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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, April 6, 2007
CJH netters in Stockton for district play
Pecos junior high tennis team was headed for Fort Stockton on Thursday afternoon, to compete in their season-ending District 2-3A Tournament.
Coach Teresa Bigham said the Eagles would have three No. 1 seeds out of the 10 divisions in the tournament on the seventh and eighth grade levels. Two will be on the boys’ side in seventh grade, where Geronimo Ornelas is seeded first in singles, and the team of Tag Lozano and John Terrazas are seeded first in doubles.
On the girls’ side in eighth grade, Dakota Long is seeded first and Meagan Fuentes second in singles.
This past weekend in Pecos, none of the Eagles earned first or second place finishes in a six-team tournament at the Pecos High School tennis courts. The top finishes for Pecos were thirds by Long in eighth grade girls singles, by Erick Galindo and Jessica Esquivel in eighth grade mixed doubles, and by the team of Chase Price and Mark Quintana in seventh grade boys doubles. They beat out Terrazas and Lozano for the No. 3 spot, while Galindo and Esquivel finished ahead of Frank Lopez and Cheyana Arenivas in mixed doubles.
The other Eagles to place were Eddie Pando, fourth in seventh grade boys singles; Hillary Florez and Makeyla Hernandez, fourth in eighth grade girls doubles, and Abigail Valenzuela and Brittany Rayos, who won consolation in that division.
Crockett teams place second at JH district track
The Crockett Junior High School junior high track teams placed second to Monahans in three divisions of the District 2-3A Track and Field meet on Tuesday at Eagle Stadium, while Fort Stockton won the other division of the seventh and eighth grade meet that completed the 2007 season for the junior high squads.
Pecos’ seventh grade girls scored 166 1/2 points to 22 for Monahans, while the eighth graders were second with 135 points, to 247 for the Loboes. The eighth grade boys division was the closest overall on the night, as the Loboes used a win in the 1600-meter relay to score a nine-point victory over the Eagles, 184-175. In the seventh grade boys division, Pecos placed fourth with 96 points, as Fort Stockton beat out Monahans for first by a 182-167 margin, with Presidio third with 108 points.
The seventh grade girls got one gold medal apiece from Emily Rodriguez, Alexcia Mendoza, Sabrina Moya and Kebbeh Darpolar. Rodriguez took first in the 800 meter run with a 2:45 time, after placing third in the high jump competition with a 5-foot-6 effort. She later finished second in the 400-meter dash with a 68.14 time. Darpolar won the shot put with a 35-foor-4 1/2 throw, was second in the discus with a 71-foot-7 toss and third in the 100-meter dash with a 14.49 time. Mendoza cleared 6-foot-6 to win the pole vault and was second in the long jump with a 13-foot-3 3/4 leap, while Moya took the 1600-meter run in 6:12.67.
Also placing in the top three were Annalisa Gonzales, second in the 200 meters with a 30.42 time and third in the triple jump, going 27-foot-10; Cassandra Herrera, third in the 400 meters with a 1:13.24 time; Jenica Tersero, third in the 1600 meters with a 6:40.21 time; Annie Cerna, third in the 2400 meters with an 11:19.10 time; the Eagles’ 1600 meter relay team, which was second, and the 400 and 800 meter relay teams, which took third. Gonzales also had a fourth place finish in the high jump while Tersero was fourth and Julie Navarette sixth in the 2400 meters, and Chelsea Roman was fourth in the 800 meters for the girls’ other points.
On the eighth grade level, Pecos got two first place finishes from Carissa Cerna, who took the 400-meter dash with a 65.03 time and the long jump, with a 13-foot-6 effort. The girls also took first in the 800-meter relay with a 2:02.30 time, while Dakota Long won the 200-meter dash with a 30.70 time and Abby Valenzuela took the 100 meter hurdles, with a 17.94 time.
Cerna also was second in the pole vault, clearing 6-feet. Other medal winners were Talia Castillo, third behind Long in the 200 with a 31.21 time; Brisea Ruiz, third in the 800 meters with a 2:56.56 time; Destiny Simmons, second in the shot put with a 30-foot-3 throw and third in the discus with a 68-foot-10 effort; Sabryna Saenz, third in the 300 meter hurdles with a 56.77 time and the Eagles’ 400 and 1600 meter relay teams, which both placed third.
