S P O R T S

Havana. December 5, 2003

THE teams from Santiago de Cuba and Pinar del Río have both made a tremendous impression with an average of 5-1 at the end of the national baseball series’ opening week.

Representing the western zone, Pinar del Río in Group “A”, had just one hitch in their second encounter against Holguín, whilst finishing gracefully against Granma, 3-0.

Metropolitanos, also in Group “A”, are currently in second place with a 4-2 average. The team was responsible for Santiago de Cuba’s only defeat and wiped out Guantánamo by 3-0.

In Group “B”, Industriales - last season’s champions - currently hold a 3-3 average. They won 2-1 in the sub-series against Ciego de Avila, but only managed to beat Villa Clara on one occasion.

Representing the eastern zone, Santiago de Cuba only suffered one defeat thanks to Metropolitanos whilst they cleaned up against Matanzas 3-0 to lead the series with a 5-1 average. They are followed by Villa Clara, Camagüey and Las Tunas with 4-2, whilst Guantánamo trail behind with 1-5.

The undisputed king of the mound at the start of this series is Villa Clara pitcher Yusmani de la Barca with a score of 2-0. The right-handed pitcher won the games against Havana and Industriales and did not allow one homerun over 16 innings. During the game with Industriales, the capital’s first team notched up just one hit in the fifth inning, frustrating his efforts to achieve a perfect game. Nevertheless, de la Barca successively trounced 14 of Industriales’ batters.

Catcher Deliano Yero from Sancti Spiritus and Guantánamo in-fielder Yoenny Sutheran excelled in bat, achieving four home runs each.

Villa Clara player Orlando Acebey felt pride and joy at the start of this season’s national series on account of the fact that one of his teammates is none other than his own son, Orlando. “It’s a very special moment in my life, I feel very proud and emotional to begin my 21st series playing together with my son,” Acebey told Cuban weekly JIT.

It is the first time in the history of Cuban baseball that a father and son will defend the second and third bases for the team from Villa Clara.

Father Orlando - 38 years old - said of his son: “He’s very good in the field but to really triumph, he needs to improve his batting.” Meanwhile he added that, “sport is perseverance, aptitude and a lot of commitment. I’ll help him with my advice, make him train and think.”

The experienced third-baseman has accumulated a 284 average in his career, with 734 runs batted-in, 132 homeruns, 45 triples and 234 two-base hits. For his part, the 19-year old rookie explained: “I grew up amongst baseball players and I’ve always dreamed of playing for Villa Clara. I’m really happy to be playing alongside my dad; he’s one of my idols.”

Orlando Jr. modestly acknowledged that when he was young he wasn’t as good the other boys and only played in the nationals for the categories of 13-14, 15-16 and 17-18 years old.

“Now my aim is to win a permanent place with Villa Clara, I hope I can respond to the opportunity that they’ve given me and with advice from my dad, director Victor Mesa and the other players.” (A.M.G)