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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Sports

Monday, July 20, 1998

Pecos `B' LLers advance to sectionals


By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 20 -- The Pecos Little League `B' All-Stars
earned a berth in the sectional tournament, while Pecos'
Junior League All-Stars earned home field for the District 4
finals following Friday night wins at home.

The 9-10 year olds won the District 4 title in their first
year of competition, holding off San Angelo Western by a 3-2
final score at Chano Prieto Field.

Across town, Pecos' Junior Leaguers saw Western tie their
game at 3-all with two outs in the top of the seventh on
Friday, but came back to score the winning run in their next
at-bat for a 4-3 victory and a spot in this evening's
championship game.

Pecos will host San Angelo Northern, which came all the way
through the loser's bracket to reach today's 6 p.m. finals.
If Northern wins, a deciding game will take place Tuesday
evening, also starting a 6 p.m.

Barney Rodriguez won his second tournament game Friday, and
also scored the winning run off his lead off single in the
bottom of the seventh, followed by three wild pitches which
brought him all the way around to score.

Northern will come into today's game off three straight
high-scoring victories. They downed Lake View, 15-5, then
after having the game at Ballinger rained out on Friday,
outscored them Saturday night, 17-14, then won at San Angelo
Western on Sunday, 9-8, to reach the tournament finals.

The Junior Leaguers will try to avoid the fate of Pecos'
Senior League, which lose two straight at home over the
weekend in the tournament finals, and instead follow the
path of the 9-10 group, which made a three-run third inning
stand up on Friday.

Pitcher Eddie Vela got plenty of help from his defense, and
helped himself out in the second inning, throwing out
Michael Hernandez at home plate on a John Skelton squeeze
bunt after Hernandez opened the second with a triple. Vela
then tagged out Skelton trying to score on a passed ball
moments later, keeping San Angelo off the board.

Pecos got their runs off Kevin Justice when Cody Hernandez
walked, moved to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored
on Adrian Solis' bloop single to right field. Edward
Valencia then reached on a Skelton error at second, and both
runners scored on Mark Mendoza's strange triple, a line shot
that ticked off Justice's glove, went past Skelton and
rolled to the fence in right center field.

Western's Hernandez would cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth,
singling home Michael Dalton and Chase Vance, who reached on
a single and error by Kenny Rayos at first base. But Vela
then got the next three batters to end the inning, and
allowed only an infield hit in the fifth.

Hernandez would single again in the sixth and got to second
with two out when Chase Davis sent a bouncer wide of first.
It got past Rayos, but Thomas Paz was able to reach it, and
Rayos was able to get back to first just in time to take the
throw and get Dalton, ending the game.

"Defensively we did pretty good. Hitting-wise we were a
little slow today," said manager Jesse Rayos, while coach
John Salcido said the team's pre-tournament practices paid
off.

"We had two weeks to put it together and work on our
fundamentals, and that's what it took. The team played like
a family."

Salcido thanked all the supporters who followed the team
during their District 4 Tournament play. Sectional play will
be this week in Lubbock, with the winner there advancing to
the state tournament, scheduled for early August in San
Antonio.

LLers rally on road, Seniors ousted


By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 20 -- So much for home field advantage.

Long trips and overnight stays were no hindrance to either
the Pecos Little League All-Stars or the San Angelo Western
Senior League All-Stars over the weekend, as both teams
bounced back from losses earlier in the week to claim the
District 4 baseball tournament titles Sunday night.

Pecos' Little Leaguers were six outs from elimination on
Saturday at San Angelo Northern when they racked up six runs
to come away with an 8-5 win. The Little Leaguers then went
on to beat the same pitcher that almost no-hit them four
days earlier, as they scored twice in the second inning and
three more times in the third off Sean Winscher for a 5-3
victory and a berth in the sub-sectional tournament this
week in Midland.

San Angelo Western, meanwhile, came into Pecos and came away
with the district title, as pitcher Scott Rosser shut down
Pecos on Saturday by a 3-1 score, before Western rallied
twice on Sunday, scoring five times with two outs in the
fifth to turn a 9-6 deficit into an 11-9 victory.

Jose Reyes had the big hits for Pecos both in their win
Saturday and in Sunday's championship victory. Reyes came up
with a two-run triple in the fifth inning on Saturday off
Ben Nyland that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Then
in the third inning on Sunday, he strokes a two-out home run
to center field, scoring Eliario Bustamantes and staking
pitcher Rigo Ramirez to a 5-0 lead.

Ramirez had relieved Bustamantes in last Wednesday's 8-1
loss and settled down after Britt Eggenberger lined his
first pitch over the fence for a three-run homer. On Sunday,
Eggenberger would again touch Ramirez for a home run, a
two-run shot in the sixth that cut the lead to 5-3. But
Ramirez would come back to record his ninth and 10th
strikeouts of the evening to finish things off.

