Tracy Press

 
West, Tracy win first two of league play

West High’s Rico Martinez reaches down to make contact with a pitch during an at-bat against Stagg. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

It wasn’t a win that West High coaches could get excited about, but what counts is how the numbers read on the league standings.

West is now 2-0 in Tri-City Athletic League after the first full week of league play and 10-7 overall. Friday’s 7-1 win against Stagg can be attributed to West’s first inning, when the Wolf Pack scored seven runs on one hit.

“It wasn’t a real productive day, but it’s nice to be 2-0 to start off league and prepare for next week,” West coach Jim Rice said afterward. “Luckily, we worked enough walks to score some runs in the first inning, and that gave us our cushion.”

Before Riley Goulding, West’s second batter, walked to first on the eighth pitch against West, one of Stagg’s assistant coaches was ejected from the game for arguing the home plate umpire’s interpretation of the strike zone.

The Stagg assistant coach argues his ejection after he made a comment about a pitch during a long first inning against West High. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

West drew two more walks, got four runners on base through infield errors and scored four runs on those errors and another on the third of three balks called on Stagg’s pitcher before the inning was over. Tyler Shepherd’s sacrifice fly to center field scored one, and West scored again on Josh Thomassen’s base hit through the gap between third base and shortstop.

From the second inning on, pitchers settled down and fielders made their plays to prevent further scoring. West pitchers Ryan Devencenzi and Goulding, who limited Stagg to three hits, said they too had to work with a tighter strike zone than usual, which meant that the pitches in the corners of the strike zone tended to be called as balls.

“Overall, it just came down to if you could locate the ball down the middle,” Devencenzi explained.

Goulding added that he relied on catcher Mike Wentz to help show where pitches should go.

“You just focus on the glove and let Mike try to frame something for you,” he said.

(S) West 7, Stagg 0

Taylor Kruger pitched six scoreless innings against Stagg and allowed three hits Friday. It puts West at 2-0 in TCAL and 10-8 overall. West took the lead in the first, in part because of Jordan Devencenzi’s two-run home run over the left-field fence.

“He probably hit that about 350 feet,” assistant coach Kenny Serrano said. “It was a bomb.”
Clyde Parilla, Jonathan Townsend and Jacob Lopez also contributed hits, including a double by Lopez.

Tracy 12, Bear Creek 4
Tracy batters repeated some of what they showed the Bruins earlier in the week when the Bulldogs pulled together a string of base hits with two out in the third inning. Coach Vic Alkire said the team has worked on building its confidence with two outs, and the work paid off in both of the team’s first games of San Joaquin Athletic Association play.

Tracy High shortstop Stevie Ramos (left) can’t get the tag on time on Bear Creek’s Mychl Harris as he slides in safe at second with the steal. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Tracy is now 2-0 in the SJAA and 15-3 overall.

Tracy scored two in the first inning, and Bear Creek scored in the second, but Tracy charged into the lead with a six-run rally in the third. The Bulldogs got runners on base through walks, and Justin Evans, Vince Canale, B.J. O’Brien and Johnny Espana all drove in runs to put Tracy ahead 8-0. Canale got four of Tracy’s 12 hits for the day, including a double, and drove in two, and Evans got three hits and also batted in two.

Millennium 13, Big Valley Christian 8

The roles were reversed Thursday in Modesto as the Millennium Falcons went on the road to win 13-8 and get even with the Big Valley Christian Lions, who beat the Falcons, 13-3, on Tuesday in the first match of the Harvest Christian League.

Brandon Haynes recorded his first win as a pitcher for the Falcons. Assistant coach Drew Reyes said the Lions’ batters were not nearly as effective as they were Tuesday.

“We played better defensively, and our mistakes weren’t nearly as costly,” Reyes said. “Big Valley had runners on base a lot, but we were able to get out of a lot of jams.”

Millennium had a big second inning with eight runs, and the Falcons extended their lead in the fourth.

“We just strung a bunch of hits together,” Reyes said. “We jumped on them in the second and never let up.”

Among the key batters were Kevin Cheadle, who had two base hits and three RBIs, Chris Ybarra-Martinez, who had three hit and batted in one, and Mark Larue, who went 2-for-2 and also drove in a run.

