Excitement surrounds Greyhound baseball

The 2013 San Benito Greyhound varsity baseball team is shown on Wednesday at the high school field. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)

The 2013 San Benito Greyhound varsity baseball team is shown on Wednesday at the high school field. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)

Special to the NEWS

There’s always excitement in the air each spring just before baseball season starts.

But here in San Benito, there’s a little extra pep these days.

A year after making the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, the 2013 edition of Greyhound Baseball takes the field Monday night when the ’Hounds visit Harlingen South in a non-district game to open the season.

San Benito was 20-10 last year and beat Edinburg for a bi-district championship before falling in the area round to Laredo Alexander. This year, the Greyhounds return a bulk of last year’s team for new skipper Ram Partida, who’s rarin’ to get things started.

“We’ve had these kids in baseball class since August so they’re anxious and ready to go,” said Partida, most recently a Greyhound baseball assistant. “Our expectations are to make a playoff run. We’ve been preaching that in practice every day. We’re looking forward to it and the kids are excited.

“I think these kids now know what it takes to get there (playoffs) and they know how it feels,” he continued. “Now, we want to start a baseball tradition here in San Benito.”

Among those back for the Greyhounds are seniors Alan Ramirez (pitcher), Adan Guzman (catcher), Aaron Figueroa (2B), Jose Arizpe (SS), Johnny Joe Garza (3B) and infielder Josh Huerta. Junior outfielder Tommy Padilla is also back along with sophomore OF Victor Gaytan.

Promising newcomers include sophomores Ruben Reyes (OF), Chris Padilla (2B/OF) and R.J. Atkinson (OF).

“We lost some seniors, but we have an excellent freshman and sophomore class coming up,” Partida said. “It looks very promising for the next five or six years.”

The ’Hounds went 9-5 in District 32-5A last season and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Now, they’ll shift over to 31-5A to face Valley baseball titans like PSJA High, Weslaco High and others. That’s why Partida and the staff have stressed discipline on and off the field.

“It’s a tough district,” Partida said. “We’ve worked on discipline and the kids are into it. They see that it might be the key for them. Even our young ones are seeing that. Discipline and grades have a lot to do with it.”

In addition, fans in the stands and high expectations in town have excitement at an all-time high on the San Benito diamond. Partida noted that the ’Hounds’ home field has seen upgrades and touching up that has everyone ready for the first ping of the bat.

“The community and our administration back us up big time and the kids see it,” Partida said. “The kids see the maintenance crews at our field making things nice and they’re excited. It’s an exciting year and we hope to continue our success.”

Read this story in the Feb. 17 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2013/02/15/excitement-surrounds-greyhound-baseball/

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