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Sports

Tuesday, July 8, 1997

Barrandry gives up Bears' coaching jobs


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PECOS, July 8 -- Michael Barrandey has decided to step down from his
long-time jobs as Balmorhea Bears head football and basketball coach, in
order to concentrate more on his duties as a school administrator.

"I have given it much thought and consideration," Barrandey said in a
letter set out July 1, "I feel that during the course of my coaching for
19 years that I gave my all and my best, and have enjoyed every part of
every athletic event."

Barrandey began serving as assistant principal for Balmorhea ISD last
year, and said he'll remain as the district's athletic director for the
upcoming school year, while turning over coaching duties to Ennis
Erickson in football and Adolfo Garcia in basketball.

The change is the latest this summer for Balmorhea ISD. The district
recently changed superintendents, hiring Carl Lee Hoffmeyer on June 28
to replace James Haynes, who resigned earlier this year.

Barrandey has served as both the Bears' head football and basketball
coach for the past 14 years, taking the team from 11-man play into
six-man competition starting with the 1986 season. Balmorhea reached the
six-man playoffs in 1987, but has found its greatest success in the past
three seasons, winning the District 8-A six man title in 1994 and
placing second each of the past two seasons.

"I had to learn how to coach a completely different way, and the kids had
to learn how to play differently," Barrandey said after his team made the
playoffs in their second season of six-man play.

The Bears reached the six-man semifinals in 1994, losing by four points
to eventual state champion Amherst, and advanced to the area round of
six-man play the past two seasons. Balmorhea went 10-2 last fall and
return four of their six all-district players from last season.

While he won't be coaching this fall, Barrandey is with the Bears' other
coaches this week, at the annual Texas Six-Man Coaches Association
clinic in Lubbock. Barrandey and his staff coached the West All-Star to
a victory over the East at last year's six man game, which concluded the
clinic. Balmorhea's Scott Clark was voted to participate in this year's
all-star game, while lineman Ryan Steig was named as an alternate to the
West squad.

Erickson has served as Barrandey's assistant for the past five season,
along with handling head coaching duties for Balmorhea's girls
basketball squad, a post he'll continue to handle, as well as overseeing
the Bears' tennis squad.

With the loss of only one other player to graduation besides Clark and
Steig off last year's squad, the Bears are favored to take the 8-A six
man title, and are ranked in the Top 10 in the Texas Football's
preseason poll.

Garcia will remain as the Bears' head track coach, a post he's held for
the past three seasons, as well as continuing to serve as assistant
football coach along with Abel Garcia. The basketball squad he'll take
over from Barrandey next fall will also be favored to take it's district
title, after capturing the District 30-A title this past season with a
17-4 record.

Barrandey said Erickson will also assume the duties of athletic director
beginning with the 1998-99 school year, while Abel Garcia will serve as
head coach for Balmorhea's junior high teams and Jim Meredith will be
the Bears' varsity volleyball coach next season, a position Barrandey also had to assume on an emergency basis last year.

Seniors, Juniors seeking victories over Crane, LV


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PECOS, July 8 -- The Pecos Little League All-Star's travel plans for
Wednesday night were set on Monday, while Pecos' Junior League All-Stars
will be on the road tonight looking to earn another home game on
Saturday in their District 4 Tournament.

Meanwhile, Pecos' Senior Leaguers are at home tonight, and if they win
can remain at home on Thursday, as they host Crane at 7 p.m. in a
District 4 Tournament quarterfinal matchup.

The Senior Leaguers made quick work of Ozona in their opener, scoring an
11-1 win, then won a run-scoring contest over Big Lake last Wednesday.

Pecos took a 10-0 lead after 1½ innings, gave up 12 runs in the bottom
of the second, then scored nine straight runs in their next three at
bats to win by a 21-16 final score. Pifi Montoya got the win in Pecos'
opening game, while Jason Payne picked up the victory in relief over Big
Lake.

Crane, meanwhile, has won a pair of high-scoring games, 10-8 over Sonora
and 12-9 over Sterling City. Tonight's winner will host either San
Angelo Western or San Angelo Northern on Thursday, while the loser plays
at either Alpine or Sonora on Wednesday.

Pecos' Junior Leaguers have scored two easy wins at home, including a
13-0 victory over Northern, the team most of the current group lost to
as Little Leaguers last year. Richard Rodriguez blanked Northern, while
Capi Magana got the win on Saturday against Tri-County, by a 13-3 final
score.

Like Crane, Lake View has reached the tournament semifinals with a pair
of high scoring victories. They outlasted San Angelo Western, 21-20 last
weekend, after a 9-7 win over San Angelo Southern.

Tonight's winner hosts Saturday's tournament title game, while the loser
will play again on Thursday in the double-elimination tournament, at a
site to be determined.

