Hall of Fame
Manny Mantrana becomes the eighth inductee into the St. Thomas University Sports Hall of Fame. Mantrana was the Head Coach of the St. Thomas baseball team from 1997-2008. He is currently the Head Coach at the University of Texas – Pan American.
Mantrana becomes the third STU baseball coach to be inducted into the St. Thomas University Sports Hall of Fame joining Head Coaches Paul Mainieri and Dan Pfister.
During his tenure at St. Thomas, Mantrana took the Bobcats to the College World Series three times. He is the winningest coach in STU history with a 451-220-1 (.671) record, including a 1998 season that ended with a program-record 54 victories.
Under Mantrana’s helm, the Bobcats advanced to the postseason in nine of his 12 seasons. He was a three-time Southeast Coach of the Year and a three-time Florida Sun Conference Coach of the Year.
In 1997, Mantrana guided his first squad at St. Thomas to a Florida Sun Conference Tournament Championship and a Southeast Region appearance. In his second season, he led STU to the Southeast Region Championship and Florida Sun Conference regular season and tournament championships en route to his first trip to the College World Series.
In 1999 and 2000, Mantrana led STU to two more Florida Sun Conference Tournament Championships and Southeast Region Tournaments. The 2000 squad made it to the College World Series with a 43-14 record after winning the Super Regional Tournament as well as the regular season and tournament championships for the Southeast Region XIV.
His 2007 squad earned STU’s fourth College World Series appearance with a 46-16-1 record to go along with Florida Sun Conference and Southeast Region Tournament Championships.
In August, 2008, Mantrana left St. Thomas to become the Head Coach of the University of Texas – Pan American. In 2012, Mantrana led UTPA to its first winning season in 13 years, followed up by a school-best second place finish in the Great West Conference with a record of 17-10. The 2012 and ’13 seasons marked the best back-to-back seasons at UTPA since 2000. Next year, the Broncs will become members of the Big West Conference.
Under Mantrana, UTPA baseball has excelled off the field as well. The Broncs are in the top 10% of Division I schools in the nation in graduation rate (APR). The UTPA baseball team, under Mantrana’s leadership, was awarded the Tom Walter Inspirational Award in 2013 for their work with a boy who needed a bone marrow transplant.
Mantrana began his coaching career as head coach for his alma mater, Miami Jackson High School. Mantrana next accepted an assistant coaching job at Miami-Dade Community College which led up to his position at St. Thomas.
Mantrana’s college playing career started at Miami-Dade and Middle Georgia CC, before playing two years at LSU under legendary coach Skip Bertman. Professionally, he spent time with the Tigers, Mets and Brewers organizations.
More than 45 players that Mantrana has coached have received All-Conference or All-Region accolades with 20 of those players signing professional contracts. He has coached ten All-Americans, including five All-American scholar athletes. Approximately 95% of student-athletes who attended STU for four years under Mantrana earned a degree.
Mantrana earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Administration from St. Thomas University in 1990 and then earned his master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from STU in 1997. He is currently working toward a Doctorate of Education in Leadership and Management.
He is married to the former Marlane Schwartz and has one daughter, Maxine.
