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The Alpine Cowboys are a professional baseball team based
in Alpine, Texas, in the Big Bend region of West Texas. The
Cowboys are a franchise of the Pecos League, which is not
affiliated with Major or Minor League Baseball. They play their
home games at historic Kokernot Field, a 1,200 seat stone and
wrought-iron replica of Chicago's Wrigley Field that dates from
1948.
In 1946, Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr., son of Texas cattle rancher
and entrepreneur Herbert L. Kokernot, retooled the semi-
professional baseball team the Alpine Cats into the Alpine
Cowboys. While semi-professional teams were not uncommon
in Texas at the time, the Alpine Cowboys had the unusual
benefit of a brand new stadium, Kokernot Field, opened for
them in 1947. Constructed at a cost of $1,500,000.00, the
elaborately decorated stadium included imported infield dirt
shipped by train from Georgia. The Alpine Cowboys used the
stadium as home base from 1947 through 1958, during which
time they took a dozen titles in the regional and were runners
up for a national championship. In addition to supporting the
team and the region with a state of the art stadium, Kokernot
also actively supported athletes in Alpine and elsewhere,
bringing promising high school graduates onto the roster of the
team and offering college scholarships to players throughout
the southwest.
In a 2007 article, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram described the
team as "one of the state's finest semiprofessional teams".
The team launched a number of baseball professional,
including two Hall of Fame inductees. Among them was coach
Tom Chandler. Team members included Gaylord Perry and
Norm Cash.
2010: The Big Bend Cowboys of the Continental League won
the Ferguson Jenkins league Championship trophy in its final
season defeating the Las Cruces Vaqueros 2 games to 1. The
Big Bend Cowboys finished with a 35-15 record and had 1st
Baseman Corey O'Neil win the 2010 CBL League MVP, along
with 1B/DH Nick "Nacho" Ochoa taking the 2010 CBL
Offensive Player of the Year and Championship Series MVP
Award. The legacy continues in 2011 with the Non-Profit
community driven Alpine Cowboys....
2011: The Alpine Cowboys lost in the Pecos League Semi-
Finals to eventual champion Roswell Invaders 2 to 1 in the
best of 3 series. The Cowboys finished with a 37-31 regular
season record(25-15 Home Record) and defeated the Houston
Apollos in the 7-3 Del Rio,TX exhibition game on July 11th as
well. The 06 Cowboys boasted 8 Pecos League All-Stars
including Javier Arrieta(Utility), James Kono(SS), Kyle
Wells(Catcher), David Valesente(3rd), Nick "Nacho"
Ochoa(1B), Alfredo Caballero(P), Scott Shimek(P), Tyler
Hicks(CF) and Reed Alfieri(P). Alfredo Caballero was named
2011 Pecos League Pitcher of the Year, and Catcher Kyle
Wells finished Top 3 in the Pecos League MVP Voting.
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