BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

With the 19th pick in Round 31 of 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the St. Louis Cardinals took Saul Garza.

The Edinburg North catcher hit .530 this season with 33 RBIs. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder had a .645 OBP and a 1.060 slugging percentage for an OPS of 1.706.

The Cougars went 19-6-1 overall and 12-2 in District 31-6A this season. Garza helped Edinburg North reach the bi-district round, where the team swept Harlingen High. In the area round, North was swept by McAllen High.

If Garza were to sign with the Cardinals, he would begin his professional baseball career in the Arizona Rookie League.

BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

With the third pick in Round 28 of 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the San Diego Padres took Noel Vela.

The Mission Veterans pitcher went 8-1 this season with an 0.94 ERA. In 52 innings he amassed 87 strikeouts. The 828th overall pick hit .462 this year with 45 RBIs.

The Patriots went 26-6 overall and 14-2 in District 31-5A this season. Vela helped Mission Vets reach the bi-district round, where the teamswept Donna High. In the area round, Veterans lost to Calallen in thee games.

If Vela were to sign with the Padres, he would begin his professional baseball career in the Arizona Rookie League.

BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

Even before Edinburg North coach Damian Gonzalez had seen Saul Garza play, he knew he had something special on his hands.

“He would come with his older brother after practice, Sam Garza,” Gonzalez said. “Saul would come and take batting practice as an eighth grader after our workouts. I remember looking at him and saying, ‘Dang, man, this kid has a sweet swing. He’s big. He’s strong.’ So I had never actually seen him play until he got to our campus and he started right away as a freshman.”

Garza had a good foundation. Both his brothers played baseball. His dad pitched at UT-Pan American. Garza said he’s been playing baseball as long as he can remember.

The eighth grader that Gonzalez saw was about 6-foot-1, but Garza kept growing and developing. Now, the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is earning the attention of a lot of major league teams ahead of the MLB draft.

The draft starts at 6 p.m. tonight with rounds 1 and 2. Rounds 3-10 will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday and the final 30 rounds get going at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

“I was blessed with the ability,” Garza said. “And I have worked hard over the years to get better.”

Garza has the same dream all the time. It involves buttoning the top button on the jersey and pulling down the cap to the perfect height as he steps out onto a Major League Baseball field.

That dream has already come true, kind of. Growing up, Garza and his family loved taking trips to see MLB games. Garza has been to Globe Life Park in Arlington, Minute Maid Park in Houston, Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay and Camden Yards in Baltimore.

On Wednesday, he got the chance to play on one of those fields. The Houston Astros invited Garza to work out at Minute Maid Park as part of a pre-draft workout.

“It was a dream come true,” Garza said. “I grew up watching games at that stadium, on TV and in person. To be working out there was unbelievable.”

Garza has had seven workouts with MLB teams. He’s been seen by scouts from even more teams. Scouts showing up to see Garza was such a common occurrence that Gonzalez said it became a part of the normal game day routine.

“The Rays have been at almost every single game,” Gonzalez said. “I think they knew our schedule better than I did.”

This past year has been the apex of the scouting circuit for Garza. Garza played for the Houston Banditos last summer and attended several notable national scouting events, one of which was a tournament in Jupiter, Florida.

“He did really well out there,” Gonzalez said. “He was hitting balls all over the place, and at the end of that first night, I got calls, ‘Hey, where has this kid been hiding?’ ‘Who is this Saul Garza?’ And this and that. There were something like 200-250 scouts out there. That’s really what got him going.”

“Being around all these players, really good players, it was very important for me,” Garza added. “I tried to watch the best players and learn from them, make myself a better player. … I think all 30 teams were there, but I just tried to focus and play my game, and it worked out well.”

Garza has gotten attention beyond the pro ranks. Schools like the University of Texas, Texas A&M and Stephen F. Austin have all shown interest. Garza is committed to Howard Junior College, but he says he is looking into other options for college.

For Garza and his family, the program offered by the MLB that allows teams to reimburse new draft picks for tuition is a very appealing option. Garza takes his education seriously. He graduated in the top 15 in his class. He was a pre-engineering student. Garza wants to make sure that whatever he does, he is able to provide for himself and his family. Not just through his 20s and 30s, but for the rest of his life.

Several draft sites have him listed as a top prospect in the state of Texas. He has been projected as high as Round 3 in the draft. Garza could get one step closer to realizing that reoccurring dream this week.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to hear my name get called (at the draft),” Garza said. “If it were to happen, that would truly be a dream come true, but I know it would also be the beginning of another difficult chapter of my life, and I am ready for that.”

