Year Inducted: 2013
Nominated By: David Lange
Sports Competed In: Baseball
Athlete, Coach or Contributor: Coach
High School:
Stan was the head baseball coach at San Bernardino High School (1973)... He led the Cardinals to the Ivy League Championship in his first year...He then moved on to Aquinas High School in San Bernardino in 1977...From 1979-81, Sanchez let the Falcons to three consecutive De Anza League Championships and earning three "Coach-of-the-Year" honors in that same span.
Junior College:
Sanchez moved up to the junior college ranks in 1982 at San Bernardino Valley...He won three divisional titles, claim three Foothill Athletic Conference Championships and earn three state regional crowns... In 1986, Stanz was named Foothill Conference "Coach-of-the-Year"... During his tenure at Valley, Sanchez was also involved in developing the San Bernardino Spirit, a minor league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners organization. He even had a hand in coaching future-hall-of-famer Ken Griffey, Jr.
College:
Hired on Jan. 22, 1993 by CSU-Pueblo to lead the way when CSU-Pueblo reinstated the ThunderWolves' baseball program in 1994 after a nine-year hiatus.
College Achievements:
● Over the past 21 years has built one of the winningest NCAA Division II baseball programs in the nation at Colorado State University-Pueblo.
● Led the Pack to the 1994 Mile High Intercollegiate Baseball League title.
● Two-time Colorado Athletic Conference champions (1994, 1995).
● Won six Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) titles (1996, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2013).
● Won one NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament championship (1996) and placed fifth that year at the Division II College World Series.
● Made eight regional tournament appearances (the latest in 2013).
● Ranked in the NCAA Division II's Top 30 poll over 50 times, with the highest ranking coming in 2004 when the Pack held down the #2 spot for two weeks.
● The ThunderWolves' all-time winningest baseball coach, with 686 wins.
● Sanchez has the most wins of any active coach in the RMAC and is just 14 wins away from becoming just the 42nd coach in NCAA Division II history to post 700 career wins.
● Voted by peers as the Mile High Intercollegiate Baseball League (MHIBL) and RMAC "Coach-of-the-Year" in 1994, 1996 and 2001 respectively.
● Named the West Region "Coach-of-the-Year" in 1996.
Throughout his entire career at all levels, he has more than 1,000 coaching wins...Prior to being named the T-Wolves' head coach, Sanchez was an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge, an NCAA I program...Established CSU-Pueblo Baseball Academy 1993...Established University of Southern/CSU-Pueblo Baseball Rendezvous Golf Event with Major League Baseball Celebs.