Pecos' Little Leaguers will try to avoid elimination at Tri-County on
Wednesday, after dropping their first tournament game, 8-1 at San Angelo
on Sunday. The Little Leaguers had defeated Alpine and Crane in their
first two tournament games, while Tri-County lost their opener to
Winters, then stayed alive with wins over North Concho and San Angelo
Western, the latter by a 7-3 score Monday night.

***
In Monday's story on Pecos' loss at Ballinger, an error was incorrectly
given to Tony Aguilar instead of David Elkins. We regret the error on the error.

All-Stars divided on toughest number


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By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer

CLEVELAND -- Tony Gwynn and Ken Griffey Jr. have their opinions, just
like every other fan.

So how about it, guys. When it comes to hitting, which of baseball's
most hallowed numbers -- 61, .400 or 56 -- will be the hardest to break?

``I will say the home runs,'' Griffey said Monday. ``If they don't pitch
to you, you can't do it. Everything has to be perfect with the swing.
It's not like a single, where you can bloop it in.''

Gwynn sees a different side.

``Of the three of them, I would say 56 is the most difficult,'' he said.
``Every at-bat you don't get a hit, the pressure builds.''

Either way, this is the time to be talking about such things. Because
all of the players with the best chance at making history -- otherwise
known as challenging the marks of Roger Maris, Ted Williams and Joe
DiMaggio -- will be on display tonight at the All-Star game.

There's Mark McGwire with 31 home runs and Griffey with 30. They're
pursuing Maris, who had 33 homers at the All-Star break in 1961 and
finished with 61.

``The only time you guys should bring it up is if you're at 50 home runs
in September, the first of September,'' McGwire said. ``Then a guy has a
pretty good chance of doing it.''

But, the chase has caught the interest of Randy Johnson, the starting
pitcher for the AL.

``I wouldn't mind seeing both getting a chance to break it instead of
just one,'' he said. ``It would be great to get into September and have
both of them close.

``They would pick up the paper each morning and look at the other
boxscore and say, `He got another one.' Maybe they wouldn't do that, I
don't know. But I think both would be driven by what the other guy was
doing,'' he said.

Williams was the last player to break the .400 barrier, hitting .406 in
1941. That season, he was batting .405 at the All-Star break.

Larry Walker is at .398, Gwynn is at .394.

``I think everybody thinks it will be done, but we're finding out that
it's not that easy,'' Gwynn said.

``Hitting .400, you've got to do it every day. I was hitting .402 one
day, went 2-for-5 and went down to .401. So it's tough. You've got to
get in a groove and just stay there,'' he said.

DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games in 1941. He happened to be at 48 at
the break.

Sandy Alomar is at 30 and counting.

``I think it's actually helped me concentrate on every at-bat lately,''
he said. ``Hopefully, going for the streak doesn't hurt the team.''

For at least a day or two, Alomar doesn't need to worry. The Cleveland
catcher can focus on having fun, calling pitches for Johnson and hitting
against NL starter Greg Maddux.

The NL has won three straight, and leads the series 40-26-1.

Thanks to interleague play, Maddux has already pitched this season to
five players in the AL starting lineup -- Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar and
Brady Anderson of Baltimore and Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill of the
New York Yankees.

``I don't think that takes away from anything,'' the Atlanta ace said.

Johnson, on the other hand, may finally get to face Walker. The Colorado
slugger sat out when the Rockies recently played Johnson and the Seattle
Mariners.

Johnson provided an All-Star highlight in 1993 when he threw a fastball
way over the head of John Kruk, prompting the Philadelphia hitter to pat
his heart.

Walker and Johnson were once teammates in Montreal's minor league
system. That friendship, though, may not spare Walker, whose 479-foot
shot was the longest in Monday's home run derby.

``I don't remember receiving a Christmas card from him,'' Johnson said.

Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez also are likely to pitch early in the
game. When Albert Belle will bat, however, remains to be seen.

Belle is back at Jacobs Field for the first time since June, when
Indians fans booed him non-stop. Belle responded with an obscene
gesture, and there's no telling how he'll treat the crowd tonight -- he
showed up late in the AL clubhouse and did not take part in the optional
workout.

No matter that Belle did not talk about the likes of Maris, Williams and
DiMaggio. Plenty of people were on hand to do that.

``What I get a crank out of is all this `on-pace' stuff,'' Johnson said.
``Like a guy hits three home runs in one game and he's on pace to hit
500.''

Walker, meanwhile, is one hit away from being at .400, is leading the NL
with 25 home runs and is among the league leaders with 68 RBIs.

Hey, Larry. Which of the big numbers is the toughest?

``I'd probably say winning the triple crown is the hardest of all,'' he
said.


Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, 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@bitstreet.com
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. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.

Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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