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BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

Mission Veterans senior Noel Vela committed to UTRGV early in his high school career.

He announced his decision on Twitter on Sept. 4, 2015, between his sophomore and junior seasons.

Then, on May 24, UTRGV announced that head coach Manny Mantrana was stepping down from his role. The decision gave Vela some things to think about. Trusting his future to coach Derek Matlock, who was just announced Saturday and had never met Vela, was slightly worrying.

“As of right now, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Vela said. “I don’t know how that works. I haven’t talked to anyone over there. I’m still committed to that school.”

Luckily for Vela, another option has recently emerged to make him feel a little more confident about his future.

“I had a workout with the Padres,” Vela said. “The workout was in Houston. It was pretty eye-opening. There were a lot of players there that are in college. Lots of guys bigger than me. It kind of intimidated me a little bit. But I felt like I did really well through all of that.”

The pre-draft workout was held on May 30. The MLB Draft begins at 6 p.m. on Monday with the first and second rounds. Rounds 3-10 begin at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The last 30 rounds start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Vela said he felt great after the workout. He had his fastball sitting at 90-92 mph, all of his pitches were on, and he had a good swing working at the plate.

Vela credited his Veterans teammates for helping him feel confident going into the workout. Despite all the accolades and attention, Vela has always had a tight bond with his teammates.

“A couple of guys and I, we would go every day for the past week,” Vela said. “We would throw long toss, hit a little bit. I helped them with what they wanted to work on and it was a good feeling going up there with that practice.”

After the workout, there was one call Vela wanted to make, and it was to his childhood catcher.

“The first person I talked to after was probably my sister,” Vela said. “I told her about the experience and how I felt.”

Vela and his older sister, Iliana, have been close all their lives. They grew up playing catch together. Iliana was a catcher for Mission Veterans’ softball team during her time at the school from 2007-2011. When she started playing catcher, she had a pitcher to throw to her in her own backyard.

Iliana couldn’t make the workout in Houston, but she made sure to find out how her brother was doing.

“She wasn’t able to go, but she was basically there,” Vela said. “She was talking with my dad the whole time, and my dad would send her pictures and videos. So it was pretty cool.”

Vela said he always dreamed of playing professional ball, but the workout showed him that it was closer to a reality than a dream.

When the Padres came down to talk to Vela about the draft, his family had plenty of questions.

“We are new to all of this,” Vela said. “(The team’s representative) ran down everything. Told them what was going to happen, where I would start, if it were to happen and where I would be all the time. He basically went through all of it.”

Vela was told about starting in the Arizona rookie league, what life would be like in the minors, and another key detail that will have an impact on his decision.

“They said that they would pay for school if I were to get drafted by them,” Vela said. “That’s a big thing too. They cover school, so that I could go to college.”

The MLB has a program in place that allows teams to reimburse players for tuition, so those players that forego college to pursue a professional career have options after they finish playing baseball. There is no time limit on the reimbursement and players can use the program even after they have retired, according to MLB.com.

Vela can’t know for sure if his name will be called this week in the draft, but he says he has two good options. Go to UTRGV, a Division I school close to home, or get drafted and sign to play pro ball.

“It’s pretty exciting since we are from the Valley,” Vela said. “I think our talent doesn’t get recognized enough and we have to work harder. It was a pretty good feeling knowing that somebody from the Valley is getting recognized.”

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BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

After it was announced at Sharyland ISD’s special board meeting on Tuesday that Casey Smith had been named the new head baseball coach at Sharyland Pioneer, Smith called every one of his players at Mission Veterans to let them know he was leaving.

“It was an extremely tough decision,” Smith said. “The toughest part of it is leaving the kids that I had there. … It’s going to be tough not seeing those kids every day, because I love them. They are great kids.”

That kind of passion is exactly what Pioneer athletic coordinator Thomas Lee said contributed to the hiring of Smith.

“We have that with all of our coaches,” Lee said. “We expect that. We want our coaches to build relationships with our kids on and off the field and make sure they are doing the right things in the classrooms and they are representing Pioneer high school to the highest of esteem. We expect that from Coach Smith, and we know he had that with his kids at Mission Veterans.”

