The Broncs baseball team had a slogan of “Teamwork, Pride, and Desire” that had elevated them into NCAA playoff seasons in 10 of the previous 13 seasons.
Two of the three non-playoff seasons took place in 1981 and 1982, making the Broncs determined to return to playoffs in 1983.
“After years of success, our pitching staff stumbled those past two years. We recruited some big, strong pitchers to put us back into the winning column again,” head coach Al Ogletree said.
The road back wasn’t easy. As an Independent squad, the team was forced to play some of the NCAA’s best baseball teams to even be considered for postseason play.
“I had a feeling this team possessed the blend of experience, pitching, defense and hitting that would put us back among the elite in the Southwest,” Ogletree said. “Overall, it would be our pitching that would tell the tale. We had five returning pitchers and eight new players who would hold our program’s future in their hands.”
The Broncs picked up three of their most impressive wins of the season just prior to playoffs. Wichita State University invited Pan American to come play after a cancellation from the University of Texas left them with an opening in their schedule.
“They had offered to fly us out there and give us room and board to play them. They were ranked No. 1 in the nation and had the number one draft choice for the Major Leagues.”
Pan Am took the four-game series 3-1, beating Wichita State 19-9, 4-2 and 12-5 before falling 10-4 in the final game.
“If I remember correctly, we hit five home runs in the first game. Rafael Barbosa had two, Bobby Joe Williams, Michell Moran and Pat Marshell had one. After that, the hits just kept coming in the second and third games,” Ogletree said.
The Broncs made their way to the NCAA Regional Playoffs in Austin, where they rode the right arm of All-American Jim Hickey to beat Grambling State 5-0 in the first game. In the second game, Pan American made a dramatic comeback in the ninth inning against Northeastern Louisiana to record a 9-8 victory.
“Game Two was a special one. Northeast Louisiana hit three consecutive home runs in the top of the ninth inning with two outs to take the 8-6 lead. Barbosa, Luis Chavez and Gilbert Beason each clubbed home runs for us in the bottom of the ninth inning and we held came back to win, 9-8,” said Ogletree.
What made the moment so incredible for Ogletree was the fact that it was the second time in one season that a situation like that had occurred.
“Earlier in the season against Louisiana Tech, we were down 5-3 in the ninth with no outs. Gilbert Trevino, Williams and Moran hit successive home runs to win us the game, 6-5. After that game, I told them they had just seen something happen that they would probably never see again. The first thing they said to me as I got on the bus after the Northeastern Louisiana game was, ‘I thought you said we would never see that again,’” Olgetree said.
The Broncs suffered their first loss of the regional playoffs against Mississippi State, 7-5. That Bulldogs’ squad consisted of two future MLB All-Stars, Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro.
In the fourth round of the playoffs, the Broncs squared-off against a Texas Longhorns team that possessed four of the top pitchers in college baseball that season, including future seven-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens. The Broncs fell short 6-1 and their season came to a close.
Overall, the Broncs went 64-19-1, setting a program record for wins in a single-season.
At the conclusion of the season, Hickey was named first team All-American by the NCAA and AACBC, recording a 16-2 record on the mound with a 1.66 earned run average. He struck out 109 hitters while walking only 29 in 130.1 innings.
Moran finished the season hitting .320 with 20 home runs, 12 doubles and 85 runs batted in. He racked up 162 total bases, scored 74 runs and stole 27 bases as well.
As a team, the Broncs hit .280 with 82 home runs, 93 doubles and 15 triples. They averaged 6.25 runs per game.
The Broncs finished 19th in the nation that season, and several players continued their careers in the professional ranks including Hickey, who has spent time as the pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Rays (2006-17), Chicago Cubs (2017-18), and is currently in the same position with the Washington Nationals.
