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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, April 28, 2006
RCCRD starts T-ball, softball sign-up effort
The Reeves County Community Sports and Recreation Department has begun registration for this year’s youth T-ball and girls softball programs, with a sign-up deadline of Saturday, May 13 at the RCCRD office in the old Pecos High School gym.
The T-ball program is open to boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 7-years old, while the girls’ softball program is for ages 7 to 14, with the league divided into groups based on age.
Enrollment forms are available at the RCCRD office from 4 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, from 4-6 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Registration fee for both leagues is $10 per child, and returned forms have to have both parents’ signatures, along with a birth certificate for the child.
For further information, call the RCCRD office during business hours, at 447-9776.
JH golfers place third, fourth at Kermit tourney
The Pecos Eagle junior high girls golf team placed third while the boys took fourth last Saturday in the third round of the five-round area golf tournament, with the fourth round set for this Saturday in Fort Stockton.
Pecos girls bounced back to their opening round score of 222 on their home course, after a 235 total in Round 2 at Monahans, but stepped back a spot after taking second at the first two rounds. Monahans again placed first with a 208 total while Andrews was next with a 214 total.
Through 27 holes, the Eagles have a 679 score, while Monahans leads with a 614 total and Andrews remains third with a 687 score, nine strokes in back of Pecos.
While the Eagles moved back a spot in Round 3, golfer Tatum Windham moved up a couple of spots, tying for first on the day in the medalist race with Andrews Loke McLead, as both shot 45s over nine holes. Windham has a 153 over 27 holes and is third in the medalist race, behind Monahans’ Shelbye Hill, who shot a 49 and is at 139, and teammate Courtney Rutledge, who had a 52 and is at 146 for the tournament.
AriAnna Alligood, who was in third in the medalist race, slipped back a bit with a round of 60, while Rina Pino had the second-best round of the day for Pecos with a 57. Katrina Hinojos also shot a 60, and Brandie Lara had a 70 for the other ‘A’ team score for Pecos.
Pecos’ ‘B’ team continued to improve their totals in Round 3, dropping from a 271 at Monahans to a 248 in Kermit, and placed sixth on the day. The ‘B’ team is at 819 through three rounds of play.
Jaymie Galindo and Amber Valdez both shot 59s to lead the ‘B’ team’s scores, and were followed by Cynthia Ramirez with a 63, Heather Matta with a 67 and Miren Marquez with a 71.
Andrews ‘B’ was fourth on the day, with a 238-751, while Monahans ‘B’ was one shot in front of the Eagles’ ‘B’ team at 247 and are a 788 through 27 holes. Kermit ‘A’, with a 250 and the Yellowjackets’ ‘B’ team, with a 299, were the other two teams entered in the tournament.
The boys had their best round of the tournament with a 371, and are at 1137 through 54 holes of their 90-hole tournament, putting them in third place overall. Monahans was first with a 346 and are at 1063 for the tournament, 13 shots up on Andrews, which had a 356 and are at 1076 overall. Andrews ‘B’ was third on Saturday with a 366 score, and are fourth for the tournament, with an 1154 score.
Pecos improved their score despite No. 1 golfer Richard Dutchover struggling to a 101 at Kermit, which put him a 286 through 36 holes. No. 4 golfer Lomas Gonzales shot an 88 to lead the Eagles and is at 284 through three rounds; Edgar Madrid leads overall among Pecos golfers with a 277 after a round of 90; Dominique Vejil shot a 93 and is at 284 and Mateo Tarango shot a 100 and is at 310.
The boys’ ‘B’ team had their best round so far, shooting a 394 and are at 1279 through 36 holes. Omar Medina shot a 94 and is at 303 for the tournament, while Jamie Varela shot a 95 for the second-best score. Varela did not play in the first two rounds of the tournament. The other scores for Pecos were a 101 by Coe Duke, who is a 328 overall; a 104 by Sammy Sandoval, who is at 321; and a 123 by Ruben Carrasco, for a three-round total of 362.
The ‘B’ team’s 1279 put them in seventh place overall. Monahans ‘B’ shot a 390 and is fifth, with an 1184, followed by Fort Stockton, with a 382-1211. They were also seventh for the day, while Kermit shot a 451 and Fort Stockton ‘B’ had a 490 for the other team scores.
