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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, April 26, 1999
Eagles edge Lions, claim district title
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
CLINT, Apr. 26 -- All those 14-4 and 20-2 games the Pecos
Eagles have been winning in District 2-4A may be fun, but
when the playoffs start that's not exactly the kind of
pressure-filled game the Eagles can expect to be involved
in.
But Saturday's matchup at Clint was, and given a chance to
play in a close, low scoring game for the first time in
almost two months, the Eagles clinched their first district
title since 1987 by shutting out the Lions, 2-0.
Pecos played errorless ball behind a two-hit pitching
performance from Joshua Casillas, in a game where they
needed both to overcome pitcher Jeremy Arnold and the Lions,
who could have tied the Eagles for first in the District
2-4A standings with a victory.
Luis Salgado's two-out double down the line in left scored
Kevin Bates in the second inning, and a bobbled grounder by
second baseman David Elias with one out and the bases loaded
in the third allowed Ricky Herrera to score what turned out
to be the final run of the windy afternoon.
"I knew the game was going to be tight, but the kids have
been confident ever since the Midland Tournament," said
Eagles' coach Bubba Williams. "With two good teams play and
the wind blowing like that it was going to be a factor. But
I think it hurt us more than the other team because if the
wind is calm we're going to hit the ball."
The strong wind blowing in from center field held up a
couple of line drives that would have fallen for base hits,
and probably cost John Gutierrez a home run in the second
inning, when his long drive to left was blown foul.
But after Gutierrez grounded out Arnold hit Bates, and after
he stole second, Salgado hit one down the line in left that
didn't blow foul, and it scored Bates for a 1-0 lead.
Clint played errorless ball over the final four innings, and
survived leadoff errors in the first and third innings. But
they couldn't escape one actual error and one `partial' one
in the third.
Arnold, who allowed just three hits, walked Herrera on four
pitches to open the third. After he was sacrificed to second
by Oscar Luna, shortstop Freddie Ortiz mishandled Mason
Abila's grounder for an error, with Herrera holding at
second. He went to third on a walk to Jeff Martinez, and
when Elias bobbled Casillas' bouncer with the infield
playing in he lost the chance to throw out Herrera at home
plate, and had to settle for getting Casillas at first.
Elias would save a run in the fourth with a diving catch on
a Mason Abila pop-up with two outs on a ball the wind blew
away from right fielder Patrick Tullins. But the wind also
worked to the Eagles advantage in the middle innings,
foiling two Clint scoring opportunities.
The first came after Arnold came back from a two-strike
count to draw a walk opening the third inning. Bobby Morales
fouled off one bunt attempt, and showed bunt on a second
before the Lions' designated hitter swung away and lined a
shot into center field with Arnold breaking towards second.
But the ball got stuck in the wind and was pulled in by
Luna, who then fired to Gutierrez at first to double off
Arnold.
"I was expecting him to bunt, but he was already running at
first base and I was playing up," Luna said. "The wind held
it up, and I got it and threw it to first."
The wind helped even more in the fourth, after Casillas
walked Mando Moreno and Josh Duran to open the inning. After
Casillas was just able to throw out Moreno at third base on
a D.J. Check sacrifice bunt attempt, Tullins -- who had two
hits off Casillas in the Eagles' 5-1 win over the Lions last
month -- lined a shot to deep center that the wind slowed
down, allowing Luna to corral it for the second out.
Casillas then got Elias to fly out to Bates in right field,
and retired nine of the next 10 hitters he faced, giving up
only a two out single to Duran in the sixth.
Casillas, now 9-1 on the year, ended up walking three and
hitting two batters consecutively in the first inning, while
finishing with eight strikeouts.
"I had trouble with the mound, the dirt was real loose,"
said Casillas, who had to deal with both mound and wind
problems in the Eagles' previous two games in the El Paso
area. "Other than that it was OK. The mound was real high
and it was a whole lot better than Canutillo."
Canutillo, whom Pecos beat three weeks ago by a 10-3 score,
will be their next opponent, on Tuesday in the Eagles. final
regular season home game. Pecos, now 8-0 in district and
16-5-1 overall, closes out its regular season next Saturday
at San Elizario.
Saturday
PECOS CLINT
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Luna cf 3 0 1 0 Arnold p 2 0 0 0
Ma.Abila lf 4 0 0 0 Ochoa 3b 0 0 0 0
Valencia 2b 0 0 0 0 Morales dh 3 0 0 0
Martinez dh 3 0 1 0 Ortiz ss 2 0 0 0
Casillas p 3 0 0 1 Moreno 1b 1 0 0 0
Gutierrez 1b 2 0 0 0 Duran c 2 0 1 0
Bates rf 2 1 0 0 A. Garcia cr 0 0 0 0
Salgado ss 3 0 1 1 Check cf 3 0 0 0
Mk.Abila c 3 0 0 0 Tullins rf 3 0 0 0
Herrera 3b 2 1 0 0 Elias 2b 3 0 1 0
Baeza lf 2 0 0 0
Fierro ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 25 2 3 2 Totals 22 0 2 0
Pecos 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 -- 2
Clint 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0
E -- Ortiz 2, Moreno. DP -- Pecos 1. LOB -- Pecos 7, Clint
6. 2B -- Salgado. S -- Luna. SB -- Bates.