Valenzuela was fourth and Jessica Esquivel sixth in the 100 meters; Toiya Gant was fourth in the triple jump and Ariana Garcia was sixth in the 2400 meter run for the Eagles’ other points.
The eighth grade boys had four different first place finishes individually, along with one first in the relays.
Isaiah Patino won the 100-meter dash with an 11.48 time; Jerome Mazone took the 200 meters with a 24.97 time; Eric Ornelas won the 110-meter hurdles with a 17.66 time; and Arturo Navarette won the 300-meter hurdles, with a 47.29 time. Pecos’ 800 meter relay team also won first place, with a 1:42.66 time, while a bad handoff on the final exchange of the 400 meter relay allowed Monahans to edge Pecos for first by .38 second, with the Eagles finishing with a 48.59 time.
Mazone also was second to Patino in the 100 meters, with an 11.89 time, and was second in the high jump, clearing 5-foot-1 and losing on a tie-breaker to Fort Stockton’s Enosh DelaRosa. Larry Sparkman was third in that event with a 5-foot effort, and Pecos also got three second place finishes from Arturo Munoz, in the 400 meter dash (61.52), the discus (121-11) and the shot put (45-3 1/2), while Alonzo Contreras was third in the 2400 meters with a 9:10.04 time.
Patino was fourth in the high jump; Ornelas was fourth in the 300 meter hurdles; Navarette was fourth in the long jump; Donovan Rodriguez was fourth in the 100 meters; Ramiro Pinales was fourth in the 200 meters; Julio Morales was fourth and Nathan Hernandez fifth in the 800 meters; Edmundo Dominguez was fourth in the 110 meter hurdles; Mark Martinez was fifth in the shot put and Dillan Garcia was fifth in the 1600 meter run for the other points for the eighth graders.
On the seventh grade level the Eagles had just one first place finish, by Chase Price, who took the 110 meter hurdles with a 19.58 time. He also was third in the high jump, clearing 4-foot-8, and third in the triple jump, going 31-foot-2. Pecos also had a second place finish in the 400 meter relay and a third in the 1600 meters, while Israel Espudo was third in the 400 meters with a 62.79 time; Joseph Fuentes was third in the 800 meters with a 2:38.22 time; and Tyler Ramos was third in the shot put, with a throw of 34-foot-4.
Ramos also was fourth in the discus; Angel Medrano was fourth in the shot put; Mark Quintana was fourth in the 2400 meter run; Rudy Deanda was fifth and Espudo sixth in the long jump; and Geronimo Ornelas was sixth in the triple jump and the 800 meter run for the other points on the night.
Pecos falls into third with 4-2 loss to Stockton
The Pecos Eagles softball team spent most of Tuesday’s game trying to catch the Fort Stockton Prowers, but once they were able to catch and pass them, Fort Stockton needed just a half inning to regain the lead and the take over second place in the District 2-3A standings.
The Prowlers took advantage of two Pecos errors in the bottom of the sixth inning to score three times, after the Eagles had used a couple of mistakes by Fort Stockton to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth. Fort Stockton’s Cecelia Molinar then retired Pecos in order in the top of the seventh to give the Prowlers a 4-2 victory, going into Thursday’s game against first place Monahans.
The Eagles, who can regain a tie for second with a win at home over 0-5 Presidio in their 5 p.m. game, fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, and struggled all day against Molinar, who had 12 strikeouts in the win.
“We looked flat. We weren’t up as much as we were against Monahans,” said Eagles’ coach Tammy Walls. “They had one hit in the first inning, and the girl who got the hit scored on a passed ball, their second run scored after she reached on an error at shortstop, and their last two runs scored on an error in right field.”
Jessica Gonzales reached to open the bottom of the sixth when Gabby Garcia couldn’t handle her grounder. Pitcher Amalie Herrera then struck out Heather Garvin, but Elizabeth Baeza and Jesenia Venegas followed with singles to score Gonzales and tie the game, and Jodi Alvarado’s fly ball got by Jenny Palomino for a two-run error that gave Fort Stockton the win.
