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Sports Column by Rey Sifuentes Jr.
(The following column is the sole opinion of the writer.)
Okay. So here are two separate situations that (in my opinion) should have the same result.
Exhibit A, almost two weeks ago – Eagle Pass and San Benito High School’s softball teams meet for game one of their best of three region playoff series in Laredo.
Heavy weather – which no one can control – halts the game in the sixth inning with San Benito ahead 2-0.
The chief umpire later declares the score final – giving San Benito a 1-0 series lead – and instructs everyone to come back the following day.
Arriving for game two on Saturday, both teams find out that their best of three series is now only a one-game winner advances playoff, and that both teams need to finish out the remaining one and a third inning.
San Benito holds on for the win and moves on in the postseason.
EPISD players, coaches, family and administrators protest the surprise change in the playoff format (rightfully so in my opinion) and attorneys for the district later file an injunction against the University Interscholastic League.
The injunction gets dismissed by a court in Travis County (Austin) on Friday.
Long story short: Bye Bye Lady Eagles.
Stay with me here.
Exhibit B, last Friday – Eagle Pass and Mission Sharyland’s baseball teams meet for a region playoff in San Antonio.
This is in a one game winner take all contest.
Both teams slug it out, needing to play eight innings, and the Eagles edge the Rattlers (ranked number two in the state, third in some national polls) 10-9.
Sharyland, a few days ago, filed an incident report with UIL over how EPHS’s coaching staff selected the umpires for the game – according to a recent story in RGV Sports.com.
The Rattlers’ coaches (who lost the flips that decided the playoff format and its location) are arguing that they had an agreement with EPHS’s staff that they would first go through UIL, which would then pick four umpires from the San Antonio chapter.
EPHS’s staff, allegedly, instead went straight to the San Antonio chapter and hand-picked the game’s umpires.
Sharyland brass also claims that it has requested documentation from EPISD officials, but that those transactions have not taken place.
Regardless, now that the game has been ruled final, the ink has gone dry in the books, and the postseason must go on.
Long story short: Bye Bye Sharyland Rattlers.
Does Sharyland have a right to be upset?
Yes, of course, their season is over and a team that on paper had a legitimate shot at winning a state title will instead be watching the rest of the playoffs.
Should Eagle Pass apologize? For what?
Until EPISD’s coaches have been proven to have done something wrong, everyone needs to accept the final results from last week’s game, and the Eagles need to stay focused on San Antonio LBJ (whom they host in game one of their region semifinal series at 7:30 p.m. on Friday).
Because if EPHS - for whatever reason – is forced to replay its game against Sharyland, then the Lady Eagles’ season should also be revived.
(Rey Sifuentes Jr. is the sports editor of the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune which is located in East Texas. He is also a 1992 graduate of Eagle Pass High School. Sifuentes can be reached on Facebook and at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You can also follow him through Twitter at @eaglesmavericks.)
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Your Eagle Pass Eagles will get to play their exciting Game 1 matchup in the 2013 Region IV Semi-Finals against the Ladybird Johnson Jaguars right here before their fans in what is sure to be a packed and loud EPISD Baseball Complex on Friday.
Manager Reynol Mendoza informed The News Gram that arrangements have been finalized to bring home a playoff game against the Jags who have just come off from slaying the giant named the Churchill Chargers, the number one team in San Antonio.
"I think they're as shocked as everyone is to be here, as neither they nor anyone else expected us to be here," stated Mendoza, "Our kids are excited, a little in disbelief and may not know what to expect, but I thought they deserve a playoff game in front of their home crowd, they've earned that right."
Mendoza went on to confirm the two game series, Game 1 in Eagle Pass and Game 2 on Saturday at Blossom Field on Jones Maltzberger at Johnson High School at 3:00 P.M. and Game 3 thirty minutes following Game 2 if necessary.
Johnson, the third place team in District 26 where Churchill came in first much like the situation with United having to play Alexander last week. The Chargers made twelve errors in two games against Johnson in two 6-4 ballgames. The Jaguars are peaking at the right time just as the Eagles who knocked off perennial powerhouse Mission Sharyland 10-9 on Friday in a game for the ages.
