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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Pecos has big 5th inning, then holds on for 8-6 win
The Pecos Eagles and Fabens Wildcats were locked in a defensive struggle
for six of the seven innings of their game Tuesday afternoon on the Wildcats'
home field.
The offenses took over in the fifth inning, when the Eagles scored five
times to turn a 2-1 lead into an 8-1 advantage, only to see Fabens come right
back and score five runs of their own to cut that margin down to two. But
then it was back to defense, as pitcher Barney Rodriguez survived the fifth
and then stranded the tying runs on base in the seventh inning, as the Eagles
clinched their fourth straight trip to the playoffs with an 8-6 victory in
their final regular season road game.
"Barney just sat too long and lost his concentration, but he wanted to
finish it up and said he could finish it, and that's the kind of attitude
I like," said coach Bubba Williams, as Rodriguez improved his record to 7-1
on the season.
The Eagles had loaded the bases with none out in the second off starter
Jorge Sanchez, but he was able to get out of the inning with only two runs
scored, both on a single by Joey Ortega. Fabens would cut the lead to 2-1
in their half of the second, and the game stayed that way until the Eagles
again loaded the bases with none out in the fifth, on singles by Ruvel Carrasco,
David Elkins and Richard Rodriguez.
This time, Sanchez didn't survive, as Mason Abila singled to drive home
one run, and Rodriguez followed with a two run double for a 5-1 Eagle lead.
That brought Carlos Sanchez on to pitch, but Rigo Ramirez greeted him with
an RBI double. Oscar Parada then collected the Eagles' seventh straight hit,
an RBI single to left, and one out later Matthew Levario scored Ramirez with
a sacrifice fly.
Fabens' inning began when Javier Martinez was hit by a pitch and Martin
Morales walked. Frank Cedillos and J.R. Ontiveros followed with RBI singles,
with a third run scoring when Parada misplayed the ball in centerfield. Rodriguez
then walked Tury Cleto, but doubled him off first by snaring Carlos Sanchez'
line drive back to the mound.
However, that was followed by two more RBI singles, cutting the lead down
to 8-6, before Rodriguez was able to get the final out of the inning. The
junior would have one more jam to survive in the seventh, getting a pair
of infield pop ups after Cleto doubled and Carlos Sanchez singled to put
the tying runs on base with one out in the inning.
"We hit the ball real well starting in the fifth inning, got some runs
and then we were able to execute on defense at the end," Williams said. "They
got some hits off Barney, but there were a lot of bloop hits just over the
infielders' heads."
The victory was the 15th straight for Pecos and boosted their
record to 19-4 on the season and 7-0 in District 2-4A play. Fabens saw their
three game win streak end, as they fell to 4-3 in district play, one half-game
in back of San Elizario, which moved into second place with their 16-5 victory
over Clint.
Fabens is also battling Canutillo for two of the final three playoff spots,
and the Golden Eagles will be in Pecos for a 7 p.m. game on Friday, which
also begins a three-game homestand for Pecos to close out the 2002 regular
season. Tuesday's game was the last one in El Paso for the Eagles, who posted
a 19-1 record out there over the past four years but will move into District
4-3A next year.
Pecos teams place first, second at home meet
Pecos' junior high boys swimmers placed first and the junior high girls
second at this past weekend's meet at the Pecos High School Natatorium, while
the elementary school girls were first and the boys were second at the meet,
which featured teams from Pecos, Monahans, Andrews and Lubbock.
The boys outscored Andrews 237-73 on the junior high level, while on the
girls' side Monahans beat Pecos, 271 points to 197. In the lower grades,
Pecos' girls outpointed Lubbock Epsicopal, 190-169, while Andrews had a 239-112
advantage over Pecos' boys.
