Tracy Press

 
West loses, Tracy wins in last games before playoffs

West High’s Brie Cardoza slides in between a pair of basemen as she beats the throw to second on the steal against St Mary’s on Thursday. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

A St. Mary’s rally in the sixth inning led the Rams to a 6-3 win over the West High softball team Thursday at West in the last game of the regular season.

The loss puts the Wolf Pack at 12-12 for the season, 7-3 in the Tri-City Athletic League, good for a second-place finish. The Rams end their second season in a row on top of the TCAL, with 10-0 league and 21-6 overall marks.

Even with the loss, West is still headed for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, which begin on May 17 at the Sacramento Softball Complex, where West will play at 10 a.m. against Elk Grove High.

West coach Steve Anastasio said his team showed it is ready for playoffs by stringing together a series of hits for two runs and a lead in Thursday’s game, and showed the same spirit later on by making defensive plays to hold back St. Mary’s baserunners.

West scored when Caitlyn Girard hit a double to deep left field, came home on a double from Arianna Welch. Welch scored when Cherie DeJesus sent the ball to left for another double.
DeJesus said afterward that her team will bring that type of play into the championship tournament.

“We might get down on ourselves, but we learn that we need the key hits and need to be more consistent. I know we can do it,” she said.

St. Mary’s got a runner on base in the top of the sixth through an infield error, and the Cheryl Freitas hit a two-run homer over the center-field fence to tie the score. The Rams got two runners on via a hit and a hit batter, setting up Vanessa Del Toro to drive in another run for the lead. St. Mary’s scored two more on bases-loaded walks.

St. Mary’s scored again in the seventh, but West prevented another from scoring when DeJesus fielded a base hit in left field with two on and threw to catcher Jamie Costa at to nail the lead runner.

In the seventh, Amanda Carillo walked, advanced on Costa’s single to left field and came home on a single from Elida Rubio for West’s third run.

Tracy 5, Franklin 0

Tracy pitcher Morgan Hayes threw her third no-hitter of the season Thursday at Franklin in a win that gave Tracy a share of the San Joaquin Athletic Association championship.

Hayes pitched all seven innings and struck out seven Franklin batters for her fourth shutout in league play — her 10th shutout of the season.

Tracy also got two triples from slugger Nikki Moreno. Sara Amorello went 3-for-3, including an RBI in the first inning when she drove in Jessica Riconscente, and another in the fifth inning when she followed one of Moreno’s triples with a base hit.

Katie Stutz and Hayes also drove in runs in the fourth inning, and Riconscente knocked in another in the sixth.

Tracy gets a share of the title because the first-place Lodi Flames lost their final regular-season game. Lodi had been undefeated until Tracy beat them 3-2 on Tuesday in Tracy. Lodi also lost 0-1 on Thursday to Lincoln, which tied Tracy and Lodi at 8-2 in the SJAA. Both teams will be in the playoffs, and since they split each of their games — a 1-0 win for Lodi on April 17 and the 3-2 win for Tracy — the top seed from the SJAA was decided by a coin toss.

Tracy lost and will play Grace Davis of Modesto at noon May 17 at the Sacramento Softball Complex as the No. 2 seed.

Millennium 4, Big Valley Christian 3

The Falcons finished the Harvest Christian League tied for second place with Big Valley Christian and are in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII playoffs, which begin Wednesday at the Lodi Softball Complex.

The Falcons ended the year 4-5 in league and 8-8 overall. Elliot Christian finished first in the league with a record of 7-1.

In Friday’s game at Big Valley Christian, the Falcons took the lead in the fourth inning, but Big Valley scored in the fifth and again in the seventh to tie the score 3-3. One more run in the eighth put Millennium ahead, and the Falcons held on for the win.

Kelsea Eakin and Jaelyn Woods both had two hits. Eakin drove in a run, as did Kayla Larson. Mary Sue Savage pitched and gave up three hits while striking out five.

(S) West 14, St. Mary’s 0

Nicole Ricobono and Sam Sorce led West’s batters with three hits each on Thursday. They also drove in runs, as did Kelsea Taylor, Tracy Wentz, Analisa Green and Danielle Edwards. Andi Andersen pitched all five innings and allowed two hits while striking out five.

(S) Tracy 8, Franklin 0

Tracy’s batters started off with a three-run first inning on Thursday and scored again in the second and fourth. Stephanie Fisher went 3-for-3, including a double and a triple, and also pitched five innings to hold the Yellowjackets to two hits.

The Bullpups also got hits from Piper Johnson, who batted in two in the fourth, Latoya Whiten, Marissa Davidson and Jacqueline Boots.

(F) Tracy 15, West 0

Veronika Villasenor went 3-for-3 with a triple and batted in four on Wednesday, and Jasmin Guevara went 3-for-3 with a triple and batted in one. Tracy pitcher Taylo r Martinez struck out 10 and allowed two hits.

Tracy ended its season 22-2-1. Stats for West were not available.

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