Tracy Press

Tracy and West's sophomore baseball teams finish the season with winning records.

Tracy High sophomore Jonathan Combs runs back to first as he gets hit in the batting helmet by the pick-off attempt in a game against East Union. Press file photo.

Tracy’s sophomores finished with a 23-3 overall record, 8-2 in the San Joaquin Athletic Association. The team outscored its opponents 282-97 and went 12 straight games without a loss in the preseason before falling, 11-4, to St. Mary’s on March 25.

Coach Ken Perez noted that the preseason record was promising, as the team schedules its toughest competition before league play.

The other losses were to league rival Lodi and league champion Lincoln.

The Bulldogs had 13 players who batted over .300. Ricky Diaz, who moved up to the varsity team for the last five games, was the batting average leader at .460 and had 15 extra-bases hits — six doubles, seven triples and two home runs.

Alex Flores had the second-highest average, .443, with 15 extra-base hits: 10 doubles, four triples and a home run. Jake Rivera batted .442 and scored the most runs for his team, 45. Flores and Robbie Jackman led their team in base hits with 35 each, and Flores led in RBIs with 38.

The team’s leading pitcher was Diaz, who was 7-0 with 94 strikeouts over 48-1/3 innings pitched and a 1.45 ERA. Jake Finney was 4-0, Jackman was 7-1 and Flores was 4-1.

West sophomores

West High’s Taylor Kruger gets ready to put the tag on Tracy High’s Dominik Nazario as he is caught out at second base on a steal attempt in the squads’ March 21 junior varsity crosstown match. Press file photo.

Overall, the season was a mixed success. West outscored opponents 163-137. Assistant coach Kenny Serrano said the team went 2-for-3 against SJAA champ Lincoln in the preseason and 2-for-3 against TCAL champ St. Mary’s, including a preseason win. West split the final series last week against St. Mary’s with a 10-4 win Friday.

“Winning the last game like we did showed a lot of character,” Serrano said.

Jordan Devencenzi led the team in base hits, 22, and also had the most extra-bases hits: four doubles, four triples and two home runs. His batting average, .423, was second only to Clyde Parilla, who batted .435, including 20 base hits. Both moved up to the varsity team at the end of the year.

West’s RBI leader was Taylor Kruger. Chris Collins, Caleb Creasman, Jacob Lopez and Marcus Pedroza all batted over .300.

West’s leading pitcher was Taylor Kruger, who finished the season with a 6-2 record and a 3.00 ERA over 49 innings.

Freshmen

Tracy’s freshman team, which finished first in the SJAA, had 14 players who batted over .300, seven over .400 and two over .500 — Tyler Daily, .520, and Aaron Walker, .500. Nick Camper, who batted .441, was the base-hit leader with 30, including eight doubles, three triples and two home runs, and Tyler Trew batted .483 with 28 base hits.

Tracy’s leading freshman pitchers were Joshua Wesely, 10-1, with a 0.86 ERA over 48-2/3 innings, and Tyler Trew, 5-0, with a 0.37 ERA over 37-1/3 innings.

West’s freshman team finished its season at 5-17. The only other TCAL schools with freshman teams were St. Mary’s and Tokay, and they each played West four times, St. Mary’s with four wins, and West and Tokay splitting the series for two wins each.

West’s leading hitter was Joey Wagner, who batted .404 for the season with 23 base hits. D.J. Watson had a .326 average and was the team’s leading base stealer. Sal Alvarado batted .288 and also was one of the team’s leaders in extra-base hits and in RBIs, and Jason Thomassen was another batting leader for the team with an average of .280.

West’s leading pitchers were Jake Peterson, who usually started, and Eric Gleese, who usually closed. Garrett Worthington, Jeff Rich and Alan Silvera also pitched for West.

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