Coach Terri Morse said some of the races and scoring were run together,
but in the overall final standings the girls placed third and fourth with
their junior high and elementary school 200 medley relay teams; junior high
swimmer Ashley Mendoza won the 200 freestyle and Conner Armstrong was second
in the elementary school division; Lindsey Shaw won the junior high 100 medley
and Allyson Reynolds was fourth in the elementary school division; Amanda
Contreras was third, Rebecca Gooding fourth, Casey Castillo seventh and Cynthia
Marmolejo eighth in the junior high 50 freestyle and Vanessa Galindo was
second, Alxecia Mendoza fourth and Lauren Elliott fifth in the elementary
school division.
Ashley Mendoza was second and Marmolejo fourth in the junior high 50 yard
butterfly, while Armstrong was first and Tatum Windham second in the elementary
50 fly. In the 100 free junior high division Shaw was first, Contreras fifth,
Gooding sixth and Castillo seventh, while Reynolds, Galindo, Mendoza and
Elliott finished fourth through seventh in the elementary division. In the
50 yard backstroke, Ashley Mendoza placed second and Contreras eighth, and
Armstrong, Galindo, Windham and Elliott were second, third, fourth and 11
th in the elementary school race.
Shaw won the junior high 50 breaststroke, while Gooding was fourth, Castillo
fifth and Marmolejo seventh, and on the elementary level, Reynolds was third,
Windham sixth and Alexcia Mendoza seventh, while in the 200 freestyle relay,
Pecos' junior high girls were third and the elementary school swimmers finished
seventh.
On the boys' side, Pecos' 200 medley relay teams placed first and second;
Paul Parker was first in the junior high 200 freestyle and Josh Elliott won
the elementary division; Matt Elliott was first and Kyle Winkles second in
the 100 medley for the junior highs, and Heath Armstrong was second in the
elementary division; Parker was second, Travis Walker third, Miguel Estrada
fifth, and Joseph Tarin sixth in the 50 freestyle for junior high swimmers,
while Josh Elliott was first, Armstrong third and Gus Mendoza fourth in the
elementary division.
In the 50 yard butterfly Matt Elliott won the junior high division and
Walker was third, while Armstrong won the elementary division. In the 100
free Matt Elliott was first, Winkles second, Estrada fourth and Tarin fifth
in the junior high race, and Mendoza was first in the elementary school race;
Winkles was first and Estrada second in the junior high 50 backstroke, while
Mendoza was second in the elementary division; Parker, Tarin and Walker were
1-2-3 in the junior high 50 yard breaststroke, and in the 200 free relay,
the junior high boys were first and the elementary school swinmmers were
second.
Eagles' 14-run inning helps clinch fourth straight title
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Things weren't exactly going against the Pecos Eagles for the first
1 2/3 innings of their game Tuesday afternoon against the El Paso Mountain
View Lobos, but they weren't going great, either.
Pitcher Stephanie Herrera had gotten out of a two-on, one-out mini jam
in the top of the first inning, while the Eagles had seen Mountain View catcher
Louisa Alvarado throw out Pecos' first two baserunners trying to steal second,
with Danielle Garcia being forced from the game after spraining her ankle
sliding into the bag.
But the Eagles would then put across two runs with two outs against Mountain
View's Vanessa Sanchez, and then come up with their biggest inning of the
year in the second, scoring 14 times to finish up with a 16-0 victory over
the Lobos, which clinched Pecos' fourth straight District 2-4A softball title.
"I felt like we hit the ball and ran the bases better today," said Eagles'
coach Tammy Walls. "Another good thing was the people I put into the game
were able to hit the ball."
Garcia's replacement at second base, Jessica Minjarez, had two hits in
the 14-run second inning, including a bloop single to centerfield that scored
the first of those 14 runs off Sanchez and reliever Jane Laimos, both of
whom were also plagued by control problems throughout the game.
Sanchez hit Jessica Rodriguez with her first pitch of the game and then
walked Garcia on four pitches, but was saved from a big inning by Alvarado's
throws down to second base. However, the Eagles still managed to score twice
when Herrera tripled to left-center field and scored on a bloop single by
Becca Wein, who then came around to score on a wild pitch, after Sanchez
walked Neftali Salgado and hit Katie Lee.