Smith spent six years early in his career within the ISD at Sharyland High as an assistant to head coach Barton Bickerton. After Smith’s time working with Bickerton from 2002-08, Smith and Bickerton remained close. So, when Smith became a candidate for the Pioneer job, Lee knew just who to talk to.

“We go out there, and we do our homework,” Lee said. “Him and coach Bickerton are good friends, and they have coached together for a long time and coached against each other for a long time. I always like to talk to coach Bickerton about baseball coaches, because he knows just about everybody in the Valley. He was a good part of the figuring out what we were going to do out here at Pioneer.”

When Smith got the job at Veterans, the situation was similar to the one he is entering at Pioneer. The program had only been in existence for a few years, and the team had never had a winning season and never been to the playoffs. In eight years at Veterans, Smith’s teams went 177-67-1 with seven playoff appearances, including going four rounds deep once. The Patriots have also won a district championship in each of the last five seasons.

“The Pioneer job really mirrors the situation when I started at Mission Vets,” Smith said. “It’s a daunting challenge, but it’s a fun challenge. I enjoy challenges, and I enjoy the building aspect of it. Is it similar? It’s extremely similar to me. God willing, we can experience the same type of success that we have been able to build at Mission Vets. That’s tough to do. If that were the case, that would be unbelievable to match that level of success.”

Smith was the right candidate for Lee and Pioneer. But for Smith, the reasons to leave needed to be overwhelming based on how much he loved his time at Mission Veterans.

“The main reason for my decision was my family,” Smith said. “I live in Edinburg. The drive to Mission Veterans was considerably longer. … I’m able to be closer to my family, and it’s an opportunity to build again, start fresh and build a new program.”

With the Mission Veterans job fading into the rearview mirror, Smith took a moment to reflect on his time on that crisscross of dirt, chalk and grass just off North Francisco Avenue.

“The first district championship was special,” Smith said. “But, really just the moments with the kids. I could sit there and look at trophies and stuff like that, but really just being with those kids. I had so many wonderful experiences, coached so many great kids, and they sold out for me, they sold out for the program. I will forever be grateful for those kids.”

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BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

LAREDO — McAllen High senior pitcher Ramiro Maldonado was almost out of the second inning.

He had two outs and a full count against Churchill junior left fielder Andy de Leon, but on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, de Leon drew a walk and sparked a two-out rally for Churchill. The Chargers sent 11 men to the plate in the inning, using four hits, three walks and an error to plate six runs.

Churchill used the massive lead to cruise to an 8-1 win and complete a series sweep in Game 2 of the Class 6A Region IV semifinals on Saturday at Uni-Trade Stadium.

The walk wasn’t the only time the Bulldogs almost escaped the second inning. Senior shortstop Jordan Cardenas was next to the plate, and he hit a hot shot to freshman third baseman Aaron Nixon. Nixon initially bobbled the ball, then decided not to make the throw to keep de Leon from advancing to third.

Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and Churchill leading 2-0, senior center fielder Jordan Billups hit a ball to McHi senior shortstop Roy Quintanilla, who tossed the ball to senior second baseman Keola Zamora. Zamora stepped on the bag and then started to jog off the field, as the inning would have been over with the out. But, to McHi’s surprise, the umpire at second called the runner safe at the base.

“I definitely feel like I touched the bag,” Zamora said. “I just tried to get my foot out of the way before the runner got there. I just wanted to get my foot out of there, that way I wouldn’t get injured. … All (the umpire) kept saying was, ‘You were way off.’”

The safe call allowed the inning to continue, allowed the run scored on the play to count, and allowed the Chargers to continue building a lead.

Later in the inning, the umpires made another call that McAllen High coaches and players questioned. Sophomore right fielder Hudson Head was behind in the count 1-2 when Maldonado delivered a pitch that forced a swing. The ball bounced in the dirt, but junior catcher Nate Quintanilla caught it. Again, the umpire made a late call that McHi did not expect.

“The umpire said he fouled it off,” McHi coach Eliseo Pompa said. “We told him the ball hit the ground. He said, ‘No, coach.’ Even the third base umpire, I asked him, ‘What did you see?’ He said ‘Coach, I saw the ball hit the bat.’ It didn’t hit the bat. It hit the ground, and our catcher caught it.”

Many McHi players were visibly upset after the foul tip call.

“It’s just unfortunate that sometimes you leave a game thinking, ‘Well, maybe if this call would have gone our way…’” Pompa said. “It would have been a close game. They score six runs in that second inning. They didn’t score again until the bottom of the sixth.”

