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Van Horn Advocate

Sports

Wednesday, September 24, 1997

Strong finish earns Eagles win


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By JON FULBRIGHT
Sports Editor
FORT STOCKTON, Sept. 24 -- All the Pecos Eagles have to do to keep coach
Becky Granado happy is this: Play all their remaining matches the same
way they finished off Tuesday night's contest at Fort Stockton.

After two games in which neither the Eagles nor Prowlers looked sharp,
Pecos came out in Game 3 and ran off 11 straight points on the way to
their second District 4-4A victory in three matches, by 15-9, 10-15,
15-5 scores.

"They wanted to win," Granado said. "I wish they would play like that
all the time and with that kind of intensity."

The Eagles also made their run while their main hitter, Lori Marquez,
was on the back line, as Gail Taylor and Ivy Thorp led the run, with
Taylor scoring off a spike and blocks of Mandy Lujan and Elisa Espino,
while Thorp had the final kill of the streak.

"I was pleased with the third game, and how we played together. We're
not where I'd like us to be, but a lot has to do with me changing the
lineup to find out what combination will work," Granado said.

One change involved moving Shay Lara into one of the two setter's spots,
while LaCrisha Molinar moved over to outside hitter. "I just changed it
Monday night. Crisha said she wasn't comfortable at setter, and Shea's a
little quicker getting to the ball, which is what we need, somebody to
get to the ball."

Lara had some problems in the first two games, and the Eagles' almost
saw another big Game 1 lead vanish, as the Prowlers cut an 11-4 deficit
to 11-9. But Fort Stockton spent much the game pounding their serves
either into the net or out of bounds, and those missed chances at first
allowed Pecos to get their lead and then to regain the momentum at the
end.

Thorp and Marquez both had aces in the game, while Sherrie Mosby had a
block and a kill during the streak. Fort Stockton's comeback was fueled
mainly by bad hits by the Eagles, but after a missed kill by Eunice
Levya the Eagles finished things off on a Marquez spike of an overset
and a spike by Thorp over Espino.

Game 2 was almost the exact reverse, as the Eagles gave the Prowlers a
pile of points before rallying at the finish. Fort Stockton was up by as
much as 14-3, then had to survive a 7-0 run by Pecos that cut the lead
to four.

Espino would spike an Eagle overset to give Fort Stockton their only
lead in Game 3. The Eagles grabbed a 2-1 lead on kills by Shirhonda Bell
and Marquez, then went ahead for good at 3-2 off a bad set by Ashlea
Creech.

Like the Eagles in Game 2, the Prowlers were able to hold off game point
at 14-3 for a while, but were only able to narrow the gap to nine before
Pecos broke serve and ended things on a bad spike by Espino.

The victory lifted Pecos' season record to 13-8 going into Saturday's
home match against Big Spring, which swept Sweetwater on Tuesday, 15-1,
15-7. Fort Stockton fell to 1-1 in district, and 12-7 on the year.

The Prowlers' junior varsity did score a 15-8, 15-9 win over the Eagles,
while Pecos took both ninth grade matches, with the freshman purple team winning by 15-6, 15-13 scores and the gold team by 15-0, 15-5 margins.

Mariners, Tribe win divisions


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CLEVELAND, Sept. 24 (AP) -- An improbable rally put the Cleveland
Indians into the playoffs, while the Seattle Mariners clinched their
postseason spot by holding off a comeback.

Cleveland captured its third straight AL Central title Tuesday night by
overcoming a 9-2 deficit for a stunning 10-9 win over the New York
Yankees at Jacobs Field.

Meanwhile, Ken Griffey didn't homer for the Mariners, but Jay Buhner's
three-run shot helped the turn back Anaheim 4-3 in the Kingdome, giving
Seattle its second AL West crown in three years.

Sandy Alomar's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth capped Cleveland's
dramatic comeback from seven runs down. It was the first time in 63
games this season the Indians came back to win when trailing after eight
innings.

The 1995 Indians made a habit of these kind of wins, but this year's
club, which lost Albert Belle to free agency and traded away Kenny
Lofton before the season, had yet to duplicate that magic.

``What an unbelievable bunch of guys,'' said starter Charles Nagy, who
was pounded by the Yankees. ``Losing Albert, losing Kenny Lofton, and to
come back and do it again is so special.''

Buhner's 40th homer, a 484-foot, three-run shot in the first, was the
Mariners' 258th of the season, one more than Baltimore hit last year.

``I didn't want it to drag out any more than it did,'' Buhner said.
``It's big to do it now because a lot of us will get a chance to rest up
now. We've got World Series on our minds. That's what we have to look to
now.''

Griffey, who homered twice Monday night, went 1-for-3 with a broken-bat
single in the first, a walk in the third, a strikeout in the fifth and a
groundout in the seventh.

Elsewhere in the AL, it was Minnesota 5, Chicago 3; Baltimore 3, Toronto
2; Detroit 6, Boston 0; Texas 14, Oakland 6; and Milwaukee and Kansas
City split a doubleheader. The Brewers won the opener 7-4 and the Royals
took the nightcap 6-2.

Following their win, Cleveland players watched the conclusion of
second-place Chicago's loss at home to Minnesota.

David Justice hit a solo homer off Hideki Irabu to key a two-run eighth
as the Indians closed to 9-8, then tied it with an RBI single off Jeff
Nelson (3-7) in the ninth.

Alomar, who hit a two-run homer and RBI single earlier, singled to
center to score Matt Williams, who walked.

It was yet another thrilling moment for Alomar in this ballpark, where
he hit the go-ahead homer in the All-Star game in July.

``I guess I'm always in the right spot,'' Alomar said.

Before 52,884, the 10th sellout in the Kingdome this season, Randy
Johnson (19-4) allowed eight hits in eight innings with 11 strikeouts,
but gave up three solo homers - two to Jim Edmonds and one to Gary
DiSarcina.

Heathcliff Slocumb finished for his 27th save, his 10th with Seattle.
The Angels put the tying run on second with two outs in the ninth before
Slocumb struck out pinch-hitter Jack Howell to touch off a celebration.

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@pecos.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. 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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