Huston-Tillotson baseball has received a boost of support from its school administration and the interest received from prospects across the country looking to fill the school’s head coaching position was significant. Ultimately, the track record of success of Chase Almendarez, his explosive lineups, and recruiting set him apart from the field. He’s made an immediate impact at every program he’s led and has been called one of the most energetic and focused young coach around. The athletic department is confident he is ready to lead the program to a national championship.
Almendarez has a reputation for developing hitters and is also considered one of the top young up and coming recruiters in college baseball. This will help elevate the program.
This past October, the athletic department dismissed former head coach Mike Hearn as the Ram baseball program has not played a single game in nearly two years since the COVID pandemic spread ending the 2020 season. Once the job became vacant the school’s administration started searching for a candidate.
One name that was being considered was Nick Strong, pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Wiley College. Strong was in the process of setting up an interview before the school went in a different direction which ultimately nixed Strong’s chance for an interview.
Almendarez was a two-year letterman on the Round Rock High School baseball team, played two years of junior college baseball at Cisco College and Eastfield College, earning his associates degree in May 2016. He then continued his collegiate baseball career for two years at the University of Houston-Victoria earning his undergraduate degree in communications from UHV in May 2018. There Almendarez was a Daktronics/NAIA Scholar athlete in 2017 and 2018, as well as earning Red River Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete honors.
In 2021, Almendarez assisted Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers as the Alternate Site Operation Manager providing hitting instructions and coordination to the Rangers major league ballclub’s group of 20 to 28 players who were not added to the Rangers’ 26-man Opening Day roster to continue training in the event of a call-up.
Coach Almendarez also served as the Manager of Baseball Operations for the Round Rock Express Minor League Baseball team and as head coach in the Texas Collegiate Summer League, where he managed the team to a first-place finish in its division.