Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays poses during Photo Day on Friday, February 20, 2009 at Charlotte County Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida. Photo by Robert Rogers/MLB Photos

Dan Taylor, the executive director for the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame, joined Phil Benotti on his “Behind the Bench” radio show on 1430 ESPN Fresno Wednesday afternoon to announce the inductees of the 2025 Hall of Fame class. 

The annual Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner will be held on Nov. 6 at the Doubletree Hotel in Downtown Fresno.

This year’s inductees are:

• Matt Garza, Baseball
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• Melanie Parrent, Softball  
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• Donna Pickel, Coaching 
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• Ray Unruh, Softball 
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• Willie Wood, Football
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• 1965-68 Selma High School Baseball

 

Matt Garza, former MLB pitcher for 12 seasons, was born in Selma and graduated from Washington Union High School in Fresno. Garza pitched for Fresno State and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins with the 25th overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft. 

Garza spent two seasons in Minnesota before heading to the Tampa Bay Rays, where he saw the most success in his career. In his three seasons with the Rays, Garza had a 3.86 earned run average(ERA) in 592.1 innings. 

Garza shined when the lights were the brightest. In his first season in Tampa Bay, Garza helped lead the Rays to their first World Series appearance in franchise history. Garza won the 2008 American League Championship Series MVP with a 2-0 record and a 1.38 ERA against the Boston Red Sox. 

In his last season with the Rays in 2010, Garza threw a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers.

After his time in Tampa Bay, Garza played for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and the Milwaukee Brewers before retiring after the 2017 season.

Melanie Parrent was one of the greatest softball pitchers in Fresno State history. Parrent was on the team from 1985-1988 and pitched seven no-hitters and two perfect games. 

 

She has a school record of 93 wins and a career ERA of 0.55. In her sophomore and senior years, she was named Fresno State’s Female Athlete of the Year. During her senior year, Parrent was also named an All-American.

Before Donna Pickel became a legendary coach at Fresno State, she was a professor, getting her career started in 1967. Three years later, Pickel became the head coach of the women’s basketball team. In her seven seasons, she led Fresno State to two conference championships. 

In 1977, Pickel launched softball as a club sport. One year later, softball became an official varsity sport. As coach, she led the team to four conference titles and a Women’s College World Series runner-up finish in 1982.

 

Her .886 winning percentage is among the best of any coach, regardless of gender or sport in Fresno State history.

Ray Unruh thrived in an era when men’s fast-pitch softball attracted large crowds across the Central Valley. He competed in 11 ISC (International Softball Congress) World Championships, posting a .333 batting average. Playing for the Dinuba Condors, Clovis Cowboys and Hanford Kings, he earned All-World honors in 1954 and 1955 and was inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in 2007.

 

Willie Wood gained recognition in 1956 as a junior college All-American at Coalinga College. After two injury-plagued seasons at USC, he joined the Green Bay Packers in 1960, playing safety for 12 seasons. His interception helped secure a 35-10 Super Bowl I victory. An eight-time Pro Bowler, Wood later broke barriers as the first African American head coach in both the WFL (1975) and CFL (1980).

 

Wood was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989 and died in 2020. 

One of the most dominant high school baseball programs of the 1960s, Selma High won four consecutive Sequoia Division Valley Championships under coach Allen Cropsey (FAHOF Class of 1995). The team’s success was driven by Lloyd Allen, a three-sport star and USC football commit. As a freshman, he struck out 19 batters in the championship game. After his senior season, Allen was drafted in the first round by the Angels and went on to pitch seven seasons in the major leagues with the Angels, Rangers, and White Sox.

 

On the radio show, Taylor said scouts believed that Allen had the potential to be even better than Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver.