Yoanni Yera Montalvo, member of the Cuban national team, will open for the Matanzas Cocodrilos in the inaugural game of the LXIV National Baseball Series (SNB) against the Ciego de Ávila Tigers, announced Armando Ferrer Ruz, mentor of the reds, during a flag presentation ceremony in this city.
Following the handing over of the banner to the team, in the city’s Liberty Park, the strategist assured the Cuban News Agency that the natural left-hander from the municipality of Martí will be the one to take the mound next Tuesday, when the call of play ball is given in the nation’s principal sporting spectacle.
Furthermore, in that game figures of recognised trajectory in the squad such as Yurisbel Gracial, Eduardo Blanco, José A. Noroña and Andrys Pérez should play as regulars, although the definitive lineup will depend on the analysis made collectively with other members of the management team, he asserted.
Regarding the incorporation of players currently fulfilling contracts abroad, Ferrer Ruz specified that in the case of Jean E. Walters, Yamichel Pérez and Haikel Parra they could arrive in the coming weeks and, in the case of the former major leaguer Rusney Castillo, he expressed his desire to return with Matanzas to the domestic classic.
Rusney (Castillo) said he lived a pleasant experience in his return to baseball in Cuba in 2023 and now he will try to repeat, if he manages to sort out his commitments abroad, commented the helmsman with experience in managing professional teams in Mexico and Russia, among other nations.
During the flag presentation act, which saw the participation of political, government and Sports direction authorities in the western territory, pitcher Shaiel Cruz read the athletes’ commitment for the forthcoming contest, whilst others like captain Blanco (Eduardo) signed the code of ethics.
Additionally, the team’s purpose of seeking qualification for the playoffs and a spot in the forthcoming Elite League was ratified, without losing sight of the real possibility of fighting for the crown, elusive for the red squad since Series 59, concluded in January 2020.
Matanzas Cocodrilos, recognised among the most stable teams of the last decade in the baseball of the largest of the Antilles, will begin the regular calendar of the SNB 64 against Ciego de Ávila Tigers and Villa Clara Azucareros at the city’s Victoria de Girón stadium, in which work is being done from a constructive standpoint to improve the main areas.
