Tracy Press

Tracy Junior American takes the Section 3 title with a 9-8 victory against Redwood City.

Tracy Little League’s Junior American All-Stars claimed the Junior League Northern California Section 3 title with another win in Redwood City on Wednesday.

It was 9-8 win similar to the July 9 game against Tracy National for the District 67 championship. The Redwood City National All-Stars got onto the scoreboard first and held onto their lead. By the bottom of the seventh inning, Tracy needed four runs to tie, five to win, and it got them.

Tracy took advantage of an infield error and a series of walks to load the bases and tie the game. David Miranda’s sacrifice bunt with no outs brought in pinch runner Zach Abshire to end the game.

“One thing about this team is they never give up,” manager Mark Scornaienchi said. “They always believe they can come back and win.”

It was also a reminder that Tracy’s 12-0 win against Redwood City on Sunday was far from typical for this level of play. That game put Tracy in the championship game and forced Redwood City to win a game in the losers’ bracket to have a shot at the section championship.

“I think we were overconfident and saw a different Redwood City team this time,” Scornaienchi said.

Tracy got its first run when Abshire walked in the first inning, rounded the bases on a sacrifice bunt from Cody Daniel and stole third. Jason Thomassen drove him in for the only run Tracy would score in the first five innings. Redwood City scored consistently and had a 5-1 lead by the fifth inning.

In the fifth, Tracy loaded the bases with hits from Nano Aguirre and Chris Bachetti. Cody Daniel walked and Tracy scored two when Joe Reboca got on base on an error. Daniel stole home for a third run to make it a 5-4 game, and Redwood City responded in the top of the sixth with three more runs to take the 8-4 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tracy loaded the bases when Daniel walked, Reboca got a base hit and Thomassen got on base through an infield error.

Redwood City’s pitcher then walked in three runs for Tracy, plus another when Chase Johnson was hit by a pitch. Abshire headed for home on a 1-0 pitch to Miranda, who laid down the bunt to score the winning run.

Tracy American will begin its run for the Northern California Division II title this morning with a 10 a.m. game against the Sunrise Little League All-Stars out of Stockton. Sunrise is the champion of District 8 and Section 6. That game will be at Willow Glen High School in San Jose. The championship game will be July 25, and the winner will play in the Western Region Championship tournament July 29 to Aug. 5 in Aliso Viejo in Orange County.

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