"They're a good hitting team, swinging the bats well, have lots of speed, but their strength is their pitching," added Mendoza, "They're not overpowering, but effective with off-speed pitches."
The Jaguars are coming off of eliminating San Marcos, Steele and Churchill. The Eagles defeated La Joya, Edinburgh North and Mission Sharyland to get to this point.
The scene is set, Friday Night Lights at the EPISD Baseball Complex, now all that's left to do is wear your Burnt Orange and White proudly, be there, be early, but by all means BE LOUD!!!
By Rey Sifuentes Jr.
The 2013-2014 school year could be C.C. Winn High School’s last as a 5A campus.
Mavericks head football coach Eric Z. Villasenor made a presentation before the brass of Eagle Pass Independent School District - during a meeting held on Tuesday night - in which he proposed allowing C.C. Winn to be reclassified as a 4A in about eight months from now.
“I received a very positive vibe from the school board, our superintendent, our assistant superintendent, our athletic director and our principal,” Villasenor said about his presentation.
Villasenor pointed at his campus’ total number of students as the main reason for his proposal.
“Our enrollment has been decreasing throughout the years,” Villasenor said. “The other schools we have been playing, meanwhile, have seen their enrollments increase. So we are now facing schools that have double the number of students that we do. Schools like Laredo United and Alexander have about 3,800 to 4,100 students.”
CCWN’s boys and girls athletic teams have been competing lately against opponents whose enrollments are twice as large.
“These are schools with enough numbers to field multiple freshmen teams, a possible sophomore team, or even two junior varsity teams,” Villasenor said. “All of those kids are being groomed to perform at the varsity level and their coaches have plenty of kids to choose from. I just feel that it is a daunting task for us when our enrollment is at 1,886.”
Villasenor said that C.C. Winn has the numbers to qualify it as a 4A when the University Interscholastic League does its biannual statewide athletic district realignment on February 1, 2014.
“According to the enrollment we have now, we are eligible to move to 4A,” Villasenor said. “We anticipate a possible peak enrollment of about 1,960 next year, which would still qualify us for the 4A classification.”
Before redrawing every athletic zone in Texas, U.I.L. will first send out paperwork to every campus. That is when C.C. Winn can request a move to 4A.
Schools have the opportunity to option up one classification – a campus with 4A numbers can request to be in 5A instead – but Villasenor said his campus will not.
“What is going to happen when we get our documents from U.I.L., before the next realignment, is that we are not going to option up (request) to be in 5A,” Villasenor said. “So we will then see if and where U.I.L. places us in 4A, what district we will land in. That is where the guessing game comes in, scenarios are drawn up based on geographic location, proximity and enrollment. U.I.L. usually tries to place you with other schools whose enrollments are about the same as yours.”
In addition, Villasenor said there are plenty of 4A’s close by.
“The 4A schools nearby that have enrollments similar to ours include Uvalde, Medina Valley, Laredo Martin, Laredo Cigarroa, Laredo Nixon, San Antonio Southside, and possibly Floresville,” Villasenor said. “All of those schools carry a 4A enrollment, so I could see us being extremely competitive against them. I am looking forward to our potential new classification. It is always nice to face new competition.”
Until then, the Mavericks still have one more athletic campaign in 5A.
CCWN’s football team is currently in its first offseason with Villasenor (previously an offensive coordinator for Eagle Pass High School ) as the head coach.
Entering his first ever year as a head coach, Villasenor said he and his team are only focusing on game one of their 2013 schedule, and not looking ahead.
“Our goal right now is just to win the first game,” Villasenor said. “You would like an opening season victory to generate something positive, which can become contagious. But right now we are just concentrating on starting out 1-0 and the Uvalde Coyotes (on August 30).”
(Rey Sifuentes Jr. is the sports editor of the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune which is located in East Texas. He is also a 1992 graduate of Eagle Pass High School. Sifuentes can be reached on Facebook and at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You can also follow him through Twitter at @eaglesmavericks.)