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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Pecos shuts down Canutillo, 4-1
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Apr. 28 -- With only an unbeaten record in District
2-4A on the line for the Pecos Eagles Tuesday evening
against the Canutillo Eagles, the intensity level was a lot
less than last Saturday, when Pecos clinched the district
title with a victory at Clint.
But going against a team in need of a victory to improve
their playoff chances the Eagles used a four-hit performance
by junior Oscar Rodriguez and single runs in the first four
innings to post a 4-1 victory, their 10th win in a row.
Rodriguez had some control problems, and threw a couple of
57-foot curve balls that caused trouble for catcher Mark
Abila. Both played a factor in Canutillo's only run of the
night, as Rodriguez wlid pitched Bobby Ruiz home after
waking Ruiz and Javier Medina and seeing Jesse Ramirez bloop
a single in front of a diving Oscar Luna in left-center
field.
That cut Pecos' lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning, but
Rodriguez then came back to strike out Juan Torres on a 3-2
pitch and got Carlos Lara to fly out to Mason Abila in left
field.
"A lot of times Oscar doesn't get in his rhythm right away.
That's his biggest problem," said Eagles' assistant coach
Elias Payan. "But once he starts getting comfortable and
gets his curveball going he cane get his fast ball and blow
it by them."
Pecos got the run back in their next at-bat on Joshua
Casillas' third hit of the night, a two-out single that
scored Luna, who opened the inning with a hit, and Rodriguez
would shut down Canutillo the rest of the way, getting
Medina to hit into a double play in the sixth, and stranding
baserunners in both the fifth and seventh innings.
Pecos did have four errors, a high for them in recent
weeks, but none led to unearned runs, a problem the Eagles
had during pre-district play. "All week long we worked
fungos with them (infielders), and they've started turning
two now that they weren't earlier this season," Payan said.
"When the season began we were booting the ball, but now
we're making the plays and getting ready for (state)
tournament time. They're real comfortable out there right
now."
Pecos got an unearned run in the first off Ignacio Jurado,
when Hector Polanco booted Luna's leadoff grounder to
second. Jurado came back to get Abila and Jeff Martinez to
hit into fielder's choice grounders before Casillas single
to right field and John Gutierrez got his 13th double of the
season, a shot to right-center, to put Pecos up by a 1-0
score.
They made it 2-0 in the second after Mark Abila was hit by
a pitch with one out, went all the way to third on Louis
Valencia's sacrifice bunt and scored on Luna's double down
the line in left. In the third, the Eagles added to their
lead again with two outs, when Jurado misplayed Mark Abila's
tap down the first base line with the bases loaded. It
scored Casillas, who doubled with one out and moved up after
an intentional walk to Gutierrez and a bad hop hit over
third baseman Medina by Kevin Bates.
The Eagles did fail to follow up on those plays after
getting the single runs, and did waste a leadoff triple by
Bates in the fifth inning.
"This game was another sleeper. We came out and weren't
very aggressive," said Payan. "Sometimes at bat the kids get
too anxious, because they know they can crush the ball and
don't hit it the way they should, but that's something we
can work on in the two weeks preparing for the playoffs."
The loss left Canutillo with a 3-6 mark in District 2-4A, a
game in back of both San Elizario and Fabens in the race for
the final playoff berth. San Elizario lost to Clint, 14-4
and host Pecos on Saturday, while Fabens edged Mountain
View, 12-11, and will face Canutillo on Friday.
Eagles head coach Bubba Williams said he would probably
give sophomore Pifi Montoya, who hasn't pitched since late
March, his first start in six weeks when the Eagles go to
San Elizario.
Williams said he's looking to get a practice game in next
week against either Alpine or Andrews, since those teams
also have drawn first round playoff byes.
"With the season still going on I don't want to bother Joe
Ray (Halsey, Andrews' head coach) and he doesn't want to
bother me, but I think we can get a game up against
Andrews," Williams said. Under the Class 4A playoff bracket,
Pecos and Andrews couldn't meet in post-season play before
the Region I-4A finals on June 3-4.
