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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Sports

Friday, July 7, 2000

Leaders remain unchanged at Rodeo

By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 7, 2000 -- There were no changes in the leader board Thursday, on the second night of the West of the Pecos Rodeo, but there were a few changes in the top three positions in the riding events following the second of four nights of competition.

The third rodeo performance is set for 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena, with the final show for the 2000 rodeo set for 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Finals in steer roping, calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling will take place that night, with the Top 12 in each event following completion of the go-rounds tonight earning return trips to Pecos.

Only four cowboys and one team moved into the Top 12 after Thursday’s show, which began with a prayer for show producer Mack Altizer, who was injured in a swimming pool accident at his motel following the opening night performance.

In the riding events, which began later than the roping and steer wrestling competitions, Stephenville cowboy Beau Mayo took over the No. 2 spot in bareback riding, scoring 78 points on board “No Satisfaction.” That’s three points in back of leader Jeffrey Collins, who took the lead Wednesday with an 81-point ride on “Black Betty.”

Two Louisiana cowboys, Jared Lavergne of Ville Platte and Chad Klein of Jackson, tied Mark Gomes for fifth place, with 76 point scores, Lavergne on “Skoal’s After Midnight” and Klein riding “Pretty Woman.”

Third through seventh place changed in the saddle bronc competition, while Rancy Bray and defending National Finals Rodeo champ Billy Etbauer maintained the top two spots after 84- and 82-point rides Wednesday.

Glenn O’Neil of Water Valley, Calif., took over third with a 78-point effort on “White Lightning.” while Charlie Gardner and college All-Around champ Jesse Bail tied for fourth, each with 77 point scores on “Heart of Glass” and “Soul Man.” JJ Elshire of Black Forest Colo. rode “Shake It Up” to a 76 point score and sixth place, and Mike Coon of Stephenville took over seventh, with a 75-point ride on “Green Eyed Lady.”

Jason Legler tied for the No. 2 spot in bull riding, using the same bull that helped Felipe Aragon take the lead during Tuesday’s special bull riding session. Legler, of Loveland, Colo, posted an 86-point score on “Tequila,” one point in back of Aragon. Rusty Burford also scored 86 points during Wednesday’s show.

The other new faces among the leaders are Yancy James of Kerrville, who scored 82 points riding “Funky Cole Medina,” and Corey Navarre of Weatherford, Okla., who did the same on “Wooly Bully.” They’re tied for fourth with Garrett Frey, while Tracer Hand of West moved into sixth place, scoring 80 points with his ride on “Warrior.”

In roping, Tommy Guy of Abilene took fourth place in the second go-round of calf roping with a 9.5 second time, and moved into ninth place in the average 22.1 seconds. Jeff Yates of Corsicana is tied for seventh in the average at 21.6 seconds after Thursday’s show, while Charley Russell continues to lead at 19.7 seconds and Blair Burk holds the lead in the second go-round at 9.2 seconds.

In steer wrestling, Clay Gaines of Taylorsville, Ga., tied for seventh place in the second go-round with a 4.9 second time on Wednesday, while all the other leaders remained the same. Byron Walker leads in the average at 9.7 seconds and John Schuenemann leads in the second go at 4.3 seconds.

Turtle Powell of Alpine and Wayne Fowler of Lubbock moved into fourth place in the second go-round of team roping with an 8.0 effort, and are sixth overall at 15.5 seconds. David Motes and Mickey Gomez lead in both the second go and average, at 6.3 and 15.1 seconds, with the only other newcomers Johnnie Philipp of Washington, Tx., and Nick Rowland of Antlers, Okla., who are 11th in the average at 21.2 seconds.

In the steer roping, Steve White of Throckmorton managed to take over the No. 12 spot in the average at 53.1 second after his Thursday performance. Defending NFR champ Guy Allen leads at 36.4 seconds and David Felton of Weatherford leads in the third go-round, at 11.0 seconds.

Phyllys Newton of Carlsbad, N.M. continues to lead in the ladies’ barrel race, at 17.5 seconds. Taking over seventh place on Thursday was Gail Hillman of Waller, with a 17.75 time, and Ember Stewart moved into the No. 8 spot, at 17.92 seconds.

Tonight’s show will feature National Finals Rodeo qualifiers Scott Drennan and Kelly Waddell in bareback riding, with Waddell matched up with his NFR horse “YMCA”; Rod Warren and Toby Adams in the saddle bronc riding; and Rusty Patrick in bull riding against top 1996 NFR bull “Copenhagen’s Wild Thing".