Reyes said the win also is encouraging because Big Valley won some close games against Millennium last year before the Falcons joined the Harvest Christian League, and the team’s 6-11 overall record shows a steady improvement for the relatively new team.

(S) Tracy 10, Bear Creek 2

Ricky Diaz allowed two hits and struck out 10 Bear Creek batters Thursday to extend the Bulldogs’ record to 2-0 in the SJAA and 17-1 for the season. Coach Ken Perez said his search for a regular catcher for the team led him to put Dominik Nazario behind the plate, and he was happy with what he saw.

Diaz also did well at the plate with three hits and two RBIs, and Joseph Martin got three hits, including a triple. Nazario, Kyle Perez and Alex Flores added key hits for the Bulldogs.

(F) Tracy 14, Bear Creek 0
Nick Camper allowed no hits for Bear Creek on Thursday in Tracy. Rallies in the first and second inning established enough of a lead that the game was called after 4½ innings on the mercy rule. Camper also got two hits, including a double and three RBIs, and James Fisher went 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Also hitting doubles were Tyler Daily, Tyler Trew and Jacob Wilson.

Tracy 16, Bear Creek 5

Josh Frea’s job Wednesday was to hit the ball, so he finished the Tracy Bulldogs’ game against Bear Creek with four base hits in four trips to the plate and drove in four of Tracy’s runs in the 16-5 win at Tracy High.

Tracy High’s Bret Maddox faces off against a Bear Creek batter. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Frea, a senior who alternates between pitcher and designated hitter for the Bulldogs, led Tracy’s 18-hit assault against the Bruins in the first game of SJAA play.

“We just picked up everything he pitched and jumped on ’em,” Frea said, adding that with runners on base each time he stepped up to the plate, his shots to short right field were all the team needed to keep its rallies going.

Ryan Scornaienchi got more than that in the bottom of the sixth inning when he smashed a middle fastball over the center-field fence for a two-run home run.

Tracy scored six of its runs in the third and fourth innings with two out each time as Bulldog batters hit through the gaps in the Bear Creek infield.

The teams were tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the third inning, and the Bruins had two outs on Tracy with B.J. O’Brien, who outran the throw after he hit a high bouncing ball to shortstop, on base. Frea, Johnny Espana, Jacob Valdez and Stevie Ramos all followed with base hits, including Ramos’ two RBI double to the left-field fence.

Heefner drove in two more in the fourth with two out, and two more in the fifth right after Daniel Heefner batted in two with a bases-loaded single. Tracy also scored on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning.

The Bruins collected eight hits and had speed on the base paths. Bear Creek catcher Tyler Eppler was 3-for-3, including a two-run homer over the right-field fence in the fifth inning.

(S) Tracy 18, Bear Creek 9

Joseph Martin and Robbie Jackman led Tracy’s attack at the plate with three hits and two RBIs each. Jackman and Ricky Diaz both hit triples and Martin and Jake Rivera both hit doubles.

It was the first game of the San Joaquin Athletic Association, and Tracy is now 16-1 overall.

The Bruins rallied twice, in the third and fifth innings, but it wasn’t enough to match Tracy’s rallies, including six runs in the second inning and five more in the third.

West 11, Stagg 0

Matt Fontaine gave up two hits and struck out six Stagg batters in a 4½-inning game that ended on the mercy rule Wednesday at Stagg High. Derek Oetken finished the game in the fifth inning with no runs and no hits.

Fontaine also went 2-for-3 at the plate, including a third-inning triple to drive in two of his four RBIs for the day. His other two came in West’s seven-run fourth inning. Other big hitter were Mike Wentz, who went 2-for-3, including a fourth-inning double to drive in one, and Riley Goulding, who hit a double in the first inning and scored the Wolf Pack’s first run.

(S) West 11, Stagg 1

Jesse Hernandez kept Stagg to two hits in five innings and Chris Collins came in and retired three in a row to end Wednesday’s game at Stagg after six innings.

The Wolf Pack took advantage of some walks and a couple of base hits in the first inning when both Taylor Kruger and Jacob Lopez hit triples to run up an early 7-0 lead.

Jordan Devencenzi also got three hits, all doubles, and Clyde Parilla and Caleb Creasman drove in runs.

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