“It was a pop fly to right Jenny kind of lost in the sun, so all of their runs were unearned,” Walls said.
Palomino had scored the tying run in the fifth, singling with one out, moving to third on passed balls by Alvarado and then scoring on a two-out single by Herrera, who had her second straight three-hit game. Molinar then got Claire Weinacht to line out to Garvin at shortstop, but Garvin couldn’t come up with Garcia’s grounder to open the sixth inning, and after moving up on a wild pitch and Kristen Ikeler’s bunt single, she scored on a two-out single to center by Jasmine Rayos.
Molinar had come on in relief in the teams’ first meeting on March 23, and allowed three runs in a 7-2 Pecos win, but kept Pecos in check this time.
“I don’t know if we were just not getting a good look at it, but we weren’t making contact, and if you don’t hit, you can’t win,” Walls said.
The Eagles figured to do better against Presidio, whom they beat nine days ago on the Blue Devils’ home field, 31-0, though the Blue Devils did come close to beating Fort Stockton last Friday, losing by a 6-5 score. Pecos goes into the game with a 2-3 record in district, a game in back of Fort Stockton, which played in Monahans on Thursday. The Eagles are 16-7-2 on the season.
Eagles survive lost leads, down Panthers, 12-11
The Pecos Eagles’ second meeting of the season with the Fort Stockton Panthers started the way the first one ended - with a long delay due to lightning. And it almost ended in the same way, with the Panthers rallying from behind to get the victory.
Fort Stockton scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie Pecos at 9-all, after reliever Billy Bradshaw had shut the Eagles down over three innings, after they had taken a 9-5 lead over the Panthers. The senior would retire eight batters in a row at one point, but in the ninth Robert Nunez would open with a double to centerfield, and one out later pinch-runner Lucas Chavez would beat Brandon Salas’ throw home on Vincent Palomino’s grounder to give Pecos a 10-9 lead.
Timo Reyes would then connect for his second home run of the night, to make it a 12-9 game, and the Eagles would need both runs, as the Panthers would score twice in the bottom of the ninth off Palomino and reliever Geno Leos, before Pecos was able to escape with a 12-11 victory.
“It was a huge win for us,” said Eagles’ coach Eric Garcia, whose team was trying to both get above .500 in district for the first time and win their first home game of the season on Thursday, when Pecos hosted Presidio in a 7 p.m. game. “I was pleased because we’ve usually let teams back into games and let them beat us in the late innings this year. Tonight, we let them back into the game, but then we showed some composure and were able to keep them from winning when the momentum seemed like it was all on their side.”
The game was delayed 90 minutes by a thunderstorm and lightning in the area, and when things finally got underway, winds from the storm made things interesting for fielders over the first 1 1/2 innings, when the teams combined for 12 runs.
Pecos scored four times in the first off starter Justin Fuentes, as Reyes opened the game with a double, and two outs later scored on a double by Kenny Rayos. Isaiah Rayos was then hit by a pitch, Chris Garnto followed with an RBI single and Nunez then broke out of a slump with the first of his four hits on the night, a double down the line in left than scored two runs, as Bradshaw had problems fielding the ball in the corner.
But Palomino, who no-hit Presidio in his previous start, 5-0, ran into trouble in the bottom of the inning, when Fort Stockton scored five times before the inning ended on a bizarre play that saw Kenny Rayos record the final two outs and then was thrown out of the game.
Bradshaw would end Palomino’s hopes of another no-hitter, doubling with one out after third baseman Jose Chavez couldn’t handle Salas’ wind-blown infield pop-up. A wild pitch would score Salas, and after a walk to M.J. Salmon loaded the bases, Omar Calderon blooped a single to right to score Bradshaw. Palomino then hit Julian Flores with a pitch, and Alan Mendez tied the game with a two-run single to right, that sent Flores to third.
