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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Victory puts LLers in 9-10 finals
PECOS, July 11, 2000 -- The Pecos 9-10 Little League All-Stars earned a
spot in the District 4 Tournament finals on Monday night; as they won their
sectional tournament with a 4-2 victory in Crane over North Concho.
The win moves Pecos into game tentatively set for 7 p.m. Friday against
San Angelo Northern at San Angelo Lake View. "Northern also went undefeated
through their half of the tournament, so we could be there for three days,"
said manager Ray Palomino, who was out with parents and players at Seventh
and Eddy streets this morning trying to raise funds for the San Angelo
trip.
Palomino said starter Gerald Saenz went three innings and allowed no
runs while striking out five, leaving with a 3-0 lead. Juan Garza doubled
and scored on Jonathan Aguilar's single to start the first inning, and
in the second Diana Parada singled and scored on Drake Bradley's double.
Bradley would later score on a passed ball.
Vincent Palomino pitched the final three innings for Pecos. He was greeted
by a solo home run by Kyle Broadway to open the fourth, then allowed just
an unearned run in the fifth inning. Pecos' final run came in the fourth,
when Jose Chavez doubled and scored on a hit by Tony Reyes.
"We're beginning to play the way we're supposed to," said Palomino,
whose team opened District 4 Tournament play last Thursday on the road
with a 4-3 victory against Crane, then downed North Concho this past Saturday
by a 13-7 score.
Pecos' 11-12 Little League All-Stars and the 13-14 year old Junior Leaguers
already had advanced to games scheduled for this Saturday in San Angelo.
The 11-12 year olds will play at Northern against Lake View, while the
13-14 year olds will be in a tournament semifinal game Saturday morning
at Nathan Donsky Field in San Angelo.
Irvin to announce retirement today
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas, July 11, 2000 - Michael Irvin lined up on Troy Aikman's
left, ran his trademark slant to the middle of the field and cradled the
pass between the 8s on his blue Dallas Cowboys jersey.
The 8-yard gain late in the first quarter of an Oct. 10 game in Philadelphia
was cause for celebration. It was the 750th catch of Irvin's career, tying
him with Charlie Joiner for ninth in NFL history.
But Irvin wasn't moving. He couldn't.
Temporarily paralyzed by a herniated disc, Irvin later learned he was
lucky to get off that easy. Tests showed that he was born with a narrow
spinal cord, a condition that made him vulnerable to much more serious
injury. He faced that risk every time he'd stepped on a football field
and never knew it.
Now that he does, Irvin isn't taking any chances. After delaying his
decision about as long as he could, "The Playmaker" was planning to announce
his retirement Tuesday in a news conference at Texas Stadium.
Irvin has been uncharacteristically quiet since his injury. He's avoided
reporters, stopped working out at team headquarters and hardly spoken to
his closest friends on the team.
The somber exit isn't the way most will remember Irvin, who over 12
years established himself as one of the top receivers and one of the biggest
showboats the NFL has ever seen.
As much as his pass catching helped the Cowboys return to glory in the
1990s, it was his swagger that truly sparked the revival of "America's
Team."
Dallas fans loved seeing No. 88 motion for a first down after a catch,
while his gyrations gave Cowboys haters another reason to grind their teeth.
Yet no matter whether you rooted for or against him, he was hard to ignore.
Irvin's flashy style overshadowed a leadership that also was vital in
pulling the team from a 1-15 in 1989 to Super Bowl champions three years
later. Dallas went on to win titles after two of the next three years,
too.
Of course, it helped greatly that Dallas surrounded Irvin, its top pick
in 1988, with Troy Aikman in '89 and Emmitt Smith in '90. Together, the
threesome became known as the "triplets" and were as devastating as any
quarterback-running back-receiver trio in NFL history.
Irvin, who beat defenders to the ball using smarts and size, finishes
with 11,904 yards, ninth in NFL history.
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
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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