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Wednesday, April 18, 2001
Alice rocks Calallen
Coyotes cruis to 7-0 victory
By George Vondracek
Caller-Times
At the minimum, it is interesting. At the extreme, it is crazy.
Welcome to the new District 31-4A baseball race. Part of the old guard remains perched atop the standings, but there are rumblings below.
Alice High School added to the shaking Tuesday night, shutting out defending state champion Calallen, 7-0, on the Wildcats' diamond. The win keeps the Coyotes (5-2, 16-9) a game behind front-running Robstown, which lost to Alice last Thursday, 3-1.
Behind them is a pack of three 3-4 teams - Calallen (19-8 overall), Flour Bluff and Tuloso-Midway - with three games to play. T-M already owns a win over Alice, which hosts the Warriors Friday night. But the Bluff is back in the hunt after beating T-M on Tuesday.
"You've got to take every opponent seriously,"' said Alice first baseman R.E. Ramirez, who had three of Alice's seven hits. "Coach was telling us in the last decade, teams from our district have represented us at state.''
The Coyotes - two-time defending Region IV-4A finalists behind the Wildcats - received a fine 1-2 pitching effort from senior J.F. Trejo and sophomore Luis Guerra, who combined on the four-hitter. Trejo (5-1) scattered three hits in four-plus innings of work and Guerra fanned half of the 10 batters he faced, allowing one hit.
"First of all, we had to come in here and play good defense and have our pitchers get ready for the first inning so they didn't jump out quick,'' said Alice coach Victor Escamilla, whose Coyotes swept the two-game district series against the Wildcats. "J.F. did a good job. He got a little tired there in the fifth. Guerra, I guess he didn't know what pressure is.''
Alice got the only run it would need in the first off Wildcats freshman Jordan Chambless (5-1). Charlie Forbes' run-scoring grounder produced a 1-0 lead, and the Coyotes extended it to 2-0 in the second on a wild pitch.
Alice broke it open in the third, scoring four runs on a bases-loaded walk to Andy Anzaldua and a three-run throwing error by Calallen for a 6-0 lead. Raul Guerra, who also had two hits, delivered an RBI double in the fifth that chased Chambless for reliever Justin Voekel.
"It makes the race a little crazy,'' Ramirez said. "You've just got to do the job. We've got T-M Friday and they beat us the first time."
Separated from the field at the opposite end for the first time in years, Calallen coach Steve Chapman couldn't recall the last district shutout loss, let alone one that came on the Wildcats' home diamond.
"The only thing I recall is the last game at hand, and we didn't hit the ball at all tonight,'' Chapman said.
Sound defense bolstered the Coyotes all game, including stellar fielding from Trejo, second baseman Nick Garcia, Ramirez and third baseman Adrian Salinas. The Wildcats threatened only twice. An Alice double play thwarted a first-and-third situation in the first and a fielder's choice spoiled a bases-loaded scenario in the third.
"We've got a chance,'' Chapman said of his Wildcats' postseason hopes, "but we've got to play harder. I've always commended the kids for playing hard. We have to play much harder.''
Alice 7, Calallen 0
Alice 114 010 0-7 7 1
Calallen 000 000 0-0 4 2
J.F. Trejo, Luis Guerra (5) and Pepe Cisneros. Jordan Chambless, Justin Voekel (5) and Josh Coe. W - Trejo (5-1). L - Chambless (5-1). Records - Alice 5-2 district, 16-9 overall; Calallen 3-4, 19-8.
Highlights - Alice, Manny Maldonado 2B, R; Charlie Forbes RBI, 2R; R.E. Ramirez 3-4; Raul Guerra 2-4, 3B, RBI; Andy Anzaldua RBI; Guerra 5Ks. Calallen, Chambless 9Ks.
Contact George Vondracek at 886-3731 or vondracekg@caller.com
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© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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