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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Track teams place 2nd at Pecos Relays
The point totals were higher and the numbers mostly better for the Pecos Eagles track teams on Saturday, though it was Fort Stockton’s boys and Monahans’ girls who came away with first place finishes at the West of the Pecos Relays.
Fort Stockton’s boys beat out Pecos by a 140-130 margin in the varsity division, while the Loboes won the girls division title by a 155-141 point margin over the Eagles.
“We improved, and hopefully we’ll keep improving,” said girls coach Dee Dee Molinar. “Our sprint relay is really starting to get it together, and we’re still missing a few girls who are going to help us, so I’m pleased.”
The girls earned three first place finishes on the day, by Krystal Carrasco in the 3200 meter run, Brittany Quintana in the 400 meter dash, and from Quintana, Jasmine Rayos, Leia McWilliams and Emily Rodriguez in the 1600 meter relay. Monahans was disqualified from that race due to a false start but was still allowed to run, with the Eagles edging the Loboes in the final 100 meters to win with a 4:19.21 time
Carrasco won the two-mile race Saturday morning with a 12:55.04 time, and later was third in the 800 meters, while Quintana won the 400 with a 1:03.22 time, which Molinar said was about one second better than her second place time the previous week at the Comanche Relays.
Quintana, Rayos, Brittany Palomino and Annalisa Gonzales were third in the 400 meter relay, but just a half second behind first place Fort Stockton. Gonzales, Rayos, Palomino and Talia Castillo also placed third in the 800 meter relay.
Individually, Gabby Garcia had a pair of second place finishes on the day, in the discus and the 800 meter run. Rayos was second in the long jump and third in the triple jump. The Eagles also had medals from Gonzales, third in the 200 meter dash; Jenica Tersero, second in the 1600 meter run; and Alyson Salcido, third in the pole vault.
Pecos’ other points came from a fourth place finish by Salcido in the 100 meter and 300 meter hurdles; McWilliams and Olivia Castilleja, fifth and sixth in the 300 hurdles; Tersero, fourth in the 800; Ashley Jaso, fourth in the 3200 meters; Rodriguez, fifth in the high jump; and Palomino, sixth in the triple jump.
The boys had four first place finishes on Saturday, also including the 400 meter dash and the 1600 meter relay. Justin Ramirez won the 400 with a 53.62 time and then anchored the mile relay team, where he, Maurice Johnson, German Rodriguez and Luis Morales finished with a 3:36.03 time.
“On the mile relay we had Luis Morales run it instead of Junior Carrasco, who was at a BPA event, and we ran three seconds faster,” said coach Derek Price. “I pulled Luis from the 100 (meters) so we could save him for the relay.”
The other two first came from junior Robert Herrera, who won both the discus and shot put. “His discus throw (153-foot-3) was actually a little less than last week, when I think he threw 155. But the big thing was the shot put. He threw 44-foot-1, which is the first time he’s throw 44 in a competition,” Price said.
Bryan Navarette was second behind Herrera in the discus and also earned a bronze medal in the shot put, with a third place finish. The other medals for the varsity included a third place from Rodriguez in the 800 meter run; a third by Alex Dominguez in the 300 meter hurdles; a third by Edward Navarro in the 3200 meter run; a third by Larry Sparkman in the high jump; and a third by Justin Ybarra in the triple jump
The 400 meter relay team of Morales, Johnson, Dillon Garcia and Steven Apolinar finished fourth, as did the 800 meter relay team of Sandoval, Ybarra, Sparkman and Edgar Madrid.
“The 4-by-2 (800 relay) was totally different, and we ran seven seconds faster (a 1:14.13), and with the sprint relay, I ran Maurice instead of Justin Ybarra and we were six-tenths of a second faster.”
The boys’ other points included a fourth by Johnson in the 400 meters; a fourth by Navarro in the 1600 meters; a fourth by Omar Medina in the pole vault; a fourth by Michael Tarin in the discus; a fifth by Gustavo Mendoza in the 3200 meters; a fifth by Chase Price in the 110 meter hurdles; a fifth by Cesar Lazcano in the shot put; a fifth by Morales in the long jump; a fifth by Sammy Sandoval in the triple jump; and a sixth by Dillon Garcia in the 100 meter dash.
“I’m really proud of the kids. We did really good and that’s the most points we’ve scored in a meet since I’ve been here, and that includes our four-team district last year,” said Price, who plans to take only his relay teams to Odessa this coming Friday and Saturday, for the West Texas Relays.
