Alpine Daily Planet

Cowboys corral Santa Fe at Kokernot, 5-1

By Rev. Barry Zavah, Cowboys beat writer  

The wind picked-up just before the first pitch of the Alpine Cowboys Pecos League home opener Friday night against the Santa Fe Fuego. It matched the excitement and opening-day jitters of the Boys and fans alike. What to expect?  Most players were brand new to the Alpine dugout, with only four of last years team back for another rodeo. 

Returning to town after a rain-shortened road trip to Roswell, the team brought back home with an 0-2 record.Both losses where heart-breakers in the ninth inning of well-pitched games by both teams. A short pre-season and perhaps insufficient game time left expectations running on “we just don’t know,” said manager Ryan Stevens.

Well, the fire’s been ignited in fine style; giving the faithful an exhibition of pro ball played very well in all facets of the game.  There was a cool confidence; expressed by deeds on the field, not talk in Friday night’s 5-1 win, which upped the Alpine record to 5-1.

The two teams play again today at Kokernot, beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday, they play a doubleheader with the first game starting at 2 p.m. and Game 2 at 5 p.m.

It’s said “You only have one chance to make a good first impression.” The Boys impressed the enthusiastic crowd, announced at 620.  Manager Stevens, summing-up the win, said: “Great pitching, tight infield defense and timely hitting.” As for Santa Fe: “Great pitching and great defense in the outfield.”

The first inning had Alpine starting RHP, Chris Welborne, going deep into the pitch count, walking the second batter faced.  He relaxed into his rhythm as the game progressed; certainly confident of his and the infield’s defense with the first of two Cowboy double plays: Welborne to SS Chris Davis and over to 1B Justin McDavid to end the inning. The Cowboys went down in order.

Though starting the second inning by going deep into his count and allowing a single to his second opponent after striking out his first, Welborne’s rhythm began in earnest.  It included being backed up by two long balls hauled in by RF Bo Bell. The Cowboys drew first blood.  McDavid crossed the plate, aided by veteran returnee LF Eric Garcia’s stolen base. 1-0 Cowboys.

The Cowboys took Santa Fe out of the third inning, notwithstanding a Welborne walk to CF Andrew Archbold. The Fuego hopes were quashed with the Boys second double play of the game. Sensing it was their time, 2B Derrick Fox led off with a nice single, stole second and was advanced the rest of the way around by RF Bo Bell’s Kokernot home run.  McDavid was hit by a pitch and came around to score via an Eric Garcia double. Next batter, 3B Ben Ives single allowed Garcia to score, but the inning ended with a fine Fuego defensive effort, RP Isaac Hernandez to Pecos League veteran C Kiren Bradford to 2B Greg Perrett.  5-0 Cowboys.

In the fourth, more of the stellar Cowboys defensive play the coaching staff was touting, continued to frustrate the visitors, knocking them out of the inning 1, 2, 3.  The Cowboys didn’t score, experiencing a strike-out and while an error by CF Davis allowed Fox to reach first base, our 2B’s aggressiveness caught him leaning and he was thrown-out by a nice move by P Hernandez to 1B Kohli. 

In the fifth, more great infield defense and Welborne’s second strikeout made for a quick Santa Fe exit.  Another returnee, CF Tyler Hick’s single started the bottom of the frame, but ended in a fielder’s choice and two fine catches by LF Matt Strerch; who enjoyed a fine offensive game of his own. 

By the sixth, it was the Fuego’s turn to ignite a small fire.  A lead-off single by 3B Nick Muller, a stolen base by CF Andrew Archbold and two singles brought Archbold home for his team’s only run of the game.  The Cowboys were unable to answer, but for a single.  5-1 Cowboys.

The seventh provided no assistance to Santa Fe.  Another Welborne strike out and two very well-executed SS Davis to 1B McDavid plays was all she wrote for the visitors from the north. There was more solid defensive work by Fuego CF Archbold and RF Hyland respectively. Bo Bell’s single went for naught when LF Strerch hauled in McDavid’s blast – giving each outfielder a say in the inning.

In the eighth, the Boys replaced Welborne with LHP Andrew Wall, after the started recorded the first out and his fourth strikeout of the game.  Santa Fe went down quietly to end their portion of the inning.  Matching moves, Santa Fe replaced their starter after he recorded the first out in the bottom of the frame with RHP Scott Berkebile.  His mates recorded the last two Cowboy outs. 

The ninth involved more pitching and pitch hitting strategy.  Wall struck-out the first batter with some sweet pitches to the outside of his righty opponent.  He was replaced by LHP Robert Cooper, who struck-out lefty PH Scott Palmer, with some sweet pitching of his own that kept the ball down and away from Palmer.  

The last Santa Fe batter demonstrated both the hope and promise, as well as how good fortune quickly sours in the game of baseball.  1B Kohli singled by virtue of a long shot to the outfield, but made it to second on an Eric Garcia error, seeming to misjudge the ball as it dropped inches in front of his out-stretched mitt, getting behind him and rolling towards the foul line further behind him.  Undeterred, Garcia quickly chased the ball down and accurately threw it to patiently waiting 3B Ben Ives.  As for base runner, Kohli – “Yer OUT!” 

Final score: Alpine Cowboys 5 – Santa Fe Fuego 1.

Extra Innings … Santa Fe falls to 3 and 4 and the Cowboys 1 and 2 … RHP Alfredo Caballero has returned after a try-out at a higher level of Indy ball ... credit Santa Fe RHP Hernandez’s sweet moves to first keeping Cowboys close to the bag, and resulting in 2B Derrick Fox being tossed-out in the fourth … nice defensive combo in the infield with SS Chris Davis doing an imitation of a Hoover vacuum … Reed Alfieri is back with the Cowboys after a try-out in a higher level of Indy ball, so look for some good things from the hard throwing veteran … speaking of veteran pitching, Mike Castrignano is working his way back from an injury which kept him out of the line-up last season … Game 2 of Pecos League action continues at Kokernot 7:00 pm … this rendition of the Cowboys dresses to impress and fans can count on being impressed. 

Get your tickets and we’ll see you at the game.

 

Cowboys open home season Friday at 7 p.m. at Kokernot Field

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine o6 Cowboys professional baseball team opens its home schedule Friday at 7 p.m. at Kokernot Field against Santa Fe.

The Cowboys will play four games against Santa Fe this weekend. Saturday's game also starts at 7 p.m., then on Sunday, a doubleheader is on tap -- first game starts at 2 p.m., second game starts at 5 p.m.

Single-game tickets cost $6 for adults, $3 for kids and kids under 5 get in free. Can't find a better bargain or a better way to spend a cool Friday night in that grand old stadium. And bring a radio along with you so you can keep up with the Bucks and Lady Bucks, who will be on the road in the Class 2A state playoffs.

Prior to the start of Friday night's game -- probably around 6:30 p.m. -- the Cowboys' organization will honor all the youth baseball and softball teams in the Big Bend. The Alpine Cowboys are a nonprofit corporatiion operated by volunteers. Their stated mission is the advancement of youth baseball and softball in the Big Bend region.

Key dates coming up for Alpine Cowboys' fans; home opener is Friday

The roses are returning to Kokernot Field. If you look closely at this photo taken Sunday, you can see brand new rose bushes in the planters in the foreground. That area had traditionally been filled with roses; in recent years, however, that area had been filled with landscaping rock. On Saturday, volunteers with the Alpine Cowboys baseball club planted new rose bushes. It's a small but important step in helping return this grand old stadium to its former glory.

Alpine Daily Planet

A couple of key dates are coming up this week for Alpine Cowboys’ fans.

On Tuesday (May 15), season-ticket chair back holders can pick out their seats, beginning at 7 p.m. The Cowboys also plan to hold a practice and/or inter-squad scrimmage at that same time.

On Friday, May 18, the Cowboys will have their home opener against Santa Fe. Game time is 7:05 p.m. And in what has become a tradition, beginning at 6:30 p.m., youth baseball and softball players will be honored.

For those interested in season tickets or special sponsorship opportunities, please contact general manager Kristin Cavness at: Kristin@ellysonabstract.com or 432-386-3402.

The Cowboys are a professional baseball team owned by the community of Alpine through a nonprofit corporation. They are members of the Pecos League, which also includes Las Cruces, N.M., Santa Fe, N.M., Roswell, N.M., Trinidad, Colo., and Alamogordo, N.M.

The Cowboys opened the 2012 season on a rain-impaired road trip to Roswell this past weekend. They lost their opener on Friday night, 4-3, after leading most of the game.

 

Q&A with Alpine Cowboys' manager Ryan Stevens

 

By Mike Perry, Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys, the Big Bend’s professional baseball team, begins its Pecos League campaign today at Roswell.

The Cowboys have a four-game road trip at Roswell, today through Sunday, with all games starting at 7 p.m. The Cowboys’ home opener is a week from Friday when Santa Fe comes to town. The Cowboys will play single games on Friday and Saturday, May 18 and 19, at Kokernot Field and a doubleheader on Sunday, May 20. The single games start at 7 p.m.; the doubleheader games will start at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Before the Cowboys headed to Roswell, we asked Alpine manager Ryan Stevens to participate in a Q&A. We hope to do several of these Q&As during the season.

Here’s what Ryan had to say:

DAILY PLANET: How many players have you signed so far? How many are in town and practicing? Are you already going through formal workouts or are they informal at this time?

RYAN STEVENS: Spring training officially started last Monday.  We've got about 30 players in camp right now, and there's a lot of talent.  We're going to have to make some tough decisions to get the roster down to 25 guys who will travel with us.

DAILY PLANET: Assess the strength of the roster you’ve assembled to date. How favorably does it compare to last year’s team?

STEVENS: Last year’s team was so good. We were just a few plays away from playing for the championship. We've got some key guys coming back from that team, and a lot of new players who are going to have an impact.  It's going to be a very exciting year for us.

DAILY PLANET: Talk about the pitchers you’ll have and what strengths they’ll bring to the ball yard.

STEVENS: The pitching staff will be one of the strong points of this team.  There are quite a few guys who we're expecting to have big seasons.  Chris Welborn is going to be our opening-day starter. He pitched against us for Ruidoso last season, and we had a real tough time against him. After Welborn we're going to throw Bryce Weidman. Weidman is a big kid who pitched in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization the past three seasons.  It's obviously a shame for him that they let him go, but it's a huge plus for us and we're happy to have a guy with that kind of experience.  Jeff Raymond will get the ball in game three, and game four is probably going to be Brett Kennedy.  They're both college righties, from Keene State and Valdosta State, respectively, that have real good stuff.  

DAILY PLANET: Can you tell yet how good they Cowboys will be in the field? After all, as the cliche says, a good pitcher is only as good as the defense behind him.

STEVENS: We've got a lot of range in the infield.  Derrick Fox, Chris Davis, and Ben Ives are all middle infielders who are very quick.  Not a lot gets by them.  Fox has made several spectacular plays at second base this spring.  Tyler Hicks is back in center field, and he can really go get 'em, as I'm sure everyone remembers. Tyler Rost is a new outfielder for us who has great instincts and great speed.

DAILY PLANET: Talk about your hitting prospects. Will you have a power line up, or a small-ball team? Or a bit of both? Single out a player or two or three to keep an eye on.

STEVENS: We're gonna be very balanced in that regard.  We've got a ton of speed on the base paths with the guys I mentioned on defense, and I'm a huge believer in small ball. Small ball is going to keep us out of double plays and put pressure on the opposing pitchers and catchers, which will really open things up for the big hitters.  It's tough to pick out just a few guys on this team, they can all hit.