The Bulldogs didn’t help themselves by leaving a small village on base throughout the game. McHi had nine hits to Churchill’s seven, but the Bulldogs left 11 runners on base.

“It hurts a lot, because we just needed to manufacture runs,” Zamora said. “It’s really frustrating, because we just needed to get the hits at the right time.”

Churchill junior starting pitcher Landry Wideman, a Texas A&M commit, allowed seven hits with two hit batsmen and a walk in five innings, with only three strikeouts.

Churchill coach Alan Hill said he knew he could count on Wideman in the sticky situations, even if he didn’t have his best stuff.

“That’s been him for two years,” Hill said. “He’s had some spots where he looks like he’s cruising, and then all of a sudden he will walk a guy, or hit a guy, or leave a couple pitches up in the zone and they get hit. But, it seems like a lot more times than not, he finds a way to compete his butt off and gets the job done.”

McHi’s lone run came in the top of the fourth, when Nixon hit a leadoff double and junior right fielder Robbie Maldonado hit a single to drive him in.

Churchill added a run in the sixth when junior second baseman Sam Serchay reached on a leadoff double and was driven in by senior pinch hitter Court Jaquess.

Churchill advances to face San Antonio Reagan in the Region IV finals.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Hill said. “We are about 20 miles apart, and these kids grew up and played together their whole lives. … There are going to be a couple thousand people there, and it’s going to be a dogfight. “

McAllen High has 12 seniors departing its varsity roster but boasts plenty of talent returning. Ace Abanny Garcia will be heading into his senior season after a stellar junior campaign. Nate Quintanilla will be back to help the pitching staff from behind the plate. Nixon will enter his sophomore campaign hoping to take on more of a leadership role, he said. In all, five of Saturday’s starting nine will be returning next year.

“We are going to kill in district,” Nixon said. “We have a lot of guys coming up, and that is going to help. We are going to be great next year. Watch.”

Despite the disheartening loss and the large crop of seniors graduating, the Bulldogs were able to relish some fond memories from the great season after the game.

“One of my favorite memories is when we had team nights,” Zamora said. “We would go to each other’s houses and just eat a lot, munch out.”

“The bus rides are the best,” Nixon added. “The team, after the game, eating together. It was a great season overall.”

“I remember the tournament in San Antonio,” Pompa said. “All the lighting delays we had, and going on the bus and watching movies. Also hitting a home run in La Joya with two outs (in the seventh) to tie the game and eventually win it in extras. A lot of things happened this year that, for me, I will remember. Like I told our kids, ‘You always remember your high school years.’ They will remember this year.”

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BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

LAREDO — San Antonio Churchill senior Kevin Crusius came up to bat for the first time with the game knotted at one in the top of the ninth inning as part of a double switch.

He struck out on three pitches, but the third took an awkward bounce and soared to the backstop. McAllen High junior catcher Nate Quintanilla was quick to chase it down, but Crusius just barely beat the throw to first. Churchill bunted him to second. Senior shortstop Jordan Cardenas popped out to senior second baseman Keola Zamora, and the Bulldogs seemed as if they might be able to get out of the inning.

Then, Churchill junior third baseman Sam Serchay hit a shot deep in the hole between first and second.

“I saw a line drive between first and second,” Zamora said. “I was covering the runner at second, and as soon as I saw the hit, I knew I had to dive for it in order to make the play. I just didn’t come up with it.”

Zamora smothered the ball, but it rolled just out of reach, so he had to scramble to retrieve it. He said he knew he couldn’t get the runner at first, so he fired home, but the throw was too late.

McHi couldn’t answer in the bottom of the ninth, and Churchill won Game 1 of the Class 6A Region IV semifinal series 2-1 in nine innings on Friday at Uni-Trade Stadium.

“It’s a very tough ballgame to lose,” McHi coach Eliseo Pompa said. “The kids played their hearts out. It’s a shame that someone has to lose when the game is like this, going nine innings.”

McAllen High senior starting pitcher Abanny Garcia kept his team in the game despite some struggles on the mound. He worked around base runners in every inning, except the sixth. In the top of the fourth, he gave up his lone run. Garcia was in a bases-loaded, no-out jam, but he used two strikeouts get out of the inning, limiting the damage and keeping the game tied.

