Lady Loboes eliminate Pecos
    by Randy Hogan, Staff Writer ~~The Monahans News ~~ April15, 2005

If Pecos Coach Tammy Walls was looking for a miracle to sneak through the back door into the Class 3-A softball playoff's, the Lady Loboes provided the resounding answer Tuesday night officially eliminating the Eagles with a 12-3 win.

The Ladies had dropped two straight games going into the big District show down with the Eagles, and Coach Walls saw a glimmer of hope the PHS could steal one from Monahans.  "I think we can go over there and beat Monahans.  We are playing good right now, except for a couple of plays that have hurt us," Walls commented to the Pecos Enterprise earlier in the week.

The Ladies struggled early, and Pecos took advantage going up 1-0 in the top of the first inning on an RBI single from Jessica Flores to score Savannah Ewing.  Heather Schuler recovered quickly to strike out the next two Pecos batters to end the top half of the inning, leaving the bases loaded for the Eagles.

Batting third in the Loboes line-up, Schuler smashed an RBI double to score Brianna Channey to knot the game up 1-1.

The Ladies scored one run on one hit, and left one runner stranded.

"In the first inning we made some errors that cost us a run," Coach Kasey Kinney commented, "but we fought back with the bats."

Schuler retired the Pecos side in order in the second inning, striking out the first two batters.

The Green wasted little time on capitalizing on Pecos errors, scoring lead off batters Dina Ortiz and Lupe Navarette to take a 3-1 after two complete innings.

Coach Walls, an MHS alumnus, gathered her troops and mounted a rally in the top half of the third inning. Danielle Garcia placed an RBI single over first base, and Amalie Herrera beat the tag at the plate for the Eagles second run of the game. Jessica Flores scored on a fielder' s choice to even the score up at 3-3.

Monahans added the go ahead run in the bottom of the third when Heather Schuler scored on Ashton Jarrett' s RBI double to center field. The Ladies went up 4-3  on the Eagles and never looked back.

Raquel Hawkins took the mound in relief of Schuler in the top of the fifth inning. Schuler finished the night with five strike outs, and gave up one walk.

" I was a little uneasy before the game. We had two of the girl out with illness Monday," added Coach Kinney. " Brittany Slade did not get a doctors release, and Raquel was not 100 percent."

Coach Kinney' s policy is that you must make up the practice before the game. " Raquel stopped me before I could finish unloading my gear and asked if she could start her running," Kinney said. " That gave me some relief, and that's just the kind of competitor that she is."

The Ladies slammed the door on Pecos in the fifth with solid defense and hard hitting at the plate. After retiring the Pecos side, Monahans scored Stacie Fuentes, Schuler and Ashton Jarrett to lead 7-3 after five innings.

Monahans threatened to end the game by the 10 run rule, and added the final runs of the game in the bottom half of the sixth inning scoring Kaitlin Mitchell, Caney, Fuentes, Hawkins and Jarrett. MHS led 12-3 after six innings.

" That's what we needed," added a relieved Coach Kinney. " We needed to know that if a run is scored, we have to take care of it at the plate. We fought back at the plate each inning and eventually broke free."

Hawkins retired the Pecos side in order striking out all three batters. Raquel finished the game with 5 strike outs, while giving up one walk from the mound.

" Heather and Raquel both pitched well. Dina Orits did played well offensively and defensively at the plate, and we had some key catches from Lupe Navarrette and Stacie Fuentes," Coach Kinney said.

The Lady Loboes host Greenwood Friday in a crucial District 3-AAA game with playoff implications on the line for Monahans.  Greenwood is undefeated in district play, and the Ladies are fighting Fort Stockton for second place.

"We need the community to bring all the support they can for these girls Friday night" Coach Kinney added.  "We will make an evening of it and cook hamburgers and hot dog.  We need this win to have second place out right."

keyed by Bryan Smith