Caballero closed the game

for the Cowboys with two hits,

a single run and two strikeouts

for the win.

The Cowboys ended the

series Sunday evening with a

5-4 victory. Alpine got on the

board in the first inning when a

double from Hicks brought

home Fox.

The score stayed at 1-0 until

the top of the third inning when

Trinidad tied the game. The

Cowboys answered with two

runs of their own in the bottom

of the inning.

Hicks again stepped up to the

plate for the Cowboys, hitting a

homerun that brought home

McDavid to bring the score to

3-1.

The Triggers earned an unan-

swered run in the sixth inning

along with two runs at the top

of the seventh inning to put

them ahead 4-3.

Eric Garcia scored off of a

double from Kevin Hennessey

in the bottom of the seventh to

tie the game going in to the

eighth inning.

Trinidad’s failure to score

combined with an Alpine run

from Fox (again, thanks to

Hicks) put the Cowboys up 5-4,

giving them the lead they need-

ed for the win and series

sweep.

The Cowboys begin a four-

game series against the White

Sands Pupfish at Kokernot

Field Tuesday with a 7-4 win.

The series will conclude Friday

afternoon.

Starting Saturday, June 16,

the Cowboys will be on an

eight-game, nine-day road

series against the Pupfish and

the Roswell Invaders before

returning home to face the

Triggers again on June 26.

www.alpineavalanche.comPage B2 Alpine Avalanche Thursday, June 14, 2012

Dear Neil: Why would flower buds fall from my althaea bush? Each year, for the three years that I’ve had it, we’ve had many buds, but most fall off just before they would normally open.

It’s very common for many mem-bers of the hibiscus clan to abort buds before they open. They tend to produce copious quantities of buds/flowers per plant. As you know, almost all hibiscus relatives are warm-weather plants, meaning they grow and bloom in the summer. In fact, many types are actually tropical. Althaeas, however, are actually better suited to the Midwest. They can handle sub-zero winter temperatures bet-ter than they can handle temperatures in excess of 90 degrees in the summer. In living in Texas almost all of my life (except for six years in Ohio), I’ve observed that most althaeas here drop buds just as you’ve described when moderate spring tempera-tures take the wild swing toward high sum-mer temperatures about the time they’re try-ing to bloom. That certainly happened this year. Years when May has been compara-tively cool and moist, bud count remained better. The best things you can do to reduce the bud drop will be to maintain uniform moisture around your plant’s roots, mulch it fairly deeply (2 inches), and avoid high-ni-trogen fertilizers in May, just to keep from over-taxing the plant’s ability to process the nutrients and grow at the same time it’s try-ing to flower.

Dear Neil: I recently saw a watering wand that “oxygenates the water.” Supposedly, it helps plants grow 30 percent better. Fact or fantasy?

I have not used the product, but I used the brand name you supplied and looked at its website. Having spent 10 minutes scanning through the site, I saw many pages of claims and statements, even some comparative pho-tos using the product and not using the prod-uct. The acid test, however, as far as I am concerned when I am accepting or declining

an advertiser for my radio programs and other advertising, is whether there is bona fide and repeatable research data from a wholly indepen-dent laboratory — preferably one of America’s many fine Land Grant (agriculture) universities. As far as I could see, this product offered no

such validation. In fact, it’s not even a U.S. product. Oxygen is undeniably critical to plants’ root growth, but you can provide oxygen to your plants roots the good, old-fashioned way by (a.) giving them the best possible soil preparation prior to planting, (b.) planting in raised beds that have been elevated by 3 or 4 inches if waterlogged soils are a concern in your area and (c.) by water-ing carefully. Based on what I saw on the website, I would not accept this product for advertising with which I was involved, nor do I plan to buy it. Texas has, I feel, very lax laws on claims that can be made without validation. As a result, we’ve ended up with quite an array of unusual products that may or may not do much for our landscapes and gardens. Always look for the repeatable research from a recognized university. Good companies are willing to pay for that infor-mation before they release new products.

Dear Neil: Why would our 5-year-old pomegranate tree fail to set fruit? It blooms nicely, but the flowers drop without setting fruit.

It’s possible you bought an ornamental type of pomegranate. They do exist, because there are landscapers who prefer their fuller, showi-er double flowers, and who don’t want the fruit to form anyway. If you have the variety ‘Wonderful’ or another fruiting type, the best suggestion would be to keep it watered uni-formly and mulch it well, similar to the althaea that’s aborting buds (see above).

Have a question you’d like Neil to consider? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually.

