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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Pecos downs Kermit to tie for second in district
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Putting the ball in play more, and getting their opponent to put the ball
in play less, made a big difference in the final score for the Pecos Eagles
softball team on Tuesday at Martinez Field.
The Eagles, who only managed four hits in their previous game, a 12-3
loss to Monahans, collected 14 hits against the Kermit Yellowjackets, while
pitcher Stephanie Herrera held Kermit to only four hits, and the Eagles
came up with an 11-3 victory to move into a tie for second place in the
District 4-3A standings.
"We were able to capitalize on their mistakes," said Eagles' coach Tammy
Walls. "We didn't play a flawless ballgame, but we're overcoming our errors
and that's a sign of maturity."
Kermit's first two runs came on a double-error play in the fourth inning,
but by then the Eagles had built a 5-0 lead thanks to a pair of first inning
hits and four more hits in the third, coupled with three errors by the Jackets.
Kristi Contreras reached on a tap out in front of home plate in the first,
and was singled home by Herrera after stealing second base. In the third,
the Eagles made it 2-0 when Jessica Flores' single to center field went
through the legs of Mari Porras for a three-base error.
Brittany Lobstein then had an infield hit and Contreras followed with
a single, and ended up on third when Angel Morales couldn't hang on to a
throw to third base trying for Lobstein. She scored when Neftali Salgado
reached on Lacy Lalonde's error at second base. She was forced at second
base by Herrera, who would then score from second base on Vanessa Valeriano's
infield hit.
Kermit's run scored after a leadoff triple by Morales in the fourth, when
Jessica Flores couldn't hold onto Herrera's throw off Chelsea Wilhelm's
fielder's choice grounder to the mound. Wilhelm would then circle the bases
when Lobstein's throw from catcher to second base went over Kelsey Flores'
head and into right-center field.
But the Eagles settled down after that, as Kelsey Flores threw out Sarah
Hudecker after bobbling her grounder to second base, and Jessica Flores
threw out Betty Zuniga on a hard grounder to third.
"We limited our errors to just two runs this time. That's improvement,
and that's all we can ask from the defense," Walls said. "I thought we did
well overall, considering the wind conditions."
Pecos got both runs back in their next at-bat, as Katie Lee and Jessica
Flores opened the inning with singles off Hudecker and Salgado singled with
two outs to score both runners. She also ended up scoring, on another three-base
error by Porras, to give Pecos an 8-2 lead.
They made it 9-2 in the fifth when Kelsey Flores reached on an infield
hit and scored on Lee's fielder's choice grounder to shortstop. Kermit got
their final run in the top of the sixth, when Monica Dominguez singled and
later scored on Wilhelm's grounder to first, but the Eagles added two more
runs in the bottom of the inning, on singles by Savanna Ewing, Herrera and
Jessica Minjarez.
Herrera ended up with eight strikeouts in getting the win, which also
evened Pecos' season record at 8-8. "Stephanie did an outstanding job of
pitching. In this wind striking out that many people is quite an effort,"
Walls said.
The Eagles are 2-1 in district going into Friday's game at Greenwood,
which fell to 2-1 on Tuesday with an 11-3 loss at Monahans. Kermit remains
winless in district play with an 0-3 mark.
KERMIT PECOS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Porras cf 3 0 0 0 Lobstein c 4 1 2 0
Dmnguz lf 3 1 1 0 Contras ss 3 3 2 0
Morales 3b 3 1 1 0 Ewing ss 1 1 1 0
Wilhelm ss 3 1 1 1 Salgado cf 4 1 1
3
Hudcker p 3 0 1 0 Herrera p 4 2 2 2
Zuniga rf 3 0 0 0 K.Flores 2b 4 1 1
0
McGongal c 3 0 0 0 Valriano lf 2 0 1
1
Gonzales 1b 2 0 0 0 Minjarez lf 2 0 1
1
Glander 1 0 0 0 Garcia 1b 3 0 0 0
Lalonde 2b 2 0 0 0 Lee rf 4 0
1 1
Dingle ph 1 0 0 0 J.Flores 3b 3 2 2 0
Totals 27 3 4 1 Totals34 11 14 0
Kermit 000 201 0 - 3
Pecos 104 312 x - 11
E-K.Flores, Porras 2, Morales, Lalonde, J.Flores, Lobstein, Wilhelm.