Tuesday
CANUTILLO PECOS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Polanco 2b 4 0 0 0 Luna cf 4 1 2 1
Jurdo p-ss 4 0 0 0 MaAbila lf 4 0 0 0
Larrea ss-p 3 0 1 0 J.Mrtnz 3b 3 1 0 0
Terrazas c 3 0 1 0 Herrera 3b 0 0 0 0
J.Gnzles cr 0 0 0 0 Casillas 1b 4 1 3 1
Ruiz 1b 2 1 1 0 Rordiguez p 0 0 0 0
C.Mrtnz 1b 0 0 0 0 Gutierrez dh 2 0 1 1
Medina 3b 2 0 0 0 Bates rf 3 0 2 0
Ramirez rf 3 0 1 0 Salgado ss 3 0 0 0
J.Gnzles rf 0 0 0 0 Mk.Abila c 2 1 0 0
E.Gnzles lf 0 0 0 0 H.Garcia cr 0 0 0 0
Torres dh 3 0 0 0 Valencia 2b 1 0 0 0
Lara cf 2 0 0 0 Florez ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 26 1 4 0 Totals 27 4 8 3
Canutillo 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 -- 1
Pecos 1 1 1 1 0 0 x -- 4
E -- Martinez, Polanco, Valencia, Rodirguez, Jurado, Ma.
Abila. DP -- Pecos 1. LOB -- Canutillo 7, Pecos 8. 2B --
Gutierrez, Luna, Casillas. 3B -- Bates. S -- Valencia.
IP H R ER BB KO
Canutillo
Jurado (L) 4 7 4 2 1 2
Larrea 2 1 0 0 1 0
Pecos
Rodriguez W, 6-1 7 4 1 1 2 8
HBP -- Mk. Abila by Jurado.
WP -- Rodriguez.
PB -- Mk. Abila.
T -- 1:40.
Eagle girls place fourth at regionals
PECOS, Apr. 28 -- The Pecos Eagle girls golf team didn't
make a miracle comeback against the top three teams at the
Region I-4A Tournament in San Angelo on Tuesday, but they
were able to cut 11 strokes off their opening round total
and move up from sixth to fourth in the final standings at
Riverside Golf Club.
Pecos' girls shot a 351 on Tuesday to finish at 715, as they
passed Granbury and Weatherford in the standings. Three of
the four teams Pecos placed behind back in February at
Riverside -- Snyder, Pampa and Andrews -- finished ahead of
Pecos again, with the Tigers winning regionals for the
second year in a row, while the Harvesters beat out the
Mustangs by one stroke for the second state berth.
Meanwhile, Pecos' boys suffered through a rough back nine at
Bentwood Country Club, and shot a 350 in the second round of
their regional tournament, to finish in 14th place with a
692 for the 36-hole tournament.
District 2-4A medalist Sarah Armstrong cut 11 strokes off
her first round total on Tuesday and shot an 80 to finish
with a 171 score. Alva Alavarez shot an 87 and ended up at
177, while Amanda Stickels had a 91 and finished at 179.
Candace Hilliard shot a 93 and Salem Mitchell shot a 95 and
both ended the tournament with 188 scores.
Snyder won the tournament with a 640 score after shooting
317, while Pampa shot a 330 to finish at 688, one shot up on
Andrews which had a 327 on Tuesday. Granbury shot a 362 and
finished at 721, six shots behind Pecos, while Weatherford
shot a 371 for a 731 total and was passed by both Pecos and
Stephenville, which shot a 366 to finish at 369.
Pecos ~`B' team cut their score by 14 strokes Tuesday, but
weren't able to catch Wichita Falls Riders and ended the day
in 14th place. The Eagles shot a 392 for a two-day total of
798, six shots behind Rider.
Candace Roach shot a 90 for a 184 total, Brandi Bradley
finished at 189 after a round of 96, Cassie Foster shot a 94
and finished at 192, Kelsey Riley shot a 114 and finished at
235 and Kattie Davis had a 112 to finish with a 237 score.
On the boys' side the Eagles' top four golfers all saw their
totals rise by three strokes on Tuesday. Casey Love shot an
85 to finish at 167, Lee Lyles shot an 88 and finished at
173, Jason Salcido had a 90 to finish at 177 and Cortney
Freeman had a 91 to finish at 179. Pecos' fifth golfers,
John Granado, shot a 96 and ended with a 193 score.
"We made the turn on the first nine on Tuesday in real good
shape," coach Kim Anderson said. "Lee had a 39, and Casey,
Jason and Cortney all had 40s. I thought we were going to
shoot around 300, but then we blew up on the back nine.
"The back nine has more sand and water than the front nine,
and that got them into trouble," said Anderson, who hopes to
play some fall tournaments this year on tougher courses to
help Pecos with that problem.