That set up a slow infield grounder by Rene Corral, that he was able to beat out for a hit, allowing Flores to score for a 5-4 Panther lead. But the sliding Corral failed to see or hear the umpire’s ‘safe’ call, and thinking he was out, started walking back towards the dugout. He ended up well out the baseline, but was not called out until after he spent several seconds trying to dodge Rayos’ tag between first and home.
At the same time, Mendez broke to third, but stopped when Rayos threw the ball to Chavez. Mendez ended up in a rundown between second and third and eventually was tagged out near second by Rayos, whose high tag sent the Panthers’ runner sprawling and netted Rayos an ejection for clotheslining Mendez.
“That play never should have happened, if they umpire had made the call in the first place when he (Corral) went out of the base line,” Garcia said. “If he does that, then Kenny’s still in the game.”
Corral’s problems continued as the second inning opened. He booted a Palomino grounder, and then dropped a Reyes pop-up. After a sacrifice bunt by John Paul Salcido, Chavez tied the game with a single to center, and Reye would score on a double-steal, when Salas missed catcher Jared Carpenter’s throw to second. Leos, batting to Rayos, when then hit by a pitch, and after Isaiah Rayos stayed alive when a wind-blow foul fly to left hit Bradshaw in the face, he made it 7-5 with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Things calmed down along with the wind after that, and the defense for the Panthers improved in the middle innings.
Fort Stockton’s defense couldn’t do anything for Salmon, who came on in the third and gave up Reyes’ first homer of the game, a one-out shot to left that made it 8-5. In the fourth, the Eagles made it 9-5 on a double by Isaiah Rayos, a bunt single by Garnto and an RBI single by Nunez to right field.
Palomino retired the side in order in the second and third, but got into trouble in the fourth when he hit Mendez with one out, and then saw him score when Isaiah Rayos couldn’t handle Carpenter’s slow infield chop. In the fifth, a one-out error by Palomino on an infield roller by Bradshaw set up another run, as he stole second and scored on Calderon’s bloop hit to make it 9-7.
Palomino got through the sixth unharmed, but in the seventh Salas opened the inning with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Bradshaw to make it a 9-8 game. The Eagles’ pitcher got Salmon to ground back to the mound, but Calderon would then get another RBI single to right, scoring Bradshaw to tie the game.
Palomino would strike out Sergio Corral and get Mendez to bounce out to Nunez at first to end the inning, then survived a one-out walk in the eighth after Bradshaw retired Pecos in order in the top of the inning. He then got Bradshaw on a soft liner to Chavez at third to open the bottom of the ninth, before Salmon singled to center and Calderon tripled into the gap in left-center to make it a 12-10 game.
That brought Leos on to pitch and he fanned Sergio Corral, but Garnto couldn’t hold onto the third strike and Calderon came home as the Eagle catcher threw Corral out at first. The Panthers would then get the tying run on when Mendez singled, but Leos would then strike out Rene Corral to end the game.
“I was going to go to him a couple of times, but that’s why I have assistant coaches. We talked and they said leave Vincent in another batter,” Garcia said. “We may have left him in one batter too long, but Vincent is the gutsiest pitcher I have.”
He added that the Eagles did a good job running the bases and getting bunts down on Tuesday, but had to work on some of their defensive fundamentals, especially outfielders missing the cut-off man, which allowed Fort Stockton runners to take extra bases after hits several times.
“We worked on that, and I talked to them about how important it was to hit the cutoff earlier in the year, but they got away from that tonight, so that’s what we’ll be working on in practice (Tuesday),” Garcia said.
The win, coupled with Presidio’s 13-6 homefield win over Monahans, improved Pecos’ record to 7-6-2, and tied all four teams in District 2-3A with 2-2 records.
Garcia said Rayos, who lost a rain- and lightning-shortened 7-5 decision to Fort Stockton back on March 23, would start Thursday’s game against the Blue Devils, who’ve won their last three games against the Eagles in Pecos. It’s the lone home game for the Eagles in a four-game stretch, with the next three contests after Thursday on the road.
Eagle golfers face uphill climb for regionals
The second round of the District 2-3A golf tournament was a struggle for the Pecos Eagle golf teams, which now find themselves needing strong final rounds next Friday at home to advance to Region I-3A competition.
