Tracy Press

Six local Little League All-Star teams move deeper into their district championship tournaments.

Six Tracy Little League teams are headed into the final rounds of this week’s District 67 tournaments in Manteca.

The American and National All-Stars from Tracy’s Major and 10-11 divisions will all play each other this week. In the Junior Division, the Tracy American All-Stars will head to the semifinals and the Tracy National All-Stars will have to move up through the losers bracket to stay alive.

10-11 Division

The Tracy American and Tracy National 10-11 division teams are both undefeated and will play each other at Hafley School in Manteca at 2 p.m. Saturday in the semifinal game. The championship will be July 9.

The Tracy National team won its first game June 28, 10-0, against Manteca. Mitch Cowell pitched the entire game, and Braedon Oki went 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs. Jacob George scored three of his team’s runs, getting on base once with a hit and twice on walks.

In Sunday morning’s 3-2 win over Spreckels Park, Oki and Anthony Nunez pitched a scoreless game until the sixth inning, when Spreckels put up two runs. Tracy National’s Aaron Denholm, Nick Tobeck and Juan Velazquez all got base hits in the bottom of the sixth to put the game into extra innings. Tobeck came up with another base hit in the bottom of the eighth, advanced on a passed ball and, with two out, ran home for the winning run when David Warta hit a shot down the third-base line.

On Monday, Tracy National beat Northgate, 8-5. Nunez drove in the team’s first run, and Tracy National took the lead with a four-run rally in the third inning. That included a two-run double from Brody Koorman.

"I told him he’d be up in a big situation, and he came through for me," manager Rick Helzer said.

Tracy National also got a two-run single from Velazquez in the third. Jordan DeWitt drove in two more on a base hit in the fifth inning and reached home on an error.

The Tracy American team also won its first game June 28, 12-2, against Weston Ranch. On Monday night, Tracy American beat Salida 5-1.

"The key was we got some good pitching out of Adrian (Reboca)," manager Ted Butch said, adding that Reboca struck out 11 Salida batters.

While Salida got some hits in the fourth inning, Tracy American benefited from solid fielding, including right fielder Matt Rodriguez’ two catches. First baseman Zack Lowe also prevented a shot down the right-field line from becoming an extra-base hit.

At the plate, Mark Dionisio went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Reboca, Blair Hurlock and Beau Mantor also drove in runs.

Major Division

Two Tracy Major All-Star teams will face off at 6 p.m. Thursday at Hafley School to see who goes into the semifinal game Monday. The championship will be July 10.

Tracy National beat Weston Ranch, 17-3, the morning of June 28 in a four-inning game.

"We practiced hard for 2½ weeks, and it all paid off," manager Bob Furtado said. "We came out fired up, and I’m looking forward to a good tournament."

C.J. Butcher started the game on the mound, and Jordan Kirby, Jeremy Thompson and Oscar Moreno all pitched.

Butcher got his team going in the first inning when he hit a two-run double to the fence. Moreno also hit two home runs, going 3-for-4 at the plate. Davin Compton went 2-for-2, both doubles, and Kirby also went 2-for-2. Anthony Talaugon, Joe Saenz, Kyle Murawski, Jeremy Thompson, Kyle Pajarilla, Trevor Trew and Lucas Furtado all got hits.

The Tracy American team beat Salida, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon. Nathan VanKatwyk struck out 11 Salida batters over five innings, and Tim Warta and Josh Brakkee also pitched.

VanKatwyk and Albert Landeros hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning to start the game. Jeremy Vaughn also drove in a run, and in the fifth inning, Issa Yusef hit a two-run homer to extend his team’s lead.

Junior Division

In the Junior Division, Tracy American will play Spreckels Park at noon Sunday in the semifinal game at Sierra High School in Manteca. The championship game will be Tuesday.

The Tracy American team beat Weston Ranch 8-5 on June 28. Tracy American was scheduled to play Patterson on Monday, but Patterson withdrew from the tournament, and Tracy American won by forfeit.

In the weekend game, Tracy American rallied in both the second and the fifth innings to take the lead. Daniel O’Brien and Spencer Freeman each pitched two innings for Tracy American, and the team put its five other pitchers to work, staying within the league’s pitch count rules so that most of the pitchers will be available for Sunday’s semifinal game.

Freeman went 2-for-2, including a double, and contributed to his team’s scoring drives. Jason Thomassen and Cody Daniel each went 2-for-2 as well, and both knocked in runs.

Tracy National won its first game, 7-3, against Salida on Saturday morning. Jonah Wesely struck out 10 batters and kept Salida hitless through five innings.

The Tracy National batters came to life in the fifth inning after Johnny Gori walked and advanced on a hit-and-run with Matt Loscavio batting. Steven Gonzalves and Eddie Lopez came up with back-to-back doubles to fuel the five-run rally.

On Tuesday evening, Tracy National, led by pitcher Justin King’s seven strikeouts, kept the Spreckels Park All-Stars to a close game in the early innings before Spreckels moved runners around to take the lead and the 7-4 win.

Manager Mike Loscavio said Josh Rogers, who got a base hit and was a pinch runner, stole three bases and scored twice for his team.

"Any time he got on base, he stole and scored for us. He was the offensive spark plug," Loscavio said.

Otherwise, Tracy National was up against a tough Spreckels defense as batters tried to keep the game close.

"We hit the ball hard, and the Spreckels Park outfield literally ran them down," Loscavio said. "Their defense made some good plays."

Tracy National plays again at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Weston Ranch.

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written by Concerned Parents , July 03, 2008

It's great to see teams from Tracy that have players that are actually from Tracy. Good luck Little League!