LOB-Kermit 3, Pecos 6. 3B-Morales. SB-Contreras 2, Herrera. CS-Garcia.
IP H R ER BB SO
Kermit
Hudecker L 6 14 11 6 1 1
Pecos
Herrera W, 7-6 7 4 3 0 1 8
WP-Hudecker. PB-Lobstein, McGongal 2
T-1:17.
Eagles overcome big deficit to beat Steers
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The Pecos Eagles' 12th win of the 2003 baseball season pretty much followed
the pattern of most of the Eagles' 11 previous victories:
Dig hole. Climb out.
For the ninth time this season, the Eagles rallied for a victory, this
time from the biggest deficit of all - a 7-1 hole to the Steers after only
21/2 inning of Tuesday night's game at Eagle Field.
The Steers combined seven hits and three Pecos errors to build their
big lead, only to see the Eagles take advantage of Big Spring's mistakes
to score four times in the bottom of the third inning and eventually win
the game, 9-7, on Barney Rodriguez's three-run home run in the fifth inning.
"We had trouble the first couple of innings, but then we settled down
and played some defense," said coach Elias Payan, whose team has also lost
several games this season due to errors, including last Saturday's title
game at the Alpine Tournament. "A little defense goes a long way, and our
hitting was consistent tonight. We put the ball in play."
Jose Reyes earned his third straight victory, going the distance and
allowing Big Spring just three hits over the final four innings. "I don't
think Jose allowed a batter past second base after the third inning," Payan
said.
He added that Reyes was originally scheduled to only pitch part of the
Eagles' final pre-district game. "I was going to start Jose all the way,
but I was going to pitch both him and Rigo (Ramirez). But Rigo got sick
at school today and he had to go home."
Reyes was in a 2-0 hole immediately, as Michael Shockley walked to open
the game and Eric Chavez then homered for Big Spring. Pecos would get a
run back in the bottom of the first when David Elkins led off with a double
off pitcher Andrew Vizcaino and Reyes singled him home, but the Steers would
pick up an unearned run in the second and then score four more times in
the third, with three of those runs unearned.
Vizcaino singled and with one out Michael Wilson reached on an error
by third base by Oscar Parada that scored a run. After Nathan Clements'
single, Lee Gillham hit a two-out ground-rule double that brought home Clements,
and Jerry Doporto brought home two more runs with an RBI single to center.
Pecos' problems appeared to continue in their next at-bat, as Elkins
was caught stealing after a leadoff single. But Vizcaino hit Reyes with
an 0-2 pitch, Matthew Levario followed with a single and Freddy Torres doubled
to right-center field to score Reyes. Big Spring's defense then fell apart
with two outs, as Dustin Beauchamp kicked away Rodriguez's two out grounder,
scoring Levario and Torres, and he scored when Clements threw Victor Reyes,
grounder past first base.
A one-out walk to Ruvel Carrasco a passed ball by Shockley and Reyes'
two out single cut the Steers' lead to 7-6 in the fourth, and in the fifth
Torres led off with his second hit, Chavez then booted Parada's grounder
to second and Rodriguez lined his second home run of the season over the
fence in left, giving Pecos its first lead of the night.
Meanwhile, the Eagles defense began keeping Reyes out of trouble instead
of getting him into it. Levario and Zo Serrano turned an inning-ending double
play on Beauchamp in the fourth after Vizcaino's one out single, Serrano
made a diving catch on a soft liner by Shockley after Dorporto's one-out
single in the sixth, and Javier Ramirez made a running catch on Wilson's
shallow fly ball with one out in the seventh, following a single by Beauchamp.
"We made some good defensive plays tonight, which is the way we need
to play every game," Payan said.
