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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Monahans, Crane teams win Pecos Jr. Relays
The Monahans Loboes swept the boys division titles and the Loboes and
Crane Golden Cranes split the girls titles on Friday at the West of the Pecos
Junior Relays, the opening meet of the 2002 track season for area junior
high teams.
Pecos' seventh and eighth grade boys teams both placed fourth in their
divisions, while the Eagle girls were fifth in both the seventh and eighth
grade standings.
Monahans won the seventh grade boys division 183-121 margin over Fort
Stockton, followed by Crane with 82 point and Pecos with 67, while the Loboes
scored 213 points to 189 for Fort Stockton in the eighth grade division,
with Crane edging Pecos by a 52-51 margin for third place.
The 200 meter dash for the seventh grade boys was the Eagles' most successful
event of the day. Larry Johnson won with a 26.41 time and was followed by
teammates Luis Ortega and Isaiah Rayos in second and third place. Earlier,
Ortega had won the 300 meter dash with a 42.43 time.
Other points for Pecos came from Johnson, second in the high jump; Jeremy
Ramirez, third in the 100 meter dash and sixth in the long jump; Victor Alonzo,
fifth in the 100, and the 1200 and weight-man relay teams, both of which
finished second.
The top finishes by the eighth grade boys were second place efforts by
Josh Anchondo in the shot put and by the weight man relay. Julio Orosco was
fourth in the shot put, Hector Aguilar was third in the 200 meter dash, fourth
in the 100 meters and sixth in the triple jump; Pete Juarez was fourth in
the 200 meters and sixth in the long jump; Lupito Bustamantes was fifth in
the discus; Jonathan Levario was sixth in the high jump; Daniel Acosta was
sixth in the 65 meter hurdles; Luis Licon was sixth in the 600 meters; Luis
Nunez was sixth in the 200 meter hurdles, and the 1200 meter relay team was
fourth.
In the seventh grade division Crane won with 140 points to 131 for Fort
Stockton and 129 for Presidio. Monahans had 104 points followed by Pecos
with 50. For the eighth grade girls, Monahans won by a 190-154 margin over
Crane, while Fort Stockton had 91 points, Presidio 71 and Pecos 38.
The seventh grade girls had two gold medals, from Dina Ortiz, who took
the shot put with a 23-foot throw, and Bianca Baeza, who won the long jump
with a 12-foot-8¾ effort. Cassandra Terrazas had the Eagles' other
medal, finishing third in the discus, while Bianca Baeza was fourth in the
600 meter run; Jennifer Palomino was fifth in the 100 meter dash; Amalie
Herrera was fifth in the 200 meters. The girls' 800 meter relay team was
fourth, and the 400 and 1200 meter relay teams placed fifth.
The eighth grade girls did well in the field events, picking up two gold
medals. Jessica Flores won the discus with a 66-foot-1½ throw and
Katie Gulihur won the high jump with a 4-foot-8 leap. Flores was also fourth
in the shot put and Ashley Orona was sixth in the long jump.
In the running events, Jennifer Martinez was fourth in the 1200 meter
run and fifth in the 600 meters; Savannah Ewing placed sixth in the 55 meter
hurdles and the 800 meter relay team took fifth and the 400 meter relay team
was sixth.
Friday's meet was the first of five this season for the Eagles' junior
high track squads. They'll compete at the Permian Basin Junior Relays in
Kermit this Saturday.
Eagles don't blow away or blow lead to Panthers
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
It normally doesn't take a cold front dropping temperatures 25 degrees
in an hour while sending blowing dust across the field to make a Pecos
Eagle-Fort Stockton Panther baseball game have an interesting finish, but
the front that blew into town midway through Monday night's game helped
give a little twist to the usual Pecos-Fort Stockton plotline.
Playing at home, the Eagles often jump out to big leads over the Panthers,
only to have to try and hold on at the end. That's what happened on Monday,
as the Eagles took an 9-0 lead after one inning and led 13-5 through five
innings, only to see the Panthers rally to within two runs in the seventh,
and get the tying run to the plate with none out before Pecos was able to
hold on for a 13-11 victory.
"We jumped out ahead of them and then got lackadaisical, and they got
the momentum going that got them back in the game," said Eagles' coach Bubba
Williams. "Then we made three errors back to back and they got a couple of
hits off Matthew (Levario) and got back into the game."
Having played a 10 inning game on Friday followed by another seven-inning
game Saturday against Monahans, and with four games coming up this weekend
in the Loboes' Sandhills Tournament, the Eagles were short on pitchers going
into Monday night's game, leaving Williams to stay with Levario until the
seventh, when Juan Vasquez opened with a single and then scored when Freddy
Torres misplayed a Joey Parrish single.
