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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Pecos girls win regional golf, advance to state
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
After four years of coming close at the Class 4A level to the state golf
tournament, but never quite making it through, the Pecos Eagles girls golf
team finally earned that elusive trip to Austin on Tuesday at the Class 3A
level, beating out one of their longtime 4A rivals in the process to capture
the Region I-3A Tournament at Nueva Vista in Midland.
The Eagles, who went into play on Tuesday with a five stroke lead after
the first 18-holes of the 36-hole tournament, ended it the same way, but
not without having to rally on the back nine holes to hold off the Snyder
Tigers and the Breckenridge Buckaroos.
"It was close the turn. Snyder had us by one and we had Breckenridge by
three," said Eagles' coach Tina Hendrick, after the Tigers - who started
the day six strokes back - made up seven strokes on the Eagles. "But the
girls pulled it out on the back nine and played a consistent round."
The Eagles followed up their 320 on Monday with a 321 on Tuesday to finish
at 641, tied for third on the day with Breckenridge and one stroke behind
Snyder and Abilene Wylie, who both shot 320 scores. The Tigers then won a
playoff for second place over the Buckaroos, and will be advancing to the
Class 3A state finals along with Pecos, on May 8-9 at the Jimmy Clay Golf
Course in Austin.
"We're on Cloud 9. We were excited all the way back into town," said Hendrick,
whose team received a police escort through town to the Reeves County Golf
Course.
Snyder also advanced on the boys' side, along with District 4-3A champ
Monahans, while Pecos' boys, who were the district runners-up to the Loboes
this season, cut 13 strokes off their opening day score but remained in ninth
place overall in the final standings.
Snyder's girls advanced as the Region I-4A runners-up last season behind
Andrews, while the Eagles had finished fourth at the regional tournament
in San Angelo. This season, Pecos had early season wins over both those teams,
and used a round of 74 by senior Lauren Martinez and a 78 by her sister,
freshman Shelly Martinez, to jump out to their lead on Monday.
On Tuesday, both Martinezes had scores slightly higher, while No. 3 golfer
Brandi North went from an 80 to an 86 score. But that was offset by No.
4 golfer Sarah McKinney, who cut her score from an opening round 88 to a
79 for the final 18 holes.
"Sarah had a good round. Her putter was working today," Hendrick said.
Lauren Martinez shot a 77 over the final 18 holes to finish in fourth
place in the medallist race with a 151 score, while Shelly Martinez had a
79 and finished at 157, sixth overall. North had a 166 score and McKinney
finished at 167, while Pecos' No. 5 golfer, Dena Dutchover, shot a 92 for
the second straight day and wound up with a 184 score.
Wylie's 320 on Tuesday was offset by their opening round 341 and then
finished fourth overall, with a 661 total. Monahans, which place second to
Pecos at district, cut five strokes off their opening round score and shot
a 341 to place fifth, with a 687 total.
Pecos' boys tied for the seventh best round of the day, at 316 at Ratliff
Ranch in Odessa, but like Wylie, their opening round 329 score was too much
to overcome. Snyder, which shot a 314 on Monday cut 20 strokes off that total
to finish at 294 and 608 overall, winning by 16 strokes over Monahans, which
shot a 314 after an opening round 310 and held off Wylie, whose 303 final
round left them one stroke behind the Loboes.
"If we had shot that 316 the first day and shot the 309 we did in the
practice round (Sunday), we still would have ended up one shot out of the
money," said coach Kim Anderson. "They just had a bad round on Monday, plus
it was cold and sprinkling and my guys just aren't bad weather players.
"We needed to start with a 316 on Monday to be in the tournament. Shooting
a 329, that's just too many shots to make up against too many good teams,"
he added. "But the guys gave it their best shot both days, and the 316 could
have been even better, but we were pressing to make birdies, and forcing
our putts and chips on a couple of holes that I saw."
Michael Nichols shot 79s both days to finish at 158, while Pete Vasquez
followed up an 80 on Monday with a 77 to finish one stroke ahead, at 157.
