several of them will be lost along the way. It’s normal, but their performances will encourage others to follow their path to keep quality in those behind them.

I even compare the technical-tactical thinking of these boys with those who play in the U-23 National Series and the adult team fall short in comparison. Here I saw discipline in each time at-bat, throws to the bases and good base running, which shows that if you work well in training, the results will show in the actual game.

Recognition for the technical staff lead by Alfonso Urquiola, who was probably the one who had the least contact with these boys due to his responsibilities in the adult baseball, but he knew how to trust those around him and were present in the day-to-day life of his players.

This was a good reward for the sacrifice of children who while their friends were on vacation they sweated in training, honing their skills that we later saw in the games. Of course they still have a lot to improve, but the core is there. Hopefully the majority will travel through the entire pyramid of Cuban high performance, to see if the hope with the national team also returns.