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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, May 17, 1999
Eagles sweep `Dogs in playoff opener
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
BIG SPIRNG, May 17 -- The Pecos Eagles got key contributions from the
players they expected to get them from in the opening game of their playoff
series against Plainview on Friday. But it was contributions from a couple
of players off the bench that lifted the Eagles to a sweep of their best-of-three
series on Saturday.
Orlando Lara's two out, two strike pinch-single to left-center field
scored Kevin Bates and gave Pecos a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on Saturday.
Then after Oscar Rodriguez' seventh walk of the day cut the lead to 2-1
in the fifth, sophomore Pifi Montoya came on in relief and struck out pinch
hitter Jon Musquiz and went on to retire all seven batters he faced to
earn his first save of the season and give Rodriguez his eighth victory
in nine decisions.
The win, coming after a 10-4 victory in Game 1 on Friday, sent Pecos
into the Region I-4A quarterfinals this coming Friday and Saturday, against
El Paso Riverside, the District 1-4A runner-up. The Rangers swept District
3-4A champ Pampa out of the playoffs this past weekend, winning by 6-3
and 3-0 scores after sweeping the Eagles' district rival, Fabens, in the
bi-district round of play.
"We got contributions from all the kids we put in there. Orlando Lara
comes up with a big pinch hit with two strikes on him, and Pifi comes in
a strikes out the batter with the bases loaded," Eagles' coach Bubba Williams
said.
"Everytime they needed to get a big play they found it," Plainview coach
Kendall Walling said. "Pecos was well-prepared for this series.
Walling was especially impressed with the way Montoya finished striking
out the side in the sixth, getting Pete Gonzales, the Bulldogs' leading
hitter, on a 3-2 off-speed pitch.
"They did a wonderful job spotting the pitches in and out," he said.
"Montoya throwing a 3-2 change-up on Gonzales -- that's a pretty high-level
change."
"That was a knuckle-change and he can control it," Williams said. "Gonzales
was looking fastball all the way, and boom!
"He was on, baby."
Jeff Martinez' two-run homer three batters into Friday's opener set
the tone for Game 1, and Joshua Casillas broke the game open in the sixth
with his 10th homer of the year, a three-run shot, that helped seal his
10th pitching victory in 11 decisions.
Casillas also broke a scoreless tie in the third inning of Game 2, singling
down the line in right with two outs off Brennan Bell to score Mason Abila,
who had doubled to the gap in left-center with one out. Lara's single came
after right fielder Dominic Bocanegra dropped Kevin Bates' fly ball in
short right-center field for a two-base error, one of three on the afternoon
for the Bulldogs.
Pecos managed five hits off Bell, 8-5, who struck out seven while absorbing
the loss. The Eagles, meanwhile, committed five errors, but were able to
escape trouble all but once thanks to Plainview's over-aggressive baseurnning
and the two-hit pitching of Rodriguez and Montoya.
The Bulldogs stole six bases on the Eagles in Friday's loss -- three
by Gonzales -- and swiped two more on Saturday, but ran themselves out
of several scoring chances.
Chance Mcmillan reached third base with none out in the second when
Abila dropped his fly ball to left. He then appeared to score on Brandon
Bratherton's sacrifice fly center field, but was called out for leaving
third base too soon.
In the third Bocanegra reached base when Luis Salgado couldn't field
his grounder, but was picked off first by Rodriguez. Gonzales followed
with a single and then stole second, but strayed too far off the bag as
Martinez bobbled Bell's infield grounder and was caught in a rundown for
the final out.
There were no errors or baserunning mistakes in the fourth, but three
walks by Rodriguez loaded the bases with one out before the pitcher got
Bratherton to ground to Martinez, who forced Jacob Jones at home plate,
then got Aaron Longoria to ground into a fielder's choice at second, ending
the inning.
The Bulldogs finally scored in the fifth when Rodriguez walked McMillian
with the bases loaded, but not before Gonzales again was thrown out on
the basepaths. This time, he led off by reaching on an error by Louis Valencia
at second, with the ball dribbling to his right and past Salgado behind
second base. But Gonzales then tried to outrace Salgado to second, and
with a 60-foot disadvantage, was easily tagged out.
That proved costly when Rodriguez walked Abel Cisneros and Jones on
3-2 pitches, around a dropped Tony Armendariz pop up by Martinez. The walk
to McMillian then brought Montoya on, and the Bulldogs wouldn't get a ball
out of the infield the rest of the way.
Plainview did a little better against Casillas, though their final two
runs on Friday game with two outs in the seventh, when Gonzales singled
and circled the bases after Oscar Luna missed trying to field the ball
on the run and throw home to get Jones trying to score from second base.
The Bulldogs did make a game of it in the third inning, after the Eagles
grabbed a 3-0 lead against Armendariz, 7-4. A leadoff single by Carson
Taylor and a walk to Jones set up Gonzales' RBI single, and after he and
Jones stole second and third base, Bell's ground out to short cut the lead
to 3-2.
But the Eagles got those runs right back in the fourth, as Salgado opened
with a single and scored when Kevin Bates tripled over Taylor's head in
center field. He scored when Cisneros let Ricky Herrera's hard grounder
go through his legs for an error.
The first six batters in the Eagles' lineup hit the ball hard off the
Armendariz to open the game, with Martinez homering down the line in left
after a lead-off single by Luna.
In the third, Luna would score again after a bunt single, when he was
sacrificed to second by Mason Abila and came around off errors by Cisneros
and Longoria. Martinez would score his second run of the game in the fifth,
reaching on a leadoff double and coming home on Mark Abila's single, and
both would score again in the sixth, with Martinez singling home Luna who
had walked, and Casillas then scoring Martinez and Mason Abila with his
homer, a line shot to right field.
"The way we're playing everybody is picking everybody up," Williams
said. "Big John (Gutierrez) didn't hit the ball, but Luis Salgado got some
hits and Mason hit the ball."
The wins extended the Eagles' winning streak to 15 games, dating back
to the final game before the start of District 2-4A play in mid-March.
Pecos will try to keep that run going against a Riverside team that has
won 12 of its last 14 games, losing only to El Paso Ysleta's Jacob Hernandez.
Hernandez beat Lubbock Estacado on Friday, but the Matadors rallied
for a pair of 5-0 wins to oust the District 1-4A champs on Saturday in
their area round series. Meanwhile, the Eagles' district rival, Clint,
was swept out of the playoffs on Friday by Pampa, losing 12-1 and 12-8
decisions. Pampa and Estacado will play for the right to meet either Andrews
or Denton Ryan, while the winner between the Eagles and Rangers will take
on either Wichita Falls Rider or Weatherford in the Region I-4A semifinals.
Game 1
PECOS PLAINVIEW
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Luna cf 4 3 2 0 Gonzles c 4 1 2 2
Ma.Abila lf 3 1 1 0 Cisnros 3b 3 0 0 0
Valencia 2b 0 0 0 0 Musquiz p 1 0 0 0
Martnz dh 4 3 3 3 Bell 1b 2 0 0 0
Casillas p 4 1 1 3 Armndrz p 3 0 0 0
H.Garcia cr 0 0 0 0 Rankin 3b 1 0 0 0
Gutrrez 1b 4 0 1 0 Lngria 2b 2 0 1 0
Salgado ss 3 1 2 0 Hinjosa 2b 1 0 0 0
Bates rf 3 1 1 1 McMlln ss 2 0 0 0
Mk.Abila c 3 0 1 1 Brthrtn lf 3 0 0 0
Herrera 3b 4 0 0 0 Taylor cf 3 1 1 0
Bcangra rf 0 0 0 0
Jones dh 2 2 0 0
Totals 32 10 12 8 Totals 26 4 4 3
Pecos 2 0 1 2 1 4 0 --10
Plainview 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 -- 4
E -- Gutierrez, Longoria, Cisneros 2, Gonzales,
Luna. DP -- Pecos 1, Plainview 1 LOB -- Pecos 6,
Plainview 4. 2B -- Martinez. 3B -- Bates.
HR -- Martinez, Casillas. S -- Ma. Abila.
SB -- Gonzales 3, Taylor, Jones, Salgado,
Longoria, Ma. Abila. CS -- Mk. Abila.
IP H R ER BB KO
Pecos
Casillas W, 10-1 7 4 4 3 4 6
Plainview
Armendariz L, 7-4 5 11 10 7 3 2
Musquiz 2 0 0 0 1 3
Armendariz pitched to four batters in the sixth.
WP -- Casillas.
T -- 1:58.
