BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — In 2002, current PSJA North coach Rene Soza was coaching at Valley View. When Guillermo Cienfuegos showed up as a freshman, Soza saw potential right away.
“Looking at his size as a freshman, I knew he could be a starter for four years,” Soza said. “With his height and his knowledge of pitching, he dominated.”
The big-framed flamethrower rose to prominence as the Tigers’ ace during his freshman year. Valley View reached the postseason for the first time ever in baseball, prompting a run of domination that catapulted the program to the top of the Valley.
During his sophomore season, Cienfuegos made a major change in his game, which helped him become a pitching coach for Soza all these years later at PSJA North.
“He had a great fastball,” Soza said. “But, after his freshman year, he said, ‘Wait a minute. Maybe I do need to add a couple of pitches.’”
Cienfuegos went on to pitch at the college level. He played in the Junior College World Series and pitched in front of 10,000 fans during his collegiate career. After that, he played in Mexico for a year before returning to the Valley and focusing on his career in information technology. He began working for PSJA ISD at the central office.
“I had my degree, so I decided to hang ‘em up and go work,” Cienfuegos said. “I ended up getting a job with PSJA. I do all of the IT, so it has nothing to do with sports.”
“I was like, ‘Man, we need to get him in here,’” Soza said of Cienfuegos’ hiring process. “I said, ‘It’s not going to happen, because he works at the central office.’ … (PSJA superintendent) Dr. (Daniel) King looked at him and said, ‘Aren’t you Guillermo Cienfuegos who pitched for Valley View?’ Dr. King was superintendent at Hidalgo at the time. … He said, ‘You are not coaching?’ Guillermo said, ‘No sir,’ and Dr. King said, ‘Well, you need to start.’”
And with that, it was done. An IT job opened up at PSJA North, and not long after, Cienfuegos filled the position. PSJA North principal Liza Diaz made the transition very easy, according to Cienfuegos.
Once Cienfuegos got to PSJA North, he went to work with coach Soza, grooming young arms to compete in a tough District 31-6A, and eventually — hopefully — at the next level.
Cienfuegos still thinks back to his sophomore season.
“I try to teach these kids the mental part,” Cienfuegos said. “The one pitch that I would have loved to learn in high school is the circle change-up. I threw a split. My pitches got me by, but when you get to the college level, you have to have a change-up. If you can dominate a change-up, you will be successful. The rhythm of keeping the hitters off-balance with the change-up is so critical.”
Since joining the Raiders, Cienfuegos has helped some of North’s best pitchers get even better.
“I haven’t pitched since middle school,” senior Justin Cantu said. “I came in throwing a lot of pitches, and (Cienfuegos) said, ‘That is too many for you to throw.’ He taught me how to control it, and the process of pitching. … He gave me a change-up. We worked on how to use it and when to throw it to catch the batters off guard.”
“He’s helped me learn how important different pitches are in different situations,” junior Damian Rodriguez said.
Reunited, Cienfuegos and Soza have the Raiders ready to compete this year.
“This season has gone good,” Cantu said. “We have a good team, and I think we will be in the mix for district this year.”
“We have been doing great as a team,” Rodriguez said. “We have been playing together better than we have in the past. I think we have shown progress this year.”