Sal Nichols also shot a 79 on Tuesday and finished with a 161 score, while
Casey Breiten and Jake McKinney both lowered their scores from Monday's
88s, as Breiten shot an 81 to finish at 169 and McKinney had an 82 to finish
with a 170 total.
The Eagles' 316 allowed them to pass one team they trailed on Monday,
Graham, which shot a 321 to finish at 347. But the Eagles also were passed
by Seminole, who shot a 312 after an opening round of 331 and wound up with
a 643 score. Bridgeport, which was second after the opening round, shot
a 319 and ended up fourth, at 631, while Slaton shot a 313 and was fifth
at 632, Canyon shot a 311 and was sixth at 634 and Perryton shot a 319 and
placed seventh, with a 639 total.
Breckenridge's Camille Blackerby shot a 68 on Tuesday to win the girls'
medallist race with a 139 score, while Bridgeport's Lauren Cheves shot a
145 to place second and Wylie's Jessica Harbin and Chandra Hays also earned
state medallist berths by placing third and fifth, with 150 and 155 scores.
For the boys' Perryton's Tate Allred shot a 70 to win with a 143 score, four
shots in front of Monahans' Brandon Brin, who shot a 74 to finish at 147.
Canyon's Geoff Premister and Graham's Andrew Bryant also earned state medallist
berths by placing third and fourth, with 149 and 151 totals.
Eagles lose lead, keep composure, down Rangers
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The Pecos Eagles may not have corrected all their mistakes from the first
half of the District 4-3A baseball schedule, but playing at home the Eagles
at least have figured out a way to get around them.
The Eagles fell behind Kermit and Monahans at the outset of their road
games in the first half of the district schedule and saw their comeback
efforts fall short, but did rally for victories at home in the teams' rematches
in Pecos.
Tuesday night, the Eagles had the same problems against the Greenwood
Rangers as they had in the teams' April 1 meeting in Midland, but again,
Pecos was able to rewrite the final outcome and in the process clinch at
least a tie for third place in the District 4-3A standings.
The Eagles jumped out to a 9-0 lead in their first two at-bats at Greenwood
earlier this month, only to see the Rangers come back to win by a 13-11
final score, thanks in part to a seven-run sixth inning. This time Pecos
jumped ahead by a 7-0 score after two innings only to see the Rangers score
seven times in their next two at-bats to tie the game.
But once the lead was gone, the Eagles set about building a new one,
scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth inning and three times in the fifth,
before holding off one final Ranger rally to win by a 12-9 final score.
"We got a big lead and may have gotten a little complacent, but like I
told them, you're going to have to learn what not to do from what happened
the first time," said Eagles' coach Elias Payan. "But give Greenwood credit,
it wasn't what we were doing, it was what they did."
The Rangers went quietly in the first two innings, but then hammered out
13 hits against starter Barney Rodriguez, who was able to strand 11 Greenwood
baserunners to go the distance and even his record at 6-6 on the season.
Rodriguez had taken the loss in relief last time at Greenwood, while Adam
Banda came on in the second inning in that game and picked up the win for
the Rangers. On Tuesday, Banda again came on in relief in the second inning,
this time for starter Justin Crockett, and while he did shut down Pecos enough
to let his team rally to tie the game, he couldn't hold the Eagles in their
next two at-bats, with Rodriguez delivering the key hits both times.
His two-out single to center in the fourth scored David Elkins with the
go-ahead run, and in the fifth, his high fly with two away to right field
was lost in the lights and high wind by Eric Skaggs and landed on the foul
line for a two-run triple, which put the Eagles up by a 12-6 score at the
time.
The wind would bother Elkins as well in the top of the fifth, as Dawson
Wilbur's deep fly was blown away from him for a triple, after Shayne Moody
lined a triple into right-center field to open the inning. Banda then beat
out a hit to shortstop to score Wilbur to make it 12-9, but Rodriguez was
able to get Crockett to foul out to catcher Ruvel Carrasco, and after a
single by Toby Bunch, struck out Skaggs and got Silas Etheridge to ground
to second base to end the inning.
