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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, April 7, 1999
Eagles rout Wildcats, clinch playoff spot
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Apr. 7 -- The Pecos Eagles clinched their first-ever
trip to the playoffs on Tuesday in their second year of
girls softball play. Now, they'll try to clinch their first
district title with a victory on Saturday.
Pecos rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Fabens at
Martinez Field by a 16-2 final score. That assured the
Eagles of no worse than a third place finish in the final
district standings, and they can earn the district title on
Saturday with a win at second place Clint.
"That's probably the best we've played at home. We seemed
to relax a little more today," said Eagles' coach Tammy
Walls.
Fabens did fare better than in their first meeting with
Pecos, a 23-1 loss. The Wildcats put three straight hits
together in the first inning off Alexa Marquez, and combined
with a wild pitch it gave Fabens a 2-0 lead.
"The first time we played them they didn't get a hit, and I
think it shocked them when they had balls hit to them,"
Walls said. "It took them off guard a little bit, but then
they settled down."
Pecos got a run back in their half of the first, when
Jessica Rodriguez hit a ground rule double on the chalk down
the third base line and scored on Katrina Quiroz' bloop
double to right field. Then in the second they used five
hits and five Wildcat errors to score nine times.
Ashley Salcido stayed alive when catcher Connie Garcia
dropped her pop up, and she and Marquez then walked. Two
steals and a throwing error by Garcia put both in scoring
position, and they were driven home by Nicole Payne's single
to left.
She scored on Mireya Medrano's single to center, and after
a Rodriguez hit shortstop Ruth Simental booted Kathy
Maldonado's grounder for an error. One out later Qurioz
added an RBI single after she stayed alive when Garcia
dropped a pop-up. She would go to third when Noemi Roman
misplayed the ball in left and then stole home when Fabens
players were distracted after a close play on Maldonado at
home plate.
Salcido then reached on Simental's second error of the
inning, and came in when Marquez tripled over Roman's head
in left field. She would then come in on a passed ball by
Garcia, who had six overall on a rough afternoon.
Fabens only other threat came in the third, when Garcia
singled to right with two on and one out, But Salcido was
able to throw Roman out at home plate and the Eagles then
scored four more times, off a two run single by Rebecca
Wein, an RBI hit by Valerie Gonzales and a missed throw at
third base by Ana Adaleo.
Walls began substituting freely in the fourth, and the game
ended with Marquez as the lone remaining starter in the
lineup. Lily Payen and Mya Gomez scored Pecos' final two
runs in the fourth, and Marquez added two strikeouts in the
fifth, to finish with eight for the game.
Clint also clinched a playoff berth with their 21-11 win
over San Elizario on Tuesday. The Lions have played two more
district games than the Eagles have, and Saturday's matchup
ends regular season play for Clint. Pecos hosts San Elizario
next Tuesday and will still have one make-up game to play,
at home against El Paso Mountain View, if either they lose
to Clint or if the game will determine the final playoff
berth between Mountain View and San Elizario.
FABENS PECOS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Herndez p 3 0 0 0 Rdrguez 1b 2 3 2 0
Roman lf 3 1 2 0 Ortega 1b 1 0 0 0
Amaya rf 3 1 1 0 Maldndo cf 2 2 1 1
Carrasco rf 0 0 0 0 Dmnguz cf 1 0 0 0
B.Gnzls 1b 2 0 2 1 Wein c 3 0 1 2
Garcia c 3 0 1 0 Glndo cr-c 1 1 0 0
Ceballos 2b 2 0 0 0 Quiroz ss 2 2 2 1
Flores 2b 1 0 0 0 Mndoza lf 1 0 0 0
Simental ss 2 0 0 0 V.Gnzles 3b 3 0 1 0
Portillo cf 2 0 0 0 Archltea 3b 0 0 0 0
Aldaeo 3b 2 0 0 0 Salcido 2b 2 2 0 0
Meza 2b 0 0 0 0
Marquez p 3 2 1 1
Payne rf 1 1 1 2
Payen rf 1 1 1 0
Medrano lf 2 1 2 1
Gomez lf-ss 0 1 0 0
Totals 23 2 6 1 Totals 25 16 12 9
Fabens 2 0 0 0 0 -- 2
Pecos 1 9 4 2 x --16
E -- Payne, Salcido 2, Roman 2, Garcia 3, Simental 2,
Aldaeo, Archuleta, B. Gonzales. DP -- Fabens 1. LOB --
Fabens 6, Pecos 3. 2B -- Rodriguez, Quiroz. 3B -- Marquez.
