Bandit Connection to El Paso High School Final Four Teams
June 13, 2009: The last 5 El Paso High School teams to visit the Final Four in Austin have strong Bandit connections. Coach Mark Dillon was a starter on the Austin High School Panthers team that reached the Final Four in 1965. The 1983 Burges team had 9 starters and 13 team members who played for Coach Larry Hernandez and Coach Javier Sandoval on the 1978 and 1979 Hirby Pest Control team. The Coronado T-Bird entry in the 1992 played on a Summer league teams coached by Bandit Coach Mark Dillon. The Riverside Rangers 2000 team two top pitchers (Omar Ferniza and Beto Romo) were Bandits and played for Coach Javier Sandoval. The 2009 Texas High School State Baseball Champion Socorro Bulldog team featured 4 starters who all hit in the top 5 spots and played for Coach Larry and Coach Javier as Bandits from 2001 to 2003. Bobby Mares, George Stoltz and Jessiray Navarrette are members of our 2002 National Finalists and Cory Falvey joined them in 2003 on our State and Regional Championship Squad. Bobby, Jessiray and Cory gained All State honors and Falvey also was named the “Texas High School Player of the Year in Baseball for 2009”.
Cory Falvey Named to 2009 EA Sports All American Team and Texas High School Player of the Year
Bandit Cory Falvey who led the Socorro Bulldogs to the 2009 Texas High School State Baseball Championship was named to the EA Sports All American High School baseball second team as an outfielder. He is the first high school player from El Paso to ever earn this honor. Earlier this month, Cory was named Texas High School Baseball Player of the Year for 2009 which is another honor never previously captured by an El Pasoan.
Bandits Earn High School Honors
Bandits earn Honors; Coach Larry’s player earns “Coach of the Year”: Bandit and Montwood junior Jacob Aguilar earns 1-5A Co-MVP and 1st team All City honor; Bandit and Montwood senior Noel Pinon earns 1st team 1-5A honors as pitcher and All City Honorable Mention; Bandit and Eastlake junior Ruben Rodriguez earns 1st team 2-4A honor and 2nd team All City Honor at second base; Hirby player and Coach John Beard who played for Coach Larry as a 13 and 14 year old earned El Paso City High School Coach of the Year Honor at El Dorado High School. Posted June 15, 2013
Additional Stories can be found by clicking “Bandits Round-Up” – – Win # 2522 and # 1439 in the books
Just click the “Bandits Round-Up” link at the top of our Home Page to read about the Bandits history, our win total and National Championship appearances. Stories about our professional, college and high school Bandits, player birthdays, scholastic accomplishments and tournament championships can be relived in the “Bandits Round-Up” link as well. The Bandits organizational win total stands at 2522 mark. In addition, Coach Larry Hernandez now has 1439 coaching wins. Our web site registered hit number 300,000 on April 9, 2014. Thank you for your interest and we do appreciate you visiting our web site.