“We’ll run the relays, and then the kids will also run in their individual events,” he said, while Molinar plans to take most of her squad to Ratliff Stadium, for this Friday and Saturday’s events.
“We should have most of our girls, though some of the softball players will be going to Tornillo on Friday,” she said. “If we make it to the finals, then they can still come back and run on Saturday.”
Eagle boys 2nd, girls 6th in golf tourneys
The Pecos Eagle girls cut their score on Saturday and moved up in the standings, at the Region I-3A Preview Golf Tournament in Lubbock, while Pecos’ boys saw their second round score go up in Andrews, but still managed to jump four spots in the final standings.
The boys shot a 312 on Saturday at the Andrews Invitational, but found themselves tied for sixth place with Sweetwater, and behind District 4-3A rival Fort Stockton. Under windier conditions on Saturday, Pecos’ score went up to 318, but other than the host Mustangs, the other teams in front of the Eagles had even more problems and Pecos’ 630 was good enough for second behind Andrews in the final standings.
The Mustangs cut their 309 opening round total by four strokes and won with a 614 score, while Pecos was nine shots ahead of third place Greenwood and Midland Christian. Sweetwater was fourth at 640 while first round leader Seminole ended up ninth and Fort Stockton wound up 11th in the final standings.
Pecos placed second despite having no golfer finish in the Top 10 in the medalist race. Senior Nathan Duke had the low round of the tournament for Pecos, with a 78-77-155, while freshman Josh Aguilar shot a 75-81-156. They were followed by Richard Dutchover with an 84-74-158; Coe Duke with a 77-83-163; and Heath Armstrong with an 82-87-169.
Pecos’ girls cut their opening round total of 402 in Lubbock by 18 strokes on Saturday, shooting a 384, and their 786 score jumped them past Burkburnett into seventh in the final standings. Monahans won the tournament with a 657 score, while Andrews was second at 699.
Individually, Tatum Windham shot 92s both days to finish at 184, while Samantha Sparkman shot a 96-99-195. Katrina Hinojos cut her opening round 107 to 97 and finished at 204, Heather Matta dropped from 109 to 96 and finished with a 205 total, and Rina Pino dropped from a 107 to a 101 and finished at 208.
Pecos' girls will be in Andrews for their two-day tournament this coming Friday and Saturday, while the boys travel to San Angelo this weekend.
Late runs get Eagles past Prowlers
A bad inning on defense cost the Pecos Eagles the lead, in their District 4-3A opener on Friday. But it didn’t cost them the game, as the Fort Stockton Prowlers had a two innings where defensive errors helped Pecos score two runs, and that helped the Eagles come away with a 5-3 victory.
“We made a couple of mistakes in the fifth inning, but when you look at it the girls who made the big mistakes, they came around and got some big hits. Carissa Cerna got up and got on base, with some hits and Ashley Baeza had that hit that scored two runs,” said Eagles’ coach Stephanie Herrera.
Cerna led off the fourth inning with a single and then went from first to third on a walk to Marlene Salgado, setting up a two-out throwing error by pitcher Cynthia Fierro that gave Pecos a 2-0 lead. The Eagles gave that back with three errors in the top of the fifth inning, two by Cerna and Baeza in the outfield, but Cerna would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a one-out RBI single and in the sixth Baeza would hit a slow two-out grounder to short that Monica Corral threw low to first base, allowing Salcido and Kristen Ikler to score the tie-breaking runs.
Gabby Garcia then retired the side in order to pick up the complete game win. It also broke her and the Eagles’ two-game district losing streak against Fort Stockton from last season, when Garcia’s late-season control problems set up the Prowlers for some big innings.
On Friday, Garcia had a few control problems, but was able to pitch out of trouble a couple of times and was helped by her defense after lead-off walks in the first two innings.
“Overall she did a fantastic job,” Herrera said. “Every once in a while you’re going to have a few pitches that are going to go too low or over your head, but overall I thought she did a great job throwing what she wanted to throw.”
Garcia opened the game by walking Corral, but she was doubled off first when Kendra Villanueva caught Karime Acosta’s sacrifice bunt attempt towards third base. In the second, shortstop Brittany Palomino and second baseman Marlene Salgado turned two fielder’s choice plays at second, after a leadoff walk to Angela Rojas and a two-out single by Azemeth Rivera.