DAILY PLANET: Back on the pitchers: Are you signing actual relief pitchers or will the relievers be picked from the starters that try out for the team?  

STEVENS: When you're signing pitchers you're really just looking for good arms.  Some guys might be better suited for the rotation and others might preform better out of the bullpen.  We will use a lot of different guys in a lot of different situations.  Rob Cooper, a guy who was in spring training with the Philadelphia Phillies this year, is going to be used out of the pen and should get a few starts as well.  Scott Hartling, Andrew Wall, and Shane Youngdale will be used similarly.

DAILY PLANET: What kind of coaching help are you going to have?

STEVENS: Matt Lynn is back with me this season to be my assistant.  Joey Callahan, our radio broadcaster, will be helping me out as well, when he's not in the booth.

DAILY PLANET: Are there any players coming back from last year’s team that we need to be aware of?

STEVENS: Tyler Hicks, as I mentioned is back.  Eric Garcia is going to be our starting left fielder once again.  Eric is coming back for his fourth year with the Cowboys.  Mike Marion is back also.  He's been working very hard all this off season.  His swing looks great and he'll be playing first base for us.  Bryant Asnicar is back and he's going to be in the closer mix to start things off.

DAILY PLANET: Have you heard from any of the players who won’t be coming back? That is, have they moved on to other leagues, gone back to school, etc. Just really looking for FYI stuff for fans who might be wondering about what a favorite player from last year might be up to.

STEVENS: David Valesente is in extended spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates right now.  He's a hard worker and he's got a great chance to stick there in affiliated ball. I traded Zach Welch and Mike Castrignano, who's healthy now, up to Abilene of the North American League.  That should be a great opportunity for both of them.  Kyle Wells, who had been my catcher for so long, decided to hang up the spikes after all these years.  He's going to be remembered around the country as one of the best hitters independent ball had to offer.

DAILY PLANET: At what times and what days will the team be working out prior to the start of the season? Can fans come out and watch workouts?

STEVENS: Spring training is over, but fans should check our website for our game schedule.  We're expecting to have a big season, and we need Alpine, and the fans, to get behind us and come on out to Kokernot.

DAILY PLANET: Are you still looking for host families? And if so, who should a prospective host family contact? And what is expected of a host family?

STEVENS: Yes, we are still looking for host families.  It really means a lot to the guys for a member of the community to take them in to their family.  Interested families should contact Kristin Cavness.

DAILY PLANET: How are the new players settling into Alpine?

STEVENS: They're having a good time so far.  Some of them are adjusting to small town life, but the host families and everyone in town are making them feel very welcome.  I don't think any of them were prepared for all of this rain!

 

Meet and greet the Alpine Cowboys Thursday night at the Granada

Special to the Alpine Daily Planet

On Thursday evening, Big Bend baseball fans will get a chance to meet the 2012 Alpine o6 Cowboys up close and personal.

Head coach Ryan Stevens will be introducing the 2012 team at a meet-and-greet session at the Granada in Alpine, beginning at 6 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Saddle Club.

Bring your friends and family to meet the team.

Cowboys hold camp for youth, meet-and-greet is Thursday at the Granada

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys held a free pitching and catching camp Sunday at Kokernot Little League Field for all kids, ages 9-18.

The Cowboys, who start their third season in the Pecos League on May 18, are Alpine's community-owned, nonprofit professional baseball team. Their mission -- in addition to playing high-quality baseball -- is to help build the youth baseball and softball programs in the Big Bend region.

Sunday, individual members of the 2012 Cowboys spent time teaching kids about warming up and stretching techniques as well proper pitching and catching mechanics.

The Alpine Cowboys start spring training this week and have a meet-and-greet social at the Granada Theater Thursday May 3 at 6 p.m. The meet-and-greet is open to the public. In addition, at the meet-and-greet, anyone interested in becoming a host family will be a chance to sign up.

The Cowboys and Alpine have established a tradition of providing host families for the players, who come from every corner of the nation. Alpine's Shaw Skinner told me recently that he still corresponds with players who were hosted by his family.

All photos by Stephanie Ballard

 

 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 

 

Alpine Cowboys hosting pitching and catching camp for area youth

Special to the Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys professional baseball club will host a free pitching and catching camp on Sunday, April 29.

The camp will be held at Kokernot Little League Field, beginning at 2 p.m. The camp is for kids 9 years and up.

Contact: Kristin Cavness 432-386-3402 for questions.

Alpine Cowboys season ticket form: Fill it out, write a check, choose your seat

Big Bend Community Baseball and Softball, dba Alpine Cowboys

We thank you for your support for Big Bend Community Baseball and Softball, dba Alpine Cowboys, a 501C3 non-profit organization EIN#27-3714669.

Name:______________________­­­­­______________

Address:__________________________________

Town/ zip:________________________________

Phone:____________________________________

Email:____________________________________

BOX SEATS: $1250.00__________ ( 4 seats )

CHAIR BACKS: $200.00___________ ( per chair back)

ADVERTISING: $1000.00_________ ( includes a 2x4’ banner and spot in the program and recognition during the games which is also broadcast on the radio and pod cast over the internet).

ADVERTISING: $2000.00__________ (includes a ______ banner and spot in the program and recognition during the games which is also broadcast on the radio and pod cast over the internet).

ADVERTISING:  $150.00 _______( Includes business card size add in program )

Other Advertising options: 

Uniforms $8500.00 (includes company logo on a patch on jersey and work out clothing also a banner and spot in the program).

Hotel Rooms for Visiting Team Sponsor: $ TBD.  Sponsor to pay for all Hotel rooms for each visiting team during series. ( includes a banner and recognition at all games and a spot in the program.)

Game night sponsors: $500.00 ( can split this with other people or business, however the min. sponsorship is $250 when splitting). This includes first pitch with team signed ball used in the first pitch, acknowledgement during the game  and sponsor handout about 300 items representing their company for incoming fans at the gate.

Base Race Sponsor: $650.00. Sponsor will need to provide a prize for winner per game. We will provide a banner:­­­­­­__________________________________

Bat Spin Sponsor: $650.00. Sponsor will need to provide a prize for winner per game. We will provide a banner:______________________________________

Tennis Ball Toss Sponsor:  $650.00. Sponsor will need to provide a prize for winner per game. We will provide a banner:__________________________

Foul Ball Sponsor: $1200.00. Sponsor will get their name announced for every foul ball. We will provide a banner:_______________________________

Visiting Team Going away meal Sponsor.  $ feed team.  Provide a going away meal for the visiting team on their last day of the series, we will provide a banner: __________________________________________________________

Beach Ball Bingo Sponsor: $650.00.  Sponsor to provide a prize for the winner per game, We will provide a banner:____________________________

Additional Support Options:

HOST FAMILY:  _______________________ How many players__________

Game Day/Night Volunteer: _____________________­­­­­_______

Alpine Cowgirl:___________________________

We are playing approximately 33 home games this year.

Please mail or email back to:

Alpine Cowboys, 301 North 5^th Street, Alpine, Texas 79830, 432-386-3402, kristin@ellysonabstract.com

A letter to Alpine Cowboy fans

Dear Alpine Cowboy Fan,

            Our 2012 Baseball Season is about to begin and we would like to invite you back as a fan or invite you to join our baseball organization for the first time.  Enclosed in this packet are many different ways to become apart of the Alpine Cowboys non profit organization.

PRIOR SEASON TICKET HOLDERS:

• As a returning fan and would like to ensure your season box seat tickets or chair backs are the same as last year, you can fill out the form enclosed and return to the address provided.

NEW SEASON TICKET HOLDERS:

• As a New Season Ticket holder you can choose from Box Seats that are not reserved this year and or Chair Back seats ( can pick your own or you can just sit anywhere that has not been reserved).

Remember if you do not attend every game you can give your season tickets to your clients, friends, family members etc.

DONATIONS:

• To make a donation to our organization there is a form that states Donations and pledges.              

ADVERTISING:

• There are many ways your contribution as a business can benefit both your company and our organization.  There are banner opportunities, program spots, game night sponsorships, and many others.  Please contact us to ensure you get what fits your business needs the most.

VOLUNTEERS:

• We operate with volunteer support and if you might be interested please call or email contact below.

SUMMER JOB OPPORTUNITY : We offer a few summer job opportunities during our 2012 season.

• Ticket Master ( Sell tickets and hand out will call tickets at every game).
• Merchandise Sales person ( sell all merchandise at every game)
• Game Announcer
• Score Board
• Alpine Cowgirls ( only 2 full time spots 1 part time)

The overall goal for Big Bend Community Baseball and Softball (BBCBS) is to help maintain and preserve Kokernot Field, as well as educate and give the opportunity to the youth of Big Bend area the chance to play the game of baseball and softball. Our projected number that we are targeting is $265,200.00 for the year to be a success. This estimate covers all costs from payroll, day-to-day operations, organizing and conducting sports clinics, and for the BBCBS to begin the planning, maintaining and developing facilities for the area teams to use.

We are a non-profit, 501(c)(3, organization and any money that is donated is put directly back into the preservation of the history of baseball, Kokernot Field and/or building new facilities. We want to be able to organize and continue the legacy that was set forth by Mr. Herbert Kokernot, Jr. in 1947. We believe that our children should have the opportunity to play and understand the history of baseball in the area. Kokernot Field is a replica of Wrigley Field in Chicago, and for our youth to have the opportunity to learn and play on a field of that stature is awarding. We need to maintain, support and allow generations the opportunity to learn and play there.

Any help is greatly appreciated, let’s get to work and make our dreams a reality for the youth in the Big Bend.

Thank you,

• Big Bend Community Baseball and Softball
• Board of Directors
• Contact: Alpine Cowboys, 432-386-3402, Kristin Cavness, Kristin@ellysonabstract.com
• Mail to: Alpine Cowboys, 301 North 5^th Street, Alpine, Texas 79830

Time for Alpine o6 Cowboys baseball

By Mike Perry, Alpine Daily Planet baseball beat writer

Well, it’s January, so it’s time to start talking about baseball, specifically Alpine o6 Cowboys baseball.

The Pecos League is definitely on track for another run. The 2012 season starts May 1, when spring training begins. Actual games are scheduled to begin on May 9.

According to the schedule – as it stands now and as we all know, minor league baseball schedules are made to change – the Cowboys start the season at Roswell. Their first home game will be May 15 against Las Cruces.

It looks like the Pecos League this year will have six teams: Alpine Cowboys, Las Cruces Vaqueros, Roswell Invaders, Santa Fe Fuego, Trinidad Triggers and White Sands Pupfish.

Pecos League teams will play a 70-game regular season with the top four teams making the playoffs. The playoffs will be concluded on or before Aug. 15.

Anyone who went to any of the Cowboys games last year knows that the quality of play is first rate. And the prices are extraordinary bargains. Plus, every time you go to an Alpine Cowboys baseball game, you get to enjoy Kokernot Field, the finest little baseball park in the nation.

The Alpine Cowboys are a nonprofit operation, owned and operated by the citizens of Alpine. The ultimate mission of the Cowboys organization is to improve and enhance baseball – particularly youth baseball – in the Big Bend region.

Volunteers are the heart-beat of the organization. None of the officers of the Cowboy operation are paid; all volunteer both their time and their money.

