{"id":39949,"date":"2026-09-17T09:01:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=39949"},"modified":"2026-09-17T09:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:01:26","slug":"tre-mendez-still-hitting-30-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/tre-mendez-still-hitting-30-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Tre Mendez: Still hitting 30 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late Richard Canales had a cool idea 30 years ago: Let’s put together a family softball team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe wanted to a chance to watch all the cousins play together,\u201d his son, Victor, remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That first bunch brought together Victor and Richard’s other son, Rick, plus Tommy and Joey Mendez, Mark and Bob Corral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other Corrals \u2013 Lenny, Lance and Tony Corral \u2013 were sought but weren’t available for the first game. So a couple of \u201cless athletic\/old\u201d (Victor’s words) guys were recruited: Heath Mendez, Jesse Mendez and Scott Isch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter \u201cwas my brother-in-law; we always said he represented Ron Secaur, the white guy in the band,\u201d Victor explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The team soon had a name: Tre Mendez. It refers to three Mendez guys playing in bands in this area during the Big Band era: Bob Mendez, Blas Mendez and Manual Mendez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we formed the Tre Mendez team, many of us cousins were already playing with different teams, so to be playing with family once again was a memorable experience,\u201d Bob Corral said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeath was our catcher and had more passed balls than Caitlin Clark. But did he talk smack to the batters. He was in the right position.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAnd Tommy Mendez being ejected from the elimination game at Turner\u2019s for hitting a home run and smashing someone\u2019s car windshield in the process was a classic.,\u201d Bob recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 1996, Tre Mendez finally played a tournament together \u2026 and won a lot of games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team played in a one-day Fort Wayne Turners tournament and went 4-2, taking third place in a ASA state qualifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were 12 other teams in the event: \u201cEstablished teams who knew each other, had played together, etc.,\u201d Bob Corral remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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