Former Major League Baseball pitcher Matt Garza is among the athletes that will be inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame this year.
The Hall of Fame announced Thursday that five athletes and four teams will be inducted as part of the 2025 class.
Who’s getting in: Along with Garza, the inductees will be Melanie Parrent, Donna Pickel, Ray Unruh and Willie Wood.
- The four teams that will also be inducted are the 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968 Selma High School baseball teams, which won four consecutive Sequoia Division championships.
Go deeper: Garza played for Fresno State from 2003 to 2005 and was drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
- He quickly rose through the minor leagues to make his MLB debut with the Twins in 2006. Garza was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and helped lead the team to the World Series as he was named the MVP of the 2008 American League Championship Series. Another highlight from his 12-year career was when he threw a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers in 2010.
- Parent starred at Fresno State as one of the top softball pitchers in program history from 1985 to 1988. She threw seven no-hitters, two perfect games and 59 shutouts in her career en route to a school record 93 wins and a 0.55 ERA.
- Unruh played second base in fast pitch softball for the Dinuba Condors, Clovis Cowboys and Hanford Kings. Unruh was named All-World in 1954 and 1955 and was inducted into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame in 2007.
- Wood played college football at Coalinga College before moving to USC. He joined the Green Bay Packers in 1960 and had a 12-year career at safety in the NFL, which saw him named to eight Pro Bowls. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
What we’re watching: The Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame will hold its Enshrinement Dinner on Nov. 6 at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Fresno.
