Cowboys Earn Top Pecos League Honors

On the night the Cowboys clinched first place and a regular season title in the Pecos League, Alpine also came up big in the league awards.  Ryan Stevens was named the 2012 Pecos League manager of the year, and Cowboys ace Brett Kennedy was named 2012 Pecos League Pitcher of the Year.

In his third year managing the Cowboys, Stevens lead the team to a league best record at 44-24.  “I’ve been in pro-ball for a while, and I’ve won a championship, but I’ve never been named the Manger of the year in a league.  It’s a great honor.”

Stevens has moved a handful of players up to higher leagues already, this season, including Andrew Wall, who recently signed with the Washington Nationals organization.

Stevens also recorded his 100^th career victory as a manager in professional baseball this season.  He is 108-67 (.617) in his career.

Kennedy, a right-handed pitcher from Atlanta, Georgia, won the award for the league’s top pitcher, as a rookie.  “I’m really honored,” Kennedy said, “It’s taken a lot of hard work throughout my career to get to this point, and I've had a great group of teammates, family, and friends around me this year to help me make it happen.”

Kennedy is 6-2, and leads the Pecos League in earned run average at 2.47, which is over an entire run lower than the next closest hurler.  Kennedy also has 69 strikeouts on the season, just one off of the pace in the league.

Steve Rinaudo, outfielder for the Las Cruces Vaqueros, was named the league’s most valuable player.  Rinaudo ranks sixth in the league in hitting with a .393 average, fourth in home runs, and leads Pecos League hitters with 85 runs batted in.  Additionally, Rinaudo has 22 stolen bases, which is good for fourth in the league.  Rinado went five-for-six with a double, two triples, and three runs batted in a recent game verse the Cowboys.

Both Stevens and Kennedy expressed similar sentiments regarding things moving forward.  “I’m thrilled to have won the award, but my goal, and the team’s goal, from the start of the season has been to bring a championship back to Alpine” Stevens said.

The playoffs begin on Thursday at Kokernot Park, with the Cowboys hosting the fourth seeded Trinidad Triggers.  Kennedy will take the mound in game one, for Alpine.

Invaders' Short signs with Yankees

 Roswell Invaders closer Charley Short was signed by the New York Yankees organization, announced last night.  Short had been nothing shy of dominant this season in the Pecos League.  The Barry University alum had an 0.60 ERA in 15 innings with 28 strikeouts and was six-for-six in save opportunities for Roswell.

Short will not be missed by the Cowboys, who were batting .055 (1/18) in four games against him.  The lone hit against him was an infield single by Justin McDavid, and Short had struck out 12 Alpine batters without allowing a walk.

One of Roswell’s strengths is their bullpen.  Simon Walters may look to Dakota Luefenburg or Brandon Godfrey to assume the ninth inning role.

The Return of Nacho

            Nick “Nacho” Ochoa made his highly anticipated return to the Alpine Cowboys last night as he was in the starting lineup at DH and batted fifth for the Cowboys against the Trinidad Triggers. 

Nacho is no stranger to the Cowboys or Kokernot Field as he spent the 2011 season with the team and hit .394 with five home runs and 24 RBI’s while spending much of the season as the team’s first baseman. 

 Ochoa spent the beginning of the 2012 season with the Abilene Prairie Dogs of the North American Independent League before deciding he wanted to return to the Cowboys for one last championship run.

Cowboys manager Ryan Stevens knows just how important Ochoa can be to a lineup and immediately jumped at the opportunity to bring him back to the place where his professional career first began.

“Nacho has always been a fan favorite, he is an original Cowboy, a power hitter.  He brings a swagger to the game and is definitely a force to be reckoned with,” said Cowboys manger Ryan Stevens.

Ochoa could prove to be an important pickup for the Cowboys, who have yet to have someone grab ahold of the starting first base job.  While the team as a whole rarely lacks the ability to score runs or hit for power, adding depth this late in the season can only have a positive impact on the team. 

As for Nacho himself, he is looking for his career to come full circle as he is planning his retirement following the season.

“Honestly I just came back here to retire,” said Ochoa.  “I played my first three years of professional ball here so this is home to me.  I came back to play my last year here and hopefully win us a championship.”

Since the news broke about Nacho coming back to the Cowboys, there has been a lot of positive reaction in the community and Nacho couldn’t be more thrilled to hear that the city of Alpine and the surrounding area is taking him back with open arms.

“The community has always been behind me since I first got here, it means the world to me,” said Ochoa.  “They have watched me grow up from a 21 year old kid to where I am at now and I couldn’t be happier to be back.” 

Nationals Sign A. Wall

On Wednesday, the Washington Nationals purchased the contract of Cowboys left-handed pitcher Andrew Wall.  Wall, a reliever, has been assigned to the Nationals short-season single-A affiliate, the Auburn Doubledays.

Wall had been one of the most dependable arms out of the bullpen all season, with a 2.70 earned run average over 22 appearances, and a near three-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio.  He was used as both a match-up lefty and a late inning reliever out of the Cowboys bullpen.  The 23-year-old rookie showed terrific development over the course of the season, as he proved he was able to get both right and left-handed batters out, and his fastball velocity increased into the low 90s. 

Photo Credit: Stephanie Ballard, Ballard Photography

“A. Wall’s been throwing really well,” Cowboys Manger Ryan Stevens said of his now former player, “He’s a power pitcher, and he’s a power lefty arm coming out of the pen.  There aren’t too many guys like him.”

Wall, who hails from Newfield, New York, and played his college ball at Ithaca College, will be right in his backyard with Auburn in upstate New York for the rest of the season. “It’s surreal,” Wall said, “Being only an hour away from home, it’s unbelievable.  It’ll be nice to have family there and friends there.”

In the short two-year history of the Pecos League, four players have made the jump to Major League Baseball affiliated teams, three of which have now come from the Cowboys.  Ryan Stevens is quickly garnering a reputation as one of the best managers around independent baseball, especially pertaining to his ability to move players up to higher levels.

“I try to find the best all around players that might have been overlooked.  We want to get them in the system and teach them ‘the Cowboy way.’

“It’s more than just [their skill] on the field, though.  We want guys who have good character and strong work ethic.  From there, we just try to give them the best opportunity to succeed.”

Two of Stevens’ 2011 Cowboys, David Valesente and Jon Edwards, are currently playing in single-A, for the Pirates and Rangers organizations, respectively.  Both signed affiliated contracts this past winter.

Wall looks forward to another new opportunity.  “Coming out of college, [signing with an afilliated team] wasn’t really something I saw in my future, but having the opportunity to play with a great group of guys, a great organization, and a great coach,” Wall said, “everything fell into place.”