The `B' team also struggled, going from a 365 to a 391 and
ended up 16th, with a 756 score. Dallas Jarrett had a 90 to
finish at 178, Tye Edwards shot a 93 to finish at 179, Erik
Machuca shot a 108 for a 199 score, Jae Ewing shot a 100 to
finish at 200 overall and Patrick McChesney shot a 125 to
finish with a 253 score.
Andrews was able to catch Wichita Falls Rider's `B' team for
the second regional berth by six strokes over Pampa. Both
the Mustangs and Rider's `A' teams shot 291s, as Wichita
Falls ended with a 587 score to Andrews' 593.
Bears' Dutchover falls in I-A tennis semis
PECOS, Apr. 28 -- Balmorhea's Brenda Dutchover lost her bid
for a berth in the Class A state tennis tournament on
Tuesday, as she was beaten in the semifinals by Lindsey
Brown of Whiteface, by a 6-4, 6-1 final score.
Dutchover ended up fourth in the two-day tournament at
Levelland, losing the third place match to Misty Wilkerson
of Silverton by the same 6-4, 6-1 final scores.
Brown went on to take the girls singles' title, defeating
Shawna Gerber of Nazareth by 4-6, 7-5,6-4 scores. Gerber had
beaten Dutchover's teammate, Stephanie Dominguez, in the
opening round by 6-3, 6-3 scores.
Down in San Angelo on Tuesday, the team that defeated Pecos'
No9. 1 doubles squad in the opening round of the Region I-4A
tournament also went on to take the regional title. Kirk
O'Connor and Jason Tillery of Wichita Falls Rider beat Brady
Prigmore and Kenneth Hines of rival Wichita Falls, 6-3, 7-6,
to win the title.
Seniors Mark Marquez and Jonathan Fuentes had drawn Tillery
and O'Connor in the opening round despite winning the
District 2-4A tournament, and lost by 6-2, 6-0 scores.
"Both boys, since it's their last year were disappointed
with the draw they got, but they knew they had to go out
there and play," said Eagles' coach Bernadette Ornelas.
She said the opening pairings were picked at random after
the top four seeds were set. "Overall the competition was
tough on the boys' side of the bracket, but I believe Mark
and Jonathan could have advanced farther if they had been
someplace else in the bracket."
Pecos' other doubles team, of seniors Tye Graham and Jeff
Lam, lost to Snyder's Adrian Gonzales and Bret Gibson by
6-3, 6-2 scores in the first round. Gonzales and Gibson
wound up finishing third in the tournament, beating Aaron
Kozak and Shelby Melbon of Dumas, 6-1, 6-1. O'Connor and
Tillery beat the Dumas team in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-1.
Experience a plus, minus for Pecos
PECOS, Apr. 28 -- The Pecos Eagles will be both more
experienced and less experienced at the same time on
Thursday, when they face the Pampa Harvesters in the area
round of the Region I-4A softball playoffs.
Pecos and Pampa play at 5 p.m. at Lubbock Western, located
on the Clovis Highway (U.S. 84) at University Avenue, with
the winner facing El Paso Parkland in the regional
quarterfinals next Monday or Tuesday.
After starting varsity play in 1998 with no previous
softball experience, Pecos went from a one-win season to the
District 2-4A title this year, with a 12-6 overall record.
Pampa, meanwhile, is in their first year of varsity
softball, but Eagles' coach Tammy Walls said, "They've had
intramurals for 10 years, so they're not going to make many
mistakes on us."
The Havesters finished second to Dumas in District 3-4A,
losing a first place playoff game to the Demons by a 4-0
final score. Kimberly Clark allowed seven Dumas hits, while
striking out five in taking the loss.
"Their pitcher pitches the ball low in the strike zone, and
we've been hitting that kind of ball well in practice this
week," said Walls, who will be starting two new outfielders
against the Harvesters.
Pecos lost Nicole Payne to a knee injury in the final
regular season game on April 15, while Mireya Medrano became
ineligible last week. "Becky Dominugez will play left field,
she's been hitting the ball real well this week, and then
Laura Archuleta or Lily (Payen) will play in right. Lily's
the better fielder but Larua hits the ball batter," Walls
said.
Cali Covelt and Stephanie Cameron were Pampa's top hitters
in their final regular season games, the loss to Dumas and a
5-1 win over third place Frenship. Pampa also received a
first round playoff bye because there are not enough
softball teams for two districts in the Panhandle.
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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