|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, February 9, 1999
Eagles start baseball with scrimmage win
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Feb. 9 -- The Pecos Eagles got off to a pretty good
start to their 1999 baseball season Monday night, in the
first of their three preseason scrimmage games.
There were a few unwelcome reminders of 1998's problems
against the Kermit Yellowjackets, but overall the Eagles had
the game in control from the start, scoring a 14-3 win over
the Jackets as both teams took a look at their varsity and
sub-varsity players.
"I thought the pitching looked pretty good, the hitting was
good, but the defense is still not where it's supposed to
be," said Eagles' coach Bubba Williams.
After allowing almost 80 unearned runs last year, defense is
a main concern for Pecos. On Monday, all three of Kermit's
runs were unearned, one each off Joshua Casillas and Jason
Payne and Oscar Rodriguez, the final pitcher of the night.
Casillas started and went three innings and Payne and
Rodriguez two apiece for the Eagles, with Casillas adding a
three-run home run in the sixth inning, the second of the
day for Pecos. John Gutierrez had a solo shot in the third,
when Pecos turned a 3-1 lead into a 9-1 advantage.
"Some of the kids did what we taught them in practice, to
just put the ball in play and make them make the plays. I
don't want them going up there and striking out," Williams
said.
Kermit had some defensive problems of their own, mainly with
wild pitches and passed balls, which helped Pecos in their
big third inning. Meanwhile, some of the Eagles' defensive
troubles came as Williams made his late inning
substitutions, since Monday's game was the only one between
the two squads.
On Friday, the Eagles will host Fort Stockton in their
second varsity scrimmage, while junior varsity and freshman
players will go to Fort Stockton to take on the Panthers.
The Eagles' final pre-season scrimmage and their regular
season opener also are at home, on Feb. 20 against Midland
High and Feb. 26, in a doubleheader against Monahans.
Pecos golfers fifth in opening tournament
PECOS, Feb. 9 -- If the Pecos Eagle girls' golf team was
still in with their old rivals as part of District 5-4A this
year, their golf opener at San Angelo over the weekend would
have had a bit of a down side. But as it is, the Eagles
showed they should be in good shape to get back to the
Riverside Golf Club in late April, following their
season-opening San Angelo Girls Golf Classic.
Pecos placed fifth overall, and either third out of their
former district rivals or fourth, if you count Snyder, whom
the Eagles played against back in the 1980s and who replaced
them in district this year. The Tigers, last year's Region
I-4A champs, won the Orange Division title with a 36-hole
total of 684, 15 shots ahead of Andrews.
Pampa was third, with a 726 score, while the Eagles were
just edged out for fourth by Fort Stockton, which cut their
second day score by 60 strokes compared to Pecos' 43 to edge
out the Eagles by a 740-741 margin.
"Fort Stockton has Snyder and Andrews to worry about (in
district). I'm real happy right now," said Eagles' coach
Tina Hendrick. As a member of District 2-4A, Pecos will be
paired with Clint, Mountain View, Fabens, Canutillo and San
Elizario in their two round tournament in April, with the
top two finishers advancing to the regional tournament in
San Angelo.
Individually, Alva Alvarez placed eighth overall in the
division, with a 36-hole total of 92-82-174. All the other
Pecos golfers cut 10 or more strokes off their second day
totals, with Sarah Armstrong going from 96 to 85 for a 181
score, Amanda Stickels shooting a 99-87-186, Salem Mitchell
shot a 105-95-200 and Cassie Foster shot a 111-101-212.
"I was pleased with the girls. Each of them cut their
strokes the second day," Hendrick said. The final round was
at Riverside, where Pecos shot a 349 while Friday's opening
round was held at the San Angelo Country Club, where the
Eagles shot a 392.
Saturday's round was the fourth-best of the day, behind
Snyder (321), Andrews (334) and Fort Stockton (340). Pampa
finished with a 354 at Riverside, but their 372 on Friday
was enough to keep them ahead of Pecos and Fort Stockton.
The Eagles' other ex-district rivals, Sweetwater, Big
Spring, and San Angelo, placed ninth, 11th and 12th in the
14-team division, with 819, 852, and 895 totals for the 36
holes of play. None of Pecos' new district oppnents were in
San Angelo, and the only El Paso area schools in the
tournament was Class 5A squads in the Blue Division, won by
Abilene High with a 672 total. El Paso Franklin shot a 740,
El Paso Hanks a 754 and El Paso Coronado had an 811 for the
tournament.
Eagles teams playing final doubleheader
PECOS, Feb. 9 -- Staying in the playoff race and getting out
of last place are the goals of the Pecos Eagle boys and
girls basketball teams tonight, as they play their final
doubleheader of the season at the Pecos High School gym.
