By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
A former Del Rio Rams baseball player is getting his shot at being a head baseball coach this summer, and he’s bringing along another familiar name to Rams baseball fans.
Del Rio native Ryan Reyes, who is currently an assistant baseball coach at Our Lady of the Lake University, was recently named the head coach of the Seguin River Monsters of the Texas Collegiate League. While he doesn’t get to handpick his assistants, he does get to help in the hiring decisions of staff and that includes bringing on a former teammate, and current Del Rio High School assistant football coach, Caleb Mireles.
For Reyes, the selection to lead the Monsters is something of a dream come true.
“Honestly … they followed me on Twitter and I had been trying to get into the Texas Collegiate League for the past two years so I reached out and I was selected as the head coach,” Reyes said. “It’s going to be a mix of players from Division I schools to junior colleges.”
“It’s the best summer collegiate league in Texas, by far,” Reyes added.
According to the league’s official website, the Texas Collegiate League, which was first created in 2003, is a summer wooden bat league that brings some of college baseball’s top talent together in a minor-league type atmosphere. The league will field five teams this summer including teams from Texas and Louisiana.
The Seguin River Monsters is the newest team to the league. It joins the Acadania Cane Cutters, the Baton Rouge Rougarou, the Brazos Valley Bombers and the Victoria Generals.
Seguin’s first game is scheduled for May 31 in Victoria.
Reyes, a 2014 graduate of Del Rio High, was a three-year member of the Del Rio Rams baseball team. He began his coaching career as a volunteer with the Del Rio Express select team, the Del Rio American Little League and Del Rio Little League, eventually helping lead the latter league’s all-stars to a district title in 2018.
Before joining the staff at Our Lady of the Lake, Reyes coached at Central Christian College and served as a recruiting assistant for Texas. He joined the OLLU Saints staff in the 2018-19 season as a student assistant coach. Now, his duties have included working with outfielders, corner infielders and hitters.
“I’m enjoying every day of it. It’s been a rough season to this point but I feel we are at that turning point,” Reyes said.
Reyes has also reached out to his high school team and has helped one of the current Rams with an opportunity to continue playing at the collegiate level. Senior Alex Rodriguez has verbally committed to Our Lady of the Lake, becoming the latest Rams player to join the Saints.
“I saw him while coaching select ball last summer while he played with the Angels. My team played his and he absolutely destroyed my pitchers. I think he went 5-for-6 on the day and after the day ended I said I’d be in touch and he kind of chuckled. He thought I was probably kidding,” Reyes said. “I coached him when he was 13-14 years old with Express. I would help his dad after my practices ended. Now we are reuniting next year.”
And speaking of former Saints, Mireles is another member of the Rams to Saints family.
A member of one of Del Rio’s most noteworthy sports families, his father Freddie was an accomplished baseball player in his time, Mireles played four years for the Rams and helped the team to the postseason as a junior and as a senior.
After graduation, Mireles committed to the University of Texas at the Permian Basin. He played there for two years before transferring to Our Lady of the Lake, playing his final two years there and then serving as a student assistant coach. Once his collegiate career was complete, Mireles went on to pitch for the Roswell Invaders of the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs, a professional league featuring teams from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
Mireles eventually moved back to his hometown and joined the Rams football coaching staff prior to the 2021-22 season.
Reuniting with Mireles is an exciting prospect for Reyes, but he was quick to explain what Mireles brings to the River Monsters.
“Caleb is a good fit because of the connections he has with the independent leagues, as well as the knowledge and playing experience he brings from a pitching standpoint,” Reyes said. “We’ll also have three kids from the Eagle Pass area that’ll play on the team.”
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
