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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, February 23, 1999
Lara picked to first team 2-4A squad
PECOS, Feb. 23 -- Pecos Eagles' senior Shaye Lara was named
to the All-District 2-4A girls basketball team, and the
Eagles' two other senior players received honorable mention
in voting by district coaches last week.
Coaches voted for the team last Wednesday and it was
released Friday, after both 2-4A champion Clint and El Paso
Mountain View were eliminated from the area round of the
Class 4A playoffs.
Lara a two-year starter for Pecos, led the Eagles in scoring
this season at just under 10 points per game, playing at
off-guard and forward.
Earning honorable mention for the Eagles were senior posts
Lindsey Hathorn and Monique Levario. Hathorn was the team's
second-leading scorer for most of the season, at seven
points per game, while Levario averaged six but was the
team's most accurate free throw shooter in district.
Eagles' coach Brian Williams said Hathorn also earned
academic all-district honors in last week's voting.
Clint had three of the 10 selections on the all-district
squad. The Lions, who went undefeated through 2-4A play,
were led by seniors Polly Wagner, Christina Varela and
Jessica Foster.
District runner-up Canutillo, which lost in the area round
of the playoffs, put two players on the squad, in junior
post Ali Pineda and senior post Alexa Vasquez, while San
Elizario, which finished just ahead of Pecos in fifth place
in the standings, had two sophomore guards selected, in
Raquel Diaz and Francis Martinez.
Mountain View junior post Monica Acosta and Fabens senior
forward Cynthia Cardona round out the squad.
There were no second-team all-district selections made by
the district coaches.
The All-District 2-4A boys basketball team was also selected
last week, and will be released after the district's three
playoff qualifiers end their seasons. San Elizario is at El
Paso Bowie and Mountain View faces El Paso Riverside tonight
in bi-district play, while 2-4A champ Clint drew a bye, and
will face a Panhandle area team later this week.
Mustangs use turnovers to oust Bears
PECOS, Feb. 23 -- Fast starts in both the first and second
half weren't enough to overcome a series of turnovers by the
Balmorhea Bears after that, as the Bears were eliminated
from the Class A playoffs Monday night by the Fort Hancock
Mustangs.
Fort Hancock took advantage of a series of turnovers,
including a number off steals of inbound passes, to defeat
the Bears by an 89-79 score at Sul Ross State University in
Alpine. The Mustangs, District 2-A runners-up, took
advantage of Balmorhea mistakes to rally from early 4-0 and
8-4 deficits to grab as much as a nine-point lead late in
the first quarter.
The Mustangs would go up by as much as 13 points early in
the second period, when Manny Mendoza and Arturo Miranda led
a rally that cut the margin to 36-32. But once again, late
first half turnovers allowed Fort Hancock to go up by a
46-37 halftime margin, and after Balmorhea began the second
half the same way they started the first, with four quick
points, the Mustangs again responded, going back out to a
double-digit lead late in the third period, which they were
able to hold through most of the final period.
Miranda had 17 and Mendoza 16 for the Bears, who won the
District 1-A title and finished the season with an 8-9
record. Fort Hancock, 20-7, will go on to face Rankin, 71-48
winners over Marathon on Monday, in the area round of the
Class A playoffs.
Pecos LL registration begins
PECOS, Feb. 23 -- Registration for the 1999 Pecos Little
League baseball season will begin today and run through the
scheduled opening day on March 27, according to league
president Tony Aguilar.
A meeting is also scheduled for tonight at 7:30 p.m., at
the Texas-New Mexico Power Co. Reddy Room on Stafford
Boulevard. All managers and coaches for both the Little
League and Senior League are urged to attend, Aguilar said.
Registration for boys and girls ages 8-12 will be $15 per
player between today and March 7, when tryouts are scheduled
at Chano Prieto Field. Registration from March 8-27 will be
$20 per player, according to Aguilar.
Registration forms are available at Pecos-Barstow-Toyah
elementary schools and at Gibson True-Value, 810 W. Walthall
St., and at Big A Auto Parts, 202 S. Cedar St.
Astros may lose Alou for year
KISSIMMEE, Fla., fEB. 23 -- The Houston Astros knew Moises
Alou would be absent for the start of spring training. Now,
the NL Central champions might be missing him for the whole
season.
