Tracy Press

Tracy teams chase district titles.

The Tracy Little League 10- and 11-year-old National All-Stars claimed a spot in today’s championship game at Hafley School in Manteca, while the Tracy Major American team gets a second chance tonight to get into Thursday’s championship game.

Tracy also has four 9- and 10-year-old teams in the middle of their tournament at Jefferson and Monticello schools this week.

The Tracy Major American team will have to win three in a row this week after the Manteca All-Stars won the squads’ semifinal match 10-5 on Monday at Hafley School in Manteca.

“Every team goes through that,” Tracy American manager Bob Furtado said. “Now we’re going to find out what we’re made of.”

In Monday’s game, Manteca came out strong to start, with a three-run rally in the first, including a home run from Jacob Corn, and five-run rally in the second.

Tracy American got four of its five runs courtesy of Oscar Moreno. He hit a solo home run in the first inning and came back in the third to hit a three-run shot over the center field fence to drive in Trevor Trew and Kyle Murawski.

The only other base hit for Tracy American was a double down the right field line from Joe Saenz to drive in Kyle Parajilla.

The Tracy Major National team was eliminated from the tournament Saturday by Northgate’s All-Stars.

Northgate and Spreckels Park played Tuesday night, and the winner of that game will face Tracy American today.

Either Tracy American or its opponent will play Manteca in the championship game Thursday. If Manteca loses, it will force one more game Saturday to decide the district title and a chance to move on to the Northern California Section 3 tournament.

Zach Lowe of the 10- and 11-year-old Tracy American team hits the grass as he makes a diving catch against Tracy National. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

The Tracy National 10- and 11-year-old All-Stars showed how much a team can make of a two-out rally Saturday against the Tracy American All-Stars.

The 12-run third inning sealed the win for Tracy National in the District 67 semifinal game at Hafley School.

The 14-1 tally ended the game in the fourth inning after Tracy American had one more chance to score. It also gave Tracy National a spot in the district championship game Wednesday.

“Everybody hit the ball well,” Tracy National manager Rick Helzer said, adding that it’s his team’s best game in the district All-Star tournament so far. “Even the guys who have been struggling hit the ball.”

Tracy American got on the scoreboard first with a base hit in the first inning from Gabe Chavez and a double from Adrian Reboca. Mark Dionisio, Blair Hurlock and Justin Donato also got hits for Tracy American.

Tracy National responded in the bottom of the first when leadoff batter Jacob George got on base on a walk and came around the bases on walks. David Warta of Tracy National started off the second inning with a base hit, stole second and came around on a base hit from George.

In the third inning, Tracy National’s Braeden Oki led off with a single, advanced on a passed ball and came home on a bunt from Jordan DeWitt. Matt DeWitt followed with a base hit, and Juan Velasquez drove Jordan DeWitt home on a double down the left field line. A run by Matt DeWitt on a passed ball made it a 5-1 game.

With two outs, Tracy National kept hitting, driving in nine more runs. George got two more base hits and drove in two. Jordan DeWitt hit another down the left field line for a double and collected three RBIs in all, and Mitch Cowls and Anthony Nunez also got base hits.

Tracy National will play in the District 67 championship game against Spreckels Park at 6 p.m. today at Hafley School in Manteca.

Tracy American was eliminated from the tournament Tuesday, as Spreckels Park prevailed 9-4. Manager Ted Butch said his team had a 1-0 lead going into the third inning, but defensive errors allowed Spreckels to score seven runs.

“They didn’t give up,” Butch said. “They kept playing hard.” He added that the team bounced back but couldn’t reclaim the lead.

Tracy American got some key defensive plays from Zack Lowe at second base. Pitchers included Adrian Reboca, Reese Maxfield and Blair Hurlock. Tracy American got hits from Justin Donato, Zack Lowe, Blair Hurlock, Ernie Pombo, Gabe Chavez and Steve Schreppel.

Noah Dennoyer of the Tracy American 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars makes contact against Northgate during Saturday’s tournament. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Tracy Little League teams are still in the District 67 9- and 10-year-old All-Star tournament picture after the initial rounds, which started Saturday.

Tracy Little League is hosting 16 teams in the tournament, including four from Tracy, two from Salida, two from Lathrop, two from Weston Ranch and two from Northgate. Spreckels Park, Manteca, Mountain House and Patterson also have teams in the mix. Teams from Spreckels Park, Mountain House, Patterson and one of Lathrop’s teams were eliminated in the initial rounds.

The Tracy National 2 team is in the semifinal game this afternoon after winning three straight. Tracy National 2 beat Weston Ranch, 24-1, on Saturday on a combined no-hitter from Kevin Saenz and Nathan George. Saenz also went 5-for-5 at the plate, including a home run, and Tyler McLaughlin knocked in seven runs for his team, going 4-for-4.

In the team’s 12-0 win against Salida on Sunday, George pitched a one-hitter, and Bryce Keeney finished on the mound.

On Tuesday, Tracy National 2 beat Tracy National 1, 3-2, this time with Saenz and Josh “Rocket” Avelar pitching. Bryce Keeney pitched the last two outs with the potential tying run on third.

Tracy National 1 will have to claw its way up from the losers bracket, starting with a game Thursday afternoon. The team beat Patterson on Saturday and Tracy American 2 on Sunday to make it to Tuesday’s quarterfinal game.

Tracy American 1 beat Northgate 1, and then beat Weston Ranch 1 to make it to Tuesday’s quarterfinal game against Salida 1 at Jefferson School. Details of those games were not available.

Tracy American 2 defeated Lathrop 2 on Saturday, but it lost, 11-4, to Tracy National 1 on Sunday. In Sunday’s game, Jared Finney pitched 4 1/3 innings and struck out eight batters while Cameron Hoff hit a home run for his team.

Tracy American 2 beat Northgate 1, 11-0, on Monday as Tyler Schlotter pitched the entire game and gave up one hit. Tracy American 2 got contributions at the plate from Matt Sullivan, Harrison Difuntorum, Kyle Hanson and Greg Guillen.

Tracy American 2 plays again tonight at Monticello School.

• To reach Sports Editor Bob Brownne, call 830-4227 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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