Tracy Press

The Tracy baseball team took down its crosstown rival to take the Atwater Tournament crown.

The Tracy High baseball team won the championship game Thursday in tournament play in Atwater, and it had to beat crosstown rival West High, 8-1, to do it.

The 49th annual Atwater Winton Lions Club Easter Baseball Tournament gathered eight teams for four days of play at Firemen’s Memorial Ball Park in Atwater.

Tracy pitcher and outfielder B.J. O’Brien was named tournament MVP, based largely on his 11 RBIs. West’s Matt Fontaine was honored as the top pitcher in the tournament, and Tracy’s Stevie Ramos and Vince Canale also made the All-Tournament team.

Tracy stands at 12-2 for the season, and West is 7-6. They will play each other again at Tracy High on Friday in the last preleague game for both teams.

Tracy 8, West 1

In the championship game Thursday night, Tracy starting pitcher Preston Mattos kept the Wolf Pack hitless in four innings and reliever Daniel Heefner allowed only one hit, Tyler Shepherd’s double with two out, in the sixth inning.

West got its only run in the first inning when Riley Goulding got to first on a fielder’s choice, stole second and advanced to third when Ryan Devencenzi struck out but took first base after a dropped third strike. Goulding made it home as Devencenzi stole second and forced a rundown play.

Tracy scored big in the third and fifth innings, with O’Brien going 1-for-3, including a sacrifice fly that scored one in the third and a single to score two more in the fifth. Canale knocked in two of his own, and Bobby Agard, Heefner and Ramos also drove in runs.

West 7, Merced 1

Fontaine pitched his first complete game of the season Wednesday as he limited the Merced Bears to three hits in seven innings.

Only in the fourth inning did a Merced player make it past second base, and Fontaine faced no more than four batters in any other inning.

"It’s a lot easier on me when I have good defense behind me," Fontaine said.

The offense was behind him, too. Goulding got the Wolf Pack started in the three-run first inning with a double, then hit a triple into left field in the third to drive in C.J. Parilla and Josh Thomassen. Anthony Salsedo drove in a run in the second inning, and Devencenzi stole home on a wild pitch in the fourth.

The Bears got their run in the fourth inning, when Tynan Pedretti hit a long ball into the ivy on the left-field fence at Memorial Ball Park and sped around for a triple. He scored on a base hit by the next batter, who also made it around the bases. But the West defense tagged him out in a rundown between third base and home.

Tracy 14, Atwater 2

On Wednesday, Tracy scored in every inning but the third and finished the game with a five-run rally in the sixth to force the 10-run mercy rule. Pitchers Josh Frea and Chris Burgess kept the Falcons to four hits.

Bulldogs throughout the Tracy lineup contributed hits and RBIs, with O’Brien and Jacob Valdez as the RBI leaders with three each. O’Brien drove in two in the first inning to establish Tracy’s lead, plus another in the sixth. Valdez hit a sacrifice fly to left in the second and a shot to deep right-center in the fifth, where he was tagged out as he tried to stretch a double into a triple.

The Falcons looked as if they might get off to a strong start when Austin Aragon hit a solo homer over the left-field fence in the first inning, but it was only one of two hits that Tracy’s starting pitcher Frea would allow.

"He did a nice job of controlling the game," coach Vic Alkire said.

Burgess allowed a double in the sixth, and that runner eventually scored, but he also logged three strikeouts in two innings and also allowed only two hits.

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