Rigo Ramirez came on after that with the top of the Fort Stockton line-up
due to bat, and he had little trouble picking up his first save of the season,
striking out Blake Yarborough and Cyril Ward, then ending the game on a Mike
Morales fly out to center field.
In contrast, Panthers' coach Russell McGuiart switched pitchers twice
in the first four innings, before Chance Bruno came on and did a relatively
good job of shutting the Eagles down. He did give up Pecos' final three runs,
all unearned, in the fifth, after two errors allowed Richard Rodriguez to
reach base and score, and Torres followed with his and the Eagles' first
home run of the year, a two-run shot to left-center field.
By then, the warm temperatures and calm winds had given away to the cold
front and blowing dust, which helped lead to confusion on a Mason Abila pop
up that Yarborough trapped in center field. David Elkins singled after Rodriguez
reached on an error but lost sight of the ball and was thrown out at second,
but the throw home then bounced by Ward, allowing Rodriguez to score.
But the winds would help Fort Stockton in the sixth, after three errors
by Pecos set-up a four-run inning for the Panthers.
Lorenzo Serrano booted two straight balls by Yarborough and Ward with
one out, but then almost got out of it, fielding a Morales grounder and stepping
on second to force Ward. But his throw to first was dropped by Barney Rodriguez,
scoring Vasquez, who was hit by Levario's first pitch of the inning. Joe
Rojas then got one up into the dust for a two-run double, and Matthew Pules
then singled him home to make it 13-10. Bruno then singled to put the tying
run at the plate, but Levario struck out Victor Lujan to end the inning.
Lujan started on the mound for Fort Stockton and lasted only five batters.
He walked Richard Rodriguez and David Elkins to open the game, and then gave
up a one-out RBI single to Torres and a two-run single to Rigo Ramirez before
he was replaced by Terrance Ellis. He would later wild pitch Ramirez home
before getting out of trouble, but gave up four more runs in the second.
Errors by Bruno in left field and Vasquez at first base scored one run,
and after Torres reached on an infield hit and Ramirez walked, Barney Rodriguez
singled home two runs , and Ramirez scored with two outs on an Ellis wild
pitch.
Fort Stockton got two runs back in the third on three singles, the last
by Ward that scored two runs, but Pecos answered with two runs of their own
in the bottom of the inning, on doubles by Torres and Ramirez and an RBI
single by Barney Rodriguez. Fort Stockton then cut it to 10-5 in the top
of the fourth on a two-run triple by Vasquez before the winds kicked up as
the cold front arrived.
The win put Pecos at 2-1 on the season going into the Sandhills Tournament.
With the expansion of the tournament from eight to 12 teams, the Eagles will
have to play four games in order to win the tournament title, beginning with
a 3 p.m. game on Thursday against Lamesa.
The expanded tournament also has been split between Monahans and Kermit,
and win or lose, Pecos will play in Kermit on Friday, versus either Alpine
or Denver City.
Pecos girls looking to avoid third cancellation
After already seeing their first two Tuesday games of the 2002 softball
season canceled due to other conflicts, the Pecos Eagles are waiting to see
if the weather is a conflict for today's scheduled game in Lamesa against
the Golden Tornadoes.
Pecos and Lamesa are scheduled to play at 4 p.m., but coach Tammy Walls
said she didn't know if the cold front that blew through the area last night
would keep the game from being played.
"We're supposed to leave about 11 for the game, so I'll have to check
early," Walls said Monday, while her team worked out in windless 80-degree
weather at Martinez Field.
Pecos evened its season record at 3-3 this past Friday with a 10-0 win
over Alpine. The Eagles were to have opened the season against the Bucks
on Feb. 12, but that was canceled after Alpine made the Class 3A basketball
playoffs, while last Tuesday's game with Fort Stockton was wiped out due
to a conflict with TAAS testing.
Walls said the Eagles were without four of their regular players against
Alpine, but used a one-hitter by pitcher Stephanie Herrera and a nine-run
third inning to rout the Bucks.
"We were a little slow getting going, but in the third inning we had nine
hits and nine runs," said Walls, who added that Brittany Lobstein had a pair
of triples, including one in the first inning when the Eagles took a 1-0
lead.
The Eagles played without seniors Jessica Rodriguez and Kathy Maldonado
and freshmen Cheyenne Grice and Katie Lee. Rodriguez and Lee were out of
town, while Maldonado continues to wait in word about her injured knee while
Grice, her replacement, suffered a broken finger last week.
"Kathy Flores played first base for Jessica and I moved Mya (Gomez) over
from second to third for Katie Lee," said Walls. In the outfield, "Bre'Ann
(Windham) did an excellent job filling in in center field," she added.
