Jim Mentz, who was a physical education teacher and girls soccer coach and baseball coach at Palo Verde for nearly four decades, will fill the vacant baseball coaching position at Cienega, pending Vail School Board approval.
Mentz, known as Mr. Palo Verde at the school, coached the Titans’ baseball program for the last 36 years. He led the Titans to a state championship in 2014 and had deep playoff runs in the 1990s.
He is from New York and moved to Tucson to attend Arizona, where he earned a degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences.
Mentz also taught and coached in TUSD for three decades at Howell Elementary School, Magee Middle School, Pueblo High School, Catalina High School, but he was mostly at Palo Verde.
He compiled more than 300 career wins at Palo Verde, the most in school history. He put time, money and effort into maintaining the Titans’ baseball facilities. He organized the annual Palo Verde alumni baseball game, a unique venture of any Southern Arizona high school.
In girls soccer, Mentz led his teams to three state finals and one semifinal. He won 380 games in 37 years as the coach of that program. He stopped coaching girls soccer in 2024.
He also was the public-address announcer of Palo Verde’s football games for more than 30 years.
In an article published by the Tucson Unified School District last year, Mentz said he enjoys the community involvement of a program.
“To the parents of incoming freshmen, if your kid has never played baseball, that’s OK. We’ll teach them,” he told TUSD. “They’ll get better, and we’ll make it fun. I bring back alumni coaches, we run fall and summer leagues, it’s more than just the game. It’s about building a team, and a family.”
“Once a Titan, always a Titan,” Mentz also stated. “This community has given me everything. I just want to give back.”
Mentz will be the third Cienega baseball coach in as many years in the spring.
Andres Hackman coached the program this season after Kelly Johnson stepped down following the 2025 season to become the boys golf coach.
Johnson was a coach of the baseball program over the last couple of decades, including as the head coach from 2017 to 2025.
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