Photo by Paul Holdrick
Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that their third baseman Maikel Azcuy is in the process of completing a move which is expected to take him to NBL-rivals Southampton Mustangs.
Azcuy joined the Herts Falcons 12 months ago and proved to be one of the team’s key players. His performances received the ultimate recognition when the National Baseball League announced that he is the 2015 NBL Most Valuable Player. The Falcons finished second in the NBL regular season and lost to Southampton in the Play-Off Semi-Final. 2015 was a very successful season for the team and Azcuy played a central role.
For Maikel Azcuy, last season was the fourth straight year in which he has either tied for the league lead in home runs or won the title outright. He also won his third RBI title in four seasons, moving him past Simon Pole’s tally of two for the all-time lead. However, his batting title was a career first, coming in Azcuy’s 10th season in the NBL. And the batting title was a close-run thing, as Azcuy just pipped Essex’s Jamie Gregory, going 28-for-60 (.467) to Gregory’s 28-for-61 (.459).
Azcuy’s six home runs in 2015 took his NBL career tally to 39, which pushed him past Simon Pole (35) for the all-time lead. He also moved past 200 career RBIs; his current tally of 201 is just 36 short of Brad Thompson’s all-time record.
In their statement, Herts Baseball Club expressed their gratitude for “Maikel Azcuy’s enormous contribution as a player of the Herts Falcons last season”. It further stated that “the Club wishes Maikel success at his next club and with the Great Britain National Team”.
With a large number of places in the Herts Falcons’ starting lineup waiting to be filled ahead of the new season this opens up a great opportunity for the young generation of Herts players and any new arrivals to lead the team into the 2016 season.