Guevara knows how to bring the best out of Cowgirls

If the Porter Cowgirls are indeed "Prisoners of Softball" as their adopted motto suggests, then coach Luis Guevara serves as the warden.

Thanks to his military and police officer background, Guevara, The Brownsville Herald's All-Metro coach of the year, is a firm believer in getting his players to do their best. He's demanding, but in a mostly gentle and tactful way. He treats his players with respect, and in turn, they know expectations are high once they put on the Porter uniform.

It's an approach that has produced positive results. Guevara just completed his sixth season as Porter's head softball coach and has guided the Cowgirls to the District 32-5A title four times in the last five years. This season, Porter won 32-5A with a 14-0 record and finished with a 29-5 overall mark.

"Coach Guevara works his behind off for us," said junior shortstop Abby Martinez,  the co-MVP on this year's All-Metro team along with teammate Rocio Valles, a sophomore catcher. "It's not just us playing out there by ourselves. We play with him (his influence) out there, too. He shows us what we need to do along with Coach (Jennifer) Moffet.

"Coach Guevara has always been there (guiding us) since I've been playing," she added. "He really works overtime for us and he gives it his all." 

Guevara said credit for the Cowgirls' success also belongs to assistants Jennifer Moffet and Jesse Martinez.

The 39-year-old Guevara is a 1987 Porter graduate who served in the military from 1987-91, taking part in Desert Storm and serving as a soldier in Iraq before spending six and a half years in the Brownsville Police Department. In 1996, he graduated from the University of Texas at Brownsville with a degree in police administration. He came to Porter to teach criminal justice in 1998.

Guevara served as assistant softball coach at Porter under Rick Lepre from 1999-2000 and became the Cowgirls' head coach in 2002-03.

Since then, Porter has become one of the top teams in South Texas. In addition to winning district titles in four of the past five years, the Cowgirls have reached the "Sweet 16" of the Class 5A state playoffs twice during that span.

With Guevara as head coach, the softball team has become one of the most successful athletic programs at Porter.

"I kind of felt like I was scrapping the program from the bottom of the barrel when I took over (in 2002)," he said. "Porter had finished in last place (in district) two consecutive years. I came in here and I knew it was going to be hard, but I had my daughter (pitcher Alicia Guevara) with me at that time along with about five other girls who had been with me (on a summer team). I told myself that it was something to build on.

"I'm satisfied with how things have gone, but we still want to do better," he added. "Now when our players get here (as freshmen), they know that the expectations are high and that they are expected to win. I tell the girls that we're in the business of winning. We represent the school, our community and the parents, of course. It's part of an expectation, and we're going to continue the (winning) tradition.

"It's taken a lot of faith. I think I'm a prayer warrior. I have a lot of confidence in God and He helps me with every decision I make as the head coach."

Guevara said along with his faith, he is grateful for the help of his wife, Betty. The couple has three children.

"She's kept me going and has motivated me a lot because she supports me 100 percent," he said. "Sometimes, I spend a lot of time over here (at Porter) and she takes care of everything at home. Every time I come across a mountain, she tells me it's going to be OK and not to worry about it. She's given me the strength to continue."