SB -- Simental, Salcido, Marquez, Rodriguez, Medrano,
Quiroz, Portillo, Payen, Gomez, Dominguez, Garcia.
IP H R ER BB KO
Fabens
Hernandez (L) 4 12 16 6 6 1
Pecos
Marquez (W) 5 6 2 1 1 8
WP -- Marquez 3.
PB -- Garcia 6, Wein.
T -- 1:34.
Pecos stays in first with win at Canutillo
PECOS, Apr. 7 -- The Pecos Eagles haven't stopped making
errors altogether since District 2-4A play began two weeks
ago, but they have stopped adding to their mistakes with
more errors and that has helped keep them undefeated in the
district standings.
Tuesday's 10-3 victory at Canutillo was an example of the
change. Pecos gave up three unearned runs, but were able to
come back after those mistakes and limit the host Eagles to
just solo runs in the first, third and sixth innings.
Meanwhile, Pecos' hitters touched starter Jorge Larrea for
seven runs in five innings or work, then got three more off
reliever Ignacio Jurado in the sixth, with Canutillo
mistakes contributing to six of the Eagles' 10 runs.
"It wasn't one of our best games, but the kids went out and
played well," said Eagles' coach Bubba Williams. "We turned
two double plays and the middle of the infield, Luis Salgado
and Louis Valencia, looked good turning those double plays."
Jurado scored all three of Canutillo's runs, and stolen
bases and pickoffs played a part each time. In the first
inning, he scored after Paul Terrazas was picked off first
base by Josh Casillas, but reached second on an error by
Salgado. "He was out, but the kids slid in and knocked the
ball out of his glove," Williams said.
In the third, Jurado singled and would score on a steal of
third, when catcher Mark Abila's throw sailed past Ricky
Herrera, and he would steal home with one out in the sixth,
but that came after Jesse Ramirez was picked off first by
Casillas, and with a 10-2 lead at the time, Pecos went for
the out on Ramirez and allowed Jurado to score.
Casillas had some problems with Canutillo's mound, but
ended up striking out 10 and allowing just six hits in
raising his record to 7-1 on the season. He also had the
last of Pecos' RBI hits, in the sixth off Jurado, to give
Pecos their 10-2 lead.
Pecos took a 2-1 lead in the second on back-to-back doubles
by John Gutierrez and Mark Abila, and an RBI single by Kevin
Bates. Ricky Herrera singled in the third and then scored
off a passed ball and two of Larrea's four balks on the
afternoon. Then, after Canutillo cut the lead to 3-2 the
Eagles added four runs in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead.
Oscar Luna and Mason Abila singled with one out, and both
would score off errors on balls hit by Jeff Martinez and
Casillas. Gutierrez followed with his second double of the
afternoon to bring home Martinez and pinch runner Hector
Garcia.
In the sixth, Salgado reached on a three-base error by
Hector Polanco and scored on Herrera's sacrifice fly. One
out later Mason Abila was hit by a pitch and after Martinez
singled, both were driven home by Casillas. Canutillo would
get one runner on in the seventh before Pecos ended it with
their second double play of the game.
"The kids played pretty good defense. Now when they put the
ball in play we're making the plays, and right now we're
coming in and hitting the ball," Williams said.
The win improved Pecos' district record to 4-0 and their
season mark to 12-5-1, while Canutillo falls to 1-3 and 3-11
overall. The Eagles will close out the first half of their
2-4A schedule at home Friday night against San Elizario, who
are 2-2 after a 2-1 loss to Clint on Tuesday.
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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