Stay tuned for more information about ticket sales and promotions.

If you want more information on schedules, go to the Pecos League web site at: http://www.pecosleague.com/

Cowboys lose final game in extra innings

The Alpine Cowboys took the season to the very brink before losing their final game in a best-of-three series to the Roswell Invaders in extra innings Sunday night.

The Cowboys and Invaders entered Sunday night tied at 1-game a piece in the Pecos League semifinal championship series.. Roswell scored two runbs in the bottom of the 10^th inning to pick up the win.

The Cowboys – on the strength of a huge six-run seventh inning actually led 9-7 going into the bottom of the eighth. However, the Invaders scored two in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The Cowboys battered Roswell pitching for 18 hits but couldn’t get the timely hit late in the game.

One odd little side note: Despite the 18 hits, the Cowboys did not pick up one walk.  Alpine pitchers, on the other hand, gave up 11 walks in addition to 10 hits.

For the second straight night, Nick Ochoa hit a home run for the Cowboys. In fact, Ochoa also had three runs bated in.

Roswell advances to play Ruidoso in the Pecos League championship series.

Alpine finished the year with a 37-31 record.

Cowboys even series with Roswell

The Alpine Cowboys and the Roswell Invaders have each won a game in their best-of-three series in the semifinals of the Pecos League baseball championships.

The Cowboys were slashed, trashed and gashed, 19-4, in Game One on Friday, but came back on Saturday to win Game Two, 6-5.

The winner of the Alpine-Roswell series will play Ruidoso, which defeated White Sands in two straight in the other semifinal series. Scores were 7-0 on Friday and 8-6 on Saturday.

The Cowboys tied up the series in their usual dramatic fashion Saturday night, scoring five runs in the seventh inning to take a 6-1 lead and then hanging on as Roswell scored once in the bottom of the seventh and three times in the ninth.

Roswell out hit the Cowboys 13-7, but timely hitting produced the Alpine win.  Roswell stranded 11 runners.

Despite giving up 11 hits, Alfredo Cabellero picked up the win. And Brian Hobbs got the save, despite giving up two hits, three runs and a walk in the one and only inning he pitched – the ninth.

Nick Ochoa only had one hit for the Cowboys but it was a critical one – a four-run home run.

The less said about Friday’s 19-4 loss, probably the better. The Cowboys started giving up runs early and continued to give throughout the game. In fact, only in the fifth inning did the Cowboys shut out the Invaders.

The two teams meet in the final game of the semifinal series today, starting at 7 p.m.

Cowboys start playoffs Friday at Roswell

The Alpine Cowboys will open Pecos League playoffs as the No. 4 seed. They will play the Roswell Invaders, the No. 1 seed, in a best-of-three series, which starts Friday.

First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Game 2 of the series will start at 7 p.m. Saturday. If a third game is necessary, it will be Sunday, starting at 7 p.m.

All games will be in Roswell.

The Cowboys narrowly edged Las Cruces for the fourth and final spot in the series.

On the other side of the bracket, the White Sands Pupfish, the No. 2 seed, will host the Ruidoso Osos, the No. 3 seed, in a best-of-three series. The three games are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all starting at 7 p.m.

The winners of the semifinal playoffs will meet for a best-of-three championship series. That series will be held Aug. 16-18.

Pecos League Standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct.	GL
1	Roswell	42	26	0	.617	0
2	White Sands	41	27	1	.602	0
3	Ruidoso	38	29	3.5	.567	1
4	Alpine	37	31	5	.544	0
5	Las Cruces	35	32	6.5	.537	1
6	Carlsbad	9	59	33	.132	0

 

Cowboys split doubleheader with Ruidoso, make the playoffs

2011 Alpine 06 Cowboys pose with their host families between games of Wednesday night's doubleheader

The Alpine Cowboys split a regular-season-ending doubleheader Wednesday night at Kokernot Field, which put the Cowboys into the Pecos League playoffs.

After losing the first game, 6-2, the Cowboys came back to take Game 2, 6-4, over the Ruidoso Osos.

The doubleheader concludes the regular season for the Cowboys, who entered the game in fourth place.

They had entered the final two games with a one-game lead over Las Cruces in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot. Las Cruces lost to league-leading Roswell Wednesday night, eliminating the Vacqueros. Although Las Cruces has a final game Thursday against Ruidoso, they can no longer catch the Cowboys.

The Cowboys now advance to a playoff at Roswell in a best-of-three series. All three games will be played in Roswell, starting this weekend.

The Pecos League playoffs pit the No. 1 team in the league (Roswell) against the No. 4 team (Alpine) and the No. 3 team (Ruidoso) at the No. 2 team (White Sands). The winners of those two series will play in a best-of-three championship at the home park of the higher-seeded team. Thus, we've seen our last baseball of the year at Kokernot Field.

Pecos League Standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct   .	Games left
1	Roswell	44	25	-	.626	0
2	White Sands	41	27	2.5	.597	0
3	Ruidoso	38	29	5	.569	1
4	Alpine	37	31	6	.545	0
5	Las Cruces	35	32	7.5	.530	1
6	Carlsbad	9	59	33	.134	0

 

Cowboys remain in playoff hunt

Fighting for survival in the Pecos League race for playoff spots, the Alpine Cowboys defeated the Ruidoso Osos, 11-5, at Kokernot Field Tuesday night.

With the win, the Cowboys remain one game ahead of Las Cruces in the fight for fourth place. The Cowboys have a 36-30 season record and the Vaqueros have a 35-31 record. Both teams have two games left in the regular season.

The Cowboys wind up their regular season tonight at Kokernot with a doubleheader against Ruidoso. The first game starts at 5:05 p.m., weather permitting, and the second game will follow within 30 minutes of the conclusion of Game 1.

Tuesday’s game was delayed over an hour because of heavy rains – a third of an inch was registered in the Kokernot Field area of Alpine.

Conceivably, with a sweep tonight, the Cowboys could move into third place.

Pecos League Standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct   .	Games left
1	Roswell	42	25	-	.626	1
2	White Sands	40	27	2	.597	1
3	Ruidoso	37	28	4	.569	3
4	Alpine	36	30	5.5	.545	2
5	Las Cruces	35	31	6.5	.530	2
6	Carlsbad	9	58	33	.134	1

Alpine Cowboys lose critical game to Ruidoso

The Alpine Cowboys dropped a critical game to the Ruidoso Osos, 9-6, at Kokernot Field Monday night. 

The loss drops the Alpine record to 35-30. Depending on how Las Cruces did against Roswell Monday night, the Cowboys could be tied for fourth place with Las Cruces or one game ahead of the Vaqueros. Alpine entered the game one game ahead of Las Cruces in the down-to-the-wire race for the fourth and final spot in the Pecos League playoffs.

Alpine and Ruidoso hook up again Tuesday, beginning at 7:05 p.m. The two teams close out the regular season with a doubleheader Wednesday.

Ruidoso jumped on Alpine starting pitching with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning of the rain-delayed game and never looked back.

The loss was the third straight for the Cowboys, who seem to take their losses and their wins in streaks.

Cowboys drop both ends of doubleheader to Las Cruces

The Alpine Cowboys drive for the fourth and final spot in the Pecos League baseball playoffs took a severe jolt Saturday night in Las Cruces when the Cowboys lost both ends of a doubleheader.

Las Cruces hitting pounded Alpine pitching, winning the first game, 10-9, and the second, 7-2.

The Cowboys, 35-29 on the year, remain in fourth place, one game ahead of Las Cruces, which has a 33-30 record.

The Cowboys return home for their final four games of the regular season against Ruidoso, Monday through Wednesday at Kokernot Field.

 

Pecos League standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct.	Games left
1	Roswell	41	23	0	.640	4
2	White Sands	37	27	4	.578	4
3	Ruidoso	36	27	4.5	.571	5
4	Alpine	35	29	6	.546	4
5	Las Cruces	33	30	7.5	.523	5
6	Carlsbad	9	55	32	.140	4

 

Cowboys play doubleheader today

The Alpine Cowboys play a doubleheader today at Las Cruces. The original schedule called for the Cowboys to play single games on Friday and Saturday.

Today’s first game starts at 5:05 p.m.; the second game will follow within 30 minutes of the first game.

The Cowboys are currently in fourth place in the Pecos League but only a half game behind third place Ruidoso and 1.5 games in back of second-place White Sands.

The Cowboys close out the regular season next week, beginning Monday, hosting

Ruidoso in a four-game series.

Currently riding a 10-game win streak, the Cowboys probably need to go at least 4-2 in their remaining six games to ensure fourth place, and maybe move into third or second place.

Pecos League Standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct.	Games left
1	Roswell	40	23	0	.634	5
2	White Sands	37	26	3	.587	5
3	Ruidoso	35	26	4	.573	4
4	Alpine	35	27	4.5	.564	6
5	Las Cruces	31	30	8	.508	7
6	Carlsbad	8	54	31	.129	6

 

Cowboys win tenth straight game

 

Pecos League standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct	Games left
1	Roswell	39	23	-	.629	6
2	White Sands	37	25	2	.596	6
3	Ruidoso	35	25	3	.583	8
4.	Alpine	35	27	4	.564	6
5	Las Cruces	31	30	7.5	.508	7
6	Carlsbad	7	54	31.5	.114	7

The Alpine Cowboys, which has been a team of streaks, won its tenth straight game Thursday night at Las Cruces, defeating the Vaqueros, 10-6.

The Cowboys’ season record improved to 35-27, giving them a solid hold on fourth place. They are four games out of first place, and only one game out of third and two games out of second.

The Cowboys and Vaqueros play again today, beginning at 7:05 p.m. They finish their series with Las Cruces tomorrow (Saturday) before returning home for their final series of the year.

The Cowboys play third-place Ruidoso in a four-game series at Kokernot Field beginning Monday at 7:05 p.m. They play another single game on Tuesday, Aug. 9, before ending the regular season with a doubleheader on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

Thursday night’s game was closer than the final score indicated. The Cowboys led only 7-6 going into the top of the ninth. Cowboy pitchers held Las Cruces in check in all but the fifth inning when the Vaqueros scored all six of their runs and took a 6-3 lead.

Leading the Cowboy hitting attack was Nick Ochoa, who had a double and a home run along with three runs batted in.

Alpine 10, Las Cruces 6
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	1	0	2	0	0	2	1	1	3	10	13	0
Las Cruces	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	6	12	1

Alpine batting
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	3	2	1	1	2	2	.361
12	Simone	DH	5	1	3	1	0	0	.345
2	Wells	C	4	1	1	2	0	1	.412
41	Ochoa	1B	5	2	3	3	0	1	.391
99	Riddick	RF	3	1	0	0	2	2	.280
9	Newell	LF	4	0	1	0	1	0	.289
17	Arrieta	3B	5	2	3	0	0	1	.308
15	Welch	2B	4	0	0	1	0	1	.328
5	Kono	SS	5	1	1	0	0	0	.255

Alpine pitching
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
34	Caballero	4.0	3	2	2	5	3	3.48
22	McIntyre	2.1	8	4	4	0	0	3.52
33	Merslich	0.2	0	0	0	1	2	0.00
5	W Asnicar	2.0	1	0	0	1	3	3.13

Cowboys win ninth straight game

Pecos League Standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct.	Games left
1	Roswell	39	22	0	.639	7
2	White Sands	36	25	3	.590	7
3	Ruidoso	34	25	4	.576	9
4	Alpine	34	27	5	.557	7
5	Las Cruces	31	29	7.5	.516	8
6	Carlsbad	7	53	31.5	.116	8

The Alpine Cowboys took a huge step toward solidifying a spot in the Pecos League playoffs Wednesday evening in Las Cruces, taking a 4-3 extra-inning win over the host Vaqueros.