Fierro, meanwhile, survived a leadoff error by Corral in the first and a one-out error by Kayla Bustamante in the second, and she appeared ready to get out of trouble after Cerna’s hit in the fourth, getting Claire Weinacht and Garcia on fly balls to left. She almost got Salgado on a foul out to first, but Rivera and Alma Granado collided going for the ball, after Granado collided with Salgado coming off from first base to try and make the catch.
Fierro’s 3-2 pitch then got past Rivera, with Cerna beating the throw to third and Salgado making it to second, and Galindo’s hard shot then went off Fierro’s glove and behind her, before the pitcher tried to throw home to get Cerna and threw by the catcher, allowing Salgado also to score.
The lead only lasted four batters into the fifth inning. Garcia walked Bustamante to open things up, and she scored when Rivera’s single got past Baeza in left field. Rivera went to third on the play, and she scored one out later when Corral’s single got by Cerna in right.
Garcia then walked Acosta, who kept going to second in an attempt to draw a throw from Garcia. But the pitcher caught Corral trying to score, and she was tagged out by Weinacht. However, her throw back to third to try and get Acosta bounced off the base and into foul territory, allowing Acosta to score the go-ahead run.
Garcia then got Maribel Silvas to line out to center to end the inning, and the Panthers’ lead lasted only three batters into the bottom of the fifth, as Palomino walked, stole second and then scored on Cerna’ single to left.
Pecos failed to take advantage of Silvas then dropping Weinacht’s short fly ball to center, as Fierro got out of trouble, and then in the top of the sixth Garcia threw out Amanda Salmon trying to take an extra base on a two-out single, after a one-out walk to Rojas.
Then in the bottom of the inning Galindo reached second when Granado missed a Corral throw on a grounder to shortstop, and Fierro then walked Ally Salcido on four pitches. Galindo was thrown out on Ikler’s tap in front of home play, but both runners moved up on a ground out to second by Palomino, and then Granado couldn’t scoop Corral’s throw in the dirt on Baeza’s grounder, with Salcido scoring and Ikler also beating the throw home.
“That’s what I’ve been preaching to the kids, we need to keep being aggressive,” Herrera said. “I’ll bet a lot of them are not used to people running on them like that.”
The win improved Pecos’ season record to ----1 while Fort Stockton fell to 7-5 on the season with their loss. The Eagles are home again on Tuesday to face Fabens, in a 5 p.m. game.
The Wildcats won the District 1-3A title last season and beat Fort Stockton in the bi-district round of the Class 3A playoffs two years ago, but on Friday were routed in their district opener by the team that beat Pecos in the bi-district round last season, Clint, by a 14-0 score. Kim Cedillo had the only hit of the game for Fabens, which is 4-7 on the season.
Crockett teams place third, sixth at Kermit meet
The Crockett Junior High boys track teams both placed third on Thursday in their second meets of the 2009 season, while Crockett’s seventh grade girls also took home third place at the Permian Basin Junior Relays in Kermit.
The seventh grade boys scored 96 points in their division, won by Greenwood with 199 ½ points to 145 for Monahans. In the eighth grade division, Monahans won with 165 points, to 128 for Fort Stockton and 128 for Pecos.
The seventh grade girls scored 90 points in a division won by Monahans with 254 points, with Greenwood second with 115. In the eighth grade division, the Eagles were sixth with 43 points, in a division won by Fort Stockton with 180 points, to 122 for Monahans.
The seventh grade boys had three first place finishes, individually by Oscar Hernandez and Roderick Renteria and from the 800 meter relay team. Hernandez threw 90-foot-3 to win the discus, while Renteria ran a 2:29.78 to take the 800 meters and was a member of the 800 meter relay team, along with Pony Palomino, Ignacio Rodriguez and Nick Navarette, which edged Alpine by less than a second to win with a 1:51.03 time
The same four also placed second to Monahans in the 1600 meter relay, while Hernandez also was fifth in the shot put, while Jaime Melendez finished second to Hernandez in the discus and was fourth in the shot. Renteria also had a fourth place finish in the triple jump. Rodriguez and Navarette had Pecos’ other medals, with third place finishes in the 400 meter and 200 meter dashes, while the other points from the seventh graders came from a fourth by John Paul Gonzales in the discus, a fifth by Frank Vasquez in the 800 meters and a sixth by the 400 meter relay team.
The eighth graders also took first in the discus and the 800 meter relay, and also won the 1600 meter relay. Bradley Shaw threw 114-foot-9 ½ to win the discus, while Shaw, Zack Ramirez, Justin Thornton and Damien Perea won the 800 with a 1:45.00 time. In the 1600, Ramirez, Thornton, Michael Carrasco and Josh Enmon won with a 4:02.81 time.
