Larry Van Allen knows all about perserverance.

As a star baseball player at Warren Central and then Grambling, he had dreams of a pro baseball career. With a finely tuned athletic physique and love of baseball, Allen has been around the game for as long as he can remember.

He toiled in leagues in varying levels from Tecate, Mexico, to Albany, N.Y., to Springfield, Mo., and finally now in Laredo, Texas.

So when Allen said his team never gives up, he is a pretty good authority.

&#8220Our guys are playing really hard right now and are starting to believe in themselves,” said Allen, the Laredo Broncos’ manager by circumstance.

Allen joined the team, a member of the independent United Baseball League at the beginning of the season as a hitting coach.

After a 5-20 start, due mostly to a shaky bullpen, one manager was let go and Dan Shwam was hired. The former Jackson Senators coach led the team into August, but a family situation in California led to his departure.

The team then turned to Allen as its head coach.

&#8220After he left, I was running everything,” Allen said Saturday afternoon before the Broncos open the playoffs against Edinburg in the first round of the UBL postseason. &#8220I got thrown right into the fire.”

The team went 7-7 since Allen took over and qualified as the fourth seed for the playoffs. Edinburg finished in first place and has gone 9-9 against Laredo this year.

The Broncos were scheduled to play Saturday night, but there was no score available.

Allen still lives in Vicksburg with his wife, Marie, and 12-year-old son, Brandon. He is a fixture at Warren Central baseball practices and games. He said former WC coach Sam Temple and Randy Broome were instrumental in teaching him about coaching.

Now that he is a head coach, Allen said it will likely lead to his staying in the coaching business. He plans on giving one more stab at playing this fall, but if that doesn’t work out, he said he would likely continue to pursue coaching jobs.