|
Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, April 7, 2006
Jr. high teams set to compete at district meet
The Pecos Eagles’ varsity track teams will be taking Saturday off as far as running or throwing goes. But members of the boys and girls teams are scheduled to be in Monahans to help out with the District 3-3A junior high track meet.
Both teams had been scheduled to run at the Golden Crane Relays on Saturday, before hosting the District 3-3A high school track meet next Friday in Pecos. But their trip to Crane was cancelled due to the conflict with the district meet.
Boys varsity coach Robbie Ortega said on Saturday the field events in Monahans will start at 10 a.m., followed by the finals of the 2400 meter run at 11 a.m. The running finals will be timed based on various heats, and is scheduled to start about one hour after the conclusion of the field events, which Ortega said should be some time between 2 and 3 p.m.
The District 3-3A high school meet will be at Eagle Stadium on Good Friday this year. It’s the first time since 2002 that Pecos has hosted a district track meet. For next Friday’s meet, the field events will begin at 9 a.m., with the running preliminaries set for a 1:30 p.m. start. Running finals will open at 6 p.m. with the junior varsity divisions of the 400 meter dash.
In conjunction with next week’s track meet, the Pecos High School track will be closed to the public for most of next week, in order to prepare for the District 3-3A track meet, Pecos-Barstow-Toyah athletic director Chris Henson said on Tuesday.
The track will be closed from this coming Tuesday, April 11, and will reopen on Saturday, April 15.
Bears’ Garcia, Lozano snare wins in Alpine
Balmorhea Bears A.J. Garcia and Alexis Lozano picked up two more first place medals this past weekend, competing at the Big Bend Relays in Alpine.
Lozano won the shot put with a throw of 49-feet-1, while Garcia took the discus with a 143-foot throw and was second in the shot put, with a 40-foot-3 1/2 effort. A week earlier, at the Sonora Invitational, Lozano won the shot put with a throw of 48-foot-7, while Garcia took the discus with a 147-foot-8 1/4 toss. He was also sixth in the shot, throwing 40-2 1/4, while Lozano wound up seventh in the discus, with a 120-foot-1 1/2 effort.
Balmorhea also picked up a couple of medals in Alpine from distance runner Michael Hernandez, who had not participate in the Bears’ earlier meets during the 2006 track season. Hernandez placed second in the 3200 meter run with an 11:28.51 time and was third in the 1600 meters, going 5:30.42.
Coach Adolfo Garcia said in addition to the varsity boys’ results, the junior varsity Bears came in second in their division in Alpine, getting wins from Harry Barron in the discus, with a 111-foot throw, and from Jonathan Carrasco in the shot put, with a 35-7 effort.
Barron was second there, throwing 35-foot-7, and the Bears also picked up second place medals from Brian Mendoza in the long jump and triple jump, with 17-5 7/8 and 35-5 efforts respectively, and from the 400, 800 and 1600 meter relay teams. Rodney Fuentes was third in the discus and J.B. Heavin was fifth in the 800 meter dash for Balmorhea’s other points.
At Sonora, Garcia said Carrasco was second in the shot put, Barron fifth in the discus and Heavin sixth in the 800 meters, while Carrasco, Heavin, Sean Enloe and Jose Rodriguez were fifth in the 400 and 800 meter relays.
Eagles steal win from Maidens in 12 innings, 3-2
Stealing a base in extra innings allowed the Pecos Eagles to steal a win over the Seminole Maidens Tuesday night, as the Eagles overcame a night of struggles at the plate to defeat at Maidens in 12 innings, by a 3-2 final score.
Pecos had just four hits on the night, and only two in the final 10 innings off Maidens’ pitcher Jenni Moreltz. But their fourth, an infield single by Bianca Baeza with one out in the bottom of the 12 inning, set the Eagles up for the win. Baeza then stole second, move to third on Gaby Garcia’s ground out to second base, and then scored when Moreltz sailed a pitch over the head of catcher Vanessa Banman to the backstop.
“We overcame some adversity and that’s a very neat thing to be a part of, to see them battle back and pick each other up. That’s inspiring,” said Eagles’ coach Tammy Walls, whose team had to rally from a 1-0 deficit after five innings, and then from a 2-1 hole in the bottom of the seventh, after Seminole scored once to take the lead in the top of the inning.
