Cardinal Baseball Booster Club, Inc.

 Head Baseball Coach of the Cardinals,  Nick Ozuna III is no stranger to Bellaire High School or the rich tradition of the Bellaire Baseball Program.  Prior to taking over in 2017, Coach Ozuna served on the Bellaire Baseball staff from 2005-2016 as a Varsity Assistant Coach.  In addition to working for Bellaire High School for more than a decade, he is a 1994 Bellaire graduate and was the starting shortstop for Bellaire’s 1994 5A state championship team. Ozuna was inducted into the Bellaire Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 for his accomplishments as a player under legendary Coach Rocky Manuel.

 In 12 years as an Assistant, Coach Ozuna  served in many different roles. From 2005-2007 his primary responsibility was coaching the infielders, while also coaching 1^st base. In his 1^st 4 years his impact on the program was taking shape as 26 players went on to play collegiate baseball. One year later in 2008, Coach Ozuna was called upon to change roles and became the teams Pitching Coach. That year the Cardinals pitching staff posted an anemic ERA of 1.00 that led all of greater Houston as they marched into the state playoffs, which ended in Round Rock in the State Championship Semi-Finals game. Coach Ozuna served as Pitching Coach from 2008-2011, producing 8 college pitchers, with three of those pitchers being drafted by MLB teams. Coach Ozuna has coached 8 other Bellaire players that have made it to the professional ranks and over 65 players he has coached have gone on to play in College.

From 2012-2015 Coach Ozuna’s role expanded even more as he went back to coaching infielders. He assisted the late,  Coach Tedder with the hitters, worked with base runners and bunters, coached 1^st base, was in charge of defensive positioning during games, and was the lead scout of opponents, which further enhanced his development as a coach. In 2016, Coach Ozuna was named Associate Head Coach of the Bellaire Cardinals.

 After graduating from Bellaire in 1994 Coach Ozuna earned a scholarship to play Division 1 baseball and continue his education at Sam Houston State University. In 1996, his team won the Southland Conference Tournament Championship which earned them a berth to the Regional Tournament, hosted by the University of Texas at Disch Faulk field. The Bearkats shocked the #1 team in the country by beating the Miami Hurricanes and eventually lost to the University of Texas and UCLA to end their great run. In 1998, Coach Ozuna transferred to Houston Baptist University, where he played for 1 year and finished up his double major degree in Business Administration and Business Management.

Prior to beginning his coaching career, Nick Ozuna worked as a NASD Registered Representative and Equities Trader.  His transition from business to the business of educating and coaching, began in 2004, at Westbury HS, where he served as Assistant Varsity Coach.  Later that year, he was hired by Bellaire as a Career and Technology Educator and coach -  and the rest is history.

Coach Ozuna grew up in Southwest Houston, with his dad, mom, and two brothers who were also Bellaire Cardinal baseball players.  In 2005, Coach Ozuna married BHS alumnus, Melissa Workman.  In 2006, they welcomed twin sons, Dominic and Vincent.  Sister, Nina, joined the family in 2008.  All three attend Bellaire High School.

Cardinal Baseball’s legacy has had three big chapters. The one Coach Howard Allen started by winning the 1^st state championship in 1960. The one Coach Ray Knoblauch started 2 years later by winning 4 state championships in 1962, 1971, 1978, and 1986. And the one Rocky Manuel left by taking it all in 1994 and 1999 and having some great runs thereafter. Coach Ozuna, leaves us with this message, “The hardest thing to do in amateur or professional sports is to repeat as champion or replace a legend or legacy of coaches, but Bellaire High School and our Community is ready for the next legacy to begin, I embrace that and look forward to the challenge.”

CONTACT COACH OZUNA   nozuna@houstonisd.org

Coach Newsom graduated from Carbondale HS in Illinois where he was a three-sport athlete.  He played collegiate baseball at McKendree University, where he was both an infielder and a pitcher.  Coach Newsom began coaching at Bellaire in 2015.   At Bellaire HS , he teaches Special Education Environmental Systems and Integrated Physics/Chemistry.  Coach Newsom is  the “self-proclaimed” BEST BP thrower in the country.

 Coach Newsom and his wife Cynthia live in Houston, and have two children, Brady and Everett.

Coach Manuel brings his thirty plus years of experience, including 24 as the Bellaire Cardinal Head Coach, to the Bellaire program as he assists Coach Ozuna in directing the Cardinals to another winning season.

Not a native Texan, but getting here as fast as he could, Coach and his wife Lisa, have three grown children and four grandchildren.

An integral part of the Bellaire Baseball legacy of legendary coaches, Coach Rocky Manuel is the winningest coach in the history of Houston ISD, and is the third All-Time winningest coach in the state of Texas.  A member of the Bellaire Baseball Hall of Fame, Coach Manuel is also a 2017 inductee into the (THSBCA) Texas High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

A member of the Bellaire Cardinal coaching staff since 2005, Coach Moritz graduated from Bellaire in 1982.  He went on to play at San Jacinto Junior College in 1983 and 1984.  In 1984, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and played in the Red Sox organization until 1989. Coach Moritz is a University of Houston graduate.

Chris and his wife, Pam, have been married for over thirty years and have two girls, Alexa,  and Brianna. Coach Moritz was inducted into the Bellaire High School Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996 

Coach Drake returned to Bellaire for the 2011 season, bringing with him over thirty years of coaching and teaching experience. Holding a BA in Education from Linfield College in Oregon, Coach Drake has coached both football and baseball, and was Head Baseball Coach at Galveston Ball and Scarborough High Schools, as well as an assistant at Bellaire from 2003 – 2007, before returning in 2011.

 A  retiree from the public education system, Coach Drake will spend his leisure years working with the Varsity Staff. He and his wife Robyn have two children: Jonathan and Andrea, as well as twin granddaughters, Brooke and Blaire.