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The university of texas permian basin

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2026 Baseball Roster

Manny Valles

2 Gael Bernal

  • Position Infielder
  • Height 5-8
  • Weight 185
  • Class Junior
  • Hometown El Paso, Texas
  • Highschool Americas

Biography

Awards:
  • First-Team All-Lone Star Conference (SS) (2026)
  • UTPB Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Month (March 2026)
  • College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Baseball Team (2025-26)
2026 (Junior):
Named to the 2026 LSC Preseason Players to Watch list for position players... Named First-Team All-LSC... Started in all 50 games across three positions on the infield. He started 33 games at shortstop, 12 at second base and five at third base. He also hit leadoff in a team-high 18 games this season... Hit .402 with 48 runs, 72 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 45 RBI's, 98 total bases, 19 walks, 10 hit by pitches, a .476 on-base percentage and a .547 slugging percentage in 179 at-bats.... Was one of two Falcons to start in all 50 games this season and led the team in batting average, hits, RBI's, walks and on-base percentage... Was also second on the squad in at-bats and runs scored, and was tied for the team-lead with 10 hit by pitches and four sacrifice flies... Led the LSC in hits and also ranked fifth in batting average, 15th in at bats, 19th in on-base percentage, tied for 20th in RBI’s, tied for 21st in runs scored and tied for 29th in slugging percentage... Led UTPB with nine three-hit games and 23 total multi-hit games this season, and had 12 games with at least two runs scored and 10 games with at least two RBI's... Also had UTPB's longest hitting streak this season at 13 games (Feb. 27-Mar. 20), and reached base safely in each of the final 10 games of the season (Apr. 10-26)... Defensively, he led the Falcons with 120 assists, was second with 187 chances, helped turn 17 doubles play, and posted a great .973 fielding percentage (5 errors) playing mostly on a tough dirt infield... Defensively, he was tied for seventh in the conference in assists, was 30th in total chances and tied for 31st in fielding percentage... His eight defensive assists at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (Feb. 16) tied for the third most in a single game in the LSC this season, while his other game with seven defensive assists vs. West Texas A&M (Feb. 28) tied for the seventh-most in the conference... Was named UTPB's Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Month for March. He played in all 17 games, reached base more than half the time (.571 on-base percentage), and nearly hit .500 (.492) throughout the course of the month. His numbers that month also included 15 runs, 29 hits, two doubles, one triple, 16 RBI's, seven walks and four hit by pitches across 59 at-bats. He had nearly as many runs (15) and RBI's (16) as games played (17), and averaged 1.7 hits per game. Almost as impressively, Bernal committed just one error in 47 chances (.979 fielding percentage) while playing at three different positions on the infield. Bernal hit .556 (10-18) and led the team in both hits (10) and RBI's (7) in the series at Eastern New Mexico. He then hit .688 (11-16), led the team in hits (11) and hit by pitches (3) while posting a .737 on-base percentage and a .813 slugging percentage in the home series vs. Cameron. Lastly during the month of March, Bernal hit .556 (5-for-9) in the series at No. 18 The University of Texas at Tyler... Started off the final month of the season with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning in game one vs. Sul Ross... Then hit .467 (7-for-15), led the team with eight runs scored, had both a double and a home run, and also had a .556 on-base percentage and a .733 slugging percentage in the series at Oklahoma Christian University... In UTPB's final home series against No. 17 St. Mary's, he hit .500 (7-14), led the team with six runs scored and four walks; added five RBI's, a double and a home run; and also had a .600 on-base percentage and a .786 slugging percentage... In the final series of the season, Bernal drew a hit by pitch to get on base and scored the winning run in the seventh inning in UTPB's last win of the season at Lubbock Christian... Named to the Fall 2025 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll... Named to the 2025-26 Academic All-District® Team, selected by College Sports Communicators.

New Mexico Highlands (2024-2025):
Freshman of the Year at Highlands... Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Gold Glove Award in 2025... Started 47 games at second base for the Cowboys in 2025... .956 fielding percentage was the best of any middle infielder in the conference... Did not commit an error in the final 26 games of the season for the Cowboys... Over .300 hitter in college (.392 average freshman year; .340 average sophomore year with eight home runs)... Named to the 2025 RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.

Americas HS:
All-City shortstop in 2023... .400 batting average in high school... Team was District Champions in 2022 and 2023... Earned Academic Award.

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

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Career Statistics

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