Lydia Miller tripled past Baeza in centerfield on the second pitch of the game, and then scored on Moreltz’s sacrifice fly to give Seminole a 1-0 lead, a margin that held until a throwing error by the Maidens’ pitcher in the sixth inning. She walked Cassandra Terrazas with two outs in the inning, then threw away Amalie Herrera’s bunt down the first base line, allowing Terrazas to come all the way around and sending Herrera to third.
From there, both teams missed chances to score over the next two innings. Moreltz faked Herrera off third on a slow grounder by Jessica Florez, catching her in a rundown to end the inning. Seminole’s Whitney Warren then singled to right and went to second when the ball got past outfielders Jenny Palomino. Kate Morris then reached on a bunt single that Herrera held after fielding, which kept Warren at second base. But both runners then moved up on a passed ball by Florez, and Warren scored when shortstop Vanessa Valeriano misplayed pinch hitter Tory Coffey’s grounder for an error.
She then stole second to put two runners in scoring position with none out, but Herrera was able to get Miller to ground to Savannah Ewing at third, who was able to tag out Morris. Sarah Thompson then sacrificed both runners to second and third, but Herrera got Moreltz to pop out to Valeriano to end the inning.
Down by one, the Eagles then tied the game, but missed their own chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh.
Valeriano walked to open the inning and when to third when Thompson misplayed Ewing’s grounder to second. Baeza was then ruled safe at first on a bunt attempt, when Katlyn Rich pulled her leg off the bag, and Pecos then tied the game when Warren misplayed pinch hitter Claire Weinacht’s grounder to shortstop.
But with bases loaded and none out, the Eagles couldn’t win the game. Brittany Palomino popped out to Warren, Jenny Palomino then struck out, and Moreltz then caught Terrazas looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
Taking pitches wasn’t a problem for the Eagles in the extra innings, though making good contact on Moreltz was. The Maidens’ pitcher got seven straight outs on nine pitches in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings and retired 16 consecutive batters overall until Baeza grounded a ball past Morris at third base that Warren couldn’t get to deep in the hole.
“We wanted to get on base any way we could, because we knew we had the speed once we got on base to steal, and we did that with Bianca,” said Walls, who didn’t know why her players struggled most of the night against Moreltz, who they defeated in Seminole last month by a 10-3 score.
“Her pitch had a rise on it, and we made it easy on her all night by swinging at it,” she said. “But that’s what finally got her, because it was a high pitch that got away from their catcher with Bianca on third base.”
Seminole, meanwhile, had eight hits on the night, while the Eagles committed six errors. But while Pecos struggled at times on defense, they also came up with several key plays to keep the Maidens from scoring.
Hillery Hinojos couldn’t hold onto Valeriano’s wide throw to first in the top of the sixth on a Moreltz grounder, and she went to third when Blake Addison singled with one out, before Addison was doubled off first on Kelsey Blaylock’s line drive to Valeriano. The same thing happened in the eighth inning, when Addison reached on an error by Garcia, and then was doubled off first when Garcia caught Blaylock’s line drive.
In the ninth, Morris singled with one out and then was safe at second when Valeriano threw the ball by Garcia on a Banman grounder to short. But Palomino backed up the play in right field and got Morris caught in a rundown between second and third, before she was tagged out.
Seminole got runners on with two outs in the 11th and 12th innings but were unable to score. A walk to Thompson in the 12th came after Baeza ran down a line drive by Banman to open the inning, and Herrera ended it by fanning out Moreltz for her ninth strikeout of the game, while the Maidens’ pitcher recorded 11 strikeouts in the losing effort.
“We made some mistakes on the infield, but I was proud of the way we overcame it with some very good plays,” Walls said.
The win improved Pecos to 5-3 in District 3-3A play and 19-6 on the season, while Seminole saw their record drop to 2-6 in district. The Eagles remained tied for third in the standings with Greenwood ---- winners over Lamesa, and can create at least a two-way tie for second place on Friday when they host Fort Stockton in a 5 p.m. start. The second place Prowlers fell to 6-2 in district on Tuesday with a 3-0 loss to first place Monahans, which improved to 8-0 in 3-3A play.
Pecos pounds Lamesa; face Stockton Friday
If runs scored were used as a tiebreaker in the final District 3-3A baseball standings, the Pecos Eagles would be in great shape right now.
