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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Eagles put Herrera, Mendoza on 4-3A girls team
Pecos Eagle junior Stephanie Herrera was named to the first team All-District
4-3A basketball squad, while another junior, Marissa Mendoza, was selected
for the All-Defensive Team in voting by district coaches.
The team was selected last week and was dominated by players from the
first place Greenwood Rangerettes and the third place Kermit Yellowjackets.
The All-District 4-3A boys team was also selected last week, but won't be
released until Greenwood completes its 2002-03 season. The Rangers advanced
to the Region I-3A semifinals on Tuesday with a 47-46 victory over Sweetwater.
Herrera was the Eagles' second leading scorer this season and the team's
main ball handling guard, while Mendoza played the off-guard position this
season for Pecos, which finished with a 7-15 record, and 1-9 in District
4-3A.
One other Pecos player, senior forward Erica Franco, earned honorable
mention on the 4-3A team, coach Veronica Valenzuela said.
Greenwood senior Megan Chase was named the district's Most Valuable Players,
while Rangerette sophomore Katie Howard and Kermit junior Reagan Jones shared
the Newcomer of the Year award.
Greenwood had two other first-team selections in Amy Hopper and Marlene
Spain, while Kermit put three other players on the first team squad, in
Amber Broadway, Cassandra Garcia and Tiffany Johnson.
Second place Monahans and fourth place Fort Stockton had two players
apiece on the team. Laura Crumrine and Karla Armendariz represented Monahans,
while Erika Munoz and Rachelle Ramos from Fort Stockton were first team
selections.
Presidio, which was tied for fifth with Pecos in the final district standings,
also had one player named to the first team, Christa Carrasco.
Joining Mendoza on the All-Defensive team were Presidio's Karla Garcia,
Fort Stockton's Miranda Garza, Monahans' Stacie Garcia, Kermit's Tara Wilhelm
and Greenwood's Landrie Johnson.
Pecos puts two in powerlifting regional meet
Two members of the Pecos Eagles' powerlifting team have qualified for
regional competition, following the Eagles' final regular season meet, this
past Saturday in Kermit.
Chris Orona and Hugo Rodriguez qualified for regionals for the second
year in a row, after Rodriguez won his 220-pound weight class at Kermit
and Orona placed fourth in his 198-pound division, coach Brian Gibson said.
Rodriguez will go to regionals ranked fifth in his weight class while Orona
will advance as the No. 4 ranked lifter in his division.
Last year, Orona placed seventh and Rodriguez was eighth at regionals,
both lifting in the 198-pound division.
Rodriguez lifted 1245 pounds at the Kermit meet, with personal bests in
the squat thrust, at 465 pounds, and in the dead lift, at 500 pounds. He
lifted 280 pounds in the bench press. Orona also had personal bests in the
squat, at 450 pounds, and the dead lift, at 485, while lifting 315 pounds
in the bench press.
Two other Pecos lifters placed in the Top 5 in their divisions at Kermit,
but did not rank high enough overall to advance to regionals. David Muniz
finished second in the 275-pound weight class with a combined 1135-pound
life, and Pablo Rodriguez was fifth in the super-heavyweight division, with
a combined 1115 total.
"I was real pleased with the level of competition that our kids maintained
throughout the year," Gibson said. "We had several athletes with regional
qualifying goals, but fell short. This past meet really emphasized their
desire to qualify, as they were pushing their limits in each meet."
Overall, Gibson said Pecos placed eighth as a team at Kermit out of 16
schools, 10 points behind Odessa High, which finished with 28 points.
Muniz had personal bests in the squat thrust at Kermit and the dead lift,
with 440 and 425 pounds, while Rodriguez had personal best in both as well,
going 450 and 400 pounds. Others recording best lifts this past Saturday
included Jose Garcia at 148 pounds, with a 350-pound lift in the squat;
Adam Ybarra, with a squat lift of 390 and dead lift of 400 at 181 pounds;
Fernando Lerma, who had bests in all three lifts at 181 pounds, with 400
pounds in the squat and dead lift and 220 in the bench press; Bobby Valenzuela
with a 400 pound squat thrust in the 198 pound division; Brian Chowning,
with a squat of 205, a bench of 190 and a dead lift of 245 at 198 pounds;
and Dallas Goff and Roderick Villanueva, with squat lifts of 415 and 445
pounds respectively in the 198 pound weight class.
Gibson said Villanueva ended up 15th in the 198 pound weight
class overall for the season, while Muniz and Rodriguez were 16th
in their divisions.
"We only took one girl," Mindi Harrison. She was bidding for a regional
berth as well, but missed her weight class (weight) by one half of a pound,
which really hurt her chances of going to regionals," Gibson said. "I felt
she was dealt a raw deal, because she was not allowed to try and make weight
by weighing in a little later, but they were abiding by regional meet regulations."
"Powerlifting is truly one sport that demands a lot of self-discipline
to maintain a strict work ethic in the weight room, and each one of these
young men and women exhibited that self-discipline on a daily basis," he
said. "They gave their absolute best and that is all they can ask of themselves,
or anyone else for that matter."
Gibson said the Region I meet would be at 9 a.m. on March 8 in Floydada
in the Texas Panhandle.