The win was the ninth straight for the streaking Cowboys.

With the win, the Cowboys now have a 34-27 record. They are 2.5 games ahead of the Vaqueros in the fight for the fourth and final playoff spot. And, they are only one game behind Ruidoso, which is in third place. They are two games in back of second-place White Sands and five games out of first place.

The Cowboys have seven games left on their schedule. They have three games with Las Cruces this week at Las Cruces.  They play single games against the Vaqueros tonight, Friday and Saturday, all games scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Cowboys return home Monday for their final four regular-season games of the year. They play single games against Ruidoso on Monday and Tuesday, both games starting at 7:05 p.m. On Wednesday, they close the regular season with a doubleheader against Ruidoso at Kokernot Field beginning at 5:05 p.m.

In what had to be one of the better-played games of the year Wednesday night, both teams got good pitching and solid fielding (no errors for either team).

Alpine took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning but gave up two runs. The two teams remained tied through nine innings.

Andrew Riddick scored the winning run in the top of the 10th inning when Eric Garcia doubled. Riddick had opened the inning with a walk.

Brian Hobbs picked up the win, pitching two shutout innings of relief. Starter Scott Shimek went seven innings, giving up only four hits. 

Alpine hitting
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	5	0	1	0	0	2	.361
12	Simone	DH	5	0	3	0	0	1	.329
2	Wells	C	4	0	2	2	0	2	.416
41	Ochoa	1B	5	1	2	0	0	1	.382
99	Riddick	RF	3	2	1	0	2	2	.318
8	Valesente	3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	.295
17	Arrieta	LF/SS	5	0	0	0	0	2	.298
15	Welch	2B	4	0	2	1	1	0	.339
5	Kono	SS	3	1	1	1	0	1	.257
1	Garcia	PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	.254
9	Newell	LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	.292

 

Cowboys sweep Carlsbad, move into fourth place

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine o6 Cowboys won their eighth straight game here Friday night, sweeping a doubleheader against the Carlsbad Bats before an appreciative crowd at Kokernot Field.

The win moved the Cowboys into fourth place in the Pecos League standings. With eight games left on their schedule, the Cowboys travel to Las Cruces for a four-game series next Wednesday through Saturday.

They return home for the final four games of the season, a four-game series against Ruidoso. They have single games at Kokernot on Monday and Tuesday, August 8 and 9, both starting at 7:05 p.m. Then they conclude the regular season with a doubleheader, the first game starting at 5:05 p.m.

The Cowboys used a three-run sixth inning to pull out the win in Game 1 on Friday. Lead-off batter Kyle Wells got things started with a single. Wells later stole second base. Andrew Riddick walked and then Javier Arrieta hit a single, scoring Wells and giving Alpine a 2-1 lead.

After that, Zach Welch made it to first after being hit by a pitch. With two out, James Kono hit a single, scoring Riddick and Arrieta, putting the Cowboys ahead 4-1.

Brian Hobbs came in to pitch the top of the seventh for Cowboys and put the Bats down in order.

Four Alpine pitchers combined to allow only four hits and gave up on one walk.

Alpine 4, Carlsbad 1, Game 1
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Hits	Runs	Errors
Carlsbad	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Alpine	0	0	0	1	0	3	X	4	9	2

Alpine batting, Game 1
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	2	0	0	0	2	0	.367
9	Newell	LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	.304
2	Wells	DH	3	2	2	0	0	0	.411
41	Ochoa	1B	3	0	2	0	0	0	.402
99	Riddick	RF	1	1	1	1	2	0	.367
17	Arrieta	3B	3	1	2	1	0	0	.312
15	Welch	2B	2	0	2	0	0	0	.330
4	Skeen	C	3	0	0	0	0	1	.233
5	Kono	SS	3	0	2	3	0	0	.264

Alpine pitching, Game 1
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
31	Foeman	5.0	3	1	0	1	1	4.69
33	Meralich	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
25	Asnicar (w)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	3.86
42	Hobbs (S)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	2.33
		7.0	4	1	0	1	2

Pecos League Standings
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Pct.	Games left
1	Roswell	37	20	-	.649	11
3	White Sands	35	24	3	.593	9
3	Ruidoso	32	23	3	.581	13
4	Alpine	33	27	5.5	.555	8
5	Las Cruces	30	27	7	.526	11
6	Carlsbad	7	53	31.5	.116	8

 

Cowboys at home today and tomorrow against Carlsbad; only one game out of fourth place

Pecos League Standings
Place	Team	Wins	Losses	GB	PCT	Games left
1	Roswell	36	20	-	.642	12
2	Ruidoso	32	22	3	.592	14
3	White Sands	33	24	3.5	.578	11
4	Las Cruces	30	25	5.5	.545	13
5	Alpine	30	27	6.5	.526	11
6	Carlsbad	7	50	29.5	.122	11

 Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine o6 Cowboys open a short but critical home stand today, starting at 7:05 p.m., against the Carlsbad Bats at Kokernot Field.

The games had originally been scheduled as a traveling road show in southern Colorado. However, today’s game and tomorrow’s doubleheader (which starts at 5:05 p.m.) were moved to Kokernot.

Season ticket holders merely have to go to the ticket booth and tell the ticket taker that they are season ticket holders. They will then be given tickets.

The Cowboys are one game out of fourth place (two games behind in the all-important loss column – another one of those clichés I always wanted to use) and three games out of third place. They have 11 games left on their schedule, seven of which are in the friendly confines of that grand old stadium across from Alpine High.

 

Correction: Cowboy record

The Alpine Cowboys season record in the Pecos League is 30-27. Eleven games remain in the Cowboys season.

Cowboys sweep White Sands Pupfish in doubleheader and series

 

Javier Arrieta takes a swing in the sixth inning of first game

Zach Welch singled and later scored to put Alpine ahead in Game 1; Welch also broke what had been a no-hitter in the fifth inning

Alpine pitcher Brian Hobbs came in and got the final three outs in top of the seventh

Manager Ryan Stevens, left, came in to make sure his Alpine pitcher really knew that the bases were loaded

A bit of self-congratulation after Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader

Alpine Daily Planet 

The Alpine o6 Cowboys entered Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader with a man on third and one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. They turned that advantage into a 4-2 win over the Pupfish.

With the bases loaded and two out, Austin Newell delivered the winning hit, a two-run single.

The Cowboys then hung on – despite allowing White Sands to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh – for their 30th win of the year against 27 losses.

In Game 2 of the doubleheader, the Cowboys rallied to a 4-3 win.

The wins were the third and fourth straight against the Pupfish, who entered the series in first place in the Pecos League but will probably leave town in either second or third place. The Cowboys have now won five straight games. 

The doubleheader sweep pulls the Cowboys into an almost virtual tie with Las Cruces for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Pecos League playoffs. Only 0.003 percentage points separate the fourth-place Vacqueros and the Cowboys. Both Las Cruces and Alpine are 6.5 games out of first place. The Cowboys have 11 games left in the regular season.

The Sunday doubleheader was the resumption of a doubleheader that had started Saturday evening but got postponed when rainfall hit the stadium about 7 p.m. At the time, the Cowboys had just rallied to tie the game 2-2.

The Cowboys host Carlsbad on Thursday and Friday -- one game on Thursday (game time at 7:05 p.m.) and two games on Friday (first game at 5:05 p.m.). 

In the first week of August, the Cowboys go on a four-game road trip to Las Cruces. They close out the year during the second week in August with a four-game set against Ruidoso.

Alpine 4, White Sands 2, Game 1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs	His	Errors
White Sands	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
Alpine	0	0	0	0	2	2	X	4	3	3

Alpine hitting, Game 1
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
9	Newell	CF	2	1	1	1	0	0	.306
12	Simone	2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	.328
2	Wells	C	1	0	1	1	2	0	.411
41	Ochoa	1B	3	0	0	0	0	3	.391
99	Riddick	DH	1	0	0	0	2	0	.111
8	Valesente	3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	.288
3	Gardner	RF	2	1	0	0	0	0	.274
15	Welch	LF	2	2	1	0	1	0	.310
17	Arrieta	SSS	2	0	0	0	0	0	.303

Alpine pitching, Game 1
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
31	Foeman	5.0	2	2	1	5	6	5.23
33	Merslich	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0.00
2	Hobbs	1.0	2	0	0	1	0	2.46

 

Alpine 4, White Sands 3, Game 2
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs	Hits	Errors
White Sands	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	9	0
Alpine	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	9	0

Alpine hitting, Game 2
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	4	2	3	0	0	0	.367
12	Simone	2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	.313
2	Wells	DH	4	0	2	2	0	0	.413
15	Welch	PR	0	1	0	0	0	0	.319
41	Ochoa	1B	4	1	1	0	0	2	.385
99	Riddick	RF	1	0	1	1	2	0	.182
8	Valesente	3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	.381
4	Skeen	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	.269
9	Newell	LF	3	0	2	0	0	0	.323
5	Kono	SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	.220
20	Marion	SS	1	0	0	0	0	1	.263

Alpine pitching, Game 2
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
18	Shimek	6.2	9	3	3	4	2	5.03
33	Merslich	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
		7	9	3	3	4	2

Pecos League standings
Place	Team	Wins	Losses	Games Behind	Pct.
1.	Roswell	36	19	-	.654
2.	Ruidoso	31	22	3	.584
3.	White Sands	33	24	3.5	.584
4.	Las Cruces	29	25	6.5	.537
5.	Alpine	31	27	6.5	.534
6.	Carlsbad	7	50	31	.122

Great drama: The rains FINALLY drench Alpine ... and the Cowboys rally to tie game 2-2 in bottom of 6th

The Alpine Daily Planet

The rains that had been dancing all around Alpine for the past week finally hit town Friday and Saturday. 

In fact, because it began raining so steady and for so long Saturday evening, the Alpine o6 Cowboys had to postpone their baseball game with the White Sands Pupfish. And no one seemed to mind one bit. Glorious rain was falling on rain-parached Alpine!

Adding to the drama, when the rain hit Saturday evening, the Cowboys had just rallied from a two-run deficit to tie the first game of a doubleheader at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. The game was called with the Cowboys at bat, a man on third and one out.

The game will resume -- weather permitting (how long has it been since I've used that word?) -- at 2 p.m. Sunday. The second game of the doubleheader will follow immediately after the conclusion of that game.

Officially, Alpine picked up 0.19 inches of rain over Friday evening and night. By Saturday evening, we'd picked up another 0.20 inches, although some rain gauges were registering as much as an inch of rain by the time the Cowboys postponed their game.

Saturday morning, you could almost tell by the very clarity of the air that the drought was breaking. The skies and the surrounding mountains were literally sparkling.

Now, we're not out of the woods yet. We're still way, way behind our annual rate, but cross your fingers; it seems the cycle has broken.

Alpine Cowboys climbing in Pecos League standings

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine o6 Cowboys moved to within two games of fourth-place Las Cruces with last night’s win over the White Sands Pupfish.

The top four teams make the Pecos League playoffs.

The Cowboys have 13 games left in the regular season – including tonight’s doubleheader against White Sands, which starts at 5:05 p.m. Nine of the 13 games are at Kokernot Field.