Eagles golf team heading back to tourney
The Pecos Eagle girls golf team will be heading back to the Class 3A state tournament in Austin for the second time in four years, while senior golfer Shelly Martinez is state-bound for the third time in four years, after the Eagles placed second in the team standings and Martinez won the Region I-3A medalist title on Tuesday at Ratliff Ranch in Odessa.
Martinez took a two shot lead on Monday with an opening round 69, then held off Breckenridge’s Kelli Knight by one stroke, shooting a 73 on Tuesday for a 142 score in the 36-hole tournament. Meanwhile, the Eagles took a three stroke lead over Monahans and Sweetwater for the runner-up state berth behind Snyder after the opening round of play, and were able to maintain the lead through the final round, shooting a 330-337-667 to beat out the Loboes by nine strokes.
“It was awesome. They played their hearts out, and it was a team effort. All the girls contributed at least one (round’s) score,” said Eagles’ coach Tina Doan. “Shelly played a tremendous round, and kept her composure in the middle of (Tuesday’s) round.”
Pecos, Snyder, Sweetwater and Decatur were the top four seeds in Monday’s opening round, while Monahans replaced Decatur for the pairings of the top seeds over the final 18-holes of play. While that made it easier for the Eagles to chart how their nearest rivals were doing, it meant Martinez was finishing her second round after Knight had wrapped up her round of 71 for a 143 score.
“I knew that I had two shots up on her, and I knew I had to play well to beat her, but I didn’t know the turn-out until I got to the 18th green and my parents told me I had won the tournament,” said Martinez. “It was very exciting.
“The first day was very close. I had the Snyder girls (Chandra Alexander) with me, and she plays really well,” she said. “The second day we had the four top teams’ players, and they all play really well. When you know you have good players against you, you’re going to have to play harder.”
The cold front that passed through the Permian Basin early Tuesday morning made play more difficult for the golfers in the final round, with Sweetwater suffering the biggest setback, ballooning from 335 opening round score to a 366 on Tuesday.
“Sweetwater struggled today,” said Doan. “We were waiting for a battle with Monahans and Sweetwater. We knew we had to stay ahead of their girls, but I knew if our girls just played their game, we would come out on top.”
No. 2 golfer Eleanor Mason cut her opening round score of 88 by two strokes on Tuesday to finish with a 174 score for 36 holes, and while Carolina Briones and Rica Pino both saw their totals increase by three strokes in the final round, No. 5 golfer Stephanie Galindo improved from an opening round 97 to an 88 on Tuesday. Galindo wound up with a 185 total, while Briones shot an 87-90-177 and Pino finished with an 88-91-179 for the tournament.
Alexander shot a 74-79-153 for Snyder and wound up third in the medalist’s race, but the Tigers also had three other golfers finish in the Top 10 and cruised to a 53-stroke win over the Eagles, with a 306-310-616 score. Sweetwater wound up fourth in the team standings, with a 701 total, while Breckenridge was fifth, with a 345-366-711 score.
Monahans, which placed second to Snyder at last year’s Region I-3A tournament, will send their No. 1 golfer, Paige Shaw, to the state tournament, after she tied for fifth in the medalist race, with a 77-78-155 score. Last season, Martinez earned a trip to Austin as a medalist and finished third in the Class 3A state finals. She was also a member of the 2003 team that won the Region I-3A championship, but finished second to Snyder at state.
This year’s tournament will be on May 11-12 at the Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin, where Snyder will be seeking its third Class 3A title in four years. Doan said Pecos will play its opening round with a group of No. 2 seeded teams, and will travel to Austin on May 9, before playing a practice round on the Jimmy Clay course the following day.
Pecos adds two runners to I-3A track qualifiers
There will be two additional runners and one additional event for the Pecos Eagles track team on Friday in Odessa, when they compete at the Region I-4A Track and Field Championships at Ratliff Stadium.
Juniors Bianca Baeza and Larry Johnson, both of whom placed fourth two weeks ago in the 400 meter dash at the District 3-3A track meet in Pecos, will run on Friday in that event at regionals, after Seminole runners Amy Terry and Micah Clay dropped out of the event. Baeza joins four other Eagle girls at the regional meet, while Johnson will be the boys’ lone runner, to go along with senior pole-vaulter Andrew Grant.
