The Hall Calls

Stan Bonewitz (B.A. '68) and Leticia Morales-Bissaro (B.A. '86) join the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2012

by Chad Peters, Sports Information Coordinator




If Stan Bonewitz had gotten his wish 40-some years ago, the longtime high school basketball coach might never have entered the San Antonio Hall of Fame on the merits of a decorated career on the hardwood.

"I would have liked a career in baseball," said Bonewitz (B.A. '68), who played both baseball and basketball for the Rattlers and was inducted into the St. Mary's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985 as a basketball player.

"My first two years at St. Mary's, I was real good in baseball. The last two years," he said, chuckling, "I could have sworn I had a hole in my bat."

With his swing providing diminishing returns, Bonewitz switched gears and followed his other love, playing and coaching basketball. A coaching legend at East Central High School in San Antonio, he led the team to the 1995 Class 5A State Championship.

Leticia Morales-Bissaro (B.A. '86), though, never sought an alternative to the diamond.

A softball pitcher through and through, she proved a pioneer of sorts at St. Mary's—and for the sport. Leading the Rattlers to the 1986 NAIA national championship (the first national title in St. Mary's history) her senior year, Morales-Bissaro's All-American career helped pave the road for a Rattlers program that would go on to win the 2002 NCAA Division II national championship and remain in contention nationally long thereafter.

"I take a lot of pride in that, personally," Morales-Bissaro said. "I don't talk about it too much, but when I hear people tell me, ‘You're the one who started it. You all did it!'—it just really means a lot."

Recently, both Morales-Bissaro and Bonewitz were honored on the grandest of stages for what they meant not only to St. Mary's, but to the Alamo City as a whole.

Bonewitz, Morales-Bissaro among San Antonio's elite

The two were among the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2012 inductees during the Feb. 10 ceremony at the Alamodome. Also inducted this year were former San Antonio Spurs great Bruce Bowen, former NFL Pro Bowl player David Hill and Lt. Col. John Russell, a noted U.S. equestrian leader.

"It still hasn't sunk in," said Morales-Bissaro, who now serves as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission at St. Mary's. "It's just a very prestigious award. When you win something like this, you can't help but look back at your younger years and really reminisce."

Some may call it happenstance that two Rattlers were among the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in the same year, but after recalling their remarkable careers, it was only a matter of time before both received the call.

A legend in every sense of the word, Morales-Bissaro was the first St. Mary's female athlete inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame and remains the only Lady Rattler to have her jersey number retired. She was also inducted into the National Hispanic Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Morales-Bissaro took St. Mary's to a national championship in 1986, winning the NAIA national crown with a record-setting performance that has stood the test of time. She still holds numerous national tournament records, including most strikeouts (65), most complete games (8), most appearances (8) and most wins (7).

A two-time NAIA All-American, Morales-Bissaro finished with 64 career wins and 677 career strikeouts from 1983 to 1986, and was the Rattlers' Most Valuable Player all four years.

It was the kind of career that began to come into focus late in her junior season, but she would be challenged to overcome an unexpected hurdle.

St. Mary's first national title won despite obstacles

Before heading to Indianapolis for the national tournament in 1985, the Rattlers were practicing on Mother's Day when Morales-Bissaro took a hard-hit groundball off her right hand.

It left her with torn tendons in a finger, an injury that certainly made it a challenge to pitch at the national tournament.

"That was the year I made First Team All-American, and I went to a banquet where I'm receiving an honor with a swollen right finger," said Morales-Bissaro of an injury that continues to bother her to this day. "Then, in the games, I couldn't throw my rise ball or my drop. I only had my fastball and my changeup."

But what she was able to do with just those two pitches made her realize what could be in store the next year.

"I wasn't healthy, but I was still able to strike out players," Morales-Bissaro said. "After that tournament, throughout the whole next year I thought, ‘If I'm healthy, we're going to win this thing.' That's when I realized we had a chance."

Her daughter, Maricela Bissaro, is now a Rattler herself and wears her mother's temporarily unretired No. 24 for the softball team.

Local high school team earned statewide attention

Bonewitz, too, proved to be a winner throughout, even when facing obstacles.

A high school coaching legend in Texas, Bonewitz won 708 games over his 36 years as a high school basketball coach, including taking East Central to the state championship in 1995 with a perfect 35-0 record.

Despite entering the state tournament unbeaten, Bonewitz still recalls the skepticism his squad faced before beating Dallas Carter 108-86 in the state title game.

"The [Dallas] metroplex had a complete hold over basketball," Bonewitz said. "We had a lot of skeptics who looked at our schedule and felt like we played [weaker opponents]. Winning that title was good for San Antonio basketball."

Bonewitz's path to coaching serendipitous

Bonewitz was a four-year baseball and basketball player in the 1960s at St. Mary's, where he learned all about coaching under a pair of icons: Basketball Coach Ed Messbarger and Baseball Coach Elmer Kosub.

Incidentally, the career path of another Rattler great, Buddy Meyer—Bonewitz's teammate at St. Mary's for one season—ended up influencing Bonewitz's own coaching path.

"When I graduated, I went to coach at St. Gerard," said Bonewitz, who, like Morales-Bissaro, was a San Antonio native and a graduate of St. Gerard High School. "Buddy was coaching at Antonian but left for St. Mary's to be the assistant. The coach at St. Gerard then went to Antonian, opening up the basketball job there at St. Gerard.

"I got a head start. Instead of waiting, I was able to take over a program right away."

Best known for the creative style of play he instilled at East Central, where he coached for 24 seasons before retiring in 2005, Bonewitz's teams made a habit of running the opposition out of the gym by pressing on defense and running on offense.

"I really enjoyed playing baseball," said Bonewitz, an impact basketball player during his days at St. Mary's, which included averaging 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds as a freshman. "But coaching, I always liked basketball. There's more constant activity, more creativity."

Both Bonewitz and Morales-Bissaro are living proof that, with a little creativity and determination, the St. Mary's Rattlers can push through even the most daunting detours and build famed careers.