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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
March 9, 2001
Bulldogs maul Eagles in tournament opener
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, March 9, 2001 - Memo to the Sweetwater Mustangs, Ballinger Bearcats,
Merkel Badgers and the other teams in Abilene Wylie's Class 3A district
_ when you face the Bulldogs, pitch em' slow.
Rigo Ramirez had the Bulldogs batters a little off-balance with a combination
of off-speed pitches, but Wylie still pushed across two runs in three innings
on the sophomore, and that came after they hit the fastball from starter
Capi Magana all over Christensen Stadium, en route to a 15-4 victory Thursday
in the opening round of the West Texas March Classic in Midland.
The loss dropped Pecos into a 9 a.m. game this morning against Monahans,
which lost its opener to Colorado City by a 6-5 final score.
The loss was the Eagles' second straight in five innings under the 10-run
rule. They were beaten at home on Tuesday by Odessa Permian 13-3, but coach
Bubba Williams said unlike that game, "They (Wylie) hit the ball today.
I'd rather they beat us like that than the way we lost Tuesday."
The Eagles did open the door a little for the Bulldogs during the game,
allowing three unearned runs and four others to score because of misjudged
fly balls and a missed double play. But Wylie still collected five legitimate
extra-base hits out of 15 hits overall, and took control of the game from
the start with eight runs in the first inning.
Danny Ruth and Ryan Saltzgarber singled off Magana before Brett Unger
hit a fly ball that centerfielders Matthew Levario misjudged into an RBI
double. After Lance Loza walked, shortstop Richard Rodriguez booted Brian
Ergish's grounder for an error, as a second run scored.
Magana then allowed a Nick Kincaid RBI single, walked in a fourth run
and then saw No. 9 hitter Brent Gailey double home two more runs for a
6-0 lead. Ruth then struck out in his second at-bat of the inning, but
Saltzgarber doubled past a diving Ramirez in left field to make it 8-0.
All those runs allowed Wylie head coach Clay Martin to pull Kincaid,
his No. 1 pitcher, after only one inning to save him for later in the tournament.
The lefthander, 3-0, had shut out El Paso Montwood on a four hitter a week
earlier and didn't allow a run in his only innings of work, though that
was due mainly to the Eagles forgetting the passed ball third strike rule
for the second time this season.
Rodriguez and Alex Garcia opened the inning with singles, but when Mason
Abila swung and missed at a two-strike pitch, catcher Casey Wunderlich
dropped the ball. Abila was automatically out because a runner was on first,
but when he took off for the base, Garcia began running to second, and
that forced Rodriguez to go to third, where he was easily tagged out by
Rocky Hussman.
It was the first of three double plays on the day for Wylie, the other
two third-to-second-to-first twin killings started by Hussman in the fourth
and fifth innings.
Pecos' Angel Villalobos also made a couple of nice plays over at third
base, but when he got a force out on third after fielding a one-out grounder
by Kincaid in the second, his throw to first was wide, and the Eagles missed
the double play. Wunderlich then made them pay with a two-run double into
right-center field for a 10-0 lead.
"We missed some fly balls and didn't get that double play and they hurt
us," Williams said. "You can't give a team like that that many outs."
Kincaid's replacement on the mound, sophomore Jeff Rairden, ran into
control problems in the second inning, walking Levario and Ramirez before
Sebero Jaquez singled and David Elkins followed with a double to right
center. Even that had its bad moments for Pecos, when Jaquez stopped 20
feet past third base as Elkins was heading for third, but he managed to
score when Saltzgarber's throw from second base to Wunderlich was wide
of home plate.
Elkins' hit did chase Rairden from the mound. Senior Aaron Owens came
on and allowed only one more run, helped by Wylie's two double plays.
Magana lasted only three batters into the third, when Ramirez came in
after triples by Saltzgarber and Unger. He allowed a Loza sacrifice fly
to make it 13-3, then surrendered two run in the fourth with two outs,
on a Hussman triple, but overall had more success keeping the Bulldogs'
hitters off-balance than Magana did.
"Rigo looked good. I'm proud of the way the sophomore came in there
in a tough situation," Williams said.
Magana, 1-1, took the loss, while the Eagles overall fell to 2-4 on
the season and the Bulldogs improved to 6-1 and faced Seminole at 9 a.m.
in a tournament quarterfinal game.
Today's Pecos-Monahans game was the third meeting of the season for
the two teams. The Loboes beat the Eagles in extra innings in their season
opener, 12-7, while Magana three-hit Monahans the following day in a 15-5
victory.
