By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Rivera in soccer and San Benito in softball, two teams that made it all the way to state in 2015, were big winners at Tuesday’s eighth annual RGVSports.com and Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame awards ceremony at Marine Military Academy’s Yeckel Memorial Auditorium.
The event honored the Valley’s top high school performances by individual athletes, teams and coaches during the 2014-15 school year.
The Raiders and Lady Greyhounds each won multiple awards for standout showings in their respective sports.
For completing a 28-0 season by winning the inaugural UIL Class 6A boys soccer championship in April, Rivera garnered three awards Tuesday. The Raiders were selected 6A boys team of the year, and their top player, Isidro “ Chelin ” Martinez, received the award as the 6A boys athlete of the year. Also, Rivera’s Salvador Garcia was named boys coach of the year.
Rivera capped its perfect soccer season by defeating Katy Cinco Ranch 2-0 in the 6A state final April 18 at Georgetown. Martinez, a senior attacking midfielder who scored the initial goal in the title-match victory, was chosen 6A boys MVP at the state tournament. He later was named Gatorade/USA Today player of the year in Texas after earning All-Valley, All-Metro and 32-6A All-District MVP honors.
“It has been an amazing, incredible journey,” said Garcia, who just completed his 18th season as Rivera’s coach. “Since the very first day (of practice), somehow, we had a feeling that we were going to do something special.
“I am so proud of these young men for the way they conduct themselves on and off the field,” Garcia added. “The way they represent their families and our school colors is just amazing. The fact that they won these prestigious awards is icing on the cake for this unforgettable year.”
Concerning his selection as boys coach of the year, Garcia said, “This award means a lot to me because I was selected from all the Valley coaches and all sports. I would like to share this award with all of our coaches (including assistants Andres Macias, Jose Dominguez and Jimmy Montalvo ), all the players, plus all the Rivera faculty and school district administrators for their trust and support. Life is good and God is great.”
There were good feelings all around for the San Benito softball team as well.
The Lady Greyhounds just completed a 30-4 season by advancing to the UIL state tournament in Austin for the second time in three years, falling to Lewisville 3-2 in the 6A state semifinals last Friday. Besides San Benito, no other Valley team has ever advanced to state in softball.
The Lady Greyhounds received the award for the 6A girls team of the year, while senior pitcher Crystal Castillo was named 6A girls athlete of the year. Castillo was San Benito’s ace on the mound, logging a 26-3 record with more than 300 strikeouts while boasting an ERA just more than 1. San Benito’s Elias Martinez earned recognition as coach of the year for Valley girls sports.
“Our girls put in a lot of work, just like all the other programs do, but as far as we went (in the playoffs) and to get recognized and all that, it’s just a great feeling,” said Martinez, who has coached the Lady Greyhounds 18 seasons. “It’s a culmination of everything. Of course, we came up short at state, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.
“I’m so proud of our girls,” he added. “They deserve all these awards.”
In the sub-6A award categories for team of the year, the winners were Hidalgo baseball and Mission Veterans volleyball. The Pirates won a district championship in baseball for the third straight season and reached the regional finals for the second consecutive year. Hidalgo ended its season at 25-6-1 after a 5-3 loss to El Campo in the Class 4A regional final Saturday in Corpus Christi. In volleyball, Mission Veterans won District 31-5A and advanced four rounds in the postseason before finishing 34-7.
The sub-6A winners as athlete of the year were Hidalgo basketball standout Frankie Sanchez for the boys and Port Isabel shot put champion Daniella Murchison for the girls.
As a senior, Sanchez led the Valley in scoring with a 22.8 average, captured All-Valley player of the year honors and sparked the Pirates to the fourth round of the 4A playoffs. He also played soccer. Murchison capped her senior season in 4A by winning the shot put at the state meet for a third consecutive year, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished previously by a Valley track athlete, boy or girl.
Murchison is the only one to win three straight RGVSports.com athlete of the year awards.
“I feel very honored and blessed,” said Murchison, an SMU signee. “Getting recognized for all my hard work feels great.It definitely is a great sendoff to college.”
Program of the year awards went to Los Fresnos in 6A and Edinburg Vela in sub-6A.
San Benito came away with yet another award in the “Moment of the Year” category. It was for the Greyhounds’ heroics of last Oct. 10 when the San Benito football team trailed “Battle of the Arroyo” rival Harlingen High by 18 points with less than six minutes remaining before scoring 22 points to win 25-21 at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
The annual Robert Vela Lifetime Achievement Award was given to longtime McAllen Memorial swimming coach Roxanne Balducci, who has won numerous regional titles and advanced her swimmers to state on an almost yearly basis. She’s now stepping away from Valley swimming after 37 years.
“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude to be the recipient of this award,” Balducci told the audience. “My greatest reward as a coach has been to work with young swimmers and see them become what they can become. ‘The greatest moments are when you see the look on a swimmer’s face when they’ve just had the best swim of their life.
“The sky is the limit (for what you can achieve),” she added. “Believe in yourself, believe in your teammates and anything is possible.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.