Loboes cooled off quickly as Eagles post 8-1 victory
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The weather was cold but the Monahans Loboes started off hot in their game
against the Pecos Eagles Tuesday night.
Unfortunately for the Loboes, Eagles' pitcher Barney Rodriguez cooled
them off after only two batters, and their defense never warmed up in the
sub-40 degree temperatures, as Pecos came away with an 8-1 victory over
Monahans at Eagle Field.
Joey Aguilar led off the game with a single and Dimas Porras then doubled
him home for a 1-0 lead in the first inning, before Rodriguez settled down
to allow only two more hits the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Eagles took
advantage of seven Monahans errors to score three runs in the second inning,
one in the fourth and four more in the sixth to even their record at 2-2
on the season.
"It takes Barney a couple of batters and an inning or so to get going,
but he settled down and did a good job," said coach Elias Payan. "When he
gets his curveball over he's going to do all right."
Rodriguez was the one hurt by his defense a week ago, in Pecos' 7-6 loss
to Odessa High. On Tuesday night, Pecos wasn't flawless defensively, but
committed just two errors and made several good defensive plays behind the
Eagles' senior to keep the Loboes from mounting any serious threats after
the second inning, when Jose Reyes threw out Aguilar on a grounder to third
after Monahans had gotten runners to second and third with two out.
The Loboes' errors began after that. Victor Reyes reached on an infield
single to open the bottom of the second, and went to third when Leland Walker
missed pitcher Keith Balderaz's pickoff throw to first base. Balderaz then
walked Rodriguez, and after a passed ball by catcher Joey Juarez, two runs
scored when Walker missed Porras' throw on Oscar Parada's grounder to second
base.
Parada would score on another bad pickoff attempt, this time due to Balderaz's
bad throw, after Zoe Serrano's sacrifice bunt moved him to third base and
David Elkins was hit by a pitch.
Balderaz swapped positions with Walker in the fourth inning, and the
Loboes' new pitcher saw Parada score again, this time on a single by Elkins,
after he reached on Scotty Najar's error at third base with one away and
then stole second. Things got worse for Walker in the fifth, when three
more errors helped the Eagles put the game away with four more runs.
Pecos' first two runs were earned, as Walker gave up walks on eight pitches
to Reyes and Matthew Levario, and Freddy Torres followed with a triple into
the gap in right center field. Torres then scored when Aguilar missed Rigo
Ramirez's grounder to shortstop, and Jose Reyes then got on when Balderaz
dropped Porras throw to first after trapping Victor Reyes' line drive.
Ramirez would reach third on a fielder's choice, when Aguilar threw Rodriguez'
grounder wide of the bag, and after he was forced at home on a Parada grounder,
Walker hit pinch-hitter Joey Aguilar, forcing Victor Reyes home with the
final run of the night.
On the mound, Rodriguez allowed a single to Jesus Pedroza in the second
inning before an error by Levario put runners at second and third, and after
that surrendered just one more hit, a bloop single by Balderaz in the third
inning. He also struck out four while allowing only one walk, to Houston
Stockman to lead off the seventh inning.
Earlier Levario had thrown Balderaz out on an infield chop over Rodriguez's
head to end the fifth inning and got Adrian Dominguez on a deep infield
grounder to end the third inning, after Balderaz's one-out single.
"Defensively we made the plays we had to make," Payan said. "I told the
kids we made too many errors the first three games, and if we cut that down,
there's no telling how good a ball club we can be."
Monahans was playing without their No. 1 pitcher from a year ago, Noah
Miles, who is sidelined for disciplinary reasons. Miles' 13-1 record helped
the Loboes earn the No. 9 spot in the preseason Class 3A baseball poll.
"It's still Monahans," Payan said. "I don't care who's there, any time
Pecos and Monahans play the kids are going to get up for each other. Monahans
is not happy about losing, but we expect to win when we play them."
Tuesday's game was the season opener for the Loboes, who had all three
of their games last week canceled due to basketball playoff conflicts and
bad weather. Pecos' next game will be against Monahans' junior varsity,
due to a basketball playoff conflict for Reagan County, at 12 noon on Thursday
in Kermit to open the Sandhills Tournament.
Payan said freshman Jose Anchondo would start on the mound against the
Loboes' JV. He went four innings against Snyder this past Saturday, allowing
five runs.
"I'm going to get him some extra work out there, but we still need to
maintain our intensity," Payan said. "We've got to get up, even if we are
playing their JV."
Monahans 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 4 7
Pecos 0 3 0 1 4 0 x — 8 4 2
Balderaz, Walker (4), Porras (6) and Juarez. Rodriguez and Carrasco.
W _ Rodriguez (1-1). L _ Balderaz (0-1).
E _ Monahans, Walker 2, Balderaz 2, Najar, Aguilar 2. Pecos, Levario,
Serrano. 2B _ Monahans, Porras. 3B _ Pecos, Torres. S _ Serrano. SB _ Pecos,
Torres, Parada, R. Ramirez. CS _ Elkins 2.
HBP _ Elkins by Balderaz, Ortega by Walker. Balk _ Rodriguez. WP _ Walker.
PB _ Juarez 2, Carrasco.
T _ 1:58.
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
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Copyright 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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