Winscher had allowed a single to Robbie Saldana and an RBI
double to Bustamantes before that, after Saldana was wild
pitched into scoring position. The fastballer had some
control problems in his first game against Pecos, but the
Little Leaguers never had enough people on base to take
advantage.

On Sunday, they did, especially in the second inning, when
Pecos scored twice without a hit. Ramirez walked to lead
things off and Reyes then reached when Cory Dyer couldn't
field his hard grounder to shortstop cleanly. Winscher then
loaded the bases by walking Oscar Parada and the wild
pitched Ramirez home for the first run of the game. One out
later Reyes scored on Jesus Gonzales' ground out to short.

Eggenberger ended up with three home runs in three games
against Pecos, including a two-run shot in the fifth inning
of Saturday's game that put San Angelo up 5-2 at the time.
Earlier, Ramirez homered off of Dyer for Pecos' first run,
while Gonzales would score the second run in the third
inning off a Victor Reyes triple, and the two would team up
to do it again during Pecos' six-run fifth inning.

Saldana would help his own cause in that inning, doubling to
score the final two runs of the game, then getting San
Angelo in the sixth to clinch the victory.

In the Senior Leaguers' loss, it was Josh Morgan's triple
past a diving Gilbert Fierro in left field that cleared the
bases in the fifth inning of the deciding game, after Pecos
had taken a 9-6 lead. Pitcher Pifi Montoya then walked
Rosser before Michael McClellan delivered the game-winning
hit, a two-ruin double to right-center field.

Morgan had homered off Montoya in the bottom of the first, a
two-run shot after Mason Abila did the same in the top of
the inning off starter Colt Williams. Singles by Rosser and
McClellan and a squeeze bunt by Carlos Dela Rosa then gave
Western a 3-2 lead, before Pecos tied it in the second on
Alex Garcia's ground-rule double and Paul Juarez' bloop
single and throwing error by DelaRosa in right field.

Northern regained the lead in the third off singles by
McClellan and Cameron Sims and Williams' RBI double, but
Pecos came back in their next at-bat to score four times,
off a two-out error by Jeremy Gafford on Fierro's grounder
and Benny Juarez' three-run homer to left-center field.

Rosser and McClellan would collect RBI singles in the bottom
of the inning, cutting the 7-4 margin to 7-6, but Pecos got
those runs back in the top of the fifth off Williams and
reliever Parker Walz, who came on after Abila walked and
Angel Villalobos doubled off Gafford's glove down the third
base line.

Montoya singled one run home and a passed ball by Morgan
plated Villalobos. But Walz then settled down and retired
the side, then shut down Pecos in the final two innings
despite allowing five more baserunners.

Rosser and McClellan combined to score the winning runs in
the fifth inning on Saturday as well. Rosser walked and
McClellan singled to open the fifth off Richard Rodriguez.
Rosser would then score on DelaRosa's infield hit to
shortstop, and Sims followed with an single to right,
scoring McClellan. Rodriguez then hit Walz to load the bases
but was bailed out by Abila, who grabbed David Lopez' popped
up bunt and doubled DelaRosa off third base on a squeeze
play attempt.

Pecos' lone run off Rosser came in the second, when Capi
Magana singled home Montoya. San Angelo had taken a 1-0 lead
in the first when Gafford reached on an error and Seth
Korschak singled.

"They're good kids. They're going to survive," said a
disappointed coach Stephen Rodriguez after the game, as
Western downed Pecos in the tournament finals for the second
year in a row. They now more on to the sub-sectional
tournament, set for later this week in Abilene.

O'Meara wins British Open after Masters


By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Writer
SOUTHPORT, England, July 20 -- Maybe now, Mark O'Meara will
invite Ian Baker-Finch over to his house to share a drink
out of the Auld Claret Jug.

If he does, he might do it while wearing his green jacket.

The confidence O'Meara gained only three months ago in
winning the Masters proved crucial on a rainy day at Royal
Birkdale, where sun broke through Sunday just in time for
him to hoist the British Open trophy and give it a kiss on
the 18th green.

O'Meara survived the shifting weather off the Irish Sea to
shoot even par for 72 holes, only to applaud politely when
Brian Watts hit a miracle shot out of a bunker on No. 18 to
force a four-hole playoff.

O'Meara then calmed the nerves that had also popped up at
Augusta for a steady performance against a player who had
never been in contention in a major before.

At 41, O'Meara became the oldest player to win two major
titles in one year and the first to win the Open and Masters
in the same year since Nick Faldo in 1990.

``It's just an incredible feeling,'' O'Meara said. ``If I
could put my finger on it, I would have done it earlier in
my career. It's just not that easy.''

In 1991, Baker-Finch won at Birkdale playing alongside
O'Meara, then invited his friend to drink out of the jug
with him. On Sunday, it was O'Meara's turn, as he made his
way through light rain with a final round of 68 that
appeared to be all he would need.