Game 2
PLAINVIEW PECOS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Gonzles c 4 0 1 0 Luna cf 3 0 0 0
Cisnros 3b 2 1 0 0 Ma.Abila lf 3 1 1 0
Bell p 4 0 0 0 Martnez 3b 3 0 0 0
Arnmdrz 1b 4 0 1 0 Rdrguez p 0 0 0 0
Hinjosa 2b 0 0 0 0 Montoya p 0 0 0 0
Jones dh 1 0 0 0 Casillas dh 2 0 1 1
McMllan ss 1 0 0 0 H.Garcia pr 0 0 0 0
Taylor cf 1 0 0 0 Gutrrez 1b 3 0 0 0
Musquiz ph 1 0 0 0 Salgado ss 3 0 1 0
Brthrtn lf 3 0 0 0 Bates rf 3 1 1 0
Bcangra rf 2 0 0 0 Mk. Abila c 2 0 0 0
Lngria ph 1 0 0 0 Nunez cr 0 0 0 0
Valencia 2b 2 0 0 0
Lara ph 1 0 1 1
Totals 24 1 2 1 Totals 25 2 5 2
Plainview 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 --10
Pecos 0 0 1 1 0 0 x -- 2
E -- Salgado 2, McMillian, Gonzales,
Ma. Abila, Bocanegra, Valencia,
Martinez. DP -- Plainview 1, Pecos 1.
LOB -- Plainview 9, Pecos 7.
2B -- Ma. Abila. SB -- Gonzales,
Cisneros. CS -- Bocanegra, H. Garcia.
IP H R ER BB KO
Plainview
Bell L, 8-4 6 5 2 1 1 7
Pecos
Rodriguez W, 8-1 4 2/3 2 1 0 7 3
Montoya, Save 1 2 1/3 0 0 0 0 5
HBP-- Mk. Abila by Bell.
WP -- Bell, Rodriguez.
PB -- Mk. Abila, Gonzales.
T -- 2:06.
N.Y. leaves Miami for Atlanta via Houston
By CHRIS SHERIDAN
AP Basketball Writer
SALT LAKE CITY, May 17 (AP) -- Vlade Divac will be back in Sacramento
today, no doubt pondering a 5-foot hook shot that didn't go in and kept
the Kings from upsetting the Jazz.
Allan Houston will be flying to Atlanta, still sky-high from the emotional
last-second jumper that lifted the Knicks past the Heat.
Grant Hill will be back in Detroit, his resume still listing him as
0-for-career when it comes to winning a playoff series.
The NBA playoffs couldn't have been much better Sunday, with the Jazz,
Knicks and Hawks advancing to the second round after winning the deciding
Game 5s in their respective first-round series.
Divac missed the final shot of regulation and the Kings quickly folded
in overtime, losing 99-92 to the Utah Jazz.
``It was my shot, the one we wanted,'' Divac said. ``It was drawn up
for me, and everything was perfect. I just missed it.''
Houston bounced in a running 14-footer with eight-tenths of a second
left to give the New York Knicks a 78-77 victory over the Miami Heat.
``I thought I kind of short-armed it at first, but it hung up there,''
Houston said. ``I got a friendly bounce from up above.''
Hill, meanwhile, shot just 10-for-27 from the field and scored just
11 points after tallying 10 of Detroit's first 14 as the Pistons lost 87-75
to the Atlanta Hawks.
``Ultimately, I'd like to win a championship,'' Hill said. ``I'd like
to get out of the first round.''
Jazz 99, Kings 92, OT
At Salt Lake City, the best series of the first round had a fantastic
finale.
Divac, Sacramento's veteran center, calmly dribbled down the clock,
turned and shot a right-handed hook over Karl Malone -- and missed, the
ball clanging off the right side of the rim as time expired.
The Jazz began overtime with a 9-2 run and coasted from there.
Malone had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Utah, which avoided its
earliest playoff exit since 1995 and advanced to the second round for the
fourth straight year. Jeff Hornacek added 18 points for the Jazz.
Knicks 78, Heat 77
At Miami, the five-game melodrama had a fittingly frantic finish. New
York kept possession with 4.5 seconds to go when Terry Porter nearly stole
the ball from Latrell Sprewell but knocked it out of bounds.
Inbounding in front of the Heat bench, Charlie Ward threw the ball to
Houston at the top of the circle. Houston dribbled around Dan Majerle,
avoided Tim Hardaway and jumped toward the basket, throwing up a one-hander
from the corner of the lane that fell through.
Hawks 87, Pistons 75
At Atlanta, Grant Long struck back against his former team with a career
playoff-high 26 points. Long rarely played while spending the previous
two seasons in Detroit.
Joe Dumars scored three points in the final game of his 14-year career.
He left the court to a standing ovation from the Hawks' crowd and hugs
from players and coaches on both teams.
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
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.
Copyright 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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