NMMI Sports Press

 A quintet of Bronco baseball players have signed to move on to the next level, and these five are expected to be the first of many this year to extend their playing careers.

 "It' a good start to the signing period for our sophomore class," said head coach Chris Cook. "We're expecting to have a handful of more guys have opportunities coming up here. Some are in the works. Some are just getting started. But all of these guys put in a lot of work and all of them did what they needed to do academically and on the field to give themselves opportunities to continue playing."

The five signees include third-baseman Luis Rivera, a Puerto Rico native who'll attend Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Okla.; Albuquerque's Matt Marquez and Dexter's Dominic Lomelli, pitchers who'll both be going to Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo.; catcher/first baseman Bobby Galindo of El Paso, who's headed to West Texas A&M; and pitcher Parker Bateman out of Weatherford, Texas, who's heading to Washburn University in Topeka, Kans.

Each of the schools compete at the NCAA DII level, and Cook thinks the signees will all have a chance to contribute almost from the start.

"The neat thing about this group right now is I think they're going to go in and make an immediate impact, and that's what you want as a sophomore, especially guys who are used to playing for two years," he said. "You want to go someplace where you've got a chance to earn playing time early, and I expect all five of these guys to contribute at their new programs."

So what made the players choose their respective schools? Obviously, most had good scholarship offers, but the reasons varied from there. Former Bronco Alex Pimental plays for the Bulldogs, so that was a big plus in Rivera heading to Oklahoma.

"He helped me to get there," the sophomore said of his former teammate. And when he's not on the field in the Great American Conference, Rivera will be studying accounting.

Both Marquez and Lomelli were impressed by the campus in Alamosa, while Marquez likes the idea it's close to home and Lomelli liked the coaches there. The Dexter grad said the Grizzlies are in a rebuilding season, and is looking forward to helping the team improve.

Adams State plays in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and Marquez will study marketing while Lomeli will be a teacher-in-training in the K-12 education program. 

Galindo had a number of reasons he chose the Lone Star Conference school.

"They're really a good school. Good program," he said.

Like Rivera, Galindo knows someone in the Buffalo program. 

"I have a buddy up there," he said."I played with him in high school. He told me so much about it. He also influenced me a little bit as we were growing up."

And he likes the fact that Canyon, Texas, is close to home, so family and friends can watch him play and he can relax with friends.

Bateman also has detailed reasons for choosing his school. He's already been accepted into flight school, and will be in the Air Force ROTC program with the eventual goal of being a pilot.

"They're one of the few schools that would allow me to both play baseball and do the ROTC program, so that kind of narrowed it down," he said. "It seemed like a good fit."

Bateman said the Ichabods —yes, Ichabods, look it up — also spend a lot of money on the baseball program, which was another plus.

Another thing all five signees have in common is appreciation for what NMMI taught them.

"NMMI's helped me out a lot," Marquez said. "It's helped me not only in baseball but it's helped me in life. It's helped me get through certain challenges and helped me become more confident in myself."

"It's helped me mature a lot, because if I'd had to do this straight out of high school, I don't think I would have been able to," Lomeli said.

Rivera said the Institute helped prepare him for the next level as well, while Bateman liked the focus the school helped him achieve.

"Time management. Discipline," he said. "I've always been a driven person, but coming to NMMI has helped me focus my drive and everything like that."

And Galindo, who'll be studing criminal justice at his new school, had praise for both teachers and students.

"Major [Stephan] Kaftan is a good teacher here. Good teacher. Good criminal justice professor," he said. "He sent me on the right path and helped me out a lot with my career. The school just brought me together with the Bronco family here. I'm going to really miss these guys. These guys mean a lot to me, especially the guys from last year. They helped me out a lot. Showed me the ropes and whatnot. Now it's my turn to show these freshmen the ropes and hopefully they'll leave a legacy."

And while Cook is certain these five won't be the only signees this spring — "It'll be a relatively large group of guys moving on to play at different levels," he said — he'll be looking to see what legacy they create in the future.

"So proud of these guys and the work they've put in and we'll keep track of them as their careers get started next fall."