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In their last four games on Tuesday, the Eagles have scored 54 runs.
Odds are those numbers aren't going to be duplicated tonight, but the
Eagles can take a major step towards their first post-season berth in
five years with a victory over the first place Andrews Mustangs.
Pecos and Andrews meet at 7:30 p.m., with the Mustangs looking to clinch
their third straight trip to the playoffs with a win, and assure
themselves of at least a tie for their third straight district title.
They're 6-0 on the season in District 4-4A and 21-2 overall after their
15-2 win on Saturday over Fort Stockton.
The Eagles avenged -- if that's the word for it -- their March 25
forfeit loss to Sweetwater on Saturday with a 6-2 victory in Sweetwater.
It lifted Pecos into a tie for second with Fort Stockton and San Angelo
Lake View, all with 3-3 marks. The Eagles are 12-7 on the season.
Tonight's game figures to be a pitching rematch of the teams' March 27
game in Andrews, in which the Mustangs scored five unearned runs in the
first two innings on the way to an 8-2 victory.
Moses Martinez, 4-3, was the victim of the Eagles' bad defense that
night, while also falling behind hitters early, something the junior
hadn't been doing earlier this season. He had the same problem last
Thursday, going just three-plus innings in a 5-1 loss at Big Spring.
"I hope Moses can come on, because we've got to have somebody else
besides Jason (Abila) win for us," Eagles' coach Bubba Williams said.
Abila has gotten the win in Pecos' last seven District 4-4A victories,
dating back to 1995.
Andrews figures to start Cody Klein, who fared much better last week in
Big Spring. He one-hit the Steers in a 10-0 victory, and raised his
record to 7-0 on the season. Three weeks ago, Klein allowed just two
hits and a pair of unearned runs three weeks ago in Andrews' win over
Pecos.
"We've got to hit the ball and play better defense than we did over
there," said Williams, who had to shake up his lineup Saturday due to
the absence of starters Richard and John Gutierrez.
Eric Abila had three hits batting in the No. 4 spot in the order for the
first time this season. Williams said he'll probably keep the senior
there tonight, while moving Richard Gutierrez into Abila's former
leadoff spot, occupied by Oscar Luna on Saturday.
***
Meanwhile on Monday night the Eagles' junior varsity got a home victory,
rallying for three runs in the seventh to down the Marfa Shorthorns
varsity, 4-3. The JV and freshman teams close out their 1997 seasons at
home on Friday against Tornillo's varsity and Monahans' JV.
Coach Adolfo Garcia said the Bears collected three gold medals on the
boys side and one on the girls side at the meet, along with four second
place finishes that also earned regional berths.
Amanda Lozano and Zane Rhyne scored first and seconds in the same event,
taking the gold in the 400 meter dash and the silver in the 200 meter
finals. Garcia said Lozano had a 1:07 time to win the quarter-mile,
while Rhyne took first in the 400 with a 54 second effort.
The other golds came from junior Kevin Castillo, who won the discus with
a 118-foot throw, and senior Ryan Steig, who took the shot put with a
toss of just over 39 feet.
The other boys' regional qualifier was Damon Mellard, who placed second
in the 3200 meter run, while for the girls, their other regional
qualifiers were part of the 400 meter relay team. Nelda Mondragon,
Brenda Dutchover and Celia Rodriguez were members of the 400 squad along
with Lozano.
Under the University Interscholastic League's realignment last summer,
this will be the first time the Bears have competed in the Region II
track meet, which now features small schools between Fort Worth and the
El Paso area. Previously, Balmorhea and other West Texas school competed
in Region I, which includes other schools from the Texas Panhandle.
David Zuniga and Jonathan Fuentes, who went into the tournament seeded
third, played to form, defeating Andrews' Eric Medina and Chris
Martinez, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, after losing to their teammates, No. 2 seeds
Mitch Findley and Andrew Farrah, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.
Findley and Farrah lost in the finals to Big Spring's Drew McKinney and
Kayne Stroup, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. Earlier, The Steers team was taken to three
sets by the Eagles' other doubles team of Ty Graham and Mark Marquez,
before coming out with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 win.
"We have a very, very strong boys team, and the girls are
strengthening," said coach Bernadette Ornelas, who took over the team
last month. "The kids have come a ways, since they hadn't been playing
as much recently."
Zuniga and Fuentes were the lone Eagles seeded going into the two-day
tournament. The third earned them a alternate regional berth.
In girls' doubles, Renea Rasberry and Randa Taylor won their opening
match over Sweetwater's Bauer and Brock, then lost to No. 4 seeds
Stephanie Lewis and Christina Vera of Big Spring, 6-4, 6-1.
In boys' singles play, Eagles' Jeff Lam and Kenneth Friar both lost to
Lake View netters in the first round -- Lam 7-5, 6-4 to Ignacio Gonzales
and Friar 7-5, 6-2 to Max Guerrero.
In girls' singles, Marissa Levario won her opening match over Lake
View's Deborah Harrell, 6-2, 6-3, then lost to fourth-seeded Nancy Vo of
Andrews, 6-1, 6-0.
In the freshman division, Frank Dominguez and Craig Wein were beaten in
doubles by J. Muniz and Tavon Nguyen of Andrews, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, while in
freshman girls singles Vanessa Miranda lost to Jenkins of Andrews, 6-1,
6-2; and Lily Payen fell 6-3, 6-0 to Pfiefer of Big Spring.
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