The coaching carousel has been in full swing this offseason in the Rio Grande Valley softball world.
The latest coaching change saw Elias Martinez return to lead the San Benito Lady Greyhounds after several strong seasons at Harlingen South.
“It was a tough decision, but the opportunity was there to come back to the program I started and it just felt like it was the right decision to make,” Martinez said. “When I got (the offer to return), I was all excited about it. Glad to be back. It’s a special place for me because I was born here, I’m a Greyhound and a San Benito product, and then after starting the program, being able to come back to the program is exciting.”
Martinez had abundant success during his first residency with the Lady Greyhounds. Shortly after helping start the softball program in 1994-95, Martinez became the head coach and held the role for 18 seasons. He turned the program into the Valley’s premier softball powerhouse. The Lady Greyhounds reached the UIL state semifinals twice, the Sweet 16 seven times and the Elite Eight three times.
He took the Harlingen South job in June 2015. During his six seasons, the Lady Hawks made the playoffs five times, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and reached the Sweet 16 twice. Harlingen South won its first District 32-6A championship under Martinez this year, a shared title with Los Fresnos.
“I’d like to thank Harlingen South. When I went out there, they accepted me and my wife with open arms, and we had a great time out there,” Martinez said. “We were very successful at Harlingen South and I made some great friends, had the opportunity to coach some great athletes. I just want to say thank you to the community, and I wish them nothing but the best … except against us.”
Following Martinez’s departure from San Benito, the team was led by Kristy Leal, who is now the head coach at Mercedes. Denise Lira was at the helm the past four seasons but took an assistant position at San Antonio O’Connor following the 2021 season.
Martinez has only positive feelings about his successors, but now that he’s back in the captain’s seat he’s ready to elevate the program back to its previous status.
“Since I left, the Lady ’Hounds have gone through some tough years. I’m going to try and bring it back to where it needs to be, the top program in the Valley,” Martinez said. “When I was there at San Benito, our motto was, ‘If it’s going to get done by someone, it’s going to get done by us.’ That’s the same mentality that we’re going to try to bring back. We want to be at the top and have that target on our backs. That’s San Benito Lady ’Hounds softball.”
San Benito has a strong pipeline between youth and high school softball, and Martinez is plenty familiar with the consistent talent pool the program has to offer. He said all the student-athletes will have a clean slate with him coming in, and he’s ready to have a competitive environment to foster the best team possible.
Martinez’s return includes bringing back announcer Mario Medrano, who followed the coach to South. Martinez is excited about what’s in store for the program and the community when the Lady Greyhounds’ softball season begins.
“We’re going to have tremendous support because the San Benito fans love their Lady ’Hounds softball, so I’m going to try to bring it back to where it was. We’re going to liven up the place and shake, rattle and roll with it. It’ll be fun,” Martinez said.