Walls said if the Eagles play today, Herrera would probably pitch again,
though she would like to get a look at Lee pitching before district play
begins next month. After today's game, the Eagles' next game is on Friday
afternoon, at Fort Stockton.
Eagle teams place third at Sandhills Relays
The Pecos Eagles boys and girls track teams came away with third place
finishes on Saturday, at the season-opening Sandhills Relays in Monahans.
The boys used a pair of late second place finishes to move up a couple
of spots in the final standings, finishing with 81 points, five in back of
runner-up Fort Stockton and five in front of fourth place Crane. The girls
meanwhile, tied Seminole for third with 77 points, while Monahans defeated
Crane for the division title, 152 points to 131.
"We finished five points in back of second and 18 out of first (Monahans,
with 99 points) and we didn't even have our shot putters or high jumpers,"
said boys' coach Jerry Parent. "We had a real good meet. It was a lot different
from a year ago."
"Will (Armstrong) pulled off a bit of an upset in the 200. He was seeded
sixth and finished second," said Parent, while two races later, the Eagles
took advantage of a disqualification of Greenwood to move up from third to
second in the standings behind Crane, which offset a band handoff by the
Eagles on the early 400 meter relay that cost them a chance at points.
Jason Gonzales had Pecos' only gold medal on the day for the boys, winning
the 100 meter hurdles with a 15.9 second time. Jack Bradley was third in
the race, and Gonzales later came back to claim second in the 300 meter low
hurdles, while Bradley placed fourth.
Also winning second place medals Saturday were Peter Juarez in the triple
jump, and Ricky Plummer in the 400 meter dash. Other points for Pecos came
from Justin Lara and Armstrong, fourth and fifth in the pole vault; John
Parent, sixth in the discus; Jason Sanchez, sixth in the triple jump; Isaiah
Juarez, fourth in the 3200 meter run; and Genaro Mendoza, sixth in the 1600
meter run.
The girls picked up two gold medals on Saturday, from Jessica Martinez
in the 800 meter and 1600 meter runs. She finished with a 2:36.3 time in
the 800, while teammate Leslie Rodriugez was third four seconds behind, and
later won the 1600 in 5:59.4, with Rodriguez again placing third, this time
2½ seconds back. Martinez also finished tied for fourth in the high
jump.
"We did pretty good for the first track meet, but I told them it was only
the first one and there's still room for a lot of improvement," said coach
Roxie Chavez.
Stephanie Herrera had Pecos' other two medals, placing second in both
the shot put and discus, while Christina Arenivas was fifth in the long jump
and Mindy Harrison placed fifth in the triple jump. Tiana Terry took fourth
in the 200 meter dash and fifth in the 100 meters, while the girls 800 and
1600 meter relay teams were fourth for Pecos' other points on the day.
"They got out there and competed, and I'm really proud of them, but this
weekend it will be different, because I will be without several of the girls,"
Chavez said, including Martinez, Herrera and Rodriguez, when the Eagles go
to the Comanche Relays in Fort Stockton.
Greenwood was behind Pecos in both the boys and girls final standings,
with 76 points on the boys' side and 63 in the girls' division, while Big
Spring was fifth in the boys division with 71 points and Fort Stockton was
sixth on the girls side, finishing with 61 points.
Both boys and girls will run in Fort Stockton, with the preliminaries
and first field event finals Friday afternoon, while the remaining field
events and running finals will be on Saturday.
Pecos girls finish second, boys ninth
One of the advantages of playing on the varsity, at least this week, for
the Pecos Eagles golf team is warmer weather.
The Eagles' varsity squads enjoyed mild temperatures on Friday and Saturday,
as the girls placed second in Fort Stockton, while the boys finished ninth
in Midland at the Tall City Invitational.
Today, the girls' junior varsity team set out in 27-degree temperatures
this morning at the Reeves County Golf Course in the Pecos JV Invitational
Tournament. The tournament is scheduled for 18 holes, but could be cut back
to nine depending on how fast the temperatures rise this morning.
The second place finish was a good news/bad news situation for the girls.
It was their second straight effort earning a trophy, after winning two weeks
ago at Big Spring by 44 strokes over the Andrews Mustang. But with a full
squad this time, the Mustangs returned the favor. Andrews, which will be
one of the teams the Eagles will have to beat out at regionals to have a
chance to go to the state tournament, shot a 633 to beat Pecos by 41 strokes
at the Blue Ribbon Invitational. The Mustangs shot a 320 on Friday and cut
that to 313 on Saturday, while Pecos was able to lower their score to 328
on Saturday, after an opening round 346 on Friday.
