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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Eagles’ Licon on 3-3A all-defensive hoop team
Pecos Eagle senior Luis Licon was named to the All-District 3-3A Defensive Team, while two other Eagles received honorable mention in voting for the All-District 3-3A Basketball Team.
The team was selected last month and released following Seminole’s 70-45 loss to Muleshoe in the area round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
Licon was the lone Eagle selection on the team, at guard on defense. The other two Pecos players to receive honorable mention were Pecos’ two leading scorers for the 2005-06 season, senior guard Josh Anchondo, and senior post player Lupito Bustamantes.
Seminole won the district title in a playoff over Greenwood and placed four players on the team, while Greenwood also had four selections. The Indians were represented by MVP Michah Clay, a senior; Defensive player of the year Zach Pipkin, a junior, and two other seniors, Lance Sheets and Riley Davis. Greenwood, which lost to Clyde in their bi-district playoff game, had senior Ryan Beeler and juniors Michael Washington and Addison Stewart on the all-district team, while junior Dexter Shafter was name to the all-defensive squad.
Fort Stockton, which finished third and lost in bi-district play to Sweetwater, and fourth place Lamesa both had two players on the all-district team and one on the all-defenasive squad. Senior Colby Terrazas and junior Omar Calderon were on the all-district team for the Panthers and senior J.J. Hickman was their all-defensive pick, while Lamesa had senior Brady Free and junior Brandon Maxwell on the all-district team and senior Mike McCall as their all-defensive selection.
Monahans junior Blake Whisnand was named the Newcomer of the Year for District 3-3A, while Loboes’ junior Ricky Rivera was an all-defensive pick. Presidio senior Kevin Tavarez was the other first-team pick, and the Blue Devils’ junior Jamie Ortega was an all-defensive team selection.
Crockett 7th grade girls place 5th, 8th graders 6th
The Pecos Eagle girls’ junior high track team placed fourth in the eighth grade division and fifth in the seventh grade division this past Thursday, at the Fort Stockton Junior Relays.
Both teams picked up two first place finishes at the meet. Trina Morales won the 2400 meter run and Olivia Castilleja took the 300 meter hurdles for the seventh grade girls, while Kayla Natividad won the 1600 meter run and the girls’ 400 meter relay team of Talia Castillo, Conner Armstrong, Sabryna Saenz and Carissa Cerna took first place for the eighth graders.
Morales took third for the seventh graders in the 1600 meters, while Diahnn Alvarez was third behind Castilleja in the 300 meter hurdles. Pecos also picked up second place medals from the 400 and 1600 meter relay teams of Allyson Salcido, Brittany Quintana, Brittany Chavez and Aileen Rayos, while Quintana was second in the 200 meter dash, with Castilleja fourth.
The other points for the seventh graders came from Salcido and Quintana, fourth and sixth in the triple jump; while Salcido and Castilleja was fourth and sixth in the 100 meter hurdles, and Kendra Villanueva and Alvarez were fourth and fifth in the 800 meter run.
Aside from the first place finishes, the girls’ other medal came from Natividad, who was third in the 800 meter run. Daniella Gonzales was fourth behind Natividad in the 1600 meters and fourth in the 2400 meters; Arian Garcia was fifth in the 2400, Becky Benitez was fourth in the 200 meters; Sabryna Saenz was sixth in the 300 hurdles and the 1600 meter relay team of Armstrong, Cerna, Cassandra Ortiz and Marlene Salgado placed fifth.
Results the same for Pecos against Crane
A two-week gap didn’t change much about the Pecos Eagles’ second home game of the season, on Thursday against the Crane Golden Cranes.
The Eagles defeated the Cranes 16-0 to open the season, and in their rematch, which was relocated from last Tuesday in Crane to Thursday in Pecos, the Eagles again came away with a five-inning, 16-0 win over the Golden Cranes, in their final game before District 3-3A play.
The Eagles host Lamesa at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, in their 2006 district opener. Pecos and Lamesa split their games a year ago, with the Eagles winning on the road to open district play, 11-1, while the Golden Tornadoes came back to defeat the Eagles three weeks later by an 11-5 score.
Eagles’ coach Tammy Walls had a slightly different lineup on Thursday, as freshmen Gabi Garcia and Claire Weinacht were moved down to the junior varsity for the weekend, in order to get in more playing time during the Eagles’ JV Tournament. “I just wanted to move everybody to where they can play the most,” Walls said.
The changes moved Jessica Florez from shortstop to catcher, where she played most of last season, and Hillary Hinojos from first to second base, where she had to survive a game-opening collision with new first baseman Skye Gabaldon and Crane’s Stevie Tankersly, on a slow infield roller down the first base line.
Amalie Herrera struck out the next two hitters and ended up no hitting the Cranes, after two-hitting them back on Feb. 14 in the Eagles’ season opener. She also scored Pecos’ second run in the bottom of the first, on a single by Florez, after Cassandra Terrazas reached on catcher’s interference by Kelsey Damron, who later threw past third trying for Terrazas on a passed ball third strike by Herrera.
Florez would later score on a ground out by Savannah Ewing, and in the second Pecos would score seven times, with the rally starting after another passed ball third strike, this one by Gabaldon. Pitcher Jana Morrison would then walk Bianca Baeza, Terrazas and Herrera to force home Gabaldon, and Florez then singled two runs in for a 6-0 lead. Herrera would score on a passed ball by Damron, Florez came home on a single by Ewing, and after Jenny Palomino was hit by a pitch, both runners scored on a double by Vanessa Valeriano, who had to leave the game with a leg injury after being thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
“She was just bleeding, and we had to get her bandaged up,” Walls said.
New pitcher Tawny Degrathamy would allow six more runs in the third, off two walks, a two-run double by Herrera, RBI singles by Palomino and Gabaldon and a two-run error by Morrison, now at shortstop, on a grounder by Olga Mendoza.
The win was the fourth overall for the season by the Eagles against the Cranes, and improved their record to 12-3 going into Tuesday’s game against Lamesa. “I certainly hope we don’t take anything for granted,” said Walls, whose team finished fourth in district play a year ago with a 5-7 mark.
Pecos’ JV girls are scheduled to face Lamesa following the 5 p.m. varsity game on Tuesday. The JV finished second this past weekend in their inaugural junior varsity tournament, beating Fort Stockton twice, along with Van Horn, while losing to Monahans in pool play and then falling in the title game to Alpine, 8-1. Fort Stockton defeated Monahans for third place by a 4-3 final score.
Eagles saw off Wood Bat hitters, win title
Pitching and defense carried the Pecos Eagles baseball team to their second tournament title in as many weeks, as the Eagles defeated the Brownwood Lions, 4-1, to capture the Wood Bat Classic in Sweetwater.
The Eagles didn’t wrap up the championship until after midnight on Sunday, following a 7-0 wins over the Lubbock Trinity Christian Lions in the semifinals of the tournament. Pecos made it to the semifinals thanks to a tiebreaker on Friday night against Sweetwater, which rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn the 1-1 tie. The Eagles opened up the tournament with a 6-0 victory over District 3-3A rival Lamesa.
“Defense is where you win championships, and that’s where we’ve been very good this year,” said Eagles’ coach Elias Payan, whose team opened the season by taking the title of the inaugural Ozona Tournament before winning at Sweetwater, where the host Mustangs had taken the past three titles.
The games completed a stretch of nine straight games on the road for Pecos - and none closer than 170 miles from home - to start the season. The Eagles will finally get to play on their own field Tuesday night, when they host Kermit in a 7 p.m. game, before heading to Midland on Thursday for the West Texas March Classic.
In all of this weekend’s games, Pecos’ hitting was slow to get going, even against Trinity, where the Eagles scored all but one of their runs in the first three innings. They were deadlocked in a scoreless tie after four innings on Friday against Lamesa, and got their run against Sweetwater in the sixth inning, while getting three of their four runs in the fifth and sixth innings against Brownwood.
The struggles at bat were offset by the success on the mound and in the field. After allowing four runs in five innings of their season opener against Bangs, the Eagle pitchers have surrendered just seven runs, two earned over the last 48 innings, with an 0.29 earned run average in that span and a 0.53 ERA for the season.
“Our hitting’s still not what we should be doing, but our pitching and defense are making up for that,” said Payan. “The scary part is we’re still not playing our best ball, but we’re beating good teams.”
Edward Valencia picked up the win in relief of Robert Nunez in the tournament opener against Lamesa, while earning a save for Nunez in the title game against Brownwood. Against Sweetwater, Josh Anchondo saw his first action of the season and no-hit the Mustangs for five innings.
Pecos took the lead in the sixth when Kenny Rayos singled off pitcher Kendal Carrillo to score Isaiah Rayos, but the Mustangs were able to force an extra inning when Carrillo tripled and scored on Tripp Maxwell's RBI hit to lead off the seventh inning.
In the eighth, the Eagles’ bats failed to come up with a key hit after Isaiah Rayos reached third with none out on a passed ball third strike, a wild pitch and a stolen base. He was thrown out trying to score on Valencia’s one out sacrifice fly, but Anchondo then retired the Mustangs in order, and under the rules of the tournament, the Eagles won based on getting more runners as far as third base.
“We had gotten runners to third three or four times during the game, but they didn’t get anyone as far as their until they scored,” Payan said.
Brownwood got their leadoff hitter in Saturday’s game, Walt Williams, to third base on a triple, but Nunez left him stranded there, and didn’t allow a run until the fifth inning, when Williams singled home Bronson Shaw to cut Pecos’ lead to 3-1. But catcher Chris Garnto threw out Williams trying for an extra base, and Jonathan Garcia answered the run in the top of the sixth with a leadoff home run over the newly extended fence at Newman Park for what turned out to be the final run of the night.
Pecos had taken a 1-0 lead in the third off pitcher Steven Newberry without benefit of a hit, when Eddy Vela reached on an error and would later score on one that allowed Valencia to reach base. In the fifth, Vela doubled after Jose Chavez reached on a leadoff error, and both runners would score on an RBI single by Anchondo and a sacrifice fly by Kenny Rayos.
Anchondo had the only hit in the first three innings against Trinity Christian, while pitcher Ryan Turner struck out seven over the first three innings. But Pecos scored twice in the first without benefit of a hit, thanks to a walk, two hit batters, an error and a wild pitch. In the third, Isaiah Rayos was the first batter hit, and he would be plunked again by Turner to open the third inning, and was then safe when Turner threw away Kenny Rayos’ sacrifice bunt. One out later Anchondo singled home Rayos, while a dropped fly and two more passed balls increased Pecos’ lead to 6-0. The Eagles would add another run in the fourth inning against the Lions, while the game, which began 90 minutes behind schedule, was ended after six innings in order to start the title game.
“Our kids could have easily surrendered to the pressure against teams like Sweetwater or Brownwood, but we’re a good team this year, and I think this showed we’ve really gotten over the hump as far as being able to beat a good team,” said Payan. Sweetwater, which had beaten Lamesa 16-6 in their opener, downed Clyde on Saturday in their only game of the day, 11-7, while Brownwood advanced to the title game with a 7-5 win Saturday afternoon over Abilene Wylie.
The wins, and the tie against Sweetwater, improved Pecos’ record to 6-1-1 going into Tuesday’s home opener against Kermit, which is coached this season by former Eagles assistant coach Junior Williams. Payan said Geno Leos would probably start against Kermit, to give the other Eagle pitchers a rest after the Sweetwater Tournament and going into the West Texas March Classic.
After Tuesday’s game, Payan said Pecos would play Eldorado at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday at Citibank Ballpark, in their opening game of the Midland tournament. Games will be played there and at Greenwood High School in the three-day tournament.
Pecos’ sub-varsity teams also won their games over the weekend, playing at home against Crane. The gold team edged the Cranes, 2-1, as Gerald Saenz threw a one-hitter, while the purple team downed the Cranes by an 8-3 score. Lucas Chavez, Vincent Palomino and Brian Mora combined for the victory.
Eagle girls 3rd, boys struggle, as Loboes win Pecos Relays
The Pecos Eagle girls track team scored points in the events they were expected to, and got some points in one event where they hadn’t the week before, while Pecos’ boys struggled in most of their events on Friday, at the West of the Pecos Relays.
Monahans won both the boys and girls division titles for the second week in a row, after claiming first at the season-opening Comanche Relays. The Eagle girls, who scored 51 1/2 points in that meet finished third on Friday, with 84 points, while Monahans won with 235, and El Paso El Dorado was second with 121 points.
Pecos’ boys, who scored 29 points a week ago, had only 16 this time around and placed eighth in the nine-team field. Monahans won with 209 points, while Midland Christian finished second, with 89 points.
“It wasn’t very good,” said Eagles’ coach Robbie Ortega. “I was very disappointed with them.
“We had some boys who had some nagging injuries who weren’t able to run, so we had to make some replacements that weren’t planned. But we just didn’t do as well as we should have,” Ortega said.
Girls coach Donna Gent said her team, “needs to work on some little things,” to improve on their results from Friday.
The girls had won medals in Fort Stockton in the discus, shot put and distance races, and did so again on Friday. Senior Jennifer Martinez took first in both the 1600 and 3200 meter runs, while junior Chantell Mazone was first in the shot put and second in the discus.
Martinez won the 3200 on Friday afternoon with a 12:53.80 time, 14 seconds ahead of Presidio’s Kelly Coffman, and took the 1600 with a 6:03.62 time, three seconds ahead of Monahans’ Daisy Zamarippa. Kathryn Lamka was sixth in that ran while she and her sister Heather placed fifth and sixth in the 3200 meters.
Mazone and Monahans’ Allison Miller swapped results from a week ago, when Miller won the shot put and Mazone took the discus. This time, Mazone’s 35-foot-11 throw was three inches ahead of Miller, while she finished just under three feet ahead of Mazone in the discus, winning with a 109-foot-11 throw. Pecos’ Jessica Florez, who did not compete at Fort Stockton, picked up third place with a 96-11 1/4 throw, and also finished fourth in the discus.
The Eagles got some extra points in the 200 meter dash, where freshman Jasmine Rayos finished second with a 27.94 time, .16 second in back of El Dorado’s Nicole Neason, while Bianca Baeza was fourth. None of the three runners were in the same heat of the timed finals, which Gent said may have cost Rayos a shot at a win.
“I wanted Jasmine and Bianca in the same heat. If they had been together, I think they could have beaten her,” Gent said, as both girls won their respective heats. “When you’re running against the clock instead of against another person, it’s hard.”
The girls’ other points came from a fifth by Baeza in the long jump; a sixth by Rayos in the triple jump and high jump; a fourth by Kristen Ikeler in the pole vault. In the 800 meter relay, Baeza, Rayos, Gabby Garcia and Cheyenne Carrasaco placed fourth, while the same group finished fifth in the 1600 meter relay.
“On the 800 meter relay, the only team we lost to in our district was Monahans,” Gent said. All of the Eagles’ District 3-3A rivals except for Lamesa were at Friday’s meet.
The boys’ highest finish was a fourth by Andrew Grant in the pole vault, while he later placed sixth in the 800 meter run. Gonzalo Reyna was fifth in the 3200 meter run, Julio Orosco finished sixth in the shot put, and in the relays, Grant, Pete Juarez, Larry Johnson and Justin Hannsz were fifth in the 800 meters and Grant, Johnson, Jonell Garcia and Juarez were fifth in the 1600 meters.
Hannsz, who placed second in the 300 meter hurdles at Fort Stockton, injured his leg during Friday’s meet, and aggravated it during the 800 meter run, which kept him out of the hurdles.
Both Ortega and Gent were short a few people on Friday, due to baseball and girls regional powerlifting, and said they’ll be short some more this coming weekend due to other events, when the Eagles compete at the West Texas Relays in Odessa. Gent said she would have to check the times of some of the preliminary races and field events on Friday to see if some of her girls in softball could compete in Odessa and then make the 60-mile trip north to Seminole, for the Eagles’ 5 p.m. district game against the Maidens.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 2003-04 by Pecos Enterprise
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