Thornton and Carrasco also earned medals with second and third place finishes in the 400 meter dash, while Enmon was third in the 100 meters. Earlier, Thornton placed third in the shot put and Perea was second in the high jump, and Pecos also had medals from Elijah Nobel, second in the 110 meter hurdles; Ryan Mendoza, third in the 800 meters; and Tyler Davis, third in the 1600 meter run.
The other points for Pecos were a fourth by Davis in the 2400 meters and a sixth in the pole vault; a fourth by Ismael Ramirez in the 300 meter hurdles; a fourth by Victor Munoz in the pole vault; a fifth by Noel Sotelo in the discus and a sixth by Shaw in the 110 hurdles.
The seventh grade girls also took the 800 meter relay, for their lone first place finish on the day, as Lara Gonzales, Kelsey Garcia, Amber Campos and Catlin Henson won with a 1:58.37 time, while the girls 400 and 1600 meter relay teams were just edged by Monahans for first place. Henson also had an individual second place in the pole vault, while Kristy Winfrey took third in the long jump and the 300 meter hurdles, Koko Darpolor was third in the discus and Sarai Legarrete took third in the 1600 meter run.
Winfrey also had a fifth in the triple jump, and the girls’ other points came from a fourth by Sierra Long in the 2400 meters.
The eighth grade girls also had one first place finish, from Katrina Malodnado in the 1600 meters, with a 6:27.96 time. She was also second in the 2400 meters. Pecos’ other medals came from Kimberlie Herrera, third in the discus and from the girls’ 1600 meter relay team, which also took third.
Pecos’ 800 meter relay team had a fifth place finish and the 400 meter relay team was sixth for the Eagles’ other points on the evening.
Eagles face Fabens after Snyder tourney split
A trio of one-run games, and one game that was tied after four innings, was how the Pecos Eagles closed out their final weekend before the start of District 4-3A baseball play, as the Eagles came away with a split of their four games at the Snyder Tournament.
The Eagles rallied in their opener, then held off a comeback attempt by Big Spring on Thursday afternoon to score a 9-8 victory, then allowed Lubbock Christian nine runs in the first two innings of their game on Friday, before rallying late for a 10-9 win.
On Saturday, the Eagles were tied midway through their game against Canyon, but fell apart on defense and allowed the eventual tournament winners to score 14 times in the next two innings, on the way to a 16-4 win. Then later in the day, the Eagles and Abilene Wylie traded runs for most of the afternoon, before an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth won it for the Bulldogs, 6-5.
“We hit the ball really well, but once again errors were a big problem,” said Eagles’ coach Eric Garcia. “Against Lubbock Christian we had seven errors, and I counted about six or seven against Canyon. We were actually tied 2-2 with Canyon going into the fifth inning, so we played pretty good baseball until that point, but then we just kind of fell apart.”
Isaiah Vela started both Thursday’s game against Big Spring and Saturday’s against Abilene Wylie, though he only went 2 1/3 innings in the second game before giving way to Matthew Rodriguez. Garcia said Timo Reyes pitched the Saturday morning game against Canyon, and would be the starter Tuesday night, when Pecos hosts Fabens to open their District 4-3A schedule.
“Timo looked really good against Canyon. He shut them down for the first four innings, but when the defense fell apart he started losing a little confidence and they started hitting him,” Garcia said.
In the win over Lubbock Christian, Pecos fell behind 5-0 in the first inning and were down 9-3 after two before scoring twice in the sixth inning and five times with two outs in the seventh. James Garcia drove in Timo Reyes with the winning run, after Reyes had a two-run single and Joel Chavez a two-run double.
Against Wylie, the Eagles led once, at 1-0 after the top of the first inning, but Wyile came back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. An RBI double by Garcia in the fifth would tie the game at 4-4, but Abilene would win it in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Daxton Deal, just before the game ended under the time limit rule.
“We had a chance to win the game, but we failed to get some key hits to get the runs across at the end of the game,” Garcia said.
Fabens comes into the game off an 0-3 weekend at the Monahans Sandhills Tournament, losing in the seventh place game on Saturday to Alpine, 8-0. The game is one of only two district games on Tuesday this year for Pecos, as the Eagles will play their other eight district games on the weekend, including their first 4-3A road game, this coming Friday at Tornillo.
“Hopefully we can stop committing errors. I counted about 40 in our first two weeks, but somehow, we’re still 5-5,” Garcia said. “I think that shows our potential if we can stop making errors.”
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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