Tracy Press

Two squads of local Babe Ruth baseball players are in the state tournament after successful division runs.

Babe Ruth teams begin their state tournaments this week, and two Tracy teams are going for titles.

Tracy’s 10-year-old Tracy National Babe Ruth All-Star team was the champion of the Cal Ripken District 1 tournament in Riverbank two weeks ago. Pool play among 12 teams begins in Clovis on Thursday, and the top six teams will move into single-elimination play Sunday, with the championship game Tuesday.

Tracy’s 12-year-old All-Star team, also the Cal Ripken District 1 champ for its division, will have its first game Thursday against Escalon in the double-elimination tournament hosted by Central California Cal Ripken in Fresno. The championship game for that division will be July 16.

Two other Tracy Babe Ruth teams made their run for the state title over the weekend but ended up short of qualifying for the single-elimination bracket leading to Thursday’s championship contest.

District 1 commissioner Katherine Fisher of Tracy said the 8-year-old Tracy National and Tracy American teams are the first in that age group to represent Tracy in state play, but neither ended up in the top six of 12 teams in the first half of a tournament hosted by Central California Cal Ripken in Kerman.

Tracy National lost its first game Saturday as Visalia Blue prevailed, 23-3. Host team Kerman beat Tracy National 14-4 in the second game Sunday.

Tracy American also lost its first two games. Central beat Tracy American 7-3 on Saturday, and Visalia Red won, 6-2, on Sunday.

Results of Monday’s games were not available.

Tracy’s 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team was eliminated on the district level Friday in a five-team tournament hosted by Tracy Babe Ruth at Monte Vista School.

The team lost its first game July 1 after Manteca scored seven runs in the first inning. Tracy held Manteca scoreless for the rest of the game, but it couldn’t make up the deficit, losing, 7-5.

In a back-and-forth game Friday, the Lodi All-Stars won, 11-10. Tracy had the lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Lodi got the two runs needed to win the game.

The team from San Benito won the championship game after moving up through the losers’ bracket and then beating Manteca twice Sunday. The All-Star team from Modesto also played in the 15-year-old tournament. The state tournament for the 15-year-old division begins Saturday in Arroyo Grande.

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