Tracy Press

Tracy Junior American All-Stars still undefeated in race for division title.

Tracy Little League’s Junior American All-Star team continued its undefeated run through championship tournaments Tuesday with a 5-1 win over the Rocklin All-Stars.

The win puts Tracy American — 10-0 in district, section and division tournament play — in Thursday’s Northern California Division II championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose. A win Thursday would move Tracy American to the Junior League Western Region tournament, which starts July 29 in Aliso Viejo in Orange County. That’s the last stop before the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich., from Aug. 10 to 16.

Tracy American 5, Rocklin 1

Tracy American manager Mark Scornaienchi said Tuesday’s win wasn’t as dramatic as the two weekend wins, which both came down to clutch hits and base-running in the seventh inning.

“The key to the game today was pitching and defense,” he said, adding that Rocklin, the Section 4 and District 11 champion, won most of its district and section level games on the 10-run rule. “These guys were swinging the bats really well and hitting the ball really well.”

Starting pitcher Manny Robles and the Tracy defense shut out Rocklin for the first five innings. Robles gave up six hits and struck out five batters. Daniel O’Brien came in for the seventh inning to retire three batters in a row.

Tracy American scored three in the third inning, when Robles got a base hit and moved to second on David Garcia’s sacrifice bunt and Chris Bacchetti walked. Joe Reboca and Jason Thomassen each drove in runs on base hits, and Reboca scored on a wild pitch.

Tracy scored again in the fourth when Robles got on base through an error, Spencer Freeman got a base hit, and Bacchetti bunted to load the bases and set up a two-run base hit for Reboca.

Tracy American also got hits from Cody Daniel, who was 2-for-2, including a double in the seventh.

Tracy American 4, Almaden 3

Sunday’s 4-3 win against Almaden Little League of Section 5 went down to the last inning, with Tracy in the lead for most of the game and Almaden stepping up in the sixth and seventh innings to make it a 3-3 tie.

Freeman pitched six innings for Tracy and gave up three hits. O’Brien closed for Tracy in the seventh inning, struck out three batters and picked up the win.

Tracy scored in the first inning when Zach Abshire walked, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice play. Thomassen walked, and with runners at the corners and two out, Tracy made the double-steal and Abshire made it home safe.

Tracy American got only four hits all game, but it made them count. Bacchetti got on base in the third inning when the ball passed the Almaden catcher on the third strike. He came home when Reboca hit a double to deep left-center. Thomassen got another base hit to drive in Abshire, who was pinch running for Reboca.

With a tied score in the seventh, Bacchetti drew a walk and stole second, and then scored when Reboca smacked a base hit down the right-field line.

Tracy American 8, Sunrise 7