Pecos' girls close out their 1998-99 season at home tonight
against the San Elizario Eagles, with both teams trying to
get their second District 2-4A wins of the season. The boys,
meanwhile, need a win over San Elizario to avoid being
eliminated from the playoff race, while the visiting Eagles
could clinch a post-season berth with a victory tonight.
"It's going to be a tough game. They have a little bit more
quickness then us, but they're the only team we play that we
match up in size against," said Eagles' coach Brian
Williams. Pecos' girls got their only win of the season so
far in district last month in San Elizario, by a 51-45 final
score, but had to come back from a 14-7 first quarter
deficit to do so.
Posts Lindsey Hathorn and Monique Levario led Pecos in
scoring that night with 11 and 10 points, while San
Elizario's Ruby Jimenez had 12 to lead all scorers. Jimenez
had eight in Friday's 45-26 loss to Canutillo, which left
San Eli with a 1-8 district mark, 3-20 on the season.
Pecos dropped a 62-46 decision to 2-4A champ Clint on
Friday, as Shaye Lara scored 18 points and Maricela Arenivas
had 13. It left Pecos with a 1-8 district mark and 4-20
overall record.
San Elizario's boys pulled out a 63-59 win over Pecos at
home on Jan. 22, and since then have lost only one game
while Pecos has won just once. San Elizario edged Canutillo
at home on Friday, 50-46 to go 5-2 in district, while the
Eagles fell to 2-5 with their 56-33 loss at Clint.
"We still have a chance, if we win all our and San Eli or
Mountain View (both tied for second behind Clint) lose all
of theirs," Eagles' coach Mike Sadler said. Mountain View
hosts Pecos on Friday and face Clint tonight and San
Elizario on Friday.
Pecos closes out their season next Tuesday at home against
Canutillo, a game Sadler said has been moved up to 6 p.m.
Tonight's games will start at their regular times, with the
girls at 6 and the boys at 7:30 p.m.
Browns hunt steals among NFL castoffs
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND, Feb. 9 -- The Cleveland Browns have done their
homework and are going into the expansion draft armed with
pages of scouting reports, medical profiles and the inside
dope on 150 of the NFL's most unwanted players.
After all that, picking the right ones might involve more
luck than research.
``We're looking for needle-in-a-haystack-type players,''
said Dwight Clark, the Browns' football operations director.
Cleveland's expansion draft day has arrived, and the Browns
were to add more names to their roster today. They are
choosing from a list of players deemed overpaid,
underachieving or over the hill by the league's 30 other
teams.
The Browns aren't looking for Pro Bowlers or Hall of
Famers. They're searching for bodies, preferably ones who
will be around for a while.
``We'd like to go with young guys who can be ready in two
or three years,'' Clark said.
That might be tough to do when considering that of the 66
total players taken by Jacksonville and Carolina in the 1995
expansion draft, four remain on either team's rosters.
Clark and the Browns are starting to feel better about the
first and less important of their two player drafts.
The 150 players from whom Cleveland can choose didn't look
very appealing at first to Clark, who knew little or nothing
about them.
But after spending hours breaking down game films, making
phone calls and dissecting the list, Clark is convinced he
can find some help.
``When I initially looked at the list, it didn't blow me
away,'' Clark said. ``But some of the players I had not been
that familiar with. Ultimately, you start digging in and
finding more information about them. That's when you start
getting excited about it.''
Excited about the expansion draft?
It may be hard for the rest of the league to believe, but
Cleveland is pumped. After a three-year hiatus, the NFL is
back in football-mad northern Ohio. And to trumpet the
Browns' rebirth, the league decided to conduct the expansion
draft in the birthplace of pro football.
All 4,000 tickets made available for the event at the
Canton Civic Center were scooped up quickly by Browns fans,
who haven't been able to get together and cheer for their
beloved team in a long time.
The Dawg Pound will be out in full force, woofing for each
of the Browns' selections during the 2½-hour draft, to be
carried live by ESPN2.
The players who have the Browns most excited have small
contracts and big potential. Cleveland inherits a player's
contract, so dollar figures are as important as rushing
average and sack totals.
``We're looking for guys with an up side,'' Browns coach
Chris Palmer said.
There are some big-name players available -- Denver's
Darrien Gordon and Neil Smith, Green Bay's Robert Brooks and
Reggie White, the Jets' Glenn Foley, Oakland's Desmond
Howard and Washington's Gus Frerotte -- but all come with
some kind of baggage. They're either overpaid,
underachieving, injured or, in White's case, retiring.
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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
|