To make the playoffs, the Cowboys probably need to win eight to 10 of their final 13 games.

Here’s the remaining schedule:

• Today, July 23 – doubleheader vs. White Sands at Kokernot
• Thursday, July 28 – vs. Carlsbad at Kokernot, 7:05 p.m.
• Friday, July 29 – doubleheader vs. Carlsbad at Kokernot, 5:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m.
• Wednesday, Aug. 3 – at Las Cruces
• Thursday, Aug. 4 – at Las Cruces
• Friday, Aug. 5 – at Las Cruces
• Saturday, Aug. 6 – at Las Cruces
• Monday, Aug. 8 – vs. Ruidoso at Kokernot, 7:05 p.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 9 – vs. Ruidoso at Kokernot, 7:05 p.m.
• Wednesday, Aug. 10 – doubleheader vs. Ruidoso at Kokernot, 5:05 p.m. & 7:05 p.m. 

Pecos League Standings
Place	Team	Wins	Losses	Games behind	Winning %
1	Roswell Invaders	35	19	-	.648
2	White Sands Pupfish	33	21	2	.611
3	Ruidoso Osos	31	22	3	.584
4	Las Cruces Vaqueros	29	25	6	.537
5	Alpine Cowboys	28	27	8	.509
6	Carlsbad Bats	7	49	30	.125

Cowboys bats come alive to slash Pupfish, 11-3

Claytie Williams and family made it out to the ballgame Friday night; in fact, Claytie threw out the first pitch

The mascot keeps kids entertained on a wet night at Kokernot

Best seats in the house on top of the Cowboys' dugout

Tyler Hicks scored the first of many runs for Cowboys

Loosening up before the game

Nick Ochoa takes a swing that drives in Tyler Hicks; Ochoa went 3-for-3 Friday night

The Alpine Cowboys' bats came alive Friday in front of a good-sized crowd on a cool, wet night at Kokernot Field.

The Cowboys defeated the Pecos League's No. 2 team -- White Sands -- for the second straight night, this time by an 11-3 margin.

It was the Cowboys third straight win, pushing their season mark to 28-27. The White Sands record drops to 34-20.

The two teams play a doubleheader Saturday. The first game starts at 5:05 p.m.; the second game starts 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1.

Cowboys split doubleheader with White Sands

The Alpine Cowboys split their doublehader Tuesday night with the Las Cruces Vacqueros. The Cowboys came back to win Game 2, 6-4, after dropping Game 1, 5-2.

The Cowboys now have a 26-27 record for the season and are nine games out of first place. More importantly, they are five games out of third place, which is the final playofff spot.

Alpine opens a crucial five-game series with White Sands tomorrow (Thursday) with a doubleheader. Game 1 starts at 5:05 p.m. They play a single game on Friday, starting at 7:05 p.m. and then another doubleheader on Saturday, again, starting at 5:05 p.m.

To get back in the playoff picture, it's critical that the Cowboys win at least three games against White Sands. They are running out of opportunities to make up ground.

This weekend will see three special promotions:

• Thursday night, Rev. Barry Zavah will be bringing a crowd of about 40 people for a church-night promotion.
• Friday night, Clayton Williams will throw out the first pitch.
• Saturday night is sponsored by Chesapeake Energy.

Cowboys drop another one-run game

The Alpine Cowboys lost their second-straight one-run ballgame Monday night at Kokernot Field. The Cowboys were defeated by Las Cruces, 5-4, in the first game of a three-game series.

The loss drops the Cowboys under .500 again, to 24-25 on the year. They are eight games out of first place. More importantly, they are four games out of third place, which is the cutoff for the Pecos League playoffs, which begin in mid August.

The Cowboys have been involved in 18 one-run games, losing 11 of them. 

The two teams meet again today in a doubleheader. The first game begins at 5:05 p.m., with the second game start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1.

Cowboys play 15 of final 18 at home as they hope to make a run for Pecos League playoffs

Alpine Daily Planet

A tough doubleheader road loss Saturday to Ruidoso dropped the Alpine o6 Cowboys to 25-25 on the year,

However, the Cowboys start an extended home stand today. The next nine games are in the friendly confines of Kokernot Field.

In addition, the Cowboys are still very much in the hunt for a playoff slot; the top three teams make the playoffs and they are only three games out of third.

They start the home stand at 7:05 p.m. today against Las Cruces. Tuesday, they host Las Cruces in a doubleheader; the first game starts at 5:05 p.m., Game 2 starts 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

This coming weekend, they have a crucial four-game series against White Sands, which starts with a single game on Thursday, beginning at 7:05 p.m. They play another single game Friday, again beginning at 7:05 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 5:05 p.m.

The Cowboys have 18 games left in the Pecos League season; 15 of those games are at home.

Pecos League standings
Team	Wins	Losses	Games behind
White Sands Pupfish	33	17	-
Roswell Invaders	31	18	1
Las Cruces Vaqueros	27	22	5.5
Ruidoso Osos	27	22	5.5
Alpine Cowboys	25	25	8
Carlsbad	6	45	28

Ruidoso shuts down Cowboys, 10-0

The Alpine Cowboys gave up two runs in the first inning of Thursday night's game at Ruidoso, and then kept on giving, finally losing, 10-0.

The shutout loss, only the team's third in the past 12 games but easily the most embarrassing, drops the Cowboys record to 24-23. 

The two teams play again today at Ruidoso and close out the four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader.

The Cowboys return home Monday to start a three-game series with Las Cruces. Monday night's game will start at 7:05 p.m. On Tuesday, the two teams play a doubleheader, with Game 1 starting at 5:05 p.m. and Game 2 starting 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

Starting next Thursday, the Cowboys also host White Sands in a four-game series. Single games will be played Thursday and Friday with a doubleheader on Saturday.

Cowboys back on winning track

The Alpine Cowboys got back on the winning track Monday night with an 11-9 win over the Carlsbad Bats.

The win gives the Cowboys a 24-22 record. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games.

Today, they open a four game series at Ruidoso. They’ll play single games today through Saturday. According to the schedule, all games start at 4:05 p.m. (MST).

Pecos League standings
Team	Won	Lost	Games Behind
Roswell Invaders	29	15	-
White Sands Pupfish	29	16	1
Las Cruces Vaqueros	25	20	5
Ruidoso Osos	23	21	6
Alpine Cowboys	24	22	6.5
Carlsbad Bats	5	41	26

Cowboys drop doubleheader to White Sands

In this photo by Stephanie Ballard, it appears that the White Sands runner was at least a foot from home plate when he was tagged by the Alpine catcher. However, he was called safe, tying the game at 3-3 in what would have been the final and seventh inning.

Alpine Daily Planet

The bats simply never came alive Saturday night at Kokernot Field and the Alpine Cowboys' eight-game winning streaking came to a skidding halt.

The Cowboys lost the first half of a doubleheader, 5-4, in 13 innings to the White Sands Pupfish. The Cowboys actually led that game 3-2 going into the top of what should have been the seventh and final inning. However, a controversial call at home plate gave the Pupfish their third run and the tie game went into extra innings. At least one photographer's shot of the play at home plate showed that the runner missed the bag when sliding into home plate. Be that as it may, the call may have been wrong but the runner was declared safe.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Cowboys lost 3-1.

With the losses, the Cowboys season record drops to 23-22.  They are in fifth place, one game behind Ruidoso and two games behind third-place Las Cruces. They are seven games out of first place.

Cowboys beginning to win close games, moving up in standings

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys came from behind in the late innings to win a wild one Friday night against the White Sands Pup Fish, 13-12. Friday night's game was the 20th Cowboy game -- out of 43 -- decided by two runs or less.

Alpine’s win knocked White Sands out of first place in the Pecos League.

Alpine, which has won eight straight games, now has a 23-20 record and is five games behind league-leading Roswell. The Cowboys are only a game and a half out of third place.

The Cowboys and the Pup Fish meet at Kokernot Field again today for a doubleheader. The first game starts at 5:05 p.m. The second game will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. Both ends of the doubleheader will be seven-inning affairs.

Next week, the Cowboys are on the road for games against Carlsbad (Monday) and then a four-game set against Ruidoso (Wednesday through Saturday).They return to Alpine on Thursday, July 21 to start a lengthy home stand, beginning with White Sands.

By the numbers

• 83 – number of runs scored by Cowboys in eight-game win streak
• 10.4 – average number of runs scored by Cowboys in eight-game win streak
• 43 – number of runs given up by Cowboys in eight-game win streak
• 5.4 – average number of runs given up by Cowboys in eight-game win streak
• 15 – Number of one-run games in the 45 games played thus far by the Cowboys
• 5 – Number of one-run games won by the Cowboys
• 10 – Number of one-run games won by the Cowboys’ opponents
• 4 – Number of two-run games lost by the Cowboys
• 1 – Number of two-run games won by the Cowboys

Conclusion of the day, Part 1: The Cowboys have been involved in 20 games decided by one or two runs. The Cowboys have won only six of those games. If the Cowboys had a simple winning record in their one-run & two-run games – 11-9 – they’d be in first place.

Conclusion of the day, Part 2: The Cowboys have won their last three games decided by one or two runs.

Pecos League Baseball Standings
Team	Won	Loss	Games Behind
Roswell Invaders	28	15	-
White Sands Pup Fish	27	16	1
Las Cruces Vaqueros	25	19	3.5
Alpine Cowboys	23	20	5
Ruidoso Osos	22	21	6
Carlsbad Bats	5	39	24

Cowboys defeat Pupfish in opener of crucial Pecos League series

Cowboys' batgirl taking care of business

Cowboys starting pitcher Scott Shimek

 

Summit on the mound, from left, manager Ryan Stevens, pitcher Shimek, catcher Kyle Wells

Cowboys' shortstop James Kono makes the play in the fifth inning

Kono swings and connects

The Alpine Cowboys defeated the the White Sands Pupfish, 8-1, at Kokernot Field Thursday night.

The Cowboys jumped out early and were never seriously threatened by the Pecos League-leading Pupfish. The win gives the Cowboys record to 22-20 and leaves them only five games out of first place.

Thursday night's win was the seventh straight victory for the Cowboys.

The two teams play against Friday and Saturday. Friday’s single game starts at 7:05 p.m.; Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 5:05 p.m.

Starting pitcher Scott Shimek went seven scoreless innings to pick up the win. He gave up nine hits but always seemed in control, particularly with some good defensive play behind him.

Pecos League Baseball Standings
Team	Won	Lost	Games Behind
Roswell	28	15	0
White Sands	27	15	0.5
Las Cruces	25	19	3.5
Alpine	22	20	5.5
Ruidoso	22	21	6
Carlsbad	5	39	24

Cowboys win win sixth straight, sweep Carlsbad

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys defeated Carlsbad, 11-5, Tuesday night at Kokernot Field, which means they have pulled their  record back above the .500 mark for the first time in almost a month.

The win gives Alpine a 21-20 record on the year. It was the Cowboys sixth straight win, their longest winning streak of the year. The win also completed a three-game sweep of Carlsbad.

The Cowboys continue their short homestand on Thursday when they open an important series against league-leading White Sands. Game time is 7:05 Thursday. The Cowboys have another single game with White Sands on Friday, also starting at 7:05 p.m.