Grant will compete at 10 a.m. on Friday, the same time that senior Jessica Florez and junior Chantell Mazone will be competing in the girls’ discus. Senior Jennifer Martinez will run at 1:30 p.m. in the finals of the 3200-meter run, while Jasmine Rayos will be the Eagles’ other runner in Friday’s preliminaries, in the 200-meter dash. Mazone and Martinez also are assured of competing in finals events on Saturday, when Mazone throws in the finals of the girls’ shot put and Martinez goes in the 1600 meter run.
“The Seminole girl tore a ligament in her foot, and we found out Friday that Bianca would run,” said coach Donna Gent. Baeza ran a 65.95 time in the 400 at district, about 1 1/2 seconds in back of Gent, who finished second. Greenwood’s Cara Gann won with a 63.66 time.
“Most of the times I’ve seen (for regional qualifiers) are in the 60 to 62 second range, but if she would run up to her potential, she can very easily make it to finals,” Gent said.
Mazone will be the highest-seeded Eagle going into Friday’s finals. “Unless I overlooked somebody, she is sitting in first place in the discus and second place in the shot put,” Gent said, which is where the junior placed at the District 3-3A meet, throwing 114-feet-6 in the discus and 36-6 1/4 in the shot put.
“She’s thrown better than that this year. If she can hit 125 she will win it, and If Jessica can get around 118 feet, she can get second,’ the Eagles’ coach said. Flores was third at district with a 106-foot-3 throw, and Gent said, “She’s probably seeded fifth, but she’s been throwing very well this week. She’s been in excess of 115 feet.”
Martinez is also seeded about fifth out of the 24 runners who’ll compete in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs. She won the 3200 meters at district and placed third in the 1600. “She’s capable of running with the girls who have the best times in the region,” said Gent.
Rayos was the only freshman to qualify for regionals this season for Pecos, placing third in the 200 meters. “Jasmine had a 27 at district, and I think a girl from Perryton is down in the 24s and a couple of others are in the 25s. So she’s going to have to run very good race to make it to the finals,” the Eagles’ coach said. “But we’ve been working on coming out of the blocks this week, so that should be a bit stronger.”
Boys coach Robbie Ortega said Seminole’s Clay didn’t drop out of the 400 meters until Tuesday, but will still run in the 800-meter dash. Clay was second at district there, while his 52.67 time was one second ahead of Johnson in the 400 finals on April 14.
“He didn’t qualify in district, but he had to run the 4-by-200 (relay) right before that, and he showed me what he could do in Iraan, when he ran a 51.7,” Ortega said. “I think he can get out there and get to the finals. There are some 50s and 51s, and one or two may have broken 50, so Larry’s in the mix.”
Johnson ran at the regional qualifiers meet in Iraan last week, while Grant cleared 11-foot-6 in the pole vault, six inches less than his second place finish at district. “I’m hoping he can get to 13-feet, or if not, at least pass 12 and get to 12-foot-6,” said Ortega, who added that the senior’s workout time has been limited this week, due to his participation with the Pecos High School’s FFA land judging team, which is competing at state in Stephenville.
“He’s had to take three days off being in FFA, and I hope it doesn’t affect him too much,” the Eagles’ coach said.
While the top three finishers in each event at district advance to regional, only the first and second place qualifiers will move on to the Class 3A state finals, set for May 12-13 in Austin.
Eagles get win, help in race for playoffs
Two of the three things the Pecos Eagles baseball team wanted to happen Tuesday night did work out right for the Eagles, and the least important as far as the playoffs went was their 10-3 victory over the Crane Golden Cranes.
The Eagles scored more runs with their first three batters against Crane than they did in all 13 innings of their two District 3-3A games last weekend against Presidio and Greenwood, 12-2 and 3-0 losses that left Pecos in need of help in order to regain control of their own fate in the district playoff race.
They found out midway through their non-district match-up with Crane that they didn’t get the help they needed from one team, as Greenwood followed up their shutout at Pecos with a 1-0 blanking of Fort Stockton on the Panthers’ home field late Tuesday afternoon. That knocked Fort Stockton out of the playoff hunt and left Pecos in the position of needing a loss by Seminole that night over Monahans or a win by the Loboes on Friday at Greenwood to stay in the playoff race.
