Special to the NEWS
Ramiro Partida, head coach of the San Benito Greyhound varsity baseball team, is preparing for his first season at the squad’s helm. He’s shown at the San Benito High School baseball field Thursday. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)
Ram Partida has come full circle.
Partida, a San Benito native and longtime coach, will begin his first year as the Greyhounds’ head baseball coach when the high school baseball season kicks off in just over a week.
The former assistant took over the reins in the offseason and welcomes back a bulk of last year’s bi-district champions. While experience from a good team is always nice, Partida said being a hometown product taking over at his alma mater was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“It was very special and I was very excited,” said the 1987 SBHS graduate of being selected as the ’Hounds new skipper. “Being from here, these kids I have, I’ve watched them play since they were five years old. That’s the exciting part of it. I can go to the local parks and watch the future. I know these kids and I know who’s coming up for the next 10 years.”
Partida has coached a variety of varsity sports in San Benito, Progreso, Marine Military Academy, St. Joseph’s Academy and Santa Rosa throughout his 14-year career. Most recently, he served as the varsity assistant to former coach Xavier Acosta and was the natural choice to take over.
“I’m glad Coach Gantt gave me the opportunity,” Partida said. “I’ve taken it and run with it.”
It appears he and his assistant coaches have done just that.
Partida and assistants Joel Lopez and Jimmy Young are hard at work fine-tuning this year’s club. The talent is there, the new skipper said, but a couple of items needed some tweaking.
“Things are going well. One thing I wanted to stress was discipline and another was conditioning,” Partida said. “Last year we had a good team, but I felt they weren’t disciplined enough in the big games.”
The ’Hounds finished 20-10 last season, including a 9-5 mark in District 32-5A. The ’Hounds advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and won a bi-district championship over Edinburg. But San Benito fell to Laredo Alexander in the area round, letting a one game series lead slip away and ending the season.
“That was one of the games where we felt that our lack of discipline showed,” Partida said.
Nevertheless, the expectations are high for this year’s club, which welcomes back six starters. The difference this season is San Benito’s move to 31-5A where the likes of PSJA, Weslaco and other baseball powers await.
“It’s a real tough district,” Partida said. “With the PSJA Bears, Weslaco and McAllen schools, it’s going to be a challenge. But after we lost last year in the second round of the playoffs, we made a pact to get back to the second round and hopefully further.”
While the prospects of the new season always bring hope and optimism, the enthusiasm Partida has for his new position was evident. He’s hoping it translates to more success on the diamond for the ’Hounds.
“I’m very excited. I’ve been playing baseball since I was five years old,” Partida said. “I’m a product of the youth leagues of San Benito. We’re working hard on the little things and if we can do those, the rest will hopefully take care of itself.”
Read this story in the Feb. 10 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
3 comments
Good luck to our nephew Ram and the Mighty Greyhounds. May you have a successful first year.
Love, Aunt Yaya and Uncle Ray
Good luck coach partida, hope you and the greyhounds have a great season !
Love your coach and teammates like brothers and take a stand . Lifes a short stop and you are always trying to catch the early bus on a home run..Long hard pratices filled with joy and pitching in with different angles for the sure victories. Many legends have now stepped off the dimaond there is some thing magical about the baseball dimond and it can be seen only from the outfield .. As I say my eveing prayers and fall asleep I waken to another day and start for school makeing my dreams come true. Later that eveing I arrive to the dimond after palying baseball with my friends to young yet to play varsity with my glove under my arems I holding my fingers on to the fence looking on and knowing what it feels to be on the outside as I watch the dimond. Wih a smile I jump up and down as the players take the practive fieled I thank God and my country for my freedom and realize someday I’ll be on that dimond and if all my prayers on true I will also follow in the foot steps on the dimonds legends and it’s all beacuse of someone that I knew.