He might have escaped unscathed if it hadn’t been for one awkward play. The bases were still loaded with one out when Churchill junior left fielder Andy de Leon hit ground ball right back to Garcia. Garcia made the throw home to retire the lead runner. Quintanilla then threw to first base, but de Leon ran into senior first baseman Enrique Rodriguez, sending the ball rolling past the base. The loose ball allowed the Churchill run to score. An out at first would have ended the inning and kept Churchill scoreless.

With one out in the sixth inning and the pitch limit closing in, Garcia suffered yet another speed bump. The blister that had developed on the tip of Garcia’s right index finger popped after he threw a 2-0 pitch for a strike to junior third baseman Kevin Fleisher.

“It always happens to me,” Garcia said. “So, I was just battling through it, and I always have to fight for my brothers.”

Garcia was checked out by medical staff and was cleared to continue. He worked the count full and struck out Fleisher on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. He then struck out the final batter in the inning, giving Garcia his first 1-2-3 frame of the game in what would be his final inning.

“It shows us how much he wants it,” Zamora said. “He was able to fight through the pain for us. That means a lot.”

Pompa joked that maybe the blister helped Garcia.

Freshman Aaron Nixon came on and pitched three innings of relief, giving up two hits and striking out two while allowing the winning hit to Serchay.

McAllen High scored its lone run in the top of the third. Senior shortstop Roy Quintanilla led off with a walk, and senior right fielder Rigo Moreno sacrificed him to second. Quintanilla moved to third on a wild pitch, which also happened to be ball four to Zamora. Senior center fielder Victor Valdez fell behind 0-2 but fought back, taking a ball and fouling off two more pitches before hitting a deep fly ball to right fielder Hudson Head. Head caught it and launched a throw, but it wasn’t going to reach home in time, so first baseman Grant Gomez cut it off to hold Zamora at first, allowing Roy Quintanilla to score.

Several McHi players were suffering from cramps at the end of the game. The extra innings and high temperatures weren’t the only reasons.

“Our charter company didn’t come through with a bus in the morning,” Pompa said. “We had to go in a school bus. It had air conditioning, but it was very uncomfortable. … The kids must have lost 2 or 3 pounds on the way up here. … But that’s not the reason we didn’t perform today. We didn’t get the hit, and they got the hit when it counted.”

McHi is looking to rally tomorrow, as Game 2 gets underway at 1 p.m.

If needed, Game 3 will take place 30 minutes after Game 2.

“It’s not over,” Zamora said. “We can definitely beat this team. We just have to come out fighting.”

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BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — The McAllen High baseball team harkens back to the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates used the hit song “We are Family” by Sister Sledge as their theme song throughout their run to the World Series.

“We are a big family,” McHi senior shortstop Roy Quintanilla said. “To play with each and every one of them, I wouldn’t want to play baseball with anyone else but them. I love them, and we are very tight.”

Admittedly, there are plenty of other high school baseball teams that might use the same analogy to describe their camaraderie, but with McHi, the statement is closer to the truth. Roy and his brother junior Nate Quintanilla, along with another brother pair in senior Ramiro and junior Robbie Maldonado, fill four of the nine starting spots for the Bulldogs.

“I don’t even remember having two brothers playing together on the same team,” said McHi coach Elisio Pompa, who has been coaching for 34 years. “Now I have two sets of brothers. It’s pretty unique.”

The four boys make up the heart of the defense for McHi, which faces San Antonio Churchill in Game 1 of the Class 6A Region IV semifinals at 7 p.m. tonight at Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Robbie Maldonado said. “Many teams don’t experience this, and we are just trying to have fun along the way.”

Each of the four brothers has gone through a lot of growth and development to become the player he is today.

Ramiro Maldonado has been stellar on the mound this year, posting a 3.28 ERA in 32 innings pitched with 50 strikeouts. But it wasn’t always so smooth.

“Ram, in his junior year, had a little problem with confidence and mechanics,” Pompa said. “So we worked on it in the offseason, and he started off good. Then, he got into a little rut, and now he’s, hopefully, back on. It’s just little things (bad habits) that kids pick up. Not pushing off with his back leg, not pushing off with his hips. He went and worked out with a trainer.”

Pompa told Ramiro Maldonado to work on properly pushing off of his back leg to improve his accuracy. Ramiro Maldonado was also coached to repeat his arm slot, or the angle of his arm when he releases his pitches.

“I told him, ‘Once you find your arm angle, son, you can be tough,’” Pompa said. “Because his ball moves. It moves out, it moves in. If you ever get that arm slot there consistently every time, you can dominate. That’s what he did against United South. He did it against Edinburg North, and heck, he did it against Alexander.”