IP H R ER BB KO
Pecos
Casillas W, 9-1 7 2 0 0 3 8
Clint
Arnold L, 7-3 7 4 4 2 5 10
HBP -- Ortiz, Moreno by Casillas; Bates by Arnold.
WP -- Casillas, Arnold.
T -- 1:48.
Pecos golfers begin regional tourney
PECOS, Apr. 26 -- If there's strength in numbers, the Pecos
Eagles should be in good shape at the Region I-4A golf
tournament.
The 36-hole regional tournament teed off this morning at
two courses in San Angelo and runs through Tuesday, with
Pecos having more golfers (20) than any other school at the
tournament.
The move to District 2-4A allowed both the Eagles' `A' and
`B' teams to qualify in both the boys and girls divisions by
finishing first and second at the district tournament two
weeks ago. But to advance to the state tournament in Austin,
the Eagles will have to get by a much tougher field,
including a quartet of teams out of their former district.
Andrews will be one of the favorites in both the boys and
girls division, while San Angelo Lake View's boys will have
the home course advantage at Bentwood Golf Course. Pampa,
Granbury and Wichita Falls Rider are among the other teams
favored to earn one of the two spots in Austin.
The Eagles finished behind the Mustangs and Chiefs in
tournaments earlier this season, but have added golfers
Michael Baca and Cortney Freeman to their `A' team since
then, and coach Kim Anderson was hoping they can compete for
a trip to Austin.
"Our kids know they course and they've played well there,
so I think if we can cut out scores a little more we have a
shot," he said following the Eagles' district championship.
Pecos' girls face the same problem as the boys, with former
district rivals Andrews and Snyder among the favorites to
advance to Austin. The teams played Riverside Golf Club back
in early February, with Snyder finishing first, Andrews
second and Pampa third in the San Angelo Girls' Golf
Classic.
The Eagles were fifth in that tournament, 42 strokes behind
Andrews and 57 in back of Snyder. Alva Alvarez, who
qualified as a medalist for regionals last year, shot a 174
for the 36-hole tournament, while Sarah Armstrong, who beat
out Alvarez for medalist honors at district, shot a 181.
Parkland awaiting Eagles or Harvesters
PECOS, Apr. 26 -- The Pecos Eagles' first-ever softball
playoff game is still four days away, but the Eagles and
Pampa Harvesters already know who their second round
opponent is going to be, if they can stay alive past
Thursday.
The Eagles and Harvesters will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday at
Lubbock Western in the area round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Pecos drew a bye for winning the District 2-4A title, while
Pampa finished second to Dumas in District 3-4A but also
drew a bye, since there are not enough softball teams in the
Panhandle. The two that do from District 4-4A, Canyon and
Frenship, play as part of District 3-4A.
The absence of one Panhandle district will give the El Paso
Parkland Matadors an area round bye this week, after their
15-3 win over the Eagles' district rival, San Elizario, on
Friday. Parkland will face the winner of Thursday's area
game between Pecos and Pampa.
Like the Eagles, the Harvesters are making their first
post-season softball appearance, while Parkland is a
`veteran' in the young UIL sport, having beaten Andrews in
the playoffs last season. The Matadors finished second to El
Paso Ysleta in District 1-4A this season.
Andrews, which won the title in Pecos' old district, is
still be a long way off for the Eagles as a playoff
opponent. The Mustangs are in the bottom half of the Region
I-4A bracket, while the other area round games aside from
Pecos and Pampa in the top half match Burleson against
Weatherford and Wichita Falls Rider against Brownwood.
The other two teams out of the Eagles' former district,
Fort Stockton and Snyder, were eliminated in the bi-district
round of the playoff. Fort Stockton lost to Joshua, 4-2,
while Snyder was beaten by Burleson, 8-5.
No late hopefuls for coaching job
PECOS, Apr. 26 -- There were no late applications for the
vacant head football coaching position at Pecos High School,
leaving three candidates vying for the job between now and
the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah school board's May meeting.
Assistant varsity coach, Gary Grubbs, Zavala Middle School
coach Jerry Parent and Fred Carter, a Pecos native currently
working in the Ector County ISD are the three who have
applied for the position, after head coach Dan Swaim
resigned on April 8 to become an assistant coach at Midland
High.
Gome Olibas, personnel director for the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah
ISD, said on Friday he hoped to conduct interviews this
week, and that the school board would make a final decision
on May 13.
Junior League seeking coach
PECOS, Apr. 26 -- The Pecos Junior League is seeking one
more coach for it's upcoming 1999 baseball season, according
to league official Danny Reyes.
The league has expanded this year, with 16-year-olds now
allowed to play Senior League baseball, while 13- and
14-year-olds will be part of Senior League. Reyes said there
will be six Junior League teams and four Senior League
squads, with nine of the teams from the Pecos area and one
from Monahans.
Anyone wanting to help coach this season should call Reyes
at 445-3012. Regular season play for the Junior and Senior
Leagues is scheduled to begin on May 8.
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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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