Pecos closed out the first half of district play with their second 20-run outburst in their first six 3-3A games. The Eagles scored six times in the first inning on Tuesday at Lamesa, scored eight more times in the second and went on to a 20-0 win over the Golden Tornadoes.
But the win only got Pecos back to the .500 mark in district play at the halfway point. The Eagles have yet to be above .500 in 3-3A play this season, but have a chance to do so on Friday night in Fort Stockton, when they face the Panthers in a 7 p.m. start.
“I think our kids are primed for the second half,” said Eagles’ coach Elias Payan, whose team again figures to see Fort Stockton’s Brent Arcides on the mound. He shut the Eagles down last month, while Fort Stockton scored three times in the second and three more in the seventh for a 6-1 victory in Pecos.
The Eagles managed just three runs in their three first half district losses, while scoring 50 times in their three district wins. Their 3-3 mark leaves Pecos tied for fourth in the standings with the Panthers, a game in back of both Monahans and Presidio and two games behind first place Seminole.
“I’m calling this the ‘revenge tour’. We’re going to go back and avenge all those losses we shouldn’t have had. I’m looking to run the table and take care of things, but we have to do our part.”
The Eagles did improve on their first meeting of the season against Lamesa, whom they struggled with early before beating by a 6-0 score in tournament play at Sweetwater. This time, Pecos used two errors, a bases-loaded hit batter and a wild pitch to get half their runs in the first inning. Eddie Vela and Josh Anchondo reached on the errors, Edward Valencia got an RBI when he was hit with the pitch and Jose Chavez, Jonathan Garcia and John Paul Salcido would have RBI singles to drive in three runs in the inning.
“Their pitching wasn’t very good, and in the first inning they made some errors and couldn’t get us out. But our hitters put the ball in play, and made them make those errors,” Payan said. “Their pitchers were the kind we could have been popping up against, but our hitters did a consistently good job of hitting line drives.”
Josh Anchondo pitched the first two innings, allowing no hits, before Robert Nunez came on to finish things off. Lamesa came close to scoring in the fourth inning after Isaac Diaz collected their first hit, but Nunez was able to get out of a two-on , one out jam to preserve the shutout. The loss dropped the Tors to 0-6 in district play.
“I didn’t want to take any chances with the game, so I started Josh because we needed to win, and then Robert came in and pitched the last three innings,” said Payan, who plans to start Valencia in Friday’s game at Fort Stockton.
“They haven’t seen Edward yet,” Payan said of Valencia, who is 4-0 on the season but has been bothered by arm problems recently. “Fort Stockton will be up for us, and they’ll be expecting to see Josh, but when Edward’s on he’s good, and if he gets into trouble, we’ll bring Josh in.”
Golfers struggle in second round of 3-3A boys play
The Pecos Eagles boys golf team ran into problems on Tuesday, in the second round of the District 3-3A golf tournament at Nueva Vista Golf Course in Midland, while Pecos’ girls were running into windy conditions on Thursday, in the second round of their three-round tournament at the Ward County Golf Course in Monahans.
The Eagle boys, who were tied for fifth with Seminole after the opening round of the 54-hole tournament last week in Pecos, saw their score jump to 368 on Tuesday at Nueva Vista in Midland and are now in seventh place, with a 708 score.
Heath Armstrong had the best round of the day for the Eagles, shooting an 83 and is at 172 through 36 holes. Joseph Tarin shot an 84 after an opening round of 79 and has a two-round score of 163, while Zack Morton shot a 95 and is at 177, Nathan Duke shot a 106 and is at 203 and Matt Oglesby shot a 107 and is at 197 through 36 holes.
“Watching Heath play was encouraging for next year,” said Eagles’ coach Kim Anderson, though overall, he said his team struggled with the conditions in Midland, where the course was being sanded and aerated .
“It caused some problems with our putting and chipping, but that’s no excuse,” he said. “I noticed some of my guys’ putts were hopping all over the place, but they just didn’t put it in the hole.”
Monahans widened their lead in the standings, shooting a 299 on Tuesday for a 599 score through 36 holes. They’re 20 strokes in front of Lamesa, which shot a 314 and is at 619, while Fort Stockton shot a 304 and is at 324, five shots back in the race for the second place regional tournament berth, going into the final round of play next week on the Panthers’ home course.