The win gives the Eagles a 12-5 record going into their District 4-3A
opener against Kermit, one of the teams that Pecos has rallied to beat this
season, though it was a far smaller hole than in Tuesday's game. The Jackets
took an early 1-0 lead in the third place game of the Sandhills Tournament
on March 1, before the Eagles rallied for a 9-3 win. Rodriguez picked up
the victory that day, and is scheduled to pitch on Friday in Kermit.
BIG SPRING PECOS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Shockley c 3 1 1 1 Elkins rf 4 1 2 0
Carter 2b 4 1 1 2 J.Reyes p 3 1 2 2
Vizcaino p 4 0 2 0 Levario ss 4 1 1
0
Ornelas cr 0 1 0 0 Torres lf 4 2 2 1
Bchmp 1b 4 0 2 0 Parada 3b 4 1 0 0
Wilson lf 4 1 0 0 Rdrguez 1b 3 2 2 3
Clements 3b 4 1 1 1 Serrano 2b 0 0 0
0
Foster ss 0 0 0 0 Ortega dh 1 0 0 0
Vitiello dh 4 1 2 1 Sadler ph-ss 2 0 0 0
Lassiter dh 3 0 0 0 V.Reyes dh 2 0 1
0
Gallham cf 3 2 1 1 J.Ramrez cf 2 0 0 0
Doporto rf 2 0 2 2 Carrasco c 2 1 0
0
Totals 31 7 10 7 Totals 29 9 10
6
Big Spring 214 000 0 - 7
Pecos 104 130 x - 9
E-Levario 2, Vizciano, Parada, Beauchamp, Clements, Foster, Chavez.
DP-Pecos 1. LOB-Big Spring 5, Pecos 5. 2B-Elkins, Vizciano, Torres. HR-Chavez,
Rodriguez. CS-Elkins. S-J.Ramirez.
IP H R ER BB SO
Big Spring
Vizcaino L 6 10 9 5 1 9
Pecos
J.Reyes W, 3-2 7 10 7 3 1 8
PB-Carrasco, Shockley.
T-1:39.
Golfers practice for district at Kermit tourney
A group of Pecos Eagle golfers got a look at the Winkler County Golf
Course on Monday, during a practice round for the start of the District 4-3A
boys' tournament, which is back in the Kermit area this coming Monday.
Coach Kim Anderson said he took five golfers to Kermit, where the Eagles
shot a 343 and finished third, behind Monahans and Fort Stockton. The Loboes
easily won the tournament with a 315 score, while the Panthers finished
second with a 342 total.
"Monahans had their gun team there. They had all their top players and
I didn't have Pete (Vasquez) or Mikey (Nichols)," Anderson said. The two
have been among the Eagles' five 'A' team golfers in tournament play during
the past month.
Two of the other golfers who've been on the 'A' team in recent weeks,
Casey Breiten and Sal Nichols, tied for third in the medallist standings,
as both shot 81s over 18 holes. David Bradley had the next best score for
Pecos with an 88, and were followed by Jake McKinney had a 93 and Jack Stickels
shot a 100.
Along with the Eagles, Loboes and Panthers, the host Yellowjackets and
the Presidio Blue Devils were the other district teams entered in the tournament.
Kermit's 'A' team was 10 shots behind Pecos in fourth with a 353 score
and were followed by the Jackets' 'B' team at 380. Presidio shot a 432 and
were seventh, while Fort Davis was fifth with a 415 and Wink was eighth
with a 460 score.
This coming Monday's tournament will be the first of three rounds for
the Eagles, who have played two-round tournaments the past four seasons
as a member of District 2-4A. Monahans will host the second round on March
31, and the final round will be at Hogan Park in Midland on April 7.
Pecos' girls are scheduled to play a pre-district round on Thursday in
Midland, which will be the site of the final round of their District 4-3A
tournament on April 10. District play for the girls begins at home this
coming Monday, and the second round is scheduled for April 4 in Fort Stockton.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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