“During the offseason and whatever free time I had, I worked on my location and my arm slot,” Ramiro Maldonado added. “Basically every day I have been trying to perfect my flaws.”

Nate Quintanilla, a catcher, is on the receiving end of Ramiro Maldonado’s pitches.

He has followed a similar trajectory in his development.

“He has worked his butt off on blocking and throwing, and he has improved a lot,” Pompa said. “As far as his mechanics on throwing to second, I think he is below 2 (seconds), 1.91, which is good. Actually, it’s great.”

Pompa was referring to Nate Quintanilla’s pop time. A catcher’s pop time is the measurement of how long it takes from the moment a pitch hits the catcher’s mitt to the moment the throw hits the middle infielder’s glove at second base on an attempted steal. Any decent Major League catcher is below 2, and an excellent time for a catcher is 1.8, according to Baseball Prospectus.

“He’s also very accurate on his throws,” Pompa said. “In the six playoff games that we have played, I don’t think anybody has tried to steal, at least that I can remember.”

That may change, because Churchill is known to be aggressive on the basepaths. But Nate Quintanilla looks forward to the series.

“I’m trying to wait for someone, wait for my victim to go and steal off of me,” Nate Quintanilla said. “It’s going to be really fun. I can’t wait for that to happen, so I can gun them out.”

He said his biggest focus coming into this year was improving his blocking at the plate.

“Last year, I was scared of the ball when I was blocking,” Nate Quintanilla said. “So this year, I have been working on my blocking and trying to get better.”

For his brother Roy, the change coming into this year wasn’t as much about development as it was a return to his true home.

“Most of my life I have played shortstop,” Roy Quintanilla said. “I came into McHi playing third base. The move to shortstop this year wasn’t really a big deal. It just feels normal to me.”

More than anything, the move was an affirmation from Pompa that he believes in Roy Quintanilla’s defense.

“He has been very steady for us all year,” Pompa said. “He hasn’t made that many errors, and he has been very consistent. He has made some good plays and, what can I say, he’s kind of held the fort down since Day 1 at shortstop. He’s probably our best shortstop with his mechanics and speed.”

Robbie Maldonado can play all three outfield positions. He has the speed for center and the arm for right, according to Pompa. Pompa is hoping that he can make the same kind of jump this offseason that the other three brothers have.

“We are already counting on Robbie on the mound next year,” Pompa said. “He throws a lot harder than his brother (Ramiro). He’s got a hellacious curveball, but sometimes he can’t control it. Sometimes our catchers can’t catch it. I hate to bring him in with men on base, because I don’t know what is going to happen.”

That’s where Robbie Maldonado is focusing his attention.

“I have been looking forward to pitching,” Robbie Maldonado said. “Coach has thrown me a couple games this year to prepare me for next year. I’ll be ready for it. I have been working on my curveball throughout last offseason and this season. But this next offseason, I’ll be working more on my location.”

The two sets of brothers have been the backbone of the defense this year. Their kinship also helps keep the team close.

“This group of kids, they get along well,” Pompa said. “They are always joking around. They have each other’s backs. They joke a lot, in a nice way. They are always coming up with stuff, and of course our young coaches over here, they’re not too far behind with all their shenanigans that they pull on them.”

Of course, the brothers have been playing with their siblings since they started playing baseball. Robbie and Ramiro Maldonado remember throwing the ball in the backyard as 4- and 5-year-olds. Roy and Nate Quintanilla remember being on their first T-ball team together around the same age.

Ramiro said playing with his brother is a moment he cherishes.

“Some of my favorite memories are, I’m playing in left, (Robbie) is in center,” he said. “We look at each other and know we have each other’s back. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

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BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — The energy at Edinburg Vela spring football practices is electric.

“We like to say, ‘There is always juice coming out to practice,’” sophomore linebacker Luis Gutierrez said. “We are always pumped up. We are always ready for practice.”

On April 19, ECISD announced the hiring of John Campbell as the new Vela head coach. Campbell’s first head coaching job was at San Antonio John Jay in 2004.

He coached in Katy for a year before taking the head coaching job at Brandeis. Campbell was the first coach at the newly opened Brandeis and spent seven years there developing the program into a perennial contender. In 2015, Campbell went to Texas A&M-Commerce, where he was an assistant. Last year, he was the head coach at San Antonio Madison.