When it wasn't, he got up from his perch on the grass
surrounding the 18th green, kissed his wife, and went out to
birdie the first playoff hole and par the next three to win
his first jug.

After beginning the year as not even the best golfer in a
neighborhood that includes Tiger Woods, O'Meara can now
legitimately claim to be the best in the world.

``Even though I'm nervous, even though certain things have
transpired throughout my career, I realize that more times
than not that I've been able to finish off the deal and get
the job done,'' O'Meara said.

He got the job done at Birkdale, just as he did at Augusta.
This time, he got it done because he was able to master
conditions that ranged from howling winds and rain to bright
sunshine over four days.

And, in the end, he got it done because Watts could not hit
two shots of a lifetime out of bunkers fronting the 18th
green, the second in the playoff.

Woods almost made it to the playoff, too, roaring from
behind with birdies on three of the last four holes. He
closed with a 66, tied with Scotland's Raymond Russell for
the best round of the day, to finish at 281.

Four players tied for fourth at 282: Russell, Jim Furyk,
Jesper Parnevik and the 17-year-old amateur Justin Rose of
England. It was the best showing by an amateur since Frank
Stranahan in 1953.

Rose thrilled his countrymen by staying in the tournament
until the end, capping his performance with a 45-yard
chip-in on No. 18 that brought a thunderous ovation from the
crowd.

The last hole also proved to be the key for Watts.

After forcing the playoff with a spectacular chip shot from
a greenside bunker to within tap-in distance, Watts didn't
come close when he tried to hole a shot out of an adjacent
trap in a desperate bid to keep the match going.

``I knew I had to hole the bunker shot to have any kind of
chance,'' Watts said.

Watts, who held a two-shot lead entering the final round,
played solidly, shooting an even-par 70 that included a
crucial 18-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.

When the playoff began, though, experience took over. Watts
has won 10 times in Japan, but never completed a successful
year on the PGA Tour. O'Meara is the Masters champion, and
has a game honed by regular practice matches with his friend
Woods.

On the way to the 15th tee to begin the playoff, caddie
Jerry Higginbotham reminded him of those matches.

``I told him just pretend you've got Tiger out for an
emergency nine at night because he beats him all the time,''
Higginbotham said.

If Woods hadn't run out of holes in front of him, he might
have joined him for this little match, too.

Woods sank a 30-foot chip on the 17th hole that got his
fist pumping, then followed it with a 30-foot birdie putt on
18 to get to 1-under and a tie for the lead. When O'Meara
birdied 17 behind him and Watts followed suit, Woods'
chances were over.

Newton loses weight, voice at camp


By DENNE H. FREEMAN
AP Sports Writer
WICHITA FALLS, July 20 -- Nate Newton, normally among the
more talkative Dallas Cowboys, isn't talking at all so far
during this training camp.

Newton lost about 70 pounds in the off-season and would be
one of the best training camp stories. But he told the
Cowboys' public relations staff he won't talk with reporters
while he works for a San Antonio TV station for the first
week of camp.

The big offensive lineman is providing station KMOL with
offbeat training camp reports until Thursday.

Newton had a miserable 1997 season during which the
offensive line caught much of the criticism for a 6-10
season that cost Barry Switzer his job. The 13-year veteran
was overweight and injured and thought to be on the downside
of his career.

So far, that appears to have turned around. Newton is down
to 301 pounds and has looked solid. His blocking has been
one of the highlights of a much-improved Dallas offense.

``Anybody who has followed Nate's career knows he's in the
best shape he has ever been in,'' said coach Chan Gailey.
``He has been doing a good job out there''

However, Newton's lips remained sealed. He was in the
cafeteria at Midwestern State University late last week
doing a piece on the food service.

He also interviewed such teammates as Wendell Davis.

``How does it feel being back in your hometown?'' Newton
asked.

``I'm from Wichita, Kansas,'' Davis answered.

In other training camp news:

INJURIES: Thomas, Davis out with knee injuries

The Dallas Cowboys have lost two defensive players to knee
injuries.

Linebacker Broderick Thomas was hurt in Sunday's late
practice, a day after cornerback Wendell Davis went down
during a passing drill.

Owner Jerry Jones said Thomas could miss the entire season,
but trainer Jim Maurer said it was too early to tell.

``We'll have to see after an MRI,'' Maurer said.

Thomas had been moved from defensive end to linebacker and
was being counted upon to be one of the Cowboys primary
rushers on obvious passing downs.

Coach Chan Gailey said Davis ``is definitely out for the
season. It's a tough injury because he got hurt last year.''

TEEING IT UP: Cowboys get golf break

The Cowboys got today off from the training-camp grind for a
golf break. Wichita Falls Country Club will be the site of
the annual team golf outing.

Coach Chan Gailey said he would just as soon be working but
added that the team probably could stand a little rest.

``Not many coaches want players playing in golf tournaments
in the middle of training camp,'' said Gailey, who is about
a 2-handicapper himself.



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