Neil Sperry

301 N. 5th • Alpine • 837-2061 • www.morrisonhardware.com

JUNE

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AvalancheAlpine Serving the Big Bend and Davis Mountains Country since 1891

www.AlpineAvalanche.com

Sully athlete receives post-season

honorsSpecial to the Avalanche

Sul Ross first baseman Brian

Mata (El Paso/ Andress)

received recognition from the

American Baseball Coaches

Association in the NCAA

Division III West Region,

claiming a spot on the ABCA

West Region Gold Glove

Team.

In 2012, Mata led the Lobos

with 36 RBIs while batting

.331 with 44 hits and 22 runs

scored.

In 39 games, Mata made

only two errors while record-

ing 307 putouts and turning 37

double plays.

Mata was named to the 2012

ASC All-Conference West

Division Team earning

Honorable Mention honors.

Mata

COWBOYSFrom B1

Snapshots from Saturday’s 7-on-7 tournament

Avalanche photos by John Dilmore

2ND GRADE "A" HONOR ROLLChristian ArmendarezJoslyn Bejarano-CobosJayden CanabaJake CrumpNatalie GarciaHonora HilleryAlex HinojosKadence LundebyMcKenna MartinDominique MoralesAiden MorrisseyNicole Paulin-RojanoBrianna RamirezLilianna TerrazasElizabeth UrangaLisa Valenzuela

3RD GRADE "A" HONOR ROLLDanni AkersSydney AndersonCarson BallardBlake BillingsTristan CarlBrady CrumpEmily DaywittTaylor GageAdrien GarciaEsteban Gerena-MarcanoJuan GonzalesAslynn PortilloEsteban RamosOmar ReyesAndre RodriguezMadison SepulvedaAndres UrangaElyss ValenzuelaAllen Vargas

4TH GRADE "A" HONOR ROLLJacob DominguezMatthew FieldsKacen GrovesPharaoh HallVictoria LancasterYebo MoyoKristal Paulin-RojanoElena RamirezHannah Rasmussen

Mary-Anna RobertsTravis RuckmanDarren RuizDrue SlaterDariel SolisNayeli SotoJorey SpencerEthan ValenciaJayme Valles

2ND GRADE "A-B" HONOR ROLLIsaac AvilaGarrett BentleyElena CantuChloe CordovaAnaliese DeLeonJeremy DominguezDevin DoughtyRodrigo FernandezShaun FosterKylie GarciaAndrew GonzalesRyan GoochLanyana HernandezIsabela HolguinKimberly LaraEmmanuel LopezBella LozanoRueben MendozaMateo MirandaDavid NavarretteFrancisco OntiverosChristopher RiberaAndrew RodriguezRyelynn SkeltonBrendan SmithFernanda Valenzuela

3RD GRADE "A-B" HONOR ROLLZaydrien AlanizRiley ArndtCameron BarrigaNora CarrascoMaxwell CliftRosalinda De La FuenteFabian EquihuaSeth FieldsJustyce FoleyFrida GallegosAissa Garcia

Ranae GarciaCody GomezD’Angelo GonzalesSteven HoustonZahara LatsonAnthony MaciasHarley MilderDylan MurrellAlex NateraIsaiah NunezSteven OlazabaDerek OntiverosJenna ReyesBrandon RiceJovanna RiveraRobert SanchezSujei SanchezGeorge SmithChristian TeagueNaomi VegaDiego Vega TorresAimee White

4TH GRADE "A-B" HONOR ROLLRodolfo BaezaFisher BakerCyani BrownLoreyna CardozaLisa CarmonaVictoria CarrascoIsaiah CarrilloTrevor ConnAshley CyrAmber EscovedoTristan GriffinDeshawn HarmonChristian HernandezElisette Hinojos GarciaAaron LaraBahati LatsonKevin MillerNeida MoralesMikayela MorrowAlexandro MucharrazSara RamosNoah SawyerDominic SmithSamuel StairAsher ThornApril Watley

Alpine E lementary Schoo lHonor Roll • 6th Six Weeks • 2012

MONICA WOODALL906 E. HOLLAND AVE. • (NEXT TO BEALLS)

ALPINE, TX 79830

432-837-5631LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR

STATE FARM IS THERE.

Alpine Elementary School Honor Roll List was brought to you by:

Way to go on a tremendous 3rd Six Weeks!

www.MonicaWoodall.com

Have A Great Summer Vacation!

Alan King, Owner,607 East Avenue E

Alpine432-837-7205

Cell 432-940-2627KingJewelers@BigBend.net |KingJewelers.Blogspot.com

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