Laredo Broncos 2007 Season in Review

An article I'm writing for the official program. It's still a work in progess.

 

2007 Laredo Broncos Season in Review

Written by Bill Hancock

 

The Broncos began their second season in Laredo in May 2007. In the off season General Manager Jose’ Melendez kept the same front office staff from the previous season and brought rookie field manager Angel “Papo” Davila on board to skipper the Broncos into a season filled with promise.  Davila spent the previous season as the San Angelo Colts’ pitching coach.  Melendez kept the core of his team in tact by bringing back Orlando Cruz, Brian Daly, Chris Judkins, Edwin Maldonado and Arnoldo Ponce’. Local pitcher Albert Laurel also made the roster. Ponce’s arrival would be delayed due to Visa problems however. 

 

The Broncos added power to their offense with the signings of Juan Lebron and Hector Lebron along with a few other new faces. Being so close to making it to the championship series in 2006 had left the Broncos even hungrier for a championship ring in 2007. One of the key losses in the off-season was United League All Star pitcher Daryl Roque who was now working double duty with the Colts as a pitcher and their pitching coach.

 

The Broncos started their season at home on May 8^th, 2007 against the Alexandria Aces who were the 2006 ULB champions. The Broncos starting pitcher for that game was Santo Hernandez who would become an All Star himself later in the season. The Aces failed to score a single run off of Hernandez. The potent relief pitching of Brandon Martin and Henry Lozado helped seal the victory for the Broncos. In 2006 it took the Broncos 10 games to get their first win. In 2007 it only took one game and the Broncos were off to a great start. The bats and offensive play of Pedro Lopez, Chris Judkins and Bryan Nichols helped the Broncos score the 4 runs. The Broncos took the next game and the Aces managed to win the last game of the series.

 

The next series was against the San Angelo Colts and would put both Davila and Roque facing their former teammates. The Broncos would drop the first 2 games but would come back to win the final game of the series behind the pitching of Santo Hernandez.

 

The Broncos would go on to finish the first half of the season near the top of the ULB standings. The Broncos acquired Edgard Clemente’, nephew of MLB Hall Of Famer, Roberto Clemente’ to add some fire power to their offense. Clemente’ was a soft spoken player who let his bat do all the talking. Santo Hernandez would continue winning games for the Broncos as the All Star break approached. 

 

Broncos players Santo Hernandez, Juan Lebron, Orlando Cruz, Edwin Maldonado, Luis Arroyo, Hector Lebron, Henry Lozado and Edgard Clemente’ would be representing Laredo in the 2007 ULB All Star game in Amarillo. 

 

The second half of the season began with the Broncos a couple of games below .500 but with high hopes of making a strong run for the playoffs as they had done in 2006. The pitching staff was strong and while injuries had hampered the team, they continued to play hard. Melendez continued to make changes and sign players to fill in the gaps in the pitching and offense. 

 

The Broncos push for the playoffs continued but fell short in August. The last 3 games of the season were cancelled due to Hurricane Dean although the Broncos did finish with a brilliant home stand even though several of their players had come down with Chicken Pox. Santo Hernandez who started the season with a win also ended the season with a win by beating the Rio Grande Valley White Wings 6-4. The Broncos finished the final homestand by winning 6 of 7 games. Melendez said “We finished the season by playing good baseball. They’ve been playing hard and hustling and saved the best homestand for last.” 

 

The Broncos signed many new players in the off season to strengthen their offense and defense and bring a championship ring to Laredo in 2008. “We have done a lot of work in the off season. We have brought back Dan Schwam who we hired in mid-season 2006 and who took us to the playoffs. We definitely have high hopes for 2008 and I believe we have the team to win it all.”