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PECOS, Aug 16 - The Pecos Eagles' will get a look at one District 4-4A
rival today, and will get to see the Odessa Permian Panthers a bunch
over the next two days, when the Eagles hold their two preseason
scrimmages here and in Odessa.
Pecos will be in Odessa this afternoon starting at 5 p.m., to face both
Permian and district rival Fort Stockton in varsity, junior varsity and
freshman scrimmages. Then on Saturday, Permian will be in Pecos, along
with their District 4-5A rival Midland Lee and Snyder, for scrimmages
beginning at 11 a.m.
Eagles' coach Nora Geron said she wasn't sure how tonight's format would
work, "since it's a school night for them (Permian), they may not get as
many games in," she said, compared to Saturday's matches, which will
consist of two rounds each for the varsity against the Panthers, Rebels
and Tigers, and one round apiece for the JV and freshman/sophomore
squads.
The Eagles' coach had 16 juniors and seniors working out together
earlier this week, and Geron said she also planned to take a look at
sophomore Sheree Mosby on the varsity squad.
Geron said Thursday she only has 12 varsity uniforms, but all the
players will be moved around at the Odessa scrimmage. "We're not going
to wear our uniforms tomorrow (today), so I'll get to see everybody. I
won't have to work with just 12.
"I'll look at everybody, then make whatever adjustments I have to make
on Saturday," she said. "It's just a scrimmage, so we'll see what we
have and what we don't have."
Geron said she "roughly" has an idea of what she'll work with today and
Saturday.
"I've been working with Gail (Taylor) and Lori (Marquez) at middle
hitter, Annette (Marquez) and Elena (Hinojos) at servers, and Veronica
(Carrasco), Shirhonda (Bell), Sheree, LaCrisha (Molinar), Ivy (Thorp)
and Anna (Smallwood) at outside hitters."
Regular season play for Pecos will get underway at home on Tuesday
against Alpine and Odessa High, and then the Eagles will go back to
Permian a week from today to face Odessa High, district rival San Angelo
Lake View and El Paso Jefferson in pool round play at the Ector County
ISD Volleyball Tournament.
Technically, the San Diego Padres are too, playing 1,000 miles from
home. But when Fernando Valenzuela gazes heavenward and delivers his
first pitch, 26,000 fans will roar their approval as major league
baseball makes its historical, regular-season debut in Mexico.
``Ninety percent of the people, this is what they are talking about,''
said Elva Gonzalez as she hung around outside the ticket office at
Estadio Monterrey on Thursday.
La Primera Serie - the first series - will belong to Valenzuela, at
least for tonight.
Some people still refer to Valenzuela as ``El Toro'' - the bull - a
nickname he earned in his phenomenal career with the Los Angeles
Dodgers. Everyone considers him a national hero.
``It's great to see him back, finally, here,'' said Javier Corchado
Alvarez. ``It's a great tribute.''
Corchado bought three tickets to tonight's game at 30 pesos apiece - a
little more than $4. That's a big deal, considering the minimum wage in
this industrial metropolis is 27 pesos a day.
``How wouldn't you want to see him?'' Corchado said. ``That's why we
came, to see him.''
As big a spectacle as this is, the Padres want to keep in perspective
that they're in a pennant race.
``I hope people understand that we are going there to play baseball, not
just to have fun,'' Valenzuela said from Cincinnati, where the
first-place Padres were swept by the Reds.
But, he added: ``I think it's going to be exciting for me, to be part of
the first team to play in Mexico in the regular season.''
Valenzuela was with Los Angeles when they played an exhibition game here
in 1991 - the same spring training he was cut by the Dodgers - and he
played in the Mexican League in 1992 and 1994 as he tried to rekindle
his big-league career. Some family members plan to make the trip from
Sonora, on the other side of the country.
``I'm pretty sure there will be somebody there that I know,'' Valenzuela
said.
It's guaranteed that everyone will know him.
``All the people are speaking about Fernando Valenzuela,'' said Melchor
Garcia, 62, who has been a ticket seller for 27 years for the Monterrey
Sultanes of the Mexican League. ``The people think that he's going to
carry a good time.''
The Padres basically were kicked out of San Diego when the Republicans
considered using Jack Murphy Stadium for the final night of their
national convention.
That didn't come about, but it helped spawn major league baseball's
first regular-season games played outside the United States and Canada.
The Padres' rotation was juggled so that Valenzeula (9-7, 3.87 ERA) will
pitch tonight's opener. He'll also throw out the ceremonial first pitch,
accompanied by the governor of Nuevo Leon and the mayor of Monterrey, a
city of about 3 million ringed by the spectacular eastern Sierra Madre.
Even though the GOP decided not to use Jack Murphy Stadium, the National
Football League's Chargers play an exhibition game there Saturday night.
That would have forced the Padres to schedule a doubleheader either
Friday or Sunday, which they didn't want to do.
So the Padres had the impetus to continue their Mexican marketing
campaign. Monterrey, celebrating its 400th anniversary, has what some
consider the best ballpark in Latin America, which is modeled after Jack
Murphy Stadium.
``It all seemed too poetic,'' said club president Larry Lucchino.
``We're expecting to establish a certain kind of affinity with Mexico,
and a connection to Mexican baseball fans that will pervade the country,
particularly in Baja.''
(Copyright 1996 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times
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