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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Friday, April 19, 2002
Eagles open golf, tennis regionals on Monday
The Pecos Eagles golf and tennis teams will be going to San Angelo on
Sunday, to compete in Region I-4A competition.
Pecos will have both their `A' and `B' golf teams in San Angelo for the
regional golf tournaments for the fourth year in a row, while the tennis
team will be sending four players to the I-4A tennis competition at Angelo
State University.
Play in both golf and tennis is scheduled to begin Monday. The tennis
teams will play their first and second round matches Monday, while the golf
teams will play the first 18 holes of their 36-hole tournaments, with the
boys at Quicksand Golf Course and the girls at Riverside Country Club. The
final rounds of golf are on Tuesday, as are the finals in the four tennis
divisions.
Natalia Ornelas and Trent Graham won the District 2-4A title in boys and
girls singles two weeks ago, while the doubles team of Jay Dannelley and
Bobby Sotelo placed second in their division to earn a regional berth. It's
the first trip to regionals for all four players, though Ornelas and Graham
were I-4A alternates a year ago after finishing third at district.
Pairing for the opening round of the tournament won't be determined until
Sunday, while the team pairings for the regional golf tournament were scheduled
to be announced today, according to girls' coach Tina Hendrick.
"I don't know who made it from the Panhandle or over there (in the Fort
Worth-Wichita Falls area)," she said. "The regional director said the top
four teams would be paired. Hopefully, we'll be in there."
Andrews figures to be the favorites to win the girls regional title, while
the Eagles should battle Snyder and Southlake Carroll for the other Class
4A state tournament berth. Pecos finished behind those three teams in San
Angelo to open the 2002 season back in February, but was able to finish ahead
of both Andrews and Snyder during tournaments later in the season.
Pecos' boys have not finished in the Top 10 in any of their three previous
trips to regionals. Their last Top 10 finish was back in 1985, when the Eagles
finished third, missing a state berth by one stroke.
This year, coach Kim Anderson said Pecos has a chance to be competitive
with the top teams if they get good rounds out of their five `A' team golfers.
Anderson divided up his top players between the `A' and `B' teams at district,
but said for regionals he'll put his best players during the season and past
two weeks of practice on the `A' squad.
"I'll have Pete (Vasquez), Casey (Breiten), David (Bradley), Jake (McKinney)
and Mikey Nichols," Anderson said, adding that the `B' team would be Sal
Nichols, John Stickels, Jacob Gonzales, Dustin Gulihur and Andre Varela,
who did not make the trip to the district tournament.
Snyder placed first and Southlake Carroll second for the boys last season
to earn state berths, while Andrews and Snyder were the state qualifiers
on the girls' side last year.
Girls take last EP trip; boys host Canutillo
It may not be "farewell" as much as "see you in two years," but
the Pecos Eagles' final trip to the El Paso area as a member of District
2-4A will be today, when Pecos' girls close out their regular season
softball schedule with a 5 p.m. game against the San Elizario Eagles.
Pecos' boys are a week behind the girls as far as completing their regular
season baseball schedule goes, but they've already played their final game
against their 2-4A rivals in the El Paso area, though there's a good chance
the Eagles will be back in with two or three of their current district foes
in Class 3A beginning with the 2004-2005 season.
For tonight's game the Eagles can assure themselves of no worse than a
tie for the district championship and earn a first round playoff bye, when
they host Canutillo at 7 p.m. to begin a three-game homestand to close out
regular season play.
Both Pecos teams remain unbeaten in district play. The Eagles are 7-0
in baseball and riding a 15-game winning streak after Tuesday's 8-6 victory
at Fabens. A six-run fifth inning gave Pecos an 8-1 lead, which was enough
for pitcher Barney Rodriguez to survive allowing five runs in the bottom
of the fifth inning. Rodriguez then shut out Fabens over the final two innings
to improve to 7-1 on the season, while the Eagles improved to 19-4 overall.
Tonight, coach Bubba Williams said Matthew Levario would probably start
on the mound against Canutillo for the second time this season.
"I'll probably start Matthew and see what he does," Williams said. Levario,
3-1, shut out Canutillo for 6 2/3 innings back on March 28, only to see a
series of two-out singles and Pecos errors allow the Golden Eagles to rally
from a 4-0 deficit to tie the score at 4-4. The Eagles then scored a run
in the top of the eighth inning, then held on for a 5-4 win. Capi Magana
ended up getting the win, but he'll be gone for the next three weeks, after
missing the first three weeks of this season.
Pecos' girls will be four players short for the next three weeks, which
would take them through the area round of the Class 4A playoffs and the regional
quarterfinals, if they advance past the area round. The Eagles earned a bye
in the opening round of the playoffs on Tuesday by clinching their fourth
straight District 2-4A title, 16-0 over El Paso Mountain View.
The win was Pecos' 10th straight and puts them at 9-0 in district
and 13-3 on the season. The closest they've come to losing was three weeks
ago, when they were shut out for five innings by San Elizario's Valerie Soto
before scoring three times in the sixth inning for a 3-1 win.
The Eagles figure to see Soto again today, which combined with their scheduled
practice game next week against Monahans, should get the Eagles ready for
their area round playoff game on May 3 or May 4 against San Angelo Lake View
or Borger.
"Hopefully this is going to help us," said coach Tammy Walls. "We'll get
a good look at her (Soto), and get used to the speed of the pitchers we're
going to face the playoffs."
Pecos is still seeking their first-ever playoff win, having lost in extra
innings two years ago to Hereford, while falling 2-0 last season in the area
round against Andrews.
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 newsdesk@nwol.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 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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