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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, March 9, 2007
Girl lifters fall short of state; boys get shots
The Pecos Eagle boys powerlifting team will be in Levelland this Saturday, for Region I-3A competition, seeking to earn spots at the state meet in Houston, after Pecos’ girls came up short in their bids for state berths this past Saturday in Big Spring.
Coach Fred Howard said six of the seven girls who qualified for regionals made the trip to Big Spring, with Ashley Ornelas earning the highest finish, a fourth in the 114-pound weight class. He said the junior had a combined 540 pounds on her dead lift, bench press and squat thrust, 20 pounds short of earning a trip to state.
Junior Katherine Ramirez placed seventh in the 181-pound division, with a combined total of 645 points for her three lifts. Howard said Ramirez, “maintained her place despite having a tough day,” while Maressa Lyles also maintained her place in the regional standings going in, with an eighth overall, while setting a new personal-best record in the bench press.
He said sophomore Deandra Bailey “had the best day on the whole for the Lady Eagles, setting new personal bests in the squat, deadlift (315 pounds on both) and total (735 pounds),”
He said senior Stephanie Galindo bombed out and failed to have a combined score after suffering an injury earlier in the week.
“I am extremely proud of these ladies throughout the year, and they made Pecos proud with their efforts at regionals, battling the perennial powerhouses Clyde and 4A Plainview in their respective weight classes,” Howard said. “Lady Eagle powerlifting will continue to grow and succeed through the efforts of the young ladies of this two-year-old program.”
The boys qualified 12 for Saturday’s regional tournament in Levelland. Ruben Salgado is the highest-ranked going in, with a No. 2 seed in his 220-pound weight class. The top two lifters in each weight class will advance to the state finals in two weeks in Houston.
Golfers head to Andrews after 6th in Midland
Saturday’s cold weather proved to be a problem for the Pecos Eagle girls golf team and several other squads, which saw their scores balloon on the second day of the Tall City Invitational.
Playing on the Nueva Vista Golf Course, site of next month’s Region I-3A Tournament, the Eagles score jumped from 377 on Friday to 404 on Saturday, costing them two places in the final standings. Pecos placed sixth with a 781 score in Division II, which was won by Snyder with a 323-343-66 score.
“It was cold, and they just didn’t perform,” said Eagles’ coach Tina Doan. “The wind chill was about 31 all day.”
Andrews was second, with a 333-361-694 total, while Pecos’ district rival Monahans took third, with a 345-375-720. Sweetwater and Canyon were among the few teams not to see their scores rise on Saturday, as Sweetwater shot a 371 after an opening 398 and was fourth, with a 760 total, while Canyon shot 384s both days and took fifth with a 766 score.
Individually for Pecos, Carolina Briones was the only golfer to improve her score on Saturday, dropping from a 101 to a 96 to finish with a 197 total. Eleanor Mason had the best round overall for the Eagles, with an 88-96-184, while Rica Pino shot a 91-106-197; Kayla Natividad shot a 97-106-203, and Ari Alligood shot a 117-119-236 for the tournament.
“I don’t know if they got tired at the end, but they finished the last holes with bogeys and double-bogeys,” said Doan, who was without one of her regular golfers, Stephanie Galindo, for the second straight week, due to regional powerlifting competition.
Big Spring was next in the team standings behind Pecos, shooting a 404-410-814, while Pecos’ other 2-3A rival, Fort Stockton, finished 14th, with a 439-448-887 score.
Doan had three of her golfers playing on Tuesday at the Reeves County Golf Course, in the Pecos Junior Varsity Golf Tournament, while the varsity will go to Andrews this Friday and Saturday, for the Andrews Invitational.
“I was hoping to have a full squad this week, but one of my little girls has a family emergency, so we won’t have her,” Doan said. Pecos’ next tournament after Andrews is the opening round of their 54-hole District 2-3A Tournament, on March 27 at Fort Stockton.
In the JV tournament, Samantha Sparkman shot a 96, Alligood had a 104 and Katrina Hinojos shot a 112 for the day. Doan said due to cancellations, only four teams participated in the tournament, and of those four, only Monahans, with a 358 score, and Midland High, with a 401, had enough golfers to earn a team score.
Pecos’ boys were off this weekend, and will go to Sweetwater this Friday and Saturday. The boys have one more tournament, in two weeks at Lamesa, before they open District 2-3A play.
Netters return after regionals with home win
The Pecos Eagles tennis team returned from Region I-3A team play this week and picked up a win over District 2-3A rival Fort Stockton, in their final matches prior to spring break.
The Eagles scored an 11-8 win over the Panthers at the Pecos High School tennis courts, after a loss in Fort Stockton earlier this season. Pecos won thanks to a sweep of six of the seven doubles matches at the varsity level, coach Bernadette Ornelas said.
“We were pretty solid in the doubles on both the boys and girls, though we did lose in the mixed doubles,” she said. “And the boys pretty much took their singles matches.”
Francisco Ornelas and Jerris Rayos, Jesse Hanks and Paul Zubeldia and Elias Alvarado and Chris Sotelo scored doubles wins, while Ornelas, Zubeldia, Alvarado and Derrick Barron won in singles play. The girls picked up only one singles victory, by Jessica Munoz, but she and Janette Perea won their doubles match, as did Amber Pando and Krystal Ikeler, and Meagan Lopez and Amanda Renteria.
“We’re looking pretty solid right now,” said Ornelas, whose team came in off a 10-6 loss to Monahans at their final regional match last Saturday. “Some of the kids who’ll be playing in the district (individual tournament) we’ve played against right now. Once we get to the district tournament, we’ll have quite a few kids qualifying for regionals.”
The district tournament will be at Fort Stockton in early April. Before then, Pecos will have a tournament on the Panthers’ home court, along with a tournament in Monahans, following their spring break.
Fort Stockton (8) at Pecos (11)
Boys Singles
Francisco Ornelas defeated Nati Salmonica, 6-1, 6-3; Jerris Rayos lost to Joe Michael Granado , 6-1, 7-5; Jessie Hanks lost to Jorge Sanchez (no score available); Derrick Barron defeated Michael Aguilar, 6-0, 6-3; Paul Zubeldia defeated Alec Millan, 6-1, 6-1; Elias Alvardo defeated Isaac Rodriguez, 6-4, 7-4.
Girls Singles
Amber Pando lost to Jessica Fierro, 7-5, 6-2; Krystal Ikeler lost to Kayla Gullihur, 6-3, 6-2; Hope Mora lost to Geina Young, 6-2, 6-1; Janette Perea lost to Reba Subia, 6-4, 6-1; Jessica Munoz defeated Miranda Durant, 8-2; Meagan Lopez lost to Bianca Fuentes 6-2, 6-4.
Boys Doubles
Rayos and Ornelas defeated Granado and Aguilar, 8-1; Hanks and Zubeldia defeated Milam and Vasquez, 8-2; Alvarado and Chris Sotelo defeated Galler and Rascon, 8-4.
Girls Doubles
Pando and Ikeler defeated Subia and Young, 8-1; Perea and Muniz defeated Dunn and Fuentes, 8-3; Lopez and Amanda Renteria defeated Santo and Bliznak, 8-5.
Mixed Doubles
Barron and Mora lost to Salmanica and Fierro, 8-3.
Pecos uses big first inning to get 12-1 win over Crane
The Pecos Eagles didn’t hit the ball as hard or as well on Tuesday in Crane as they had last weekend in Lubbock, coach Tammy Walls said, but the Eagles still did enough to jump out to a big first inning lead and cruised to a 12-1 victory over the Golden Cranes.
Pecos took advantage of a couple of early errors by Crane to score seven times on five hits in the first inning. Two of those hits were infield singles, while Claire Weinacht would have an RBI double in the first, and a three-run double in the top of the seventh inning for the Eagles, who won their seventh straight game going into Friday’s 5 p.m. home contest against Marfa.
“Our timing was kind of off. We hit the ball a lot harder in Lubbock against a lot faster pitching,” Walls said. “What she (pitcher Tawny DeGraffenreid) threw would be considered a change-up, and you would think it would be easy to hit, but you’ve got to slow your bat down, and that’s not easy to do.”
Jenny Palomino would open the game by reaching on an error by third baseman Angie Villa, and scored on Amalie Herrera’s sacrifice fly that followed a walk to Brittany Palomino and a wild pitch by DeGraffenreid. Gabby Garcia then scored Brittany Palomino when she reached on an error by Stevie Tankersley at second base, and scored on Weinacht’s double down the line in left.
After an infield single by Allyson Salcido, Weinacht scored on Bianca Baeza’s single to center, and Jasmine Rayos followed with another single to center for a 5-0 lead. One out later, Jenny Palomino reached base on an infield single to make it 6-0, and Rayos would score the final run of the inning by beating the throw home on a grounder to shortstop by Palomino.
Pecos had its own problems in the bottom of the first inning on defense. Herrera booted a grounder by Tankersley back to the mound, and she reached third on a steal and a throwing error by Weinacht on a strikeout of Niki Boadle. Herrera then hit Maricela Banuelos, but came back to get Lora Lopez on a grounder to the mound and Ashley Shetter on a grounder to second to get out of trouble.
Both teams’ defenses improved after that, though the Eagles would make it 8-0 in the third when Rayos singled, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball by Banuelos, and scored on Jenny Palomino’s ground out, and Crane would get their run on a three-base error by Kendra Renteria on Villa’s fly ball to right in the fourth and Paige McCain’s RBI single.
Garcia replaced Herrera as pitcher in the fifth and allowed one hit while walking two in her three innings, while Pecos made it 9-1 in the sixth when Salcido walked, stole second and scored on Baeza’s single, and Weinacht’s three-run double in the seventh came after two out walks to Brittany Palomino and Herrera and an infield single by Garcia.
“Defensively, our pitching has been consistent enough we know where the ball’s going to go. We’re still not consistent enough in making plays, but we’re showing progress,” Walls said. “There are things we can work on to make sure the defense is as solid as we need it to be when district starts.
The win improved Pecos’ overall record to 14-3-2 going into their game on Friday against Marfa. The Eagles have a week off for spring break after that, before returning to play on March 16 with a game at former district rival Greenwood. Their 2-3A schedule starts four days later with a game at defending district champion Monahans.
Eagles open up play in Snyder by tying Borger
A second two-run loss in three days by the Pecos Eagles to the Crane Golden Cranes had head coach Eric Garcia a little concerned about the his team’s late game comeback ability. But the Eagles were able to rally Thursday morning from a 5-0 deficit in the late innings and earn a 5-5 tie with the Borger Bulldogs, in the opening game of the Snyder Tournament.
“We were down 5-0 and only had one hit through the first four innings,” Garcia said. “But in the bottom of the fifth we got the bases loaded and Timo (Reyes) hit a grand slam to make it 5-4, and we ended up getting another run in the sixth to tie it.”
Garcia said Vincent Palomino started and went six-plus innings, before Geno Leos came on in the seventh, after Borger had gotten two runners on with none out. “Geno got out of the jam and did an excellent job pitching,” Garcia said of the junior, who had taken the loss two days earlier in Crane.
He added that the Eagles also got two on with none out in their half of the seventh, and had the bases loaded with one away, but failed to score. Both teams were awarded a half point in pool round play, with two more games in pool play, Thursday afternoon and on Friday.
Palomino allowed a three-run homer in the first inning. “He settled down after that and only allowed two runs over the next five innings, so he did a good job,” Garcia said.
The tie came following Tuesday’s 9-7 loss at Crane, in which the golden Cranes’ No. 9 hitter, Derek Paul, hit a pair of home runs off Leos, a solo shot to open the bottom of the fourth inning and a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth that would put Crane ahead 8-7. They would score once more on a double in the sixth by Avery Rigg, while the Eagles were shut down in their final two at-bats by Ray Chisum, who came on in relief of Rigg in the fifth and picked up the victory.
“He stepped up and hit it,” Garcia said. “Geno got it up high twice to the same batter, and he made him pay. That kid is not one of their better hitters, but he just got some good cuts on the ball.”
“What made this one hard to take is we didn’t do anything after they took the lead. They kept fighting back, but we haven’t been a good comeback team this season,” Garcia said following Tuesday’s loss, which came after Crane had beaten Pecos on Saturday, 3-1, in the finals of the Crane Tournament.
Reyes opened Tuesday’s game with a home run off Rigg, and the Eagles would score in each of the first five innings. Isaiah Rayos walked and scored in the second on Robert Nunez’s single, after a bad pickoff throw by Rigg and a Chris Garnto sacrifice bunt, and the Eagles would score three times in the third, off a bloop double by Reyes, a bloop single by Jose Chavez and RBI singles by Rayos and Garnto.
Crane tied the game in the first on a Justin Carrasco single, after Tyler Esparza reached third when Nunez misplayed his leadoff fly ball to right field. Leos survived hitting two batters and walking a third in the second inning by striking out Bubba Lopez and Carrasco to end the threat, but saw the Cranes score twice in their half of the third when Rigg reached on an infield hit and later scored on a double-steal with Teague Esparza, who then came home on Adolfo Caballero’s single.
Paul’s home run came after Pecos had made it 6-3 in their half of the fourth when Reyes walked with one out, stole second and then scored on Jose Chavez’s two-out hit. But Chavez would then get tagged out after failing to slide on a steal of second base, when he overran the bag.
“We had a couple of baserunning errors that really hurt us,” said Garcia. “On that, we might have had something going with Kenny (Rayos) coming up.”
The Eagles’ final run came off Chisum, when Isaiah Rayos reached on an infield single, moved to second on a hit by Garnto and later scored on a passed ball by Carrasco, after Chisum kept the inning alive with a low throw to first on a Rocky Lozoya bunt attempt.
Paul’s home run came after a leadoff double by Rigg, a one-out RBI single by Teague Esparza and a walk to Daniel Sanchez. Leos got Caballero to force Esparza at third on a grounder to Chavez, but Paul then took a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left for the second straight inning to give Crane the lead.
The loss to Crane and Thursday’s tie against Borger gave the Eagles a 4-3-1 record going into their afternoon game in Snyder against the Dumas Demons, the second of three in pool round play. Game No. 3 is at 4:30 p.m. on Friday against Abilene Wylie. Snyder, Pampa, Lubbock Christian and Perryton are the other four teams in the tournament, and the Eagles will face one of those teams on Saturday, based on where both squads finish in their pools.
Games start on Saturday with a 10 a.m. game between the two fourth place teams, with the third, second and championships games set for 1, 4 and 7 p.m. at Moffett Field.
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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