Pecos’ boys, who came in with an 11 stroke lead over Monahans for second, lost 22 strokes to the Loboes on their home course and find themselves 11 shots down in the battle for second place in the tournament, while Pecos’ girls lost nine strokes to Monahans ‘B’ team, and trail by three for second, going into the final round of the 54-hole tournament.
The girls shot a 359 and are at 723 through 36 holes of play. Monahans ‘A’ widened their lead with a 333 and are at 663 overall, while the Loboes’ ‘B’ team shot a 350 and are at 720 after Tuesday’s round at the Ward County Golf Course.
“We knew going in if we didn’t stick up with Monahans ‘B’ they were capable of catching up,” said Eagles’ coach Tina Doan. “Monahans ‘B’ had some awesome scores on their course, and our girls didn’t step up.”
Individually, Carolina Briones had the best round for Pecos, shooting an 88 to put her at 181 overall in the tournament. Eleanor Mason had an 89 and is at 174 through 36 holes, while Stephanie Galindo had her second straight round of 90 and is at 180, Rica Pino shot a 92 and is at 188, and Kayla Natividad shot a 100 and is at 198 overall.
“Carolina Briones played a good round yesterday (Tuesday). It was t he type of round she should have been playing all year,” Doan said. “All our girls should be in the 80s, but I guess we haven’t worked hard enough executing our skills mentally or physically.”
For the Eagles’ three other golfers, Ari Alligood shot a 105 and is at 215 through two runs, Samantha Sparkman shot a 109 and is at 212, and Katrina Hinojos also had a 109 and is tied with Alligood overall, with a 215 total.
“We’re coming into this final round with a home course advantage, we’ll see if we can make up those three strokes and advance on,” Doan said. “We just need each of our girls to beat Monahans ‘B’ by one stroke.”
Fort Stockton’s girls had the only other team score, shooting a 418 for an 846 score going into the final round.
The boys saw their first round score of 325 balloon to a 340 on Tuesday, and their 665 total is 11 shots in back of Monahans, which shot a 318, and 20 in back of Fort Stockton, which shot a 326 and is at 665 for the tournament. Monahans ‘B’ is the only other team, and is at 705 after a round of 350.
“We just didn’t play our best,” said boys coach Pat Gent. “I don’t know if the putts just weren’t falling, but I did notice Joseph (Tarin) had two or three holes where he got stuck in the trees, and I think Richard (Dutchover) had the same problem.”
Drake Bradley did maintain his lead in the medalist race, following up an opening round 76 with a 77 for a 153 total. He widened his lead from two to four strokes over Fort Stockton’s Peter Ibarra, who shot a 79 and is at 157 through 36 holes.
Tarin also remains in the Top 6 individually, which would qualify him as an individual medalist for regionals. But Tarin saw his score jump from an opening round 79 to an 86, putting him at 165 and in a tie with the Panthers’ Blake Pasqua, while Heath Armstrong also saw his score increase by seven strokes, going from an 81 to an 88 for a 169 overall total.
“Joseph dropped to sixth, but he can still pull it up with a good round,” Gent said. “He and Drake are capable of shooting in the low 70s with the final round at home. It’s a tight course, and you just can’t grip it and rip it.”
Dutchover shot an 89 for the second straight round and is at 178 for the tournament, and Nathan Duke shot a 91 after an opening round of 89 and is at 180 overall.
“What really hurts the kids is we had been beating these teams before district,” Gent said. “I told them those teams were going to pick up their games once district started, and that they’re going to have to gin it up for the home finale. I know they’re capable of that.”
While the ‘A’ tea struggled, Pecos’ three medalist golfers cut their scores. Lomas Gonzales shot a 95 and is at 196 overall, Sammy Sandoval shot a 96 and is at 199 and Mateo Tarango is also at 199, following a round of 93 on Tuesday.
While both boys and girls teams played at the same time in Fort Stockton and Monahans, next Friday’s round in Pecos will be split, with the girls playing at 9 a.m. and the boys starting around 1 p.m. at the Reeves County Golf Course.