Walks to Mari Mendoza and Rodriguez opened the second inning, and after
Minjarez' RBI single, Sanchez then walked Herrera. Wein then singled home
Rodriguez with a single through the drawn-in infield and Minjarez scored
when Laimos dropped left fielder Valerie Rosales' throw to third base.
After a bloop hit by Salgado re-loaded the bases, Lee reached base on
a slow infield grounder that scored a run, and Wein would score when Bea
Chavira's throw from first base sailed over Alvarado's head. A few moments
later, Salgado would score after a wild pitch, when Alvarado's throw back
to home plate went past Sanchez.
After Lee would steal home on a Kelsey Florez walk, Laimos came on to
pitch. She got Bre'Ann Windham on a pop to shortstop, but Mendoza then walked
for the second time in the inning, and Rodriguez followed with a two-run
single, and circled the bases when the ball got past right fielder Yvette
Vega.
Pecos then loaded the bases again, after Minjarez' single, a walk to Herrera
and Wein getting hit by a pitch from Laimos. This time, Salgado singled through
the drawn-in infield to score two runs, making it 14-0. Wein would score
when Sanchez, now at shortstop, booted a grounder by Lee, and Salgado scored
the final run a few moments later on a wild pitch.
The day wasn't a total loss for Sanchez. She collected both of Mountain
View's hits off Herrera, a single in the first inning after Vega had drawn
a walk, and another in the third. She would reach second with two outs when
Cheyenne Grice had the ball go off her glove, but both times Herrera would
come back to get strikeouts to get out of trouble.
"We were fortunate enough to have been able to hit the ball today," said
Walls, who had a slightly different lineup, with Mendoza starting in right
field, Florez at third base and Lee at shortstop, while Minjarez took over
for Garcia in the second inning.
"I'm going to have to make some changes in our defense because of eligibility
problems and the injury to Danielle," Walls said. "Hopefully she can be ready
by Friday, and if not than in time for the playoffs," which will probably
begin May 2 or 3 for the Eagles, who will draw a first round playoff bye
for the fourth year in a row.
The win was the 22nd straight for Pecos in District 2-4A play
and their 10th straight this season, after a 3-3 start. Mountain
View, the last team to beat the Eagles in district play, fell to 0-9 on the
season.
The only team in district to come close to ending that streak this year
has been San Elizario, which led Pecos after 5½ innings three weeks
ago, 1-0, before the Eagles came back for a 3-1 victory. Pecos will close
out their regular season with a 5 p.m. game this Friday at San Elizario,
though Walls said they would probably play a practice game next week against
one of their district rivals for next season, Monahans, which has already
clinched the District 4-3A softball title.
Bears' Matta advances to regionals
Balmorhea Bears junior Jourmain Matta will be competing in two events
at the Region I-A Track and Field Championships in Levelland next week, after
this past weekend's Region I-A area competition held in Wink.
Matta was one of three members of the Bears' track team to advance to
the area competition, after the Bears placed fourth at the District 8-A Track
and Field Championships in Sanderson. Reggie Lozano and Sammy Dominguez also
qualified for area, and coach Doug Maynard said they would both be regional
alternates in one of their two events.
Matta advanced to area in three events, the discus, shot put and triple
jump, and will advance to regionals in the first two, after placing second
in the discus and third in the shot at Wink. He had won both events at the
District 8-A meet while finishing fourth in the triple jump.
"He's doing real good in practice this week. He threw one 45 (feet) yesterday,
and if he keeps that up he'll be in good shape at regionals," Maynard said.
Lozano will be an alternate in the discus, after qualifying for in both
that and the shot put. He placed third in both those events at the district
meet. Domniguez won the 3200 meter run at district, and will be an alternate
for regionals in that event, and also qualified for the area meet in the
1600 meter run, after finishing second on April 4 in Sanderson.
Maynard said the Bears had one girl entered in track at the district meet,
Lorissa Rodriguez, who missed an area berth by one-half inch in the triple
jump, going 28-feet-8¼, while placing seventh later in the 400 meter
dash.
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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