On Saturday, the Cowboys and White Sands play a doubleheader; the first game starts at 5 p.m.; the second starts 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

Stats from Monday night's Alpine Cowboys slugfest, a 16-8 win over Carlsbad

Here are the stats from the Alpine Cowboys, 16-8, win on Monday night over the Carlsbad Bats. The two teams were to play again tonight, beginning at 7:05 p.m., at Kokernot Field. The Cowboys, now 20-20, are only two games out of third place in the Pecos League.

Alpine Cowboys 16, Carlsbad Bats 8 (July 4)
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Carlsbad	0	1	0	0	5	0	0	2	0	8	17	3
Alpine	3	3	1	0	0	2	3	4	X	16	16	2

 

Alpine hitting (July 4 vs. Carlsbad)
#	Player	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	4	2	2	1	0	1	.424
12	Simone	2B	6	3	3	3	0	0	.409
2	Wells	C	5	3	3	2	1	1	.417
42	Ochoa	1B	4	4	3	2	1	1	.511
3	Gardner	1B/PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	.286
20	Marion	DH	4	1	1	0	0	1	.300
30	Jones	PH	2	0	0	0	0	2	.217
8	Valesente	3B	2	0	2	2	2	0	.321
36	Stanfield	PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.130
17	Arrieta	3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	.301
1	Garcia	LF	5	0	1	3	0	1	.268
15	Welch	RF	1	1	0	0	3	0	.273
9	Newell	PH/RF	0	1	0	0	1	0	.321
5	Kemp	SS	3	1	0	0	1	0	.269

 

2B: Hicks (6), Wells (7) Gardner (2) Valesente (6); HP: Hicks (2, Valesente (4); RBI: Hicks (24), Simone 3 (6), Wells (14), Ochoa 2 (11), Gardner (6), Valesente 2 (16) Garcia 3 (17); SF: Hicks (4); SB: Welch (5), Newell (2); Team LOB: 11

 

Alpine pitching (July 4 vs. Carlsbad)
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
34	Cabellero	4.2	10	6	5	3	4	2.60
6	(w) Alfieri	1.1	3	0	0	1	3	3.00
25	Asnicar	2.0	4	2	2	0	5	6.00
99	Edwards	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00

BF: Cabelllero 27, Alferi 8, Asnicr 11, Edwards 3; P-S: Caballero 86-58, Alfieri 31-19, Asnicar 36-25, Edwards 13-8; WP: Asnicar (1)

Snapshots from a Fourth of July at Kokernot Field: Cowboys 16, Bats 8

The Alpine Cowboys won their fifth straight game in a wild one Monday night before a a raucous crowd at Kokernot Field. Final score was 16-8.

The Cowboys got out early in the first inning, 3-0, and never stopped pouring it on en route to the victory.

With the win, the Cowboys jump their record back to .500. Their season mark now reads 20-20. 

In the five-game winning streak, the Cowboys have scored 51 runs, an average of a bit over 10 runs a game.

They conclude their three-game series against Carlsbad tonight, beginning at 7:05 p.m. After a day off, they host lead-leading White Sands in a four-game series starting Thursday. The play single games starting at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, then a doublheader on Saturday, first game starting at 5:05 P.M.

Cowboys and A&T honor volunteer fire departments

The Alpine Cowboys baseball organization and AT&T honored the area's volunteer fire departments Sunday night prior to the Pecos League game between Alpine and Carlsbad at Kokernot Field.

Alpine's State Rep. Pete Gallego was on hand to help AT&T officials hand out the $2,000 checks to each fire department -- Terlingua, Fort Davis, Alpine, Marfa and Marathon.

Firefighters and teams during the National Anthem

Alpine receives its $2,000 check

Fort Davis Volunteer Fire Department

Marathon Volunteer Fire Department

Terlingua Volunteer Fire Department

Marfa Volunteer Fire Department

State Rep. Pete Gallego, at left

Cowboys win fourth straight; special baseball-card promotion tonight

The Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys are finding ways to win games these days. Sunday night, they used a big inning to rally past the Carlsbad Bats, 5-4.

The Cowboys entered the bottom of the seventh inning, trailing 4-0, but came up with five big runs to take the lead.

In the top of the eighth, the Bats loaded the bases but Brian Hobbs came in with the bases loaded and only one out. He struck out the final two batters. 

To top the night off, the sprinkler system came on as the teams were starting the ninth inning. After about 15 minutes, they figured out how to turn off the water.

The two teams meet again tonight, beginning at 7:05 p.m.

With the win the Cowboys pull their record up to 19-20. Sunday night's win was their fourth straight. The three previous wins were against the once-league-leading Las Cruces Vaqueros. In Saturday night's game at Las Cruces, a 9-7 decision, the Cowboys used another big five-run seventh inning to rally for the win. Maybe "five runs in the seventh" is the new secret for success in the Pecos League.

Daily Planet sponsors tonight's game

The Alpine Daily Planet will sponsor the Alpine Cowboys game tonight vs. the Carlsbad Bats.

As a special thank you, the Planet will give each person entering the game a Topps Major League baseball card. Each card is new, in mint condition and is encased in a protective plastic sleeve.

The cards are part of what Topps calls the 2010 All-Star collection. The 663 cards to be given out include the players who were on the major league rosters in 2010, plus a select few super stars (there’s a Mickey Mantle card in there for some lucky fan).

In addition, there are cards that give the history of each franchise and cards that picture the all-stars from each team.

Everyone attending Monday night’s game is guaranteed a card. The card you get is all part of the luck of the draw.

During the game, the Cowgirls will award four special cards to the winners of contests they put on during the game. These cards include:

• A specially-mounted card of last year’s rookie of the year, Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals pitcher.
• The Mickey Mantle card.
• An Alex Rodriguez card.
• And a Joe Mauer or Josh Hamilton card, your choice

 

Pecos League Standings
Team	W	L	GB
White Sands	26	13	0
Roswell	23	15	2
Ruidoso	21	17	4
Las Cruces	22	18	5
Alpine	19	20	7
Carlsbad	5	34	20

 

Alpine 9, Las Cruces 7, July 2
Team	1	2	3	4	5	7	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	1	2	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	9	13	1
Las Cruces	0	0	2	3	0	2	0	0	0	7	15	2

 

Alpine batting vs. Las Cruces, July 2
No.	Player	Position	AB	R	H	RBI
27	Hicks	CF	4	2	2	1
12	Simone	2B	6	2	4	2
1	Garcia	PH	1	0	0	0
41	Ochoa	1B	5	0	2	1
17	Arrieta	3B	5	0	2	1
9	Newell	RF	2	0	0	0
5	Kono	SS	2	0	0	0
4	Skeen	C	3	1	1	1
15	Welch	LF	3	2	1	1
29	Gutierrez	-	5	0	0	0
8	Valesente	-	2	0	0	0
Alpine pitching vs. Las Cruces July 2
No	Pitcher	IP	H	R	BB	K
21	Szkotak	3.2	8	5	0	0
16	Winters	1.1	1	1	0	1
6	Alfieri	1.0	2	1	0	0
25	Asmicar	1.0	2	0	0	0
7	Meager	2.0	2	0	2	0

 

Cowboys win second straight over Las Cruces

The Alpine Daily Planet

Now, that’s more like it. The Alpine o6 Cowboys won their second straight game against a top-tier opponent Friday night, defeating the Las Cruces Vaqueros, 9-3.

The win gives the Cowboys a 17-20 record; Las Cruces dropped to 22-15. The two teams play again tonight (Saturday), starting at 7:05 p.m.

The Cowboys return home Sunday to start a three-game series against Carlsbad. The Sunday, Monday and Tuesday games all start at 7:05 p.m.

Special Daily Planet promotion on July 4

The Alpine Daily Planet will sponsor the Alpine Cowboys game on Monday, July 4, vs. the Carlsbad Bats.

As a special thank you, the Planet will give each person entering the game a Topps Major League baseball card. Each card is new, in mint condition and is encased in a protective plastic sleeve.

The cards are part of what Topps calls the 2010 All-Star collection. The 663 cards to be given out include the players who were on the major league rosters in 2010, plus a select few super stars (there’s a Mickey Mantle card in there for some lucky fan).

In addition, there are cards that give the history of each franchise and cards that picture the all-stars from each team.

Everyone attending Monday night’s game is guaranteed a card. The card you get is all part of the luck of the draw.

During the game, the Cowgirls will award four special cards to the winners of contests they put on during the game. These cards include:

• A specially-mounted card of last year’s rookie of the year, Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals pitcher.
• The Mickey Mantle card.
• An Alex Rodriguez card.
• And a Joe Mauer or Josh Hamilton card, your choice.

AT&T promotion for firefighters

In a very special ceremony, the Alpine Cowboys organization and AT&T are honoring the area’s volunteer fire departments right before the Sunday (July 3) night game against the Carlsbad Bats.

AT&T will be presenting each department with a donation. 

Everyone in the Cowboys’ organization hopes you can make it out to support your local fire departments (Fort Davis, Marathon, Terlingua and Alpine). And support the Cowboys.

The ceremony will begin right before game time, which is at 7:05. 

In addition, AT&T will have a giveaway at the gate. 

 

Pecos League Standings
Team	W	L	GB
White Sands	24	13	-
Roswell	22	14	1
Las Cruces	22	15	2
Ruidoso	20	15	3
Alpine	17	20	7
Carlsbad	4	32	19

 

Cowboys crush Las Cruces

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys got back on track Thursday night, pounding the Pecos League’s No. 2 team, the Las Cruces Vaqueros, 12-3, in Las Cruces.

The two teams play again tonight (Friday) and Saturday at Las Cruces. Both games start at 7:05 p.m. The Cowboys lost the first game of the four-game set on Wednesday, 11-2.

With the win, the Cowboys pull their record back up to 16-20; Las Cruces drops to 22-14.

Right-handed pitcher Kevin Foreman picked up the win, going six innings and allowing only two runs and two hits.

Tyler Hicks picked up a home run and two runs batted in to pace the hitting attack.

A huge fifth inning locked away the win for the Cowboys. They sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. The Cowboys used five hits, three walks, three wild pitches and a hit batsman to score the seven runs.

Alpine 12, Las Cruces 3
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	1	0	0	4	7	0	0	0	0	12	11	3
Las Cruces	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	3	4	0

 

Alpine hitting stats
#	Name	Position	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	5	2	2	2	1	1	.420
1	Garcia	CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
12	Gibbons	DH	6	1	1	2	0	1	.417
2	Wells	C	3	1	1	0	1	0	.413
4	Skeen	C/PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.385
10	Ochoa	1B	3	2	2	0	1	0	.484
20	Marion	1B	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250
29	Castrignano	LF	2	1	0	0	2	1	.000
9	Newell	LF/PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.286
17	Arrieta	3B/SS	4	2	1	1	1	0	.302
15	Welch	2B	4	2	1	3	1	1	.288
14	Lucero	2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
30	Jones	RF	4	1	2	1	1	2	.244
5	Kono	SS	3	0	0	1	1	1	.292
8	Valesnete	3B	1	0	1	0	0	0	.200

2B: Ochoa (4), Valesnete (1); HP: Wells (1); HR: Hicks (3); RBI: Hicks 2 (16), Gibbons 2 (3), Arrieta (10), Welch 3 (12), Jones (2), Kono (14)

Team LOB: 9

Alpine pitching
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
31	Foreman	6.0	2	2	2	1	1	7.16
6	Alfieri	3.0	2	1	1	2	2	2.79

Daily Planet giving out Topps trading cards to all who attend Cowboys' July 4 game; Mantle, Strasburg among special cards

From the Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Planet will sponsor the Alpine Cowboys game on July 4 vs. the Carlsbad Bats. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

As a special thank you, the Planet will give each person entering the game a Topps Major League baseball card. Each card is new, in mint condition and is encased in a protective plastic sleeve.

