By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The introduction between Porter catcher Miguel De Leon and new Cowboys coach Barton Bickerton wasn’t a smooth one.
Bickerton took over for previous Porter coach Armando Rangel and wanted to make sure everyone understood the rules.
So when De Leon was missing classes this fall, something had to be done.
“As a new coach, you don’t know anybody,” Bickerton said. “He’s not showing up, we got to get rid of him. The assistant coaches kept telling me he was a great kid, not to worry about it, but it’s not what I’m used to.”
So De Leon and Bickerton had a talk, and the new coach was firm with the rules.
“I told him if you’re going to miss anymore, you’re going to be out of here,” Bickerton said. “Eventually I kicked him off the team.”
But Bickerton didn’t know De Leon was struggling. He had problems at home.
“I had some family problems, and I didn’t talk to coach,” he said. “So it was my fault.”
Bickerton didn’t understand how this senior, a starting catcher for the past three years, was just going to quit playing.
“I think for (Miguel) it was a little bit of a shock, I don’t think he understood,” Bickerton said. “I didn’t even see him after that. He completely avoided me for almost a whole semester.”
But the Cowboys’ coach didn’t forget about De Leon. He started to check on his grades to see if he had improved, and De Leon had been making up the classwork that had been missed.
“I figured he was a little more mature than what I first thought,” Bickerton said. “He did this on his own without a chance to come back (to the team), he did this stuff on his own to graduate.”
With the progress De Leon had made, Bickerton was impressed. After the Cowboys coach spoke with some of the school’s counselors, he knew he had misjudged the senior before and decided to give him another chance. He asked De Leon to join the others for baseball tryouts near the end of January.
“I decided to give him another chance, and thank goodness because he’s been a model citizen,” Bickerton said. “A guy coaches love, that smiles, comes out and plays hard everyday.”
De Leon said it felt great to be back where he belonged.
“Yes, I did,” he said. “(I did) it for myself, but for the team, too. I felt like I needed to get back on the team.”
With De Leon back on the team, the Cowboys have thrived, especially in district play, winning 10 straight games.
“He’s been one of our most consistent guys in district,” Bickerton said. “I think he’s hitting over .400, has caught almost every game, he’s thrown in some games, closed some games. He’s been a huge part of our team.”
Other than his stats, De Leon has provided the leadership the Cowboys needed this season through his actions.
“He’s one of those quiet leaders,” Bickerton said. “He smiles every day, it’s kind of nice to be around a kid like that. He’s a fierce competitor. It’s hard to tell sometimes because he is so quiet, but I can tell as a coach. I call the pitches, so it’s me and him all night, you get a good feel for the kid.”
Now with the Porter headed to the postseason and on the verge of the district crown, Bickerton has noticed the difference.
“Nobody panicked (this year),” he said regarding last year’s squad. “Last year, they’d get in these situations and would find a way to lose. It’s been the other way around, we’ve been in some situations, we’ve played just about every game you can. Winning a lot of games in a row helps, too.”
De Leon not only has been a big part of that, but he’s happy to be a part of it.
“Coach (Bickerton) has helped to bond us,” he said. “Our mentality’s different. Our attitude is different. Everything is different, it’s been helping us out a lot.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.