Timed events will include local cowboys Jimbo and Joe Martinez in team roping, past Pecos Rodeo champions Cody Ohl and Brent Lewis in calf roping, and Mark Belcher in steer wrestling, and two-time barrel racing champion Sue Miller. Fort Davis cowgirl Sara Baldwin will also ride tonight, while Ohl will compete in steer roping as well as calf roping.

LL blanks Crane behind Vela's no-hitter

By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 7, 2000 -- Every defensive play the Pecos Little League All-Stars had to make Thursday evening was a tough one. But in this case, "every play" totaled just two, because pitcher Eddie Vela took care of all the other Crane battersf.

Vela tossed a no-hitter, getting 13 of his 15 outs by strikeout, as Pecos opened District 4 Tournament play in the 11-12 year old division with a 14-0 victory at Chano Prieto Field. It moved them into an 11:30 a.m. game on Saturday against Ballinger, 5-1 winners over Winters in their tournament opener on Thursday.

Things were a lot closer for Pecos' 9-10 year old All-Star team in Crane on Thursday, but they were also able to come out on top in their District 4 opener, by a 4-3 final score. They'll play again on the road Saturday at 3 p.m., against either Winters or Ballinger.

Vela faced only two batters over the minimum due to walks, and the closest Crane came to a hit was in the first inning following one of those walked, when Jeff Whitworth laid down a two-out bunt to the right of the mound. Both Vela and first baseman Jonathan Garcia went for the ball leaving the base open for a moment, but Edward Valencia was able to come over from his second base position to take Vela's throw before Whitworth could reach the bag.

The second good defensive play didn't preserve Vela's no-hitter, but did come right after the other walk Crane got in the game. John Paul Salcido was able to glove a foul fly ball by Stephen Galindo in the third inning just before hitting the fence down the right field line.

Vela then retired the final seven batters by strikeout, as Pecos ended the game in the fifth inning under the 10-run rule.

"That was just the usual Eddie Vela," said manager Vaughn Garnto. "During the regular season he had a perfect game where he faced 12 batters and struck out all of them."

Only coach Fred Paz had any problems with Vela _ he was hit by a line drive off Vela's bat during Pecos' six-run fifth inning.

The Little Leaguers only had a few solid shots off starter Ben Sutherland before the fifth, though that didn't stop them from scoring nine times in their first four at bats. Both Vela and Isaiah Rayos sent singles back through the pitcher's legs in the first inning, and combined with hits by Valencia and Carlos Vela they helped Pecos take a quick 4-0 lead.

Sutherland got through the second without problems, but in the third inning Pecos scored again, after two more singles by the Velas. Right fielder David Sanchez made a running catch of a Jonathan Garcia fly ball into the gap, but Eddie Vela was able to tag up and score all the way from second base on the play.

In the fourth Sutherland walked the first two batters he faced, while two errors by Galindo at third base and one by catcher Avery Rigg made it 7-0. Vela then walked on a wild pitch, which scored Salcido, and Valencia came in from second base when the throw by Rigg to home plate got past Sutherland. Vela ended up on third base, where he scored on Lee Roy Rodriguez' double.

Rigg replaced Sutherland in the fifth after a one-out triple by Rocky Lozoya and a double by Cody Hernandez, but he had even more problems finding home plate, wild pitching two runs home. Sutherland didn't fare any better after moving out into center field, dropping one fly ball for an run-scoring error and bobbling another, allowing Pecos to get its final run of the night.

"We didn't hit the ball as well as we can," said Garnto. "A lot of them went up there with butterflies, especially Lee Roy. But he lost them when he ripped that one out into the gap."

Garnto said he wasn't sure who his pitcher would be for Saturday's game, which will be played prior to the elimination round game between Crane and Winters at Carlsbad, located 15 miles northwest of San Angelo on U.S. 87.

While the 11-12 year olds are playing north of Carlsbad Saturday morning, the 13-14 year old Junior Leaguers will begin play at Nathan Donsky Field in San Angelo against either Ballinger or North Concho at 11 a.m. A win would move them into a 5 p.m. tournament quarterfinal round matchup.

"I'll probably go with Hilario Bustamantes," on the mound, coach Lee Serrano said on Tuesday, after a scrimmage against Pecos' high school players. "He looked pretty good out there today against those guys.

"If we win Saturday at 11, we'll go with Rigo Ramirez in the next game," Serrano said.

"We've got some good hitters, but we've still got a lot of work to do on defense," he added. "We've got four good pitchers that cane get the job done if we play a little defense behind them and hit the ball."



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