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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Monday, April 28, 2003
Eagles tossed curve, still make playoffs
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The Pecos Eagles got into the playoffs Friday night, and pretty much guaranteed
themselves of seeing a lot of curveballs once they start playing there,
as the result of their final regular season game, against the Presidio Blue
Devils.
Presidio pitcher Julio Aguilar made the Eagles look bad at the plate
for the second time in three weeks, letting a lot of runners get on base,
but never letting Pecos get a hit with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile,
his teammates took advantage of all of their chances against Josh Anchondo
to score a 6-2 victory and end the Eagles' four-game winning streak.
"I think we left about 15 runners on base tonight," said Eagles' coach
Elias Payan, whose team still managed to clinch a playoff berth before the
end of the game when Fort Stockton defeated Kermit by a 7-5 final score.
"The way he pitched in Pecos was similar to the way he pitched tonight."
Aguilar allowed five runs in the first inning at Pecos back on April 4,
then shut the Eagles down over the final six innings while Presidio rallied
for an 8-5 victory. This time, he only struck out two batters while allowing
eight hits and walking six, but his curveball confused Pecos' hitters consistently
with runners in scoring position.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils never trailed on Friday, getting a solo home
run in the first inning from Orlando Macias and four more runs in the third,
off a Macias single, a walk by Anchondo with the bases loaded and two throwing
errors by Pecos.
The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, when Zo
Serrano singled with one out and scored from first base on David Elkins'
double, but they wouldn't score again until the seventh, when Oscar Parada
led off with a home run. By then, the Blue Devils had gotten the run back
when Armando Dominguez doubled home pinch runner Jorge Vasquez from first
base in the bottom of the fifth inning.
"We just didn't take care of the situations we had in front of us tonight,
but we're in the playoffs, and it's a new season," Payan said. "We'll be
ready to play."
The Eagles actually left a dozen runners on base, including seven in
the first three innings. Elkins opened the game by beating out an infield
hit to first, when Aguilar was late covering the bag on his bouncer to
Hector Rodriguez, but Jose Valdez then took a single away from Jose Reyes,
turning it into a force at second. Rigo Ramirez followed with a single,
but Aguilar then got Parada to pop up and Barney Rodriguez to bounce to
shortstop.
"It kind of looked like we would get something in the first inning, but
their third baseman made a major league play to take away our rally," Payan
said.
In the second inning, two walks and two sacrifice bunts put runners on
second and third, but Aguilar got Reyes to pop to shortstop to end the inning.
In the third, the Eagles ran themselves out of a scoring chance when Rodriguez
was doubled off second base when Juan Anaya caught Freddy Torres' sinking
line drive with one out and the bases loaded.
Presidio then scored four times in their next at-bat, after Aguilar walked
with one out and scored after singles by Valdez and Macias. Carlos Ortiz
was then intentionally walked by Pecos, but Anchondo then walked Dominguez
on five pitches to force home a run. Carlos Villarreal then grounded to
Matthew Levario at third base, but his throw was wide of catcher Ruvel Carrasco,
and Macias scored.
Vasquez, running for Ortiz, was thrown out at home trying to score on
the play, but Dominguez would come home moments later with Hector Rodriguez
batting, when Carrasco tried to pick him off at third, but saw his throw
bounce off the helmet of the 6-foot-2 Rodriguez and into short left field.
While Fort Stockton eliminated Kermit from the playoff race on Friday,
the Yellowjackets had ended Presidio's playoff hopes three days earlier
with a 14-4 win. Had the Blue Devils come out on top, they would have advanced
to the playoffs instead of Pecos, based on their two wins in District 4-3A
play over the Eagles.
"It was their last game of the season, and they had nothing to lose,
while I thought we played a little tight tonight," said Payan, whose team
could have tied Greenwood and forced a playoff for second with a win, after
the Rangers were beaten Friday afternoon in extra innings by Monahans.
The Eagles ended up 5-5 in district and are 17-10 on the season, while
Presidio finished 4-6 and 17-9. Pecos will now take on the Seminole Indians
in the bi-district round of the Class 3A playoffs. Seminole won a playoff
for second place in District 3-3A over Snyder on Friday, and back in March
rallied for a 10-9 victory over Pecos in the first round of the West Texas
March Classic in Midland.
Payan said the teams still have to decide on a one game or best-of-three
series, along with the date and site for the series.