Pecos netters qualify five for Region I-3A tourney
The Pecos Eagles tennis team qualified the players they expected to qualify on Tuesday, at the District 2-3A Tournament in Fort Stockton. But three of the five Eagles to earn spots at the Region I-3A Tournament had to take the long way to earning their trips to the regionals in Odessa later this month.
Amber Pando and Kristal Ikeler went in as No. 1 seeds and went undefeated in girls’ doubles, winning that division to earn their regional spot. But Francisco Ornelas was upset in the tournament finals, and then had to win a playback game to advance, as did the doubles team of Jessie Hanks and Jerris Rayos, who were upset in the semifinals but also won a playback game for the runner-up berth at regionals.
“We’ll be taking seven overall to regionals,” said Eagles’ coach Bernadette Ornelas, as Xavier Tersero and Jessica Mora earned a regional alternate berth with a third place finish in mixed doubles.
Pando and Ikeler defeated Blanca Fuentes and Laura Casas of Fort Stockton by 6-1, 6-1 scores, then won the division with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Helen Cater and Jennifer Rodriguez.
Ornelas, who also went in seeded No. 1, opened with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Fort Stockton’s Eric Fierro, but then lost to Monahans’ John Witueki in the finals, 6-2, 7-5. He had advanced with a win over the Panthers’ Nati Salmanica, who then had a chance to play Ornelas to decide second place, but was edged by the Eagles’ senior, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.
“I think (Pops) was tired, with him doing the one-act play. That took a lot out of him,” Ornelas said. Ornelas had performed with other PHS cast members on Monday night, after the Eagles advanced to area in their one-act play competition on Saturday.
Hanks and Rayos had to defeat teammates Cody Zamarripa and Paul Zubeldia in the third place game, 6-0, 6-2, to earn the right to play for second, after losing to Fort Stockton’s Joe Michael Granado and Isaac Rodriguez in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-4. Hanks and Rayos were the No. 2 seeds going in, but Granado and Rodriguez ended up taking first by beating top-seeds Michael Derrick and Ryan Day of Monahans, and Hanks and Rayos were then able to score a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win in the playback game over Derrick and Day to earn their trip to Odessa in three weeks.
Pecos’ other girls doubles team, of Doni Marquez and Janette Perea, lost their opening round match to Reba Subia and Geina Young, 6-2, 6-2, while the other boys singles player for the Eagles, Derek Barron, was beaten by Witueki, 6-1, 6-2, in his first round match, and the lone Pecos player in girls’ singles, Hope Mora, lost to Fort Stockton’s Kayla Gulihur, 6-1, 6-1. Zamarippa and Zubeldia were beaten in their semifinals match against Derrick and Day, before falling to Hanks and Rayos in the third place match.
In mixed doubles, Tersero and Mora defeated Fort Stockton’s Miranda Durant and Michael Aguilar, 6-4, 6-4; after a first round loss to Andrew Orona and Brenda Truex of Monahans, 6-4, 6-1, who ended up placing second in the tournament.
In the junior varsity division, Ornelas said Megan Lopez took first in the girls’ singles division, downing teammates Julie Licon, 8-6, and Amanda Renteria, 8-3, after opening with an 8-1 win over Barrios of Fort Stockton. Licon downed Dunn of Fort Stockton, 8-2, and the Prowlers’ Santos, 8-1, to reach the finals, while Renteria lost to Santos in the third place match, 8-2.
Matthew Rodriguez and Catherine Moore were third in JV mixed doubles, losing to Monahans’ Gonzales and Johnson, 8-2, before defeating Fort Stockton’s Blink and Roman, 9-7. In boys’ singles, Chris Stele won third over teammate Elias Alvarado, 8-4, after an opening win over Fort Stockton’s Tee Gulihur, 8-6, and an 8-1 semifinals loss to Monahans’ Damien Nichols. Alvarado downed Monahans’ Robert Mills, 8-4, then lost to Fort Stockton’s Kaplan Thomas, 8-4 in the semifinals.
Ornelas said the regional tournament would take place on April 23-24 at the Ratliff Stadium tennis complex in Odessa.
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