Long-time coach Richard Hinzo begins his first year as a volunteer with the Aztec baseball program. He will work primarily with the infielders as well as handling some of the day-to-day administrative operations of the program.
The 56-year-old Hinzo was born and raised in San Diego, and played his prep baseball at Sweetwater High School in nearby National City. He competed for three years in professional baseball in Mexico before returning to his hometown to enter the coaching ranks. He is still active as a player, competing on the local San Diego Padres adult team which competes in the Major Senior Baseball League of the National Adult Baseball Association. His Padres squad captured the national40-and-over title in 1995 and the 50-and-over title in 1999.
Hinzo?s baseball coaching experience covers some 26 years at all levels of amateur competition. He has served the past 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Southwestern Junior College in Chula Vista and has also been successful at the high school level, coaching at Sweetwater HS and Hilltop HS.
He spent seven seasons as a head coach in the San Diego Collegiate Baseball League, a summer wood bat league, winning a pair of titles during his tenure. Recently, he spent three seasons coaching the San Diego Stars semi-pro baseball during the summer, and his 1999 squad finished third at the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series, eliminating the USA National Team along the way. His success has also extended to youth baseball, where his 1989 team was the national runner-up at the Palomino World Series.
Hinzo retired after 30 years with Pacific Bell and is presently employed with Fluor Global Services as a fiber optic engineer/inspector. He has two sons (Tommy, 36, and Richie, 26) and a daughter (Andrea, 31). His son, Tommy, was a member of the University of Arizona Wildcats? 1986 NCAA championship team who went on to play eight seasons of professional baseball with the Cleveland Indians.