|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, April 14, 1999
Eagles' hitters blow away Wildcats, 25-6
PECOS, April 14 -- Outside of the high winds and choking
dust, Tuesday was an enjoyable afternoon for the Pecos
Eagles in Fabens.
The Eagles stayed unbeaten in the District 2-4A baseball
standings by collecting four doubles and six triples on a
windy afternoon in Fabens, as they routed the Wildcats in
five innings by a 25-6 final score.
"It wasn't dust, it was dirt. The winds were blowing about
25-30 miles per hour," said Eagles' coach Bubba Williams.
"Our kids pounded the ball, and they got some hits off Josh
(Casillas) because we couldn't see the ball, it was too
dusty."
Casillas struck out 10 and allowed seven hits while
improving to 8-1 on the season and got all the runs he would
need in the first inning, when Pecos scored seven times.
Pecos had 19 hits overall, with their top two hitters in the
lineup, Oscar Luna and Mason Abila, going a combined 8-for-9
with seven RBI on the afternoon. Luis Salgado had two of the
Eagles' six triples and was 3-for-5 with three RBI, while
John Gutierrez had the lone home run, a three-run shot in
the third off Carolos Sanchez, who allowed 21 of the Eagles'
25 runs.
Luna had a walk and a single in the first inning, which was
highlighted by Salgado's three-run triple. Casillas and
Ricky Herrera also had RBI singles in the first, while
Salgado, Mason Abila and Mark Abila tripled in the Eagles'
five-run second inning and Gutierrez had an RBI double.
Along with Gutierrez' homer in the third, Mason Abila
collected his second triple and Luna added a three-run
double. In the fourth, Luna would get Pecos' final triple
and Mason Abila doubled off new pitcher Tony Sanchez, and
the Eagles got their final runs in the top of the fifth, on
Kevin Bates' two-run single.
Fabens also had problems with the wind, with several dropped
fly balls in the third and fifth innings. "It was just one
of those games where it was hard to play in, but our kids
responded," said Williams.
The wind also changed Casillas' pitching style. "Josh just
threw fastballs, because I wanted him just to get the ball
over the plate so we could get some outs," Williams said.
"Over five innings he threw about eight curveballs."
Casillas walked only three while allowing a solo run in the
first inning, three runs in the third and two with two outs
in the fifth before getting the final out to end the game
under the 10-run rule.
Manny Cadena had a double in the Wildcats' three-run third,
while Martin Zavala, Tony Sanchez and Sammy Avelar put
together hits in the fifth to keep the game alive.
The win gave Pecos a 6-0 district record and a 14-5-1 mark,
and kept them a game ahead of Clint, which outscored
Canutillo on Tuesday, 13-10. Fabens fell to 2-4 in district
and 7-12-1 on the season.
The Eagles have the weekend off due to the District 2-4A
track meet, and resume play at home next Tuesday against 0-6
Mountain View. The Eagles can clinch their first playoff
berth since 1991 with a victory over the Lobos.
Strong start enough for Pecos girls
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 14 -- The Pecos Eagles got more than enough
runs in the first inning of their game on Tuesday to defeat
the San Elizario Eagles and clinch a tie for the District
2-4A title. But coach Tammy Walls would have liked to have
seen the Eagles do more over the final six innings of their
eventual 10-4 victory.
Pecos sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning, and
used three hits and five San Elizario errors to score seven
runs, which was more than enough for pitcher Alexa Marquez,
who tossed a two hitter. But the Eagles had hitting and
defensive problems of their own in the later innings, while
San Elizario settled down and avoided losing by the 10-run
rule to Pecos, as they did at home three weeks ago.
"I thought Alexa had a great game pitching," Walls said.
Marquez struck out eight and no-hit San Elizario for 5ã
innings while improving to 11-5 on the season. "She had her
change-up down and only gave up two hits."
The game started well, and Walls said, "After the first
inning I thought we were back to our old selves, but then we
started swinging for the bleachers like on Saturday,"
referring to Pecos' 18-7 loss at Clint. It left the Eagles
with a 7-1 district mark to Clint's 8-2 record, and in need
of wins over San Elizario and El Paso Mountain View this
week to clinch their first-ever district title.
Pecos is halfway there now, and can earn the title and a
first round playoff bye with a victory at home on Thursday
over Mountain View. But the Eagles will go into the game
looking to shore up a defense that was solid during the
first month of the 2-4A schedule, but has slipped during the
past week.
"We had a sloppy finish. We thought if the play wasn't there
we would still go ahead and throw it," Walls said. "We
weren't playing smart ball at the end. We're a good team,
but we're not playing smart ball."
Shorts may have kept Pecos from ending the game in the fifth
inning under the 10-run rule. The Eagles wore them Tuesday,
making sliding on the caliche surface of Martinez Field not
a pleasant experience. As a result, both Mya Gomez and
Mireya Medrano were tagged out while running across home
plate in the third and fourth innings, when the Eagles built
a 10-1 lead.
While the Eagles were limited in their sliding, the one dive
Pecos took was costly, as Nicole Payne injured her knee
diving back into first base. Payne beat out a fielder's
choice grounder that scored Pecos' eighth run, but had to
beat San Elizario's Rosie Megallon back to the base after
rounding it and taking a step towards second.
"We don't know what it is yet. She just said she heard it
pop," Walls said.
Payne drove in the final run of the first inning on a
grounder to shortstop. Jessica Rodriguez walked to open the
game and then scored on a pair of errors off Kathy
Maldonado's grounder to shortstop. She scored and Rebecca
Wein circled the bases when Erika Carrillo let her single
get by in left field.
Katrina Quiroz then reached on shortstop Vanessa Tapia's
second error, stole second and came home on Valerie
Gonzales' single. Gonzales then stole second, moved to third
on a passed ball and scored when catcher Dana Solis threw
the ball past Kristan Soto at third base.
Soto them committed her own error, throwing Ashley Salcido's
grounder down the right field line. An RBI single by Medrano
followed, and after she moved to third on a stolen base and
passed ball, Payne's grounder to shortstop brought her home.
Quiroz would have two errors at shortstop in the third,
allowing San Elizario to score their first run, but after
Tapia and pitcher Elvida Valles dropped infield pop ups to
open the bottom of the inning, Payne's fielder's choice got
that run back.
Pecos' last two runs off Valles were earned, as Gonzales
singled to open the fourth, was doubled home by Salcido who
then scored on Medrano's single to center field.
Walls put her reserves into the game in the fifth inning,
and second baseman Becky Dominguez would turn a double play
on a Megallon grounder that kept the score at 10-1. However,
the Eagles went quietly in their final three at-bats, while
San Elizario scored twice with two outs in the sixth, off
two walks, a throwing error by Wein at catcher, a wild pitch
and the visiting Eagles' first hit, a single to right by
Soto and added another in the seventh on a walk to Delma
Calderon, when she stole second and scored after Wein's
throw hit off Quiroz' glove and then got past Maldonado and
Gomez in the outfield.
Quiroz and Maldonado were among six starters reinserted by
Walls in the final inning. "I tried to get everybody in, but
I had to pull them out and put my starters back to finish
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
|
