PECOS ENTERPRISE

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March 19, 1997

Eagles make Rangers endure another dark day


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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Mar. 19 -- It was a sloppy game on defense, even when it was
still light outside.

But after the sun set, headlights came on and the moon, stars and Comet
Hale-Bopp started to come out, Pecos Eagles' coach Bubba Williams
decided it was time to pull his team off the Greenwood Rangers'
unlighted baseball field before sloppy turned into dangerous.

That sparked an argument with Rangers' coach Tony Pallanez, who accused
Williams of trying to run the score up on the Rangers, in what ended as
a 16-6 Eagles' victory.

Pallanez was irked by the Eagles' continued bunting after Pecos had
taken a 14-2 lead, but Williams said, "I was bunting to try and get
outs."

The win - the third lopsided victory in three tries for the Eagles over
the Rangers this year - even included two Pecos players Williams said
Monday weren't expected to play.

Oscar Luna, bothered by a bad left wrist, wound up using his right
wrist to pitch 2 2-3 innings of relief. He didn't bat, but Eric Aguilar,
due to undergo a tonsillectomy next week, wound up hitting in his place
in the top of the fifth inning.

"I just wanted to look at him on the mound," said Williams of Luna, who
saw his first action in the field since March 1 as a replacement for
starter Jason Abila. He left after two innings of work, with Pecos ahead
by 12 runs.

Luna got through the third and fourth innings unscored on, but with the
sun already below the horizon in the fifth, two walks and a Monty McGee
single loaded the bases with one out.

Luna then saw enough of a hard shot back to the mound by Steven
McFarden to knock it down and throw home to force Angel Vallez coming in
from third base. But when the next batter, Jason Brooks, grounded to
second, new first baseman John Gutierrez couldn't find first base, while
taking the throw from Nestor Mendoza.

McGee scored, and then Gutierrez tried to catch McFarden off second
base. His throw went by John Paul Vasquez and past left fielder Lucio
Florez to the fence, allowing three more runs to come home, and leading
to the end-of-the-game argument.

The game itself lasted only 2¼ hours, but the 5 p.m. start gave the
teams little time for long innings, with the start of Daylight Savings
Time still 11 days away.

Greenwood's first two runs were the result of daylight errors, while
the Eagles 16 runs came from 16 hits combined with a number of Ranger
mistakes - including problems throwing the ball after those Pecos bunts.

Both starter Andrew Wootan and McGee, who relieved in the third, tossed
the ball past Valles at first base, while Valles managed to throw the
ball by David Curry at third trying to get Mark Abila, after a sacrifice
bunt by Mendoza.

The Eagles still managed to pick up 11 earned runs in the game, despite
all the errors. Florez was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, Cisco
Rodriguez went 3-for-3 and Richard Gutierrez was 2-for-2, with 5 RBI,
three coming on a bases-loaded triple in the third. Jason Abila also had
a pair of RBI singles, as nine different Eagles came up with hits off
Wootan, the son of former Eagles' assistant baseball coach Allen Wootan.

Along with the bunts, Pallanez wasn't happy with the umpiring, either,
and neither was Williams.

Pallanez was irked in the first when Rodriguez was given an extra base
and scored after Wootan threw by first trying to pick off Gutierrez.
Williams was angry moments earlier when the umps missed a balk call on
Wootan, and after the game said Jason Abila was having problems with the
ball and strike calls.

"He was getting upset with the ump behind the plate," Williams said.
Abila struck out five while walking three in evening his record at 2-2
on the year.

The walks, along with two bad plays at second and third, got Greenwood
single runs in the first two innings, as the Eagles committed three
errors in the first two innings of play.

"It was kind of a lackadaisical game, but it was a win, and we're going
to take it," said Williams, whose team improved to 8-3 on the season
going into Friday's 4:30 p.m. home doubleheader against Lamesa.

Tuesday
............ PECOS..................... GREENWOOD

............... ab r h bi....................ab r h bi
E.Abila rf..... 2 0 0 0 Curry 2b.......... 3 0 0 0
Villnuva rf.... 2 1 1 0 Valles 1b......... 1 1 0 0
Rodrguz cf..... 3 3 3 2 Otho c............ 3 0 0 0
J.Aguilr ph..... 0 0 0 0 McGee ss-p........ 3 1 2 0
R.Gutrez 3b..... 2 2 2 5 Pallanez 2b........ 2 1 0 0
Campos ph....... 1 0 0 1 McFrdn cf.......... 3 1 0 0
J.Abila p....... 3 2 2 2 Brooks rf.......... 2 2 1 1
Luna p.......... 0 0 0 0 Moody lf........... 2 0 1 0
E.Aguilr ph..... 1 0 0 0 Wootan p-ss........ 0 0 0 0
M. Abila c...... 2 2 1 1 Foster dh.......... 0 0 0 0
Mendoza 2b...... 2 1 1 0
Florez lf....... 4 1 4 2
Vasquez ss...... 4 1 1 0
Martnez 1b...... 1 2 1 0
J.Gutrez 1b..... 1 1 0 0

Totals....... 28 16 16 13 Totals........... 19 6 4 1
<xt>
Pecos......... 1 8 5... 1 1 -16
Greenwood..... 1 1 0... 0 4 -|6
Game called with two out in fifth due to darkness
E - Wootan 2, Vasquez, M. Abila 2, Otho, Valles, McGee, McFarden, J.
Gutierrez. DP - Greenwood 1. LOB - Pecos 5, Greenwood 5. 2B - Florez 2,
Rodriguez, M. Abila, McGee. 3B - R. Gutierrez. S - Mendoza, M. Abila. SB
- Rodriguez, Valles, Otho, Vasquez, J. Abila, Mendoza, M. Abila 2.

............................ H R ER BB KO
Pecos
J. Abila W, 2-2....... 2 ... 1 2 0 3 5
Luna.................. 2 2-3 3 4 1 3 2
Greenwood
Wootan L, 2-1......... 2 1-3 13 14 11 3 2
McGee................. 2 2-3 3 2 1 1 1
T - 2:12.

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State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times


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