Seminole shot a 334 and is at 674, and were followed by Monahans ‘B with a 342-395, and Fort Stockton ‘B’ with a 358-696. Trailing the Eagles were Greenwood, with a 349-714; Seminole ‘B’ with a 377-762; Lamesa ‘B’ with a 365-770 and Greenwood ‘B’ with a 383-772.
Tarin’s 84 dropped him out of the Top 10 in the medalist race. Monahans’ Victor Calzada who had a hole-in-one in Pecos as part of a round of 69 last week, improved on that score with a 67 on Tuesday and his 138 score is six strokes in front of teammate Jo Jo Birdwell, who shot a 71 and is at 144. Lamesa’s Michael Morales is third with a 76 on Tuesday and a 149 total.
“Stockton’s just a matter of going down there and doing it, because right now we’re getting beaten by two ‘B’ teams,” Anderson said.
Scores were not available at press time of the second round of the girls’ district tournament. Pecos went into round two wit a 15-stoke lead over Monahans, while senior Shelly Martinez held an 11-stroke lead in the medalist race, following the opening round of play in Seminole last week. The final round for the girls is next week at Lamesa.
Netters get alternate spot at 3-3A tourney
The Pecos Eagles tennis team missed out on sending any players to the Region I-3A tennis tournament this week, but did get one regional alternate and one fourth place finish on Tuesday, at the District 3-3A Tournament at Monahans High School.
Francisco and Imari Ornelas placed third in the mixed doubles division of the tournament, while Amber Pando took fourth place in girls’ singles.
The Ornelases, who were seeded third going into the tournament, won their opening round match over Crocker and Young from Fort Stockton, 6-1, 6-0 but then lost by a 6-1, 5-2 score to John Willhelm and Tiffany Bean of Monahans before downing the team of Rodriguez and Graves of Fort Stockton, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the third place match. Bean and Willhelm lost in finals to Bohem and Sierra of Seminole, which kept the Eagles’ netters from qualifying for a playback match for the second place regional berth.
Pando defeated Jennifer Rodriguez of Monahans in her opening match, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, then downed No. 4 seed Alicia Campbell of Greenwood, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, before losing to No. 2 seed Annie Frisen of Seminole, 6-3, 6-2. She then lost in the third place match to No. 1 seed Jessica Fierro of Fort Stockton, who was upset by No. 3 seed Maria Sierra of Seminole in her semifinal match.
“She did real well, and I was happy with that,” said Eagles’ coach Mike Ortiz, who could not attend the tournament due to foot surgery. “Our mixed team split with them (Willhelm and Bean) the time before. I was hoping we could beat them, but I was happy with that.
“As far as the rest, I’m happy with their efforts out there. They did their best, and I’m proud of every one of them,” Ortiz said.
Pecos’ other girls singles play, Delicia Ramirez, lost to Monahans’ Hanna Beth Carter in her first round match, 6-0,6-0, while in mixed doubles, the Eagles’ other team of Jesse Hanks and Crystal Ikeler lost to Rodriguez and Graves by scores of 6-7, 6-2, 6-2.
In boys’ singles, Jerris Rayos lost to Chris Garcia of Monahans in his opening match, 6-3, 7-5, while Curtis James fell to Greenwood’s Patrick Colvin, 6-0, 6-2. In doubles play on the boys side, Paul Zubledia and Cody Zamarippa lost in the quarterfinals to Marquez and Hernandez of Fort Stockton, 6-3, 6-0; while in girls doubles Elva Martinez and Domicia Marquez lost to Mowry and Casas of Fort Stockton, and Janette Perea and Victoria Montoya lost their match to Cole and Colvin of Greenwood.
Pecos also had some players in the junior varsity division, were Derek Barron won first place in boys singles, 6-1, 6-2 over Steven Boden of Monahans. In girls’ doubles, Sada Orona and Sira Mendoza finished fourth, beating Lara and Molina of Greenwood, 8-2, before losing to Froese and Varela of Seminole and Robinson and Sparks of Greenwood.
In girls’ singles, Yesina Muniz defeated Tory Vela of Lamesa, then lost to Amanda Chavez of Monahans; Daniella Bustillos lost to Michelle Campbell of Greenwood, 8-3; and Hope Mora lost to Erin Coldeway of Monahans, 8-2.
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
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 2003-04 by Pecos Enterprise
|
