Dixon Steps Up to Head the Varsity Team
    By Jessica Ray, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, March 6, 2008

Coach Robert Dixon stepped into the head varsity coaching role of the Monahans baseball program this year.  With 15 years of baseball coaching experience, Dixon hopes to help lead the team past a tight 2-3A district.

Dixon graduated from high school in neighboring Kermit before he went on to get his degree in Exercise and Sports Studies from Tarleton State University.  From Tarleton, he got his first coaching and teaching job at RL Turner High School in Carrollton.

"That was a long time ago, I taught World History and I was an assistant varsity baseball coach and freshman football coach," said Dixon.

Dixon did not stay in the assistant role for long, however.  He has seven years of head coaching experience from Tulia and Ralls in the Texas Panhandle.

"I had always wanted to get back to Monahans.  My grandparents ranch southeast of town and my grandfather died unexpectedly in '02 and that's the main reason I've been back," said Dixon.

He came to Monahans as an assistant in baseball to then-head coach Arcadio Rivera, who now assists.

"Me and Coach Rivera have had a really good relationship in the last five or six years that I've been here.  All three baseball coaches work together.  We all work with the varsity, and we all work with the JV.  I just moved over from the first base box to the third base box," he said.

Monahans remains in a district with Presidio, Pecos, and Fort Stockton, and Dixon expects the season to be competitive and tight.

Fort Stockton won the district baseball title in 2007, and the other three teams were all tied for the second-place spot.

"We were all right there bunched together, and we were the odd man out," said Dixon.  "I expect it to be tight again.  I might give a slight edge to Pecos with the experienced pitching they have coming back, but I think it will be one of those years again.  I don't see anyone going through the district undefeated."

The last time the Loboes won the district baseball championship was in District 4-3A in 2003, over second-place Midland Greenwood and third-place Pecos.  This may be the year for the Loboes.

"We might not be as individually talented as some of the teams that have been before us, but I think we're all on the same page and pulling the rope the same direction.  I think that's gonna' pay dividends for us," said Dixon.

"We're not as inconsistent as we were last year.  We play to our full potential every game," said senior Julian Hernandez, who plays second base and short stop and sometimes pitches for the Loboes.

The starting pitcher going into district for the Loboes this year will be senior Steven Valles, who according to Coach Dixon, is the only proven varsity-experienced pitcher on the roster.

Blake Hughes has the opportunity to be the number two pitcher, but not without competition.

"We could throw in there any number of kids, whether it be Ty Horton, Julian Hernandez, Chase Williams or Kalep Warden.  All of those guys have pitched so far in games, and I've been pleased with the way they've thrown the ball," said Dixon.

Hernandez enjoys having Dixon heading up the team.

"He's fun.  He's a good coach," said Hernandez.

Dixon and his wife, Gena, who works as the high school's registrar, have two daughters, Caroline and Madelyn, who are 12 and six years old.