|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
May 7, 2001
Lack of hits, error costs Eagles in 2-0 playoff loss
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, May 7, 2001 - One thing didn't change _ the Pecos Eagles were
one-hit. But everything else improved for the better for Pecos Friday night,
even if the Eagles' 2001 softball season did come to an end at the hands
of the Andrews Mustangs.
Playing against their former district rivals for the first time in three
years, the Eagles saw Andrews take advantage of a second inning error to
score the games' only runs, and pitcher Courtney Pool carried a no-hitter
for 5 2/3 innings before ending up with a 2-0 win in the area round of
the Class 4A playoffs at Muggs Field in Midland.
"We played a good game. I was proud of them," said Eagles' coach Tammy
Walls, whose last experience against Andrews was a one-hit, 22-0 loss to
close out Pecos' first season of varsity softball, in 1998. "Andrews is
a good defensive team, and we had some hard-hit balls that might have been
hits against other teams, but you've got to hit the holes against Andrews."
The Eagles showed that it wasn't 1998 anymore on Andrews' first batter
of the game, when Candace Mintana's hard shot was backhanded by second
baseman Alexa Marquez _ the only remaining starter for Pecos from that
22-0 game _ who then threw to first baseman Jessica Rodriguez for the out.
Pitcher Stephanie Herrera then struck out Farrah Lightfoot and got Lindsey
James on a pop-up bunt to retire the side.
"She pitched a smart game," Walls said. "She started to go inside to
try and jam them and it worked pretty well."
Herrera would strike out Emily Rampone to open the second inning as
well, before the Mustangs got the break they needed, when third baseman
Evelyn Galindo dropped a pop-up by pool as she and shortstop Ashley Salcido
collided while going for the ball. Pool then went to third when Nikki Baeza
singled to right field, and then Sara Badgett ripped a shot into the gap
in right-center field for a two-run triple.
Herrera then suckered Badgett into breaking for home on a Mindy Waldron
bouncer back to the mound and threw her out trying to get back to third
base, but the damage was done as far as the Eagles were concerned. Herrera
surrendered only two more hits the rest of the way, but after she reached
on the Mustangs' only error of the night, a two-out boot by Waldron at
shortstop in the first inning, Pool retired the next 15 Pecos batters in
order.
Herrera reached with two outs, and Pecos' only other base runner also
came with two outs, when Rodriguez blooped a single behind first base in
the sixth inning. But Pool then got Kathy Maldonado on a strike out, one
of 12 on the night for the senior, and then retired the side in the seventh
to end the game.
The loss ended Pecos' season with a 13-11 record, with eight of those
losses coming via shutout, including an early season 3-0 loss to Snyder,
which beat out Andrews for second place in District 4-4A and eliminated
El Paso Parkland, 5-1, in an area game held in Midland just before the
Pecos-Andrews contest. The Mustangs improved to 21-9 on the season and
will face 4-4A champion Big Spring in the Region I-4A quarterfinals this
week.
"They had 19 hits against Borger (in Andrews' 12-1 bi-district win),
so I thought Stephanie and our defense both did a great job. "Alexa had
a great play at second base, Ashley made a couple of good plays at shortstop
and Kathy was consistent in center field," said Walls.
Marquez, Salcido and Galindo are the lone Eagles graduating off this
year's team, which went undefeated in District 2-4A play an earned a bye
in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Pecos' district rivals, Clint
and San Elizario, were eliminated by El Paso Riverside and Parkland in
the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Pecos-Canyon playoff games in Big Spring
PECOS, May 7, 2001 - The Pecos Eagles will take on the Canyon Eagles in
the area round of the Class 4A baseball playoffs this Friday and Saturday
at Howard College in Big Spring.
Game 1 of the best-of-three series will be at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, with
Game 2 at 10 a.m. on Saturday. A third game, if needed, would be about
1 p.m. Saturday.
The two Eagle teams will meet in the playoffs for the first time in
14 years after Canyon rallied to beat Big Spring in their bi-district playoff
series over the weekend. The Steers won the opener on Friday, 4-3, but
the Eagles came back to win the final two games on Saturday, 8-7 and 11-10.
Pecos drew a first round bye after winning the District 2-4A title.
Eagles' coach Bubba Williams said Canyon rallied from five- and seven-run
deficits in the final two games to win. "They don't quit. If you're going
to put them away, you better put them away or they'll come back on you,"
he said.
The winner of the series will face the winner of the area round series
between Frenship and El Paso Burges.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
|
