Tracy Press

 
Both Tracy and West, collect key baseball wins.

Tracy High’s Jacob Valdez tries to lay a bunt down to move the runner over during action against Lodi. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Bret Maddox pitched five scoreless innings, supported by two Vince Canale doubles, a hit from B.J. O’Bryan to drive Canale in during the fourth inning, and a two-run double from Ryan Scornaienchi in the fifth to put Tracy ahead. Tracy scored another in the sixth when Ricky Diaz came home on a sacrifice fly from Jacob Valdez.

For Maddox it was his ninth win of the season, which ties the Tracy High record for wins for a pitcher in single season.

The Flames got runners on base right away in the first inning through infield errors. Starter Josh Frea struck out two, but Lodi’s leadoff batter Bryce Williams scored on a passed ball and Mike Toon scored on Eric Hoover’s shot past Tracy’s infield into right field.

Maddox came in during the second inning, allowed one base hit and let two others on base when they were hit by pitches, but the Tracy infield prevented any of them from scoring.

Then it came down to quick action from closing pitcher O’Bryan, who started in the seventh inning, walked two and gave up a base hit. With the bases loaded O’Bryan struck out one, and The Flames’ designated hitter Eric Hoover hit a bouncing grounder back at O’Brien. He threw the ball right back at catcher Johnny Espana for the force-out on Bryce Williams.

Tracy High shortstop Stevie Ramos waits for the throw at second as Lodi’s Conor Peterson slides with what appeared to be a steal. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

“When the bases are loaded I always tell the pitcher to get the ball to me,” Espana said. “He got it to me, I cleared myself and fired to one. B.J. came through big time.”

The game-ending double play stopped Lodi with its three leadoff batters, Williams, Toon and Matt Clark, on base.

“They’ve come through many times this year and obviously it didn’t go their way today,” Lodi coach Hobie Schultz said. “If I was in the same situation tomorrow I’d want those same guys on.”

Tracy and Lodi came into Wednesday’s game tied for first place in the San Joaquin Athletic Association standings. The win puts Tracy, now 6-1 in the SJAA, 19-4 overall, in sole possession of first place with three games left in the season.

Tracy and Lodi play again Friday in Lodi, and next week the Bulldogs have two games against third-place Lincoln.

(S) Lodi 10, Tracy 11

The Bulldogs and Flames traded the lead back and forth Wednesday at Monte Vista Middle School, but Tracy had a comfortable 10-6 lead going into the seventh inning. Then the Flames drew three walks, another batter was hit by a pitch, and three base hits put Lodi back into the lead in the top of the seventh. Tracy, now 6-1 in the SJAA and 21-2 overall, had one more shot to take back the lead or go into extra innings but couldn’t get the run.

West 9, Tokay 6

The West High baseball team gained a crucial 9-6 win Wednesday against the Tokay Tigers at Zupo Field in Lodi.

Wolf Pack pitcher Ryan Devencenzi gave up five runs in the first inning, but came right back in the second and pitched four more, giving up just one more run.

“He gave us everything he had and just got the job done,” head coach Jim Rice said. “It’s our biggest win of the year by far.”

West scored in the first and second, and took the lead for good in the fourth with a four-run outburst that gave the Pack a 7-5 advantage. West runners scored twice on Tokay’s infield errors, followed by Matt Fontaine’s RBI single and an RBI base hit from Tyler Shepherd.

The Tigers scored one in the fifth on a Scott Brown RBI single.

The Wolf Pack added to its lead in the top of the seventh. With two outs, two strikes and runners on base Josh Thomassen hit a double to deep left field, about two feet inside the foul line, to drive in two more and give the Pack a three-run lead.

Tokay put one runner aboard in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t advance him past first base.

Other key hits for West came from Anthony Salsedo and Riley Goulding, who both drove in runs.

Rice said West also had some key defensive plays. In the bottom of the sixth inning, with Tokay runners on second and third and two out, shortstop Goulding robbed a Tokay batter of a base hit. Goulding lept into the gap between third base and shortstop, fielded a hard grounder and made the throw in time to first base.

“That was huge,” Rice said. “If he had missed it it would have been an 8-7 game.

Tokay coach Aaron Misasi said his team hurt itself through five defensive errors during the game.

“All week we worked on our defense, but right now we’re just not getting the job done,” Misasi said. “There’s no excuse. Guys are beating themselves and making little league mistakes.”

The win puts West at 7-0 in the Tri-City Athletic League, tied for first with St. Mary’s, which beat Tokay in their two games this season. A win at home against Tokay on Friday would guarantee West at least a second place finish in the TCAL standings and a spot in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

If West and Tokay split this week’s games the playoff berth will be decided by the run difference in their games. Tokay would have to win by at least four runs on Friday, and St. Mary’s would have to win both of next week’s games to knock West out of the playoffs.

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written by macparent , May 03, 2008

Hey what happened to the info about the Freshman team? They are the only undefeated team I believe.