Why this is the year the Broncs become a baseball force

The Bronc baseball team will take the field this year with one of the best recruiting classes during Coach Manny Mantrana’s four-year tenure. This will be the first of his teams entirely recruited by him and his staff.
The Broncs have a combined record of 57-106 over the last three years under Mantrana. Even though the record isn’t exactly the golden standard, the coach believes that the Broncs will turn it around this year. The last winning season for UTPA baseball was in 2000 when the Broncs went 31-19.
A few players to watch from this year’s prospects include pitchers Bryan Maxwell, Dusten Knight and Dylan Badura, all junior college transfers. The right-handed Maxwell started last year for Bakersfield Junior College. Knight, who is also a right-hander, pitched for Connor State Junior College a year ago. Left-handed Badura appeared in 14 games as a relief pitcher for Indian Hill Junior College.
Mantrana hopes that an upgrade to the pitching staff will help a team that had an ERA of 5.75 a year ago. Opposing pitchers against the Broncs averaged an ERA of 5.00.
“It’s the best recruiting class that we’ve had since we’ve been here,” Mantrana said. “We’re very pleased with the players that are here and their work ethic and the character that they’ve shown since they arrived.”
Mantrana is no stranger to success even though his first few years with UTPA have been tough. During his 12-year stretch at Saint Thomas University in Florida, he became the winningest coach in program history and captured five conference titles, along with nine NAIA tournament appearances and three College World Series trips. During his time with STU, Mantrana only had two seasons in which his team didn’t win at least 30 games, posting three 40-win seasons and one 50-win campaign.
The Bronc skipper hopes to bring a taste of that success to UTPA as he begins his fourth year. He signed a contract extension in May after going 21-32 during the 2011 season and 22-33 the season before. But now, with what appears to be a full-fledged recruiting class, the Broncs expect to improve past mediocrity this year.
“We’re making slow progress and I think this is the year that we’re able to make that jump,” Mantrana said. “We’ve been fixing things since we got here and, finally, this year we caught up with recruiting. That was one of the big things that needed to be fixed.”

THE CAST
The Broncs bring an experienced team into the season that starts Feb. 21 against rival The University of Texas at Brownsville at 7 p.m. at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
Returning players such as catcher Mike McCarthy and third baseman Vincent Mejia, both first-team selections for the Great West Conference a year ago, are the prominent stars as they enter their senior seasons.
Last season, McCarthy led the Broncs with a .377 batting average and 45 RBIs, and was second with an on-base percentage of .451. Mejia hit a team-high four home runs and 16 doubles. The club will continue to ask the duo to elevate its hitting and on-base percentage and lead by example, in the hopes that the new additions follow suit.
“Both Mike and Vinny have been excellent Broncs,” Mantrana said. “We have a few players that can do some big things for us. With the returning guys and the new guys, it’s been a good mix, and they’ve had good synergy with one another. We’re looking forward to the season.”
Sharyland alum Angel Ibanez looks to add to the offense after piling up a team-high 77 hits in 53 starts as he enters his junior campaign.
Senior Jonathan Sa looks to anchor the pitching staff after the right-hander was second in ERA (4.24) in a team-high 22 appearances in 2011. He tallied one save with a 2-1 record.