PECOS PRESIDIO
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Elkins rf 3 0 2 1 Aguilar p 3 1 0 0
JReyes ss 4 0 0 0 Valdez 3b 3 1 1 0
RRmrz cf 4 0 1 0 Macias cf 3 2 3 2
Parada lf 4 1 1 1 Ortiz c 0 0 0 0
0
BRdrgz 1b 3 0 2 0 Vsquz cr 0 1 0 0
Levario 3b 2 0 1 0 Dmnguz ss 2 1 1 2
Anchndo p 0 0 0 0 Vllnuva lf 3 0 0 0
VReyes dh 0 0 0 0 HRdrgz 1b 2 0 0 0
Torres dh 2 0 0 1 Anaya rf 2 0 0 0
Carrasco c 3 0 0 0 Covos ph 0 0 0 0
JRmrz cr 0 0 0 0 Rntria 2b 3 0 0 0
Serrano 2b 2 1 1 0
Totals 27 2 8 2 Totals 21 6
5 4
Pecos 000 100 1 - 2
Presidio 104 010 x - 6
E-Villanueva, Levario, Carrasco, Elkins, B. Rodriguez. DP-Presidio
1. LOB-Pecos
12, Presidio 4. 2B-Elkins, Dominguez. HR-Macias, Parada. S-V.Reyes, Serrano.
SB-R. Ramirez, Macias.
IP H R ER BB SO
Pecos
Ancohndo L,4-1 6 5 6 4 6 8
Presidio
Aguilar W 7 8 2 2 5 2
HBP-by Aguilar (B.Rodriguez).
T-1:57.
Pecos' Herrera places third at I-3A shot put
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
What appeared to be a consolation prize at the District 4-3A track meet
for a missed opportunity turned into the only consolation the Pecos Eagles
had over the weekend, at the Region I-4A Track and Field Championships at
Ratliff Stadium in Odessa.
The Eagles, who won the district boys track title and finished second
on the girls' side, were completely shut out on Friday, in the field events,
running preliminaries and in the finals of the 3200-meter run. That left
only two Pecos competitors to return to Ratliff on Saturday, but one, junior
Stephanie Herrera, ended up coming close to earning a state berth, as she
placed third in the finals of the shot put competition for the Eagles' only
points of the two-day meet.
"She placed one foot and one inch behind second place. She threw 37 (feet)
flat," said coach Roxie Chavez. "She really wanted it."
Herrera was the favorite going into district in the discus, and had the
best throw following preliminaries on April 9 in Kermit. But she and Pecos'
other two discus throwers, Stephanie Arreguy and Jessica Flores, were disqualified
for looking at a video monitor of their throws during the event, and Herrera
had to settle for a regional berth in the shot put behind Fort Stockton's
Tammy Cash.
On Saturday, Cash won the event and a trip to Austin with a throw of
38-feet-81/4, while Sanger's Stephani Roberson got second with a 38-11/2
effort.
Freshman Jennifer Martinez was the only other Pecos competitor on Saturday,
but failed to place in the finals of the 1600 meter run, while on Friday,
Chavez said the Eagles ran slower times overall than at the district meet.
"Jummy (Akinyode) ran a 26.9, but that just wasn't fast enough to get
into the finals," of the 200 meter dash, Chavez said. "She really didn't
run her best in that race, either, and we really struggled in the mile relay."
The boys had to run without sophomore Rashad Terry and senior Genaro
Mendoza at regionals. Mendoza would have run in the 1600 finals on Saturday
and Terry probably would have made the finals in both the 100 and 200-meter
dashes, based on Friday's preliminary results. Instead, none of Pecos' runners
made it to Saturday's finals, and the Eagles had no field event competitors
after Will Armstrong and Justin Lara failed to place in the pole vault Friday
morning.
"The way we were seeded was the way we ran, ninth or 10th," said Eagles'
coach Jerry Parent. The top eight times on Friday advanced to Saturday's
finals, and Parent said, "Jack (Bradley) just got edged out in the hurdles.
He was ninth, and we just got edged out in the 800 relay and finished ninth."
Also missing out was Isaiah Juarez in the 800 meter run. "He ran a 2:07.
He just didn't have the legs," Parent said. "He had a lot of things to do
during the week, and he got sick."
Juarez missed workouts because of his illness and a death in the family,
while Armstrong and Lara weren't able to work out because of high winds,
Parent said.
Aside from Cash, Greenwood shot put and discus thrower Kevin Folger was
the only other District 4-3A competitor to advance to state. Sweetwater
won the boys regional title with 64 points to 46 for Childress, while Muleshoe
edged Kennedale, 59-56 to win the I-3A girls' title.
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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