12/16/2013-The Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs has only been around for three complete seasons but it has already seen its share of great players, coaches, fans and teams.
Here are the best five teams in Pecos League History.
#5 2011 Ruidoso Osos-The Osos were a hard nosed team that had no roster turnover. Baseball definitely was not going to work in Ruidoso at their field with no lights but the players didn't care. 2011 was the only year Ruidoso had a team.
They Osos eliminated Las Cruces from the playoffs, swept White Sands in the first round in games that weren't close. The Osos won the first game in the three game series with Roswell before dropping the next two games.
Jason Hyland carried the Osos in the playoffs with two home runs against Roswell and six rbis. Mike Jackson, Alan Gatz, Andrew Plotkin and Chris Welborn lead the pitching staff. Drew Peterson, Eddie Brown, Joel Carranza and Kip Mausda lead the Osos offense.
This team used less than 30 players all season and had fifty of the most loyal fans the Pecos League had ever seen. The Osos were put together one month before the season with players that other teams traded or didn't want. The team was a unit that no one wanted to play.
#4 2011 Alpine Cowboys-This might have been the best Alpine Team ever and was definitely the best offensive team. The middle of their order had Nacho Ochoa, Andrew Riddick, Austin Newell, Kyle Wells and Javier Arrieta.
The Cowboys had the Invaders beat in a best of three game playoffs before Brian Ramirez hit a fluke home run in the 8th inning that won the series for Roswell.
#3 2011 Roswell Invaders-The Invaders had a dream season, they played the first ever Pecos League Game beating the El Paso Diablos of the American Association 10-7 in Cohen Stadium.
The Invaders also played games against the San Angelo Colts during the season. The Invaders won the regular season title and then won two very tough series with Alpine and Ruidoso. Both series were in Roswell and both series went three games.
2011 was prior to the Pecos League being an elevation league with games being played in low elevations of Roswell and Alpine speed was required to win.
The Invaders had speed with Pecos League MVP Clifton Thomas and Trivon Howard.
The Invaders also had three of the best hitters in the league with Josh Cakebread, Brian Ramirez and Adrian Martinez
The Invaders had the highest number of transactions and went through alot of pitchers, but Chris Paterson pulled the strings together to be the inaugural Pecos League Champions.
#2 2012 Alpine Cowboys-Possibly one of the best pitching staffs in league history lead by Brett Kennedy. Alpine couldn't lose at home. They had a very solid offense lead by Nacho Ochoa.
The Cowboys won the regular season title and both rounds of the playoffs. Ben Ives was the leagues best position player. The Cowboys had no problems with Trinidad in the first round, but needed three games to put Las Cruces away in the finals. The Vaqueros squandered several chances to win game one which would have won the series for them. Alpine has been in the playoffs all three years and been a top team ever year.
#1 2013 Roswell Invaders-The Invaders won 50 games and didn't lose a playoff game. They lead the league in all pitching and defensive categories. This team had a great coaching staff lead by Chris Ebright and had its second baseman and catcher hitting in the middle of the order.
The pitching staff was 8 men deep of solid arms. The offense always got timely hits. The Invaders went 8-1 against the Las Vegas Train Robbers and went 13-5 against the Alpine Cowboys. Those were the two closest teams in standings to the Invaders.
Vinny Mejia was league MVP, Mike McCarthy was playoff MVP, Dallas Burke, Ryan Normoyle, Chad Kruse, Charles Dubanoski, Erick Gaylord and Roger Bernal were everyday players that always good clutch hits.
The Invaders did not steal bases, they had a solid pitching staff lead by Erik Lambe and Ed Kohout. Kohout also was teams best pinch hitter. The Invaders owned Alamogordo going 14-2 against the Fish. Their final record was 50-17 a hard choice not to be the leagues #1 team.