During practice, the SaberCats are split into groups with their position coaches. Campbell, meanwhile, works his way around the practice, stopping with each group and routinely giving players individualized feedback.

“I like how he is everywhere,” Gutierrez said. “He is trying to help out all the coaches. He is really active throughout practice. And that’s a good thing, because it pumps up the team, seeing our coach all over the place trying to get us hyped up.”

Campbell brought in a staff that could match his energy. Two of his assistants were playing Division I football within the last three years. Defensive Backs coach Mauricio Sanchez graduated from UTSA in 2015 after playing defensive back for four years. Similarly, Scott Inskeep played guard at UTSA before graduating in 2014. Last year, Inskeep was a coach at Los Fresnos.

That youth and excitement spreads to the players.

“It’s been good getting to know the coaches better,” sophomore tight end Nico Rodriguez said. “We really feed off of them.”

“We are learning a bunch of new things,” junior quarterback Nathan Garcia said. “It’s exciting and fun to get to know these new things.”

Campbell is excited about his staff and the connection they are already starting to form with the players.

“I think we have assembled a pretty good group of guys that can bring some influence from other areas, but at the same time have a familiarity either within the Valley or having played against the teams in the Valley, having success against those teams,” Campbell said.

STOPPERS

The Vela defense last year wasn’t always the team’s strong suit. The unit allowed an average of 23 points per game. Campbell has a plan to change that, and it starts with defensive coordinator Ross Matt. Matt was an assistant at Judson High School last season.

Much like Campbell, Matt goes back and forth between his groups in practice. He may be showing a defensive lineman how to line up in one moment and teaching a safety how to defend a curl route the next.

“His defense, he understands what he is trying to do with it,” Gutierrez said. “He sees everything, and he communicates it to us. He moves around a lot during practices. He goes to the DBs, then to the linebackers, then the D-line. He’s always around, so he is really getting interactive with us.”

Last year, Vela ran a 4-2-5 system. This year, the SaberCats are learning the new system brought in by Matt and Campbell. They will be in a 3-4 base.

One of the leaders of the defense will be junior free safety Nick Enriquez. He is the leading tackler from 2016 with 200 total tackles on the year.

“He’s got speed, and he’s got good length,” Campbell said. “He’s picked up some of the changes that we are bringing. A very intelligent football player.”

RUNNING MAN

In 2016, Vela had two phenomenal backs carrying the ball. Senior Robert Guerra was the big-name player, and despite only playing in five games, he amassed 1,179 yards and 20 TDs. The player who got the bulk of the carries while Guerra was out was sophomore Cristian Flores. Flores put up 984 yards and 11 TDs.

With Guerra graduating and Flores transferring out of the school, Vela has an opening at running back.

“That is one position that we haven’t quite stamped, but we feel good with about four or five kids,” Campbell said. “If we have to, it will be by committee, but we would like for a guy to emerge and be the starter. We feel good with the productivity of the guys that we are repping right now.”

One player who may fill that role is sophomore second-string quarterback Marc Buhidar. Last year, Buhidar picked up 221 yards and two TDs on 40 carries, most of which came while he was at the quarterback position.

“He’s a good power running back,” Garcia said, “He’s got a big body. He’s a very strong kid, very fast on his feet, quick. He’s a good running back.”

Campbell didn’t want to divulge who else was in the running.

“We are not going to tell everybody, yet, exactly who we have, being one week into spring,” Campbell said. “But, we have plenty of weapons.”

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EDINBURG VELA

Returning starters (O/D): 5/6

Returning letterman: 30

Key players: QB Nathan Garcia, FS Nick Enriquez, LB Luis Gutierrez, TE Nico Rodriguez

Coach: John Campbell, 1st year at school

2016 Record: 9-2, 7-0

BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

PHARR — PSJA High quarterback Trey Guajardo is looking forward to a big junior year.

“I feel like we are going to be much improved from last year,” Guajardo said of the Bears. “The talent that we have now is great. So it’s going to be depend on how much work we want to put in. And I know we are putting in hard work. Everybody has been out here every day.”

The Bears opted for spring football this year, which gave new coach Lupe Rodriguez the chance to work with his players right away.

Spring practice made sense for Rodriguez, who is bringing new systems to PSJA High. On offense, he is installing a spread attack that was very successful at Mission Veterans.

“The transition has gone well, because PSJA High has been a spread team before, so coming in it wasn’t that much of a transition,” Rodriguez said. “There are little things that are different between my spread and the spread that was here. The kids are grasping the new system and the terminology.”

