The time has come to say goodbye to the old blog address, folks! My archive of posts will remain here for anyone who wants to reminisce on the, “Good ol’ days.”
Brighter times are ahead, however, at the new address! Check it out at http://social.lmtonline.com/blogs/bordertownsports/ for all the video, story teases and left-on-the-cutting-room-floor content your heart desires.
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The Amarillo Sox’s defense made a number of incredible, run-saving plays to keep the Laredo Lemurs off the scoreboard in Amarillo’s 3-0 victory over Laredo (23-30) on Saturday night at Uni-Trade Stadium.
“It’s tough. It’s discouraging for the guys, especially the hitters,” said Lemurs pitching coach Billy Bryck, “Thomas Incaviglia works really hard with these hitters, doing early work with them every day, working on their swings and today the guys were just hitting balls right at guys. It’s just one of those days.”
The loss was Laredo’s the third shutout suffered this season, and its second in as many nights to the Sox (30-25). The Lemurs are scoreless in their last 23 innings.
“It’s tough after getting shutout, getting shutout today and yesterday having a tough one as well,” Bryck said.
The rest of this story can be found in Sunday’s edition of the Laredo Morning Times.
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Below is an excerpt from my story about the introduction of coach Gilbert Cardenas as the Alexander’s new girls’ basketball coach. The rest of the story can be found in Friday’s edition of the Laredo Morning Times.
After 11 years of wandering the assistant coach ranks, Gilbert Cardenas’ first stint as a head coach takes him full-circle back to where it all began.
Cardenas played high school basketball for Alexander and graduated from the school in 1997.
“As a coach, you always want to go back home a bit to where you’re from,” he said. “It’s surreal.”
Cardenas’ career path is lined with familiar faces and familiar places.
After graduating Texas A&M International University with a Bachelor of Arts in 2000, Cardenas began his career as a teacher.
He got his first shot at the coaching ranks in 2003 when United’s head basketball coach at the time, Bobby Cruz, hired him and another unknown Laredoan, Kaleb Canales — current interim head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA — to his first boys’ basketball staff at United.
Nine years later, Cruz is the UISD athletic director and led the search process that again gave Cardenas his first job at a new level of coaching.
“Gil has been with us a long time,” Cruz said. “This is his 11th year with UISD, and he’s been with three different programs and all have been successful and he was a big part of those programs. He had the right experience with boys and girls and the committee felt he had a lot of passion, fire and enthusiasm.
“There are no secrets in basketball, no secrets in coaching. It’s about who gets the best out of their kids and who has them play well and play hard and play together. The committee and our principal felt like coach Cardenas was a good fit for our squad.”
Brimming with energy and full of confidence, Cardenas is exactly where he wants to be.
He thanked Cruz, the former coaches he worked with and the UISD administration that hired him for rolling the dice on him.
Yet, as far as they’re concerned, the hiring of Cardenas was no a gamble at all. No one who knows him is betting against him.
“He’s going to go 100 percent to make sure the girls are ready and make sure the girls have everything they need to continue to have that program on top,” said Alexander boys’ basketball coach Luis Valdez, Cardenas’ boss of the last year. “The girls will really love it.”
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Want to read a tease and see my video report about the Laredo Roses’ search for a field to call come? Check out the new blog I’m transitioning to at: http://social.lmtonline.com/blogs/bordertownsports/
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It was close but no cigar for the Laredo Lemurs on Monday when they took the American Association’s No. 1 team, the Grand Prairie AirHogs, to extra innings in a 2-1, 10-inning loss at Uni-Trade Stadium.
When the AirHogs (36-14) and Lemurs (21-27) advanced to extra innings after being deadlocked at one since the second inning, it looked like the South Division rivals were bunkering down for the long haul.
That was before Grand Prairie’s Trent Lockwood dug in at the plate.
Leading off the 10th inning for the AirHogs, Lockwood needed only a single swing to send the ball flying over the left field wall, giving his team a 2-1 lead.
Desperate for a response in the bottom of the 10th, Laredo’s first two batters struck out swinging. When Jimmy Mojica got on base with a single to center field, the game fell on the shoulders of Stephen Douglas, a former Grand Prairie record-setter. Douglas filled the count but couldn’t put the bat to the ball, striking out swinging to end the game.
“You hate to lose games 2-1,” said Lemurs pitching coach Billy Bryk. “I say I’d rather lose a game by 10, though that’s horrible, it’s losing the one-run ballgames that are hard to swallow.”
To read more on the Lemurs’ extra-inning loss, check out Tuesday’s edition of the Laredo Morning Times.
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The Laredo Lemurs were credited with only a single error, but committed several costly mistakes in an 8-2 loss to the first-place Grand Prairie AirHogs (34-13) at Uni-Trade Stadium on Saturday night.
Several innings were extended when easy outs were missed by Laredo (20-26), much to the chagrin of its fan base.
The home crowd booed its team several times, frustrated by the seemingly lazy play of the Lemurs.
The most costly mistake came in the fourth inning when a routine fielder’s choice to first base missed its mark and opened the door for two AirHogs to score.
The mistake, which went down as Laredo’s only official error in the game, put the Lemurs in a 4-1 hole.
Prior to that, the home team had been keeping pace with the AirHogs — both teams scored a run apiece in the third inning — but afterward, Laredo wouldn’t threaten Grand Prairie’s lead again.
The AirHogs scored four runs in a busy eighth inning, one of which came when Grand Prairie’s Brian Myrov scored on a wild pitch from Laredo’s Robert Romero, putting the game to bed.
To read the rest of this story, including information on the Lemurs’ recent trades, check out Sunday’s edition of the Laredo Morning Times.
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Howdy folks, it’s moving time!
Over the next couple weeks I’ll be transitioning from this website to a new address for my blog at: http://social.lmtonline.com/blogs/bordertownsports/
Posts will appear on both sites during this transition period, but by the end of the next two weeks I’ll only be posting at the new address. I won’t be able to bring my archive with me (sadly!) so hold onto this website if you want to check out any of my older posts. If you have a subscription, please subscribe to the new site to be kept up to date on my blogging activities.
Hope everyone’s staying cool this summer!
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