But before the final out of their own win, the Eagles learned they wouldn’t have to wait until Friday to see if they still controlled their own post-season hopes, as the Loboes broke open a close game late and defeated the Indians by a 10-5 final score. It left Monahans in sole possession of second in the 3-3A standings, but more importantly for Pecos, assured them of at least a playoff to get into the playoffs on Monday, if they win their final district game, at home on Friday versus Lamesa.
“When I first found out Stockton had lost, it took a lot out of me,” said Eagles’ coach Elias Payan. “But I really felt sorry for the kids, because we’re a good ball team and we could be out of the playoffs.
“But now we’ve got as second chance, and we have to thank the baseball gods,” he said. “But we’ve still got to go out and beat Lamesa on Friday, and then win a playoff game.”
Crane already has clinched the District 1-2A baseball title, so Tuesday’s game was a last-minute addition to the schedule, in place of the Eagles’ bye date. And Pecos jumped on starter Ben Sutherland early, when shortstop Travis Lee booted Jose Chavez’s lead-off grounder in the bottom of the first inning, Josh Anchondo followed with a single and Chris Garnto then homered to left-centerfield for a 3-0 lead.
Sutherland was one of three pitchers Crane head coach Naldo Esparza looked at in the first of the Cranes’ two pre-playoff games this week. He was replaced by Matt Castelon in the third inning, and would allow two more runs, after hitting Kenny Rayos with a pitch and then giving up a double to Edward Valencia that centerfielder misjudged. Rayos didn’t score on the play, but was able to come home on a passed ball by catcher Justin Carrasco. Valencia went to third, where he scored on Isaiah Rayos’ sacrifice fly for a 5-0 Pecos lead.
Anchondo started on the mound for the Eagles, and bounced back from last Friday’s loss in Presidio be shutting out Crane for the first four innings. He got himself in trouble in the fifth, walking three straight hitters after opening the inning with a pair of strikeouts, and then surrendering a bases-clearing triple to Lee that got the Cranes to within 5-3.
But the Eagles would get those runs back and widened their lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the inning off the Cranes’ third pitcher Avery Rigg. He would hit both Garnto and Kenny Rayos with one out, before Valencia reached on another error by Lee that allowed Rayos to score. Rigg then walked Isaiah Rayos to load the bases, and after striking out Jonathan Garcia for the second out, Miguel Estrada took a two-strike pitch to center for an RBI single. Rodriguez would misplay the ball, allowing Valencia to score, and after another walk, to John Paul Salcido, Chavez followed wit a two run single to widen the lead to seven runs.
Anchondo was replaced on the mound by Robert Nunez to open the seventh. He walked Sutherland and then gave up a single to right field to Tyler Esparza, but Sutherland was throw out by Garcia trying to go to third base, and Nunez came back to get Rodriguez on a grounder to third, then got Lee on pop up behind shortstop that Isaiah Rayos was able to make a falling catch on, to end the game.
“When they play relaxed and don’t put themselves under pressure, we play a lot better,” Payan said. “But they have to understand to get to the next level there’s going to have to be pressure, and they are going to have to respond.”
The game was scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, but began about 55 minutes late, due to the length of the first game, in which Presidio clinched a playoff spot with a 12-2 win in five innings over Lamesa. The Tors are now 0-11 in district going into their game on Friday against Pecos, while Presidio is 8-3, and can win the district title with a victory on Friday against Fort Stockton. Monahans is the only other 3-3A team with a chance at the title, if they beat Greenwood on Friday and Presidio loses to Fort Stockton.
That would set up a one-game playoff for first, along with a playoff between Pecos and Seminole on Monday in Midland for the third and final district playoff berth. Seminole finished its district schedule on Tuesday and will face Crane in non-district play on Friday.
A Pecos win and a Monahans loss to Greenwood would create a four-way tie for second and third between the Eagles, Loboes, Rangers and Indians, and would force a three-game playoff to decide second and third place, with the first match-ups based on seeding on head-to-head match-ups between the three teams.
Pecos (3-3) would face Greenwood (3-3) and Monahans (2-4) would take on Seminole (4-2), with the winners of the first two games qualifying for post-season play. The district’s second place team will face Sweetwater or Clyde in the bi-district round of the playoffs, while the third place team will get either Snyder or Abilene Wylie in the bi-district round.
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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