The players are excited about the new system.

“I know, for sure, we are going to be throwing the ball a lot more,” Guajardo said. “So that is going to be very deadly. It’s going to be a lot of work for us (quarterbacks) and the receivers, but we are ready to put it in. I know that, what coach is trying to do for us, it’s going to work. All we want to do is win. We are tired of losing. We want to turn around this program and hopefully fight for a district championship next year.”

Guajardo has had a busy spring. He would head out to practice in the mornings before school, then after school he would practice with the baseball team. Guajardo was a big part of the baseball team, hitting .321 with 13 stolen bases, 12 RBIs, two doubles and two triples. He also pitched 39 1/3 innings with a 2.85 ERA and 41 strikeouts.

He also shined on the football field this season. He completed 93 of 178 passes for 1,323 yards and 11 TDs, and he ran for 1,009 yards and 10 TDs.

“Coming in, I had heard about Trey and the ability, and I had seen him run track before,” Rodriguez said. “I had never really seen him play until I got here and watched some film on him. He pretty much fits the same mold as all of the other quarterbacks I have had at Mission Veterans: he’s very mobile. He can throw the football.”

Rodriguez earned the reputation of being a quarterback guru at Mission Veterans. He worked with Santos Villarreal from 2011-14, helping him reach 6,122 yards and 48 TDs in his career. When Villarreal graduated, Rodriguez worked with Diego Hernandez, turning him into one of the Valley’s best passers last season and The Monitor’s 2016 All-Area Player of the Year.

The first step for Rodriguez in helping Guajardo reach that next level is to refine some components of his game.

“We just need to clean up his game a little bit,” Rodriguez said. “One thing that we have emphasized this spring is to not to force the ball downfield. If things are not there, not to throw it. He has the ability to run, and that’s one thing that I have stressed to him, ‘If it’s not there, if you don’t feel comfortable, tuck it and go or throw it out of bounds.’ Those are things that he has done very well this spring. He has not yet thrown an interception this spring, which is good.

“It’s like I told him, ‘I expect him to be the man next year to get this team where it needs to be.’ PSJA High comes with high tradition, and that’s one thing that we are trying to instill in these kids. And him being the leader of this team is a big part of that.”

Guajardo could tell right away that Rodriguez could make a difference.

“It’s very noticeable,” Guajardo said. “He has the experience, being a quarterback himself. I’m very thankful to have him as a coach. He’s been through that experience, and him telling us the stories that he has been through, it makes us want to get better to be in that situation, as well.”

NEW D

Tommy Sauceda was the head coach at Donna North in 2015. Last year, he took a job at PSJA High as an offensive line coach. This year, Rodriguez has moved him to the other side of the ball.

“Coach Sauceda is our defensive coordinator,” Rodriguez said. “He served as a defensive coordinator for many years at Donna.”

Sauceda brings a familiarity with the team, according to Rodriguez.

The Bears will be using a 50 defense, with five defensive lineman and two linebackers.

“I feel like (Sauceda) is ready to go,” freshman linebacker Jacob Sanchez said. “He has a good defense. The new system is helping a lot. Our defense is improving a lot.”

THE BEARS WAY

The tradition of success at PSJA High is well known, but the football team hasn’t been to the playoffs the last two seasons. In fact, the only Bears team to make the playoffs this year was the baseball team. Rodriguez is hoping to change all of that next year.

“You can tell these guys have been wanting to break out and get back to winning,” Rodriguez said. “They have been close in a lot of the games. That’s one thing that they are excited about, getting back and bringing that winning tradition back to PSJA High. I told them it’s our duty to start off the season right, because if you start off with the football team winning and getting into the playoffs, it kind of rolls downhill with the other programs. The school gets excited. So I am excited for this team for next year, and the possibilities that are there for us.”

The players feel that with the experience and guidance of Rodriguez, they can accomplish a lot next year.

“It should be a good year,” Sanchez said. “We are really excited, because we know this year will be better than last year, and we will be a better team.”

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PSJA HIGH

Returning starters (O/D): 5/5

Returning letterman: 17

Key players: QB Trey Guajardo, WR Joachim Almaguer, WR Nate Miranda, G David Chapa, DE Orly Huerta, OLB Marcos Pedraza, DB Gabriel Espinoza, MLB Jacob Sanchez, WR Nate Sanchez

Coach: Lupe Rodriguez, 1st year at school

2016 record: 3-7