Payan said the strong wind blowing in from left field may have affected
Rodriguez' curve ball. "I think it was a little bit on his mind. The wind
was behind him and it was hanging his curve. He wasn't throwing it like
he normally does, but he was able to battle back and get the win," he said.
Rodriguez quickly retired the first two batters in the seventh, before
Moody doubled and Wilbur walked. That put the tying run at bat, but Banda
bounced out to third baseman Matthew Levario to end the game.
Elkins reached base all four times at bat Tuesday without benefit of a
hit. He got hit by Crockett to open the bottom of the first, and after walks
to Jose Reyes and Oscar Parada, Rodriguez singled to left with one out to
score two runs, and Freddy Torres made it 3-0 with a two out single to right
field.
In the second, Carrasco and Zo Serrano opened with singles, and after
Crockett walked Elkins, Banda came on to pitch. Reyes greeted him with an
RBI single, and Serrano then scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Rigo
Ramirez. Elkins would score after Parada's bloop infield hit, when Banda
threw the ball past Crockett, now playing first base, and Ramirez came home
when Etheridge couldn't hold onto Rodriguez' line drive to second.
Skaggs replaced Banda in right field when he went to pitch, and started
Greenwood's comeback in the third with a single, the first of four straight
hits off Rodriguez to open the inning. They scored two runs, and after Moody
flew out and Wilbur was intentionally walked, Banda made it 7-3 with a sacrifice
fly to center.
Greenwood sent nine men to the plate in the inning and would do it again
in the fourth when they tied the score. This time, they had three straight
singles with one out, before Levario had problems with a grounder by Moody
and a bad hop shot by Wilbur, which scored three runs. The Rangers then
tied the game on a two-out single by Crockett.
The win, coupled with Kermit's 14-4 victory at home over Presidio, assures
the Eagles of at least a playoff for third place, if they lose their final
regular season game to Presidio while Kermit defeats Fort Stockton. Pecos
could also end up in a playoff for second with Greenwood, if they defeat
the Blue Devils while the Rangers lose their final regular season game,
at home on Friday against Monahans.
Friday's game in Presidio will be the Eagles' longest trip of the season,
and will also be their latest start of the season due to conflicts with
Region I-3A track meet in Odessa on Friday afternoon. The game will begin
at 8 p.m. to allow both Torres and Levario time to make the 235-mile drive
from Odessa to Presidio.
GREENWOOD PECOS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Bruno 3b 4 2 2 1 Elkins rf 0 4 0 0
Rossler lf 5 1 2 1 JReyes ss 3 1 2 1
Moody ss 5 2 2 0 RRmrz 1b 4 4 0 1
Wilber cf 3 1 1 1 Parada cf 3 1 1 0
Bnda rf-p 4 0 1 2 Rdrguz p 4 0 3 6
Crktt p-1b 3 0 1 1 Lvrio 3b 3 0 0 0
Bunch c 4 0 1 0 JRmrz lf 0 0 0 0
McCllch 1b 0 0 0 0 Torres dh 4 0 2 1
Skaggs rf 4 1 1 0 Crrsco c 4 0 1 0
Ethrdge 2b 4 2 2 0 VReyes cr 0 1 0 0
Srrno 2b 4 1 1 0
Totals 36 9 13 6 Totals 29 12 0 9
Greenwood 003 402 0 - 9
Pecos 430 230 x -12
E-J.Reyes, Banda, Levario 2, Rodriguez, Etheridge 2. LOB-Greenwood
11, Pecos 7. 2B-Moody. 3B-Rodriguez, Moody, Wilber. SF-Banda. SB-Elkins
4, R.Ramirez 3, Parada.
IP H R ER BB SO
Greenwood
Crockett 1 4 6 5 3 1
Banda L 5 6 6 2 4 4
Texas
Rodriguez W, 6-6 7 13 9 5 4 6
WP-Rodriguez, Banda.
T-2:04.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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