Lauren Martinez tied for third best score of the tournament, shooting
an 82-80-162, while Brandi North shot an 88-79-167, Candace Hilliard shot
an 88-81-169, Dena Dutchover shot 88s both days for a 176 and Cassie Foster
shot a 91-88-179.
The Eagles also had their JV team entered at Fort Stockton, and it placed
eighth in the 14-team tournament with a 396-372-768 score. Sarah McKinney
shot a 92-88-180, Jennie Canon shot a 101-89-190, Kristian Aguilar shot a
102-97-199 and Bianca Mendoza shot a 102-101-203.
Up in Midland, the Eagle boys cut 10 strokes off their second day's score
at the Roadrunner Course in Hogan Park, shooting a 344-334-678 in a tournament
won by Frenship, with a 624 score. Wichita Falls was next at 630, while Big
Spring placed third with a 641 score.
Michael Nichols shot a 79 in the opening round of the tournament, while
Casey Breiten shot a 79 on Saturday for Pecos. "Mikey played good and Casey
played good, but that's about it," said coach Kim Anderson. "I think the
79 Mikey shot on the Midland Country Club was a real good round. I'm impressed
with that. You could see it in his eyes that he was playing with intensity,
the way he should. The rest of them I guess were just looking at branches.
"Then Casey shot his 79 on Saturday and the others did a little better,"
Anderson said. "If they all played together on the same day the way they're
capable of playing we could play with those other guys, but we just don't
want to do it."
Netters fare best in singles play at El Paso tourney
The Pecos Eagles tennis team came away with one sixth place finish and
a 10th place over the weekend, at the El Paso Americas Tournament.
Lubbock Coronado won both the boys and girls division titles, beating
out Carlsbad by a 137-86 margin in the boys division while edging Amarillo
Caprock on the girls' side, 105-102.
"It was a good tournament. You had the No. 1 team from Arizona, the No.
1 team from New Mexico and the No. 2 team from Texas, so it was really tough
and it was good for us to play in," said Eagles' coach Mike Ortiz, who saw
Trent Graham place sixth on the boys side and Brenda Fuentes finish 10
th in the girls division.
"The kids were amazed at the level of play, and I told them `That's how
good you can get,' so it was good for them to see that level of play and
it was a good experience for them."
The Eagles did have one scare, when senior Kristina Dominguez had to be
taken to the hospital for an injury after her opening round loss in girls'
singles play. "It's kind of a sad thing for all the kids to see that happen,
but they were all thinking of her and stopped by to see her before they left,"
Ortiz said.
Graham won his first two matches, 6-0, 6-1 over El Paso Jefferson's Daniel
Ruiz and 6-3, 6-3 over Los Alamos' Ryan Hook before falling to No. 1 seed
J.J. Brooker of El Paso Cathedral, 6-2, 6-0. He then beat El Paso Franklin's
Robert Shea before losing to Lubbock Coronado's Nick Kieser in the fifth
place match.
Fuentes won her opening match over Loretto's Yamel Sandoval, 6-1, 6-1,
before falling to Tiffany Graham of Carlsbad, 6-1, 6-1. She then beat Amarillo
Palo Duro's Nancy Keovongsy, before falling in the ninth place match to Darlene
Santa Cruz of Tucson Desert View High School.
Pecos' other singles player on the boys' side, Michael Orona, lost his
opening round match to Mario Carrillo of El Paso Eastwood, 6-1, 6-4, then
came back to down El Paso Socorro's Julio Chacon and Desert View's Diego
Jimenez before losing in the 25th place match.
On the girls' side, Dominguez lost to Franklin's Stephanie Ramirez before
having to default due to her injury.
In boys doubles play, Stephen Lamb and Orlando Mendoza placed 26th
, losing to Raul Abila and Ryan White of Eastwood in their opener, 6-1, 6-0,
then won 6-1, 6-0 over Eric Ibarra and Michael Williams of Desert View and
took a default victory before losing in the 25th place match.
Jay Dannelley and Michael Tremble lost to Aaron Prokopchuk and Ivan Siquerios
of Eastwood, 6-2, 7-5, and wound up 22nd overall.
Consolation scores were not available for Dannelly and Trimble and for
the girl's doubles teams of Chantel Orona and Whitney Lamb and Natalia Ornelas
and Catherine Garcia. Orona and Lamb lost their opening match, 6-1, 6-2 to
Kari Clement and Tabitha Fierro of El Paso Burges, while Orona and Garcia
fell to Lubbock Coronado's Lane Holder and Ashley Stallings, 6-1, 6-2.
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 newsdesk@nwol.net
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Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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