The Astros learned Monday that their All-Star outfielder,
who fell off a treadmill last week, has a torn anterior
cruciate ligament in his left knee.
``This is a devastating blow for our team,'' Astros general
manager Gerry Hunsicker said from training camp in
Kissimmee, Fla. ``Clearly, this was the worst-case scenario
we could have imagined.''
``He's probably facing missing most of the year, possibly
the whole season,'' Hunsicker said. ``I think the best we
could hope for is that he returns sometime in late August or
early September.''
Alou, 32, hit .312 with 38 home runs and 124 RBIs. Carl
Everett and young Richard Hidalgo will try to take Alou's
place in left field.
Alou was hurt last Thursday at his home in the Dominican
Republic when he lost his balance trying to adjust a
treadmill that was going too fast. He hoped the injury was
not serious, but an MRI in Houston showed the damage.
The Anaheim Angels and Texas Rangers also were struck by
injuries, though nothing as serious as the one to Alou. And
Florida rookie Mike Lowell was recovering after undergoing
surgery for testicular cancer.
Angels shortstop Gary DiSarcina will miss at least a month
after breaking his left forearm in a freak accident at camp
in Tempe, Ariz.
DiSarcina, a sound fielder who batted .287 last season, was
hurt Sunday. After taking batting-practice swings, he
blindly turned and walked into the swing of first-base coach
George Hendrick, who was hitting ground balls to infielders.
DiSarcina was confident he would be back before the Angels'
opener April 6.
``I'll be around all the time, running a lot, because I want
to be with the guys,'' he said. ``This is not going to ruin
our frame of mind entering the season. I'm determined to
make sure of it.''
Texas will be minus closer John Wetteland for the next week
or two after he strained his right ankle during a workout at
Port Charlotte, Fla.
``It's frustrating because I put in a lot of sweat and hard
work to get back to where I was feeling pretty good,''
Wetteland said. ``It just shows that the ankle is an
important part of the body, too.''
Wetteland, who had 42 saves and was 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA, had
elbow surgery in the offseason and has been throwing without
any problems.
Lowell, a third baseman acquired from the New York Yankees
on Feb. 1, had a testicle removed Sunday in an outpatient
surgery.
``The prognosis for recovery is excellent,'' general manager
Dave Dombrowski said. ``It is not a life-threatening
situation.''
Lowell was expected to be the Marlins' starting third
baseman. He is scheduled to begin workouts with other
position players Friday at Melbourne, Fla.
Among the players showing up in camps Monday were Mark
McGwire, Albert Belle and David Wells.
McGwire took batting practice, worked out in the weight room
and played table tennis in the St. Louis Cardinals'
clubhouse in Jupiter, Fla. The 70-homer man will hold a news
conference Wednesday after the team's first full squad
workout.
``We hope the people in St. Louis, and here, will give him
some space, let him go to a restaurant, go to the mall,''
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. ``I'm betting on the
people in St. Louis. He's their guy. I can't imagine anyone
would do anything to hurt him.''
McGwire was expected to join in a team party Monday night at
a local restaurant to watch an episode of the TV show ``Mad
About You.'' McGwire played himself in the episode.
Belle, meanwhile, took his first swings for the Baltimore
Orioles in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
``I would rather have come to Baltimore than the Yankees,''
said Belle, who worked out two days early. ``You look at
their situation, they're the kingpin and you want to be that
underdog that knocks them off the top.
``That's pretty much the situation I've been in my whole
career. It just makes for a better season when you knock the
big guys off the top,'' he said.
Wells reported to camp at Dunedin, Fla., and offered an
immediate assessment of the trade that sent him to the Blue
Jays and moved Roger Clemens to the Yankees.
``I think Toronto got the better part of the deal,'' Wells
said. ``The key to winning is pitching and this team has
some good pitchers.''
Toronto general manager Gord Ash, who got the big lefty,
reliever Graeme Lloyd and second baseman Homer Bush for
Clemens last week, said he intends to keep Wells.
``We will not discuss any deals with David Wells,'' Ash
said. ``In the words of George Bush: Read my lips -- David
Wells will not be traded.''
The New York Mets and Cleveland supposedly are interested in
Wells, who went 18-4 during the regular season and 4-0 in
the postseason for the World Series champions.
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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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