If Pecos won this morning, they were scheduled to face Merkel at 2 p.m.
in the consolation semifinals at Christensen Stadium. A loss would send
the Eagles into a 9 a.m. game Saturday against the loser of today's Kermit-Alpine
game.
Netters get win over OHS in final match before break
PECOS, March 9, 2001 - The Pecos Eagles closed out their pre-Spring Break
tennis schedule this past Tuesday with a 9-6 win over the Odessa High Bronchos.
The Eagles faced OHS's reserves, and as a result, coach Bernadette Ornelas
said the Bronchos didn't have enough players for Pecos to get in the usual
six singles and three doubles matches in the girls' division.
Still, she said the Eagles did better than the last time they faced
OHS, Ornelas said. "They played us last year and beat us pretty solidly.
This time our kids are developing a tougher game and are playing better
on the court."
The boys did play their regular number of matches, winning five of nine
overall. Trent Graham, Michael Orona and Phillip Salcido picked up singles
victories, and all three also won their doubles matches, with Graham teaming
with Jay Dannelley for his victory.
On the girls' side, Brenda Fuentes picked up a pair of wins in singles
and with Natalia Ornelas in doubles. Kristina Dominguez and Elizabeth Carreon
got the Eagles' other singles victories.
The tennis team is now off for two weeks, until the Monahans Tournament
on March 23-24. Before then, the Eagles' reserves will take on Wink in
their first match after Spring Break, on March 20.
Pecos (9) at Odessa High (6)
Boys Singles
Trent Graham defeated Jameson Farrell, 6-3, 6-2; Jay Dannelley lost
to Blake Gibson, 6-0, 6-4; Orlando Mendoza lost to Jack Roberts, 6-0, 6-1;
Stephen Lamb lost to Matt Callaway, 6-1, 6-2; Michael Orona defeated David
Guerrero, 6-0, 6-2; Phillip Salcido defeated Alvin Carpenter, 8-3.
Girls Singles
Brenda Fuentes defeated Karina Melendez, 8-5; Kristina Dominguez defeated
April Kamantra, 8-2; Elizabeth Carreron defeated Shelly Willford, 9-8;
Whitney Lamb lost to Jennifer Rioga, 6-4, 7-5.
Boys Doubles
Graham and Dannelley defeated Roberts and Callaway, 2-6, 6-2, (8-6);
Mendoza and Lamb lost to Farrell and Gipson (no score available); Orona
and Salcido defeated Guerrero and Carpenter, 5-7, 6-4, (7-2).
Girls Doubles
Fuentes and Ornelas defeated Sara Smith and Willford, 7-5, 6-2; Dominguez
and Carreron lost to Melendez and Kamantra, 2-6, 7-5 (8-6).
Pecos teams hit the road for events this weekend
PECOS, March 9, 2001 - The Pecos Eagles track teams will be headed for
different locations this weekend, with the boys in Odessa today and Saturday
for the West Texas Relays, while the girls travel to Wink on Saturday for
the Wildcat Relays.
Meanwhile, Pecos' golf teams headed to tournaments in Andrews and San
Angelo today, while the Eagle girls' softball team will be going to Fort
Stockton on Saturday, for a pair of games to close out their pre-district
schedule.
The Eagles will be trying to improve on the first two track meets, this
season, at Monahans and Fort Stockton. The boys picked up a gold medal
at the Sandhills Relays and the girls earned one at the Comanche Relays,
but neither team has been at full strength so far this season and neither
has broken the 30-point barrier yet in total points.
Coach Lily Talamantez added the trip to the Wildcats Relays after next
weekend's scheduled West of the Pecos Relays were canceled due to a lack
of teams. They'll be competing against mostly smaller schools, while coach
Jerry Parent's boys will be up against only other Class 4A teams in Odessa,
including former district rivals Andrews and Big Spring.
The West Texas Relays start at 2:30 p.m. today with field events at
Ratliff. Running preliminaries also are today while the other field events
start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and the running finals at 11:45 a.m., with
the 3200-meter run. The Wildcats Relays in Wink open at 9 a.m. Saturday.
In golf, Pecos' girls will see how they fare against likely regional
rivals Andrews and Snyder at the Andrews Invitational, while the boys end
a two-week break at the San Angelo Invitational. The girls won the B Division
of the Tall City Invitational last week, while the Mustangs and Tigers
played in the A Division, while the boys will have a full squad of golfers
for the first time this season at San Angelo today and Saturday.
The softball team will face Fort Stockton at 1 p.m., followed by a match-up
against the Sonora Broncos. Pecos is 3-8 on the season after snapping a
five-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 36-3 win at Marfa. District 2-4A
play for the Eagles opens at home a week for today against the Clint Lions.
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
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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