The cards are part of what Topps calls the 2010 All-Star collection. The 663 cards to be given out include the players who were on the major league rosters in 2010, plus a select few super stars (there’s a Mickey Mantle card in there for some lucky fan).

In addition, there are cards that give the history of each franchise and cards that picture the all-stars from each team.

Everyone attending Monday night’s game is guaranteed a card. The card you get is all part of the luck of the draw.

There are two special cards that will be given out during the game. Those two cards are:

• A specially-mounted card of last year’s rookie of the year, Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals pitcher.
• The Mickey Mantle card.

Special AT&T promotion for our firemen

In a very special ceremony, the Alpine Cowboys organization and AT&T is honoring the area’s volunteer fire departments right before the game Sunday (July 3) night’s game against the Carlsbad Bats.

AT&T will be presenting each department with a donation. 

Everyone in the Cowboys’ organization hopes you can make it out to support your local Fire Departments (Fort Davis, Marathon, Terlingua and Alpine. And support the Cowboys.

The ceremony will begin right before game time, which is at 7:05. 

In addition, AT&T will have a giveaway at the gate. 

Tight games on road trip marred by too many errors, too many runners stranded on base

Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys played tight, tough ballgames in Roswell last week, but wound up losing three of the four games. Two of the three losses were by one run; the third loss was by two runs.

The Cowboys won the opener, 8-3, last Wednesday. On Thursday, they lost, 8-7, one Friday it was a 10-8 loss and Saturday was a heartbreaking, 2-1 loss.

A couple of themes came through loud and clear in the four-game series:

First, the Cowboys again had trouble in the field, average three errors per game – a total of 12 errors in the four games.

Second, the Cowboys left a lot of runners on base. For instance, in the 10-8 loss on Friday, the Cowboys pounded out 20 hits. That’s right, 20 hits in nine innings, yet they only scored runs.

In Saturday’s 2-1 loss, they out hit the home team, 9-7, but, again, could manage to get only one of those runners to home plate safely.

The Cowboys have four games this week – all at Las Cruces, all single-game affairs on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Game time for each game is 7:05 p.m.

The Cowboys finally return home on July 3-5 to host the Carlsbad Bats.

The Alpine Cowboys played tight, tough ballgames in Roswell last week, but wound up losing three of the four games. Two of the three losses were by one run; the third loss was by two runs.

The Cowboys won the opener, 8-3, last Wednesday. On Thursday, they lost, 8-7, one Friday it was a 10-8 loss and Saturday was a heartbreaking, 2-1 loss.

A couple of themes came through loud and clear in the four-game series:

First, the Cowboys again had trouble in the field, average three errors per game – a total of 12 errors in the four games.

Second, the Cowboys left a lot of runners on base. For instance, in the 10-8 loss on Friday, the Cowboys pounded out 20 hits. That’s right, 20 hits in nine innings, yet they only scored runs.

In Saturday’s 2-1 loss, they out hit the home team, 9-7, but, again, could manage to get only one of those runners to home plate safely.

The Cowboys have four games this week – all at Las Cruces, all single-game affairs on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Game time for each game is 7:05 p.m.

The Cowboys finally return home on July 3-5 to host the Carlsbad Bats.

 

Alpine Cowboys 8, Roswell 3, June 22
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	2	8	13	3
Roswell	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	9	4

 

Roswell 8, Alpine Cowboys 7, June 23
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	0	4	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	7	12	4
Roswell	1	0	0	1	6	0	0	0	x	9	10	2

 

Roswell 10, Alpine Cowboys 8, June 24
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	0	0	0	1	4	0	1	0	2	8	20	2
Roswell	1	1	0	0	0	6	1	1	X	10	15	0

 

Roswell 2, Alpine Cowboys 1, June 25
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Alpine	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	9	3
Roswell	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	2	7	1

 

Cowboys inch back toward .500 mark

The Alpine Cowboys used excellent pitching and defense to sweep Carlsbad in a three-game set Sunday and Monday to creep closer to the .500 mark on the year.

On Sunday, the Cowboys won the first game, 10-1, and the second game, 5-2. They followed that up with another 5-2 win on Monday. 

Today (Wednesday), the Cowboys open a four-game road series at Roswell. 

Pecos League Standings
Team	Won	Lost	Games behind
White Sands	21	9	-
Las Cruces	19	11	2
Roswell	17	12	3
Ruidoso	16	13	4
Alpine	15	16	7
Carlsbad	2	28	19

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Alpine	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	5	9	2
Carlsbad	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	3	5

Alpine 5, Carlsbad 2, June 19, hitting
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.
27	Hicks	CF	3	2	2	0	0	0	.426
5	Kono	SS	4	1	1	2	0	0	.303
2	Wells	C	5	1	2	0	0	0	.444
10	Ochoa	1B	5	0	3	2	0	1	.538
17	Arrieta	3B	4	0	0	1	1	2	.275
3	Gardner	RF	4	0	1	1	0	0	.289
1.	Garcia	LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	.333
9	Newell	LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	.316
16	Colllins	2B	4	1	0	0	1	2	.275
7	Meager	P	3	0	0	0	0	3	.000
42	Hobbs	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Alpine 5, Carlsbad 2, pitching
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
7	Meager	6.0	2	2	1	4	7	1.50
42	Hobbs	3.0	1	0	0	1	6	3.55

 

Cowboys sweep doubleheader at Carlsbad

 The Alpine Daily Planet

The Alpine Cowboys mid-season rebuilding program continued successfully Sunday in Carlsbad.

After a 7-0 win in the opener, the Cowboys scored seven runs in the top of the first inning to open the nightcap. Alpine then used flashy defense to fend off any comeback bids by the home side. The Cowboys made two diving catches in the outfield, a diving stop at first base and a leaping catch at shortstop to come away with a 10-1 victory.

The doubleheader was played in tough conditions; temperatures were well over 100 degrees along with gusty wins. The temperature at the beginning of Game 1 was listed at 105 degrees.

The two wins moved the Cowboys closer to the .500 mark at 14-16. The two losses drops the Bats to 2-27 on the season. After an 0-24 start to the year, starting catcher Ryan Powell took over for John Aber as team manager Thursday. The Bats are now 2-4 under the player/manager.

In Game 1, Steven Szkotak pitched a superb three-hitter. 

The two teams play again today at Carlsbad. Then, the Cowboys continue the longest road trip of the year, traveling to Roswell for a four-game series that starts Wednesday. Next week, they play four games in Las Cruces, beginning on Wednesday, June 29.

They finally return home for games on July 3, 4 and 5 vs. Carlsbad.

By the way, the July 4 game will be baseball card night, sponsored by the Alpine Daily Planet. Each fan attending the game will receive a baseball card from the 2010 Major League All Star Edition.  

Pecos League Standings
Team	W	L	GB
White Sands Pupfish	19	9	-
Las Cruces Vaqueros	19	9	-
Ruidoso Osos	16	11	2
Roswell Invaders	15	12	3
Alpine Cowboys	14	16	7
Carlsbad Bats	2	27	18

 

Alpine 7, Carlsbad 0
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Alpine	0	0	2	3	0	1	1	7	9	1
Carlsbad	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	4

 

Alpine Batting
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	Avg
9	Newell	CF	3	1	0	0	0	0	.250
5	Kono	SS	4	1	0	0	0	1	.290
17	Arrieta	RF	4	0	2	2	0	1	.297
10	Ochoa	18	3	0	1	0	1	1	.429
1	Garcia	LF	3	0	0	2	1	0	.391
8	Valeanate	3B	4	1	1	0	0	2	.250
4	Skeen	C	4	1	2	1	0	1	.455
21	Szkotak	P	4	1	1	0	0	2	.250
16	Collins	2B	4	2	2	1	0	1	.308

2B: Arrieta 5); HR: Newell (1); RBI: Arrieta 2 (8), Garcia 2 (12), Skeen (2), Collins (11) 

Alpine pitching
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
21	Szkotak	7.0	3	0	0	3	8	0.00

Cowboy bats come alive in doubleheader split with Carlsbad; defensive lapses prevent sweep

In his first game back in an Alpine uniform, Nacho Ochoa hit a home in the 7th inning to tie the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 6-6, at the end of 7 innings

Alpine batboy does his part to keep the game moving

Alpine pitcher Greg Denton pitched well enough in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader to stake the Cowboys to a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning. The Cowboys couldn't hold that lead, however, and Denton didn't get a decision in the game.

Alpine catcher Zach Welch talks it over with his pitcher, Greg Denton (33)

Alpine's Julian Lucero dives back into first base

The Alpine Cowboys have added some new pieces to their puzzle as they try to get back into the Pecos League pennant race.

In Saturday’s doubleheader, you could see the growing pains as those pieces began to come together.

The Cowboys wound up splitting the doubleheader, losing the first game in extra innings after defensive lapses wiped out a fine pitching effort by Greg Denton and allowed Carlsbad to come from two runs back to take a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, one of the new/old pieces of the puzzle – Nacho Ochoa – hit a home run to tie the game at 6-6. However, Carlsbad won in extra innings, 7-6.

In the second game of the doubleheader, however, everything the Cowboys touched came up golden. The end result was a 15-1 thrashing of Carlsbad in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.

The second game of the doubleheader even included a bench-clearing shoving match in the fifth inning after the Carlsbad pitcher hit an Alpine batter.

With the doubleheader split, Alpine’s record goes to 12-16. However, despite the losing record, prospects appear brighter given the pitiching performances of Denton plus newly acquired pitchers Thomas Meager and Alfredo Caballero.

And Ochoa, who was with the Cowboys last year, promises to finally give the Cowboys a long-ball threat to go with the small-ball offense they’ve been playing in recent weeks.

The Cowboys make a quick turn-around Sunday, traveling to Carlsbad for a doubleheader, which begins at 4:05 p.m. MST. They play a third game at Carlsbad on Monday. After the Carlsbad roadtrip, they travel on to Roswell for four games in four days, beginning Thursday, June 22.  We won’t see them back in Alpine until a July 2-4 series with Carlsbad. 

Good pitching, good crowd -- but silent bats

The Alpine Cowboys had a good pitching effort and a good, boisterous crowd Friday night at Kokernot Field.

Unfortunately, the bats were largely silent and the Cowboys lost to the Carlsbad Bats, 3-1.

The loss drops the Cowboys to 9-14 in Pecos League play.

The two teams get together again today (Saturday) for a doubleheader. Game 1 starts at 5:05 p.m.; Game 2 starts 30 minutes after end of the first game.

Cowboys pick up 2-1 win

Thursday night at Kokernot, new Cowboys pitcher Alfredo Caballero had his second straight excellent outing 

Caballero, at far right, comes into the dugout after successful sixth inning

In between innings, lots of action took place. In this particular "game," the point seemed to be who could hit more water balloons and hit one of the Alpine Cowgirls.

The Alpine Cowboys mascot struts his stuff Thursday night

Grabbing some rays down along the third-base line

The Alpine Cowboys came home with a new pitcher and picked up a win Thursday night at Kokoernot Field, 2-1, over the Carlsbad Bats.

Alfredo Caballero picked up the win. Caballero, who's a Uvalde native, joined the Cowboys last week during their road trip to White Sands. He pitched a two-hitter and lost, 1-0, in his opening game with the Cowboys.

Caballero's record improves to 1-1. Before turning pro, Caballero pitched for Incarnate Word University.

Thursday night's game was similar except this time the Cowboys provided two runs.

With the win, the Cowboys up their season mark to 10-14. They play the Bats again Friday evening, beginning at 7:05 p.m. at Kokernot.

The Cowboys also picked up another new pitcher -- Thomas Meager -- who's expected to pitch later in the series.

The Cowboys also reported that Nacho Ochoa will be back in an Alpine uniform, maybe as soon as tomorrow.

In the Dugout with the Alpine Cowboys: “On the Mound – The Laser”

Editor's note: The Alpine Cowboys return home to Kokernot Field Thursday, beginning at 7:05 p.m., for a four-game series with the Carlsbad Bats.

By Barry Zavah

What does a laser and third year pro, Alpine Cowboys’ starting pitcher, lefty Greg Denton, have in common?  At 180 lbs soaking wet and 6’5” tall, Denton is ‘thin and wiry’ looking by appearance.  But don’t let appearances fool you into thinking he’s not a master of his trade. 

To understand the common elements of a laser and The Laser, we need to understand exactly what a laser is.  “A laser is a device that emits light (electromagnetic radiation) through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission ofphotons.  The emitted laser light is notable for its high degree of spatial and temporal coherence … .  Spatial coherence typically is expressed through the output being a narrow beam … .  Laser beams can be focused to very tiny spots … or they can be launched into a beam of very low divergence in order to concentrate their power at a large distance.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser  Now, we need to understand what it is that makes Greg Denton tick. 

60 feet and 6 inches is the distance between the pitcher’s rubber and home plate.  It may not be quite like bouncing a laser beam off the moon; but it is a considerable distance to throw a hardball and hit spots no larger than the silver metallic lid of the sugar dispenser at Penny’s Diner.  That’s where I spent several hours recently, delving into what motivated a Dallas area, born and bred big city boy, now a 3^rd year professional ballplayer, Greg Denton, find a home on the Alpine Cowboys’ roster and be at home on the mound playing his favorite game.

Denton is called “The Laser” for his on-the-mound proficiency.  Akin to the old religious debate: “faith or works”; its taken a combination of natural ability and “practice, practice, practice”, as he emphasized, to begin to overcome what he’s faced off the diamond.  I’d have called him “The Natural”, but that moniker’s been taken by the Roy Hobbs character in the Robert Redford movie of the same name – likewise having his career side-tracked by adverse circumstances.                    

Denton didn’t take the easiest, most direct route from the locker room at Duncanville High School to dominate on the mound at Kokernot Field.  Self-admitted tomfoolery caused him to be expelled from high school and miss his senior year of baseball and thus, an opportunity to play college ball. 

 “My high school coach was a scout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  I screwed-up and didn’t get seen.  I regret not staying for the 12^th year because a 17-18 year old throwing a ball at 88 mph … ”

Life didn’t get any easier during the recent off-season.  “This past year I took care of my brother who was in an 18-wheeler accident, then he was diagnosed with cancer.  He had chemo and radiation, then was in another 18-wheeler accident and both of us were robbed at gun point (in Dallas).”   

Denton is resilient and still learning life’s difficult lessons. Core attributes include maturity attained from confronting life’s lessons.  It contributes to his on-field performance. 

 “I’d not wish his troubles on a monkey on a rock” as late night CBS talk show host, David Letterman, often opines when discussing someone’s documented troubles.  Amen!  But Greg Denton is moving forward.  I invite you to observe the fruits of his on-going life process and pitching prowess at Kokernot. 

BZ: “How do you hit a target in a catcher’s glove smaller than the lid on the sugar dispenser here at Penny’s?”
GD: “My dad knew; before I could walk, when I threw a toy and hit him in the hand.  Practice, practice, practice.  My high school coach has different spots to hit – inside, outside, in or out – no matter where the glove is, to hit the target.  I’ve been going to him since age 12 – he’s been telling me for 11 years – so I can locate my pitches pretty much when I want to.

BZ: “How are you doing this year?”

GD: “According to my parents, I’ve faced 68 batters and allowed 4 runs, struck-out 17 batters and walked 6 in 18 innings.  My ERA is between 1.85 and 2.45.”

BZ:  “Your stance on the mound is different than most I’ve seen over the years. You keep batters off-balance.  How is that done?”

GD: My coach always told me my eyes are like lasers.  “Do NOT take your eyes of the target.”  I don’t look at anything but the batter.  I throw a 91 mph fastball and 80 mph change-up.  What can you do?  At a count of 3 and 0, I lay it in.  I don’t like to give up walks.”

BZ: In the 1-0 loss against Ruidoso two weeks ago, you did very well.  How did the game appear for you?

GD: “I gave up a run in the 2nd, but started ‘feeling’ my pitches and more confident.  I fell into a groove, keeping batters off balance.  I tip my hat to Ruidoso, but my arm felt great – better than the previous two years without pain and inflammation.”

BZ: “How did you get to pro ball and play for the Alpine Cowboys if you didn’t play college ball?”

GD: “Andrew Dunn wanted me for Las Cruces.  He called me.  I played the previous year for the Kingfish.  I got to Las Cruces and did fairly well.  I played 1 inning, faced 2 batters and (last year) the coach traded me and Justin (Lucero) for two Cowboys.”  [Note: Andrew Dunn is owner of the Las Cruces Vaqueros and now, President of the Pecos League.  The Kingfish were a ‘travel team’ in the former Continental League without a home field.] 

BZ: “Do you want to remain in Alpine or advance to a higher league?” 

GD: “I like coming out to a smaller community.  On the field, it is so nice playing for a small community. I don’t like going back home.  I love playing for this town where fans love the game.  It is nice to have folks wave to you.  Nobody waves to you in Dallas. 

I want to make it to “The Show”.  I’ve a chance to come here and better myself.  I’ve been told: “Greg, you’ve got what it takes to go to the Big Leagues.”  My dad says: “I wouldn’t pay for all the things I do, if you couldn’t.”  My high school pitching coach in Dallas, says: “Greg, keep pitching like this; no doubt you’ll make it to the Bigs.”  A lot of people are saying that and I believe.”

BZ: “What would it take for you to fulfill your goals?”

GD: “In my rebellious stage, I was good enough; but I didn’t get better.  One day, it just clicked, I had to get out of being like everyone else.  The moment I start working-out, I get better.  I need more conditioning and work on my pitches.  I need to focus on things.  I tried out for the Fort Worth Cats three years ago (before playing with the Kingfish) and they thought I should be in college.  I was dominating their batters.  To go higher, its on you.  You want to do it or don’t.  I need to do more of the same things I’m doing now – running 3 to 4 miles a day – so I’m more conditioned to go longer. 

Then, stop smoking cigarettes.  My metabolism is high; but they say if I stop smoking, I’d gain weight and it would increase the speed on my fastball 3 to 4 mph.  Coach Stevens dared me to stop smoking for a month.  I may not be the nicest person then, but … .” 

BZ: “Do I detect you’ve been seduced by our quality of life here?”

GD: “It would be phenomenal if I made it to the big leagues.  You never forget where you started.  It builds confidence to have fans support you.  The Kingfish is where I started but they had an 8 – 52 record and no home town and no fans to support you.  Out here, I’m playing against better hitters and with a winning team – on-top of my good pitching.  I really don’t want to leave here.  It’s better for me; a positive environment and everybody’s so nice.  People hold doors open for you, leaving or entering, at the convenience store.  We’re supported; such as discounts for meals and $20 a month to work-out.”

I love the scenery out here.  They’ve got skyscrapers and of course, land mass in Dallas; but don’t have mountains.  It is so much better in a good environment.  If I made it big, I’d buy a house down here.” 

BZ: “How do you keep up your confidence when things are going bad – particularly when it is of your own doing?”

GD: “The more confident you are on the field with the outcome of the game, it doesn’t matter.  Keep your mind on what you need to do.  Things will go bad.  You can’t be focused on one game.  It hurts – a bad call by an ump, but you’ve got to keep focused. One of my coaches, when I’d get really horrible, he’d say: ‘You’re a phenomenal player, but ‘do not show your underwear’ during a game’. The other team will start messing with your head.”

BZ: “How is your performance affected when, for example, the team has provided you security with all the runs you need?”

GD: “Pitchers don’t like long innings.  I have bands to do stretching to be back where I started.”

BZ: “What is the difference between the game of baseball for a pitcher vs. a positional player and the preparation involved?”

GD: “The pitcher and catcher do the most on-field work with each pitch.  But pitchers … get conditioning in these ‘long-runs’ (training), so we can go later into the game and pitch 88-94 mph.” 

BZ: What is your off-season preparation.  Do you play winter ball?

GD: “I keep up with weights and run – even if not every day.  I’ve got to go home and get a job.  I can’t go without a job or income. If I don’t make it in baseball, I have to have a job.  I earn the money to support myself here and I don’t like playing in the winter.”

BZ: “I’ve noticed a difference in quality and proficiency of the Cowboys early into this year compared to last.  What do you attribute that to?”

GD: “We have better ‘gloves’.  We may not have some of the hitters like last year, “Nacho” and Andrew Riddick.  Some of last years starters aren’t starting.  The folks came straight out of college ball where they were doing the same drills; but now, some are in the second and third year of pro ball.” [Note: Nick “Nacho” Ochoa is with the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League and Andrew Riddick is with the White Sands Pupfish of the Pecos League after a stint in a higher level of independent baseball.]

BZ: “What are your strengths in baseball?”

GD: “Pitching – definitely not hitting.  I just love the game.  Nothing is better than coming out on the diamond, playing with my teammates.  I absolutely love the sport.” 

BZ: “Why baseball?  What about ‘it’ does it for you?”

GD: “My family’s always been in baseball.  My dad and his dad played ball.  Its America’s sport.  I’ve always loved it.  My dad says he “never saw me smile as much with the accomplishment of a win.”  Its phenomenal, to go on the field, pitch a 7 inning game.  At some point, I became good and I’m succeeding in baseball and having fun at it.  I’m hooked on pitching, to go out and dominate like I’ve done.  It’s a good feeling, when you dominate and win games.  It gives you more feeling than you know, this game.”

BZ: “Is there anything you’d like people to know about you, about life, about baseball?”

GD: “Don’t drink and drive!  It’s coming from proof.  And always treat people with respect.  I lost a girlfriend of 21/2 years by not being respectful.  You always want friends, don’t you?  You can always have too many enemies, but not enough friends.”

The Laser is good; very good at what he does.  It was quite evident that Greg’s been taken by the attributes of Alpine-Big Bend life.  Indeed, he enjoys performing in Alpine and loves us, too. 

However, talent like his doesn’t go unnoticed in a game where consistency on the mound is at a premium.  He may have flown under the radar gun; having missed playing college ball as the traditional gateway to the pros. 

This is but one fan’s prediction: “If our wiry lefty makes it through the season before being signed by a higher independent league team, I’ll eat my very next pension check – before it is cashed.”  So we’d better get out to Kokernot, ASAP, and enjoy watching him while good fortune smiles upon us and Greg Denton. 

Meanwhile, stop by my perch high along the 3^rd base side under the covered grandstand and ask: “How ‘bout them Cowboys?”