Loboes Cruise to 8-2 Win In Season Opener
    By Randy Hogan,Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, February 24, 2006

The Monahans Loboes battered the Alpine Bucks in the season opener Tuesday night, picking up eight runs on ten hits, and cruising to an 8-2 victory.

Anthony Cota took the mound for Monahans (1-0), to start the 2006 season.

Alpine (0-1) came out of the gate swinging, getting the lead off man on base and in scoring position early.  The Bucks took a 1-0 lead on an overthrow to third base.

Cota would strike out to next two batters, and Larry Jasso fielded a ground ball to execute a perfect 5-3 put out at to Blake Whisnand at first base to retire the side.

Trailing 1-0, and with one out, the Bucks pitched around Sam Graves giving him a free pass to first base.

Tico Olivas also drew a walk to give MHS runners at first and second.

Whisnand blasted the second pitch into right field, picking up an RBI single as Graves crossed the plate for MHS to even the score at 1-1.

With runners at the corners Sean Merrick hit a line drive RBI single into right field to score Olivas and reload the corners once again.  Olivas' run gave Monahans the lead for good.

Kenny Almanza picked up an RBI, smashing the first pitch past the short stop to score Whisnand from third base.

The Loboes owned a 3-1 lead after one inning of play.

Cota quickly retired the side in the top of the second inning, and Monahans used a two-out rally in the bottom half to mount another scoring threat.

Graves took four straight balls to go from hitter to base runner as the Fighting Bucks walked him for the second time.

Jasso followed with blast past second base to advance Graves to third base.

With Olivas at bat and an 0-2 count, Coach Rivera gave Jasso the green light to steal second base.  AHS over threw the tag man at second and Graves walked across the plate for his second run of the night to give MHS a commanding 4-1 lead.

Olivas displayed his speed after making contact on a 1-2 pitch and outrunning the throw to first base.

On the play, Olivas pounded the ball into the first and second base gap, forcing the first baseman to come off the bag to field the ball.   The Alpine pitcher to cover the bag, but Olivas beat the throw to put runners on the corners.

"We were really pleased that we were able to put the ball in play a lot and get so many base hits for the early in the season," MHS coach Arcadio Rivera said.

The Bucks were able to avoid further damage by retiring the side.

Alpine sent the top of the lineup to bat, getting the lead off man on board on a bloop single to center field.  However, the potential rally was short-lived as Cota continued to control the Bucks at the plate.

Working out of a 3-1 count, Cota sat down the next batter on a strike out.  After hauling in the pitch, Olivas used his cannon arm to gun down the base runner attempting to steal third base.  Jasso made the tag and the Loboes recorded their first double play of the new season.

Cota ended the inning with a strike out to retire the side and preserve the 4-1 lead.

The Fighting Bucks made a pitching change to go into the bottom of the third inning, sending Holgin to the mound in relief of Navaratte.

Merrick was awarded a base on balls, and Almanza smashed a 1-2 pitch into left field to give the Loboes runners on first and second.  But Holgin worked his way out of the inning to avoid further damage.

Olivas moved from his catcher position to the mound in the top half of the fifth inning, and MHS slammed the door on Alpine once again.

AHS sent in a relief pitcher, and the Loboes blasted the Fighting Bucks with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a huge 8-1 lead.

Alpine picked up their final run of the game in the top of the sixth inning to close the scoring gap to 8-2.

"We were pleased with Anthony Cota and Tico Olivas pitching tonight, but we have a long way to go still." Rivera said.  "Our communication between pitcher and catcher has got to improve."

The Loboes have a tough schedule ahead, but this weekend will go a long way to prepare the Green for the competition to come.

Monahans is entered in the Marble Falls tournament, and will face Boerne, the number four ranked team in Class 4A in the second round.

"We will face quality teams at Marble Falls," Rivera said.  "The pitching will be the same quality we saw from Midland Christian and Odessa High in scrimmages earlier this year."

The Loboes will back on the road in Alpine Tuesday at 7 pm.

Keyed by Melissa Ramirez and Chino Arisaga, Seniors