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March 10, 1997
Errors in field, mistake in draw do in Eagles
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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Mar. 10 -- A couple of mistakes Friday night kept the Pecos
Eagles from playing in the championship game of the West Texas March
Baseball Classic, while a big mistake in drawing up the tournament
bracket left the Eagles playing on less than five hours sleep Saturday,
and helped knock them out of the double-elimination tourney before
noontime.
The Eagles and Abilene Wylie, the only two remaining unbeaten teams
after the first 1½ days of the tournament, met Friday night, with the
Bulldogs coming out on top, 3-2, as they scored the winning run on a
passed ball in the top of the eighth inning.
That should have dropped Pecos into the consolation finals of the
tournament at 3 p.m. Saturday. But instead Seminole -- the team Pecos
defeated in the first round of the tournament Thursday morning -- was
moved directly into the consolation finals after their victory over
Alpine Friday afternoon.
Pecos was left to come back to Midland for a 10 a.m. game against
Kermit for the right to play Seminole, and a tired-looking Eagle squad
was defeated by the Yellowjackets, 5-4.
Kermit, which lost Friday morning to Wylie, 20-10, was then beaten by
Seminole, which in turn lost to the Bulldogs in the finals by a 12-3
final score.
"We played like we had five hours sleep," said Eagles' coach Bubba
Williams, who was most concerned about the failure of his hitters to
handle either Wylie's Grant Gregg or Kermit's Arnold Navarro.
"Both games we saw lefthanders, we didn't hit well," Williams said.
"We've got two or three kids hitting, but no one else.
"Our kids are going to have to start hitting lefthanders if we're going
to win," said Williams, as most of the Eagles' District 4-4A rivals have
at least one lefty on the squad.
Gregg allowed eight hits, but didn't walk a batter while recording 12
strikeouts. His only major mistake was falling behind Jason Abila, and
coming in with a 2-0 pitch the Eagle junior crushed over the left field
fence in the bottom of the sixth. It came after an infield single by
Richard Gutierrez and tied the score at 2-2.
Abila went the distance for Pecos, and also struck out 12 while
allowing only four hits. He only walked four in eight innings, but
control problems led directly to all of Abilene's runs.
Wylie's only earned run came in the first inning, and it wasn't pretty.
Leadoff hitter Mark Deffenbaugh was hit by a pitch, and then Abila
balked him to second and wild pitched him to third, from where he scored
on Jacob Pruitt's grounder to shortstop.
In the sixth, the Bulldogs went up 2-0 when Gregg and Scott Unger
walked with two outs. Both moved up when catcher Mark Abila threw by
first trying to pick off Unger, but he went by third and ran up on
courtesy runner Paul Briscoe, who held at third. Forced to try for home,
Briscoe was safe when second baseman Nestor Mendoza's throw sailed over
Abila's head.
The winning run came in when Deffenbaugh beat out an infield hit to
third base, then was called safe on a steal of second as Pruitt struck
out. A wild pitch sent him to third, where he was forced to hold when
Gregg grounded one right to Joseph Strain at first. But four pitches
later Mark Abila couldn't come up with a Jason Abila curve to Unger, and
Deffenbaugh was able to score.
"When you play two good ballclubs against each other, the one that
makes the most mistakes is going to lose," said Williams, who added four
strikeouts from three different batters in the No. 2 spot in the order
hurt the Eagles' as leadoff hitter Eric Abila and No. 3 hitter Gutierrez
were both 2-for-4 on the night.
In the loss to Kermit, Moses Martinez' numbers over six innings were
almost the exact same as in his rough two-inning outing Thursday against
Seminole. He allowed seven hits and five runs, three earned, with all
the damage coming in the middle innings.
An error by Strain on an Iver Ramirez grounder, and one by Martinez on
a sacrifice bunt by Danny Simonds set up J.J. Chavez' two out, two-run
single to center in the third. Pecos got a run back in the fourth, on a
Cisco Rodriguez single and double by Jason Abila, but in the bottom of
the inning the Jackets got five of their seven hits, scoring three more
times.
Ramirez drove in the first run with a single to right, after leadoff
hits by Eric Gallardo and Jared Mills and a failed bunt by Jeff
Richardson. Simonds singled to load the bases, but Hector Berjarano then
grounded to Strain, who forced Mills at home.
That brought up Navarro, and Martinez worked the count to 2-2 went he
came with a curve the Jackets' leadoff hitter took to right field,
giving Kermit a 5-1 lead.
A double-error by Berjarano with two out in the fifth got Pecos its
second run. He bobbled an Eric Abila grounder to third, then threw it by
first base, allowing Jason Aguilar to score following his two-out bloop
double to left-center.
An error helped Pecos in the sixth, after a walk to Jason Abila, a
stolen base and Strain's ground-rule double down the line in left made
it 5-3. It also brought Ramirez on to pitch, and after he got Luicio
Florez on a pop up to the mound, pinch hitter John Gutierrez reached
when Richardson threw over Ramirez' head after fielding a grounder in
the hole between first and second.
That put they tying run on second, but Ramirez caught Eric Muniz
looking on a 3-2 pitch, then retired the side in order in the seventh.
The losses leave Pecos with a 7-3 mark going into Spring Break week.
The Eagles' next game will be back in Midland, a 4 p.m. contest on March
18 against Midland High. The Eagles' pre-district schedule ends on March
22, with a home doubleheader against Lamesa.
Eagles Boxscore
Sponsored by Big A
ABILENE WYLIE PECOS......
....ab....r....h....bi.... ....ab....r....h....bi
Dffnbgh cf....3....2....2....0....E.Abila rf....4....0....2....0
Pruitt ss....4....0....0....1....J.Gutrrz dh....2....0....0....0
Gregg p....2....0....0....0....J.Aguilr dh....1....0....0....0
Briscoe cr....0....1....0....0....Villnuva cf....1....0....0....0
Unger c....3....0....0....0....R.Gutrrz 3b....4....1....2....0
McMinn 1b....3....0....0....0....J.Abila p....4....1....1....2
White 2b....3....0....0....0....M.Abila c....3....0....0....0
Bull rf....0....0....0....0....Strain 1b....3....0....2....0
Hughes dh....2....0....0....0....Rdrguz lf....3....0....1....0
Briscoe dh....1....0....0....0....Mendoza 2b....2....0....0....0
Powell 3b....2....0....2....0....Vasquez ss....2....0....0....0
Starks ph....1....0....0....0....Luna ph....1....0....0....0
Totals....26....3....4....1....Totals....30....2....8....2
Abilene Wylie.... 1 0 0...0 0 1...0 1 --|3
Pecos............ 0 0 0...0 0 2...0 0 --|2
E -- Mcminn, White, M. Abila, Mendoza. DP -- Abilene 1. LOB -- Abilene
4, Pecos 6. 2B -- Rodriguez, E. Abila. 3B -- Doffenbaugh. HR -- J. Abila
(2). CS -- E. Abila (by Unger), Powell.
.........................IP...H...R ER BB KO
Abilene Wylie
Gregg W, 3-0 .............8...8...2...2...0...12
Pecos
J. Abila L, 1-2.......... 8...4...3...1...4...12
Balk -- J. Abila.
WP -- J. Abila 2. PB -- M. Abila.
T -- 1:52.
Saturday
.........PECOS KERMIT......
....ab....r....h....bi.... ....ab....r....h....bi
E.Abila cf....3....0....0....0....Navro p-cf....3....0....1....2
Rdrgz lf-c....4....0....1....0....Chavez lf....3....0....1....2
R.Gutrrz 3b....2....1....0....0....Castillo 1b....3....0....1....0
Martinez p....0....0....0....0....Gallardo c....3....0....1....0
J. Abila dh....2....1....1....1....Keen cr....0....1....0....0
Strain 1b....3....1....1....1....Green 2b....0....0....0....0
M.Abila c....2....0....1....0....Mills dh....3....0....1....0
Vllnva cr....0....0....0....0....Rchrdsn ss....3....0....0....0
Florez lf....1....0....0....0....Rmrz cf-p....3....2....1....1
Mendoza 2b....2....0....0....0....Simonds rf....2....2....1....0
J.Gutrrz ph....1....0....0....0....Berjno 3b....3....0....0....0
Muniz ss....3....0....0....0
J.Aguilr rf....3....1....1....0
Totals....26....4....5....2....Totals....26....5....7....5
Pecos............... 0 0 0...1 1 2...0 --|4
Kermit.............. 0 0 2...3 0 0...x --|5
E -- Navarro, Strain, Martinez, Berjarno 2. DP -- Kermit 1. LOB -- Pecos
4, Kermit 4. 2B -- J. Aguilar, J. Abila, Strain. S -- Simonds. SB -- R.
Gutierrez, Castillo, J. Abila. CS -- Villanueva (by Gallardo).
IP...H...R ER BB KO
Pecos
Martinez L, 3-1 6...7...5...3...0...2
Kermit
Navarro W 5_ 5...3...2...2...4
Ramirez (Save) 1 2-3 0...0...0...0...2
PB -- Gallardo.
T -- 1:47.
Pecos has strong start, finish in Odessa
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PECOS, Mar. 10 -- The Pecos Eagle boys both started and finished strong
at the West Texas Relays in Odessa, but a lack of points in the sprints
left them fifth overall in the two-day track meet.
Pecos' girls, meanwhile, placed ninth at the Canyon Reef Relays in
Snyder, picking up a pair of third place medals in the one-day meet on
Saturday.
Senior Bryan Brownlee scored 20 points in his two events for the third
week in a row, taking both the discus and shot put on Friday. Brownlee
threw 55-11_ in the shot -- just about midway between his winning throws
at the Comanche and Crane Relays to open the season -- while his
168-foot-9 effort in the discus was only a foot shorter than his throw
six days earlier in Crane.
Brownlee, who threw 57-1 in Fort Stockton on Feb. 22, needed a better
effort than his 54-10½ at Crane to get the gold this week. El Paso
Burges' Tony White was just 5½ inches behind Brownlee on Friday, taking
second with a 55-6 toss. White was a state qualifier in Class 5A a year
ago.
Brownlee's brother Jeff earned a bronze medal in the shot put, with a
48-2 throw, while Jake Fowler placed fourth in the discus, throwing
142-foot-6.
The 30 points were enough to give the Eagles the lead after the first
day of the meet, but their only other points wouldn't come until the
next-to-last event of Saturday, the 1600 meter run. Billy Rodriguez was
just edged out by El Paso Bowie's Jose Valdez for first, 4:38.24 to
4:39.75, while Mauricio Villescas was third, with a 4:43.49 time.
San Angelo Lake View and Lubbock Estacado tied for first in the final
point standings, with 111 apiece, with El Paso Burges (64 points) and
Hereford (56) next. The 2-3 finish in the 1600 for the Eagles allowed
them to edge Canyon by one point for fifth.
Panhandle Class 4A teams were also in the field at Snyder, where Lake
View edged Estacado for first, 111 1/5 points to 110. Pecos ended up
with 22 points, with the Eagles' two regional qualifiers from last year
picking up the two medals.
Marisol Arenivas was third behind a pair of Hereford runners in the
3200, with a 12:51.29 time, while Veronica Carrasco picked up her first
medal of the year, taking the bronze in the 300 meter hurdles with a
51.56 time.
Both Pecos teams are taking this weekend off for Spring Break. The boys
will have another two-day meet on March 21-22, in San Angelo, while the
girls will go to the Sul Ross Relays in Alpine on March 22.
Golfers get 10th, 11th in tournaments
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PECOS, Mar. 10 -- The Pecos Eagle girls placed 11th overall at the
Andrews Girls Golf Classic this past weekend, while Pecos' boys tied for
10th in their division at the San Angelo Boys Classic.
Snyder scored as 12-stroke victory over Abilene High in Andrews, with a
684 score to Abilene's 696. The host Mustangs tied Midland Lee for
third, with 699, while Pecos finished with a 768 score for 36 holes of
play.
At San Angelo, the Eagles played in the Blue Division, and shot a 712 to
tie Alpine for the No. 10 spot in the 16-team field. The host Lake View
Chiefs won the Blue Division with a 615 score, while Central took the
Orange Division title with a 608 score.
There were 21 teams in the girls' tournament at Andrews, including one
of Pecos' other District 4-4A rivals, Big Spring, which shot a 751 to
tie Lamesa for eighth.
Pecos cut 16 strokes off their second day total, shooting a 376 after an
opening round of 392. The improvement came from Sarah Armstrong, who
went from a 99 Friday to an 89 on Saturday, and Lindley Workman, who
shot a 92 after her first round 99 score.
Alva Alvarez shot 96 both days of the tournament, while Kim Clark had a
98 on Friday and an 99 on Saturday. That tied her with Anica Garcia, who
dropped from a 108 to a 99 on Saturday.
The team score is based on the four best individual scores for each team.
In San Angelo, the Eagles knocked six shots off their second day total,
shooting a 353 after an opening 359.
Casey Love had the low score over 36 holes for Pecos, an 89-83-172,
while Lee Lyles shot an 88-85-173. Jason Salcido shot 89-91-180, Chris
Ryan a 95-94-189 and John Granado shot a 104-102-206.
Along with the Eagles and Chiefs, the Blue Division also included Fort
Stockton, which shot a 652 and placed third, and Big Spring, which tied
Frenship for seventh at 667. Andrews played in the Orange Division, and
tied for third with Midland Lee, both with 631 scores.
There were 32 teams entered overall, with the Eagles' 712 total tying
for 25th place.
Pecos' boys are off this week for Spring Break, while the girls will be
headed to El Paso this weekend, for another two-day tournament.
Darkness leaves Pecos JV
tied for first in VH tourney
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PECOS, Mar. 10 -- The Pecos Eagles' junior varsity baseball team came
close to getting their second tournament title in as many weeks, but
ended up settling for a share of first place at the Van Horn Tournament.
The Eagles saw Van Horn's varsity tie the championship game at 7-7 in
the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday, and were only able to get in
one more inning before the game was called due to darkness, JV coach
Mike Adams said.
"They were going to flip a coin (for first place), but I didn't want to
do that," Adams said. The teams ended up sharing the title, though Adams
said he hoped to add Van Horn to one of the JVs two open dates in their
schedule, and the tie game could be completed before the regular game
was played.
Pecos also defeated Tornillo's varsity, 7-3, and Alpine's JV, 8-7,
before their tie with Van Horn. Louis Valencia went 6_ innings in the
final, before being relieved by Joseph Contreras. Valencia had earned
the save for Josh Casillas against Alpine, while Casillas also picked up
the victory against Tornillo.
Adams said Contreras batted .800 in the tournament, including a pair of
home runs, while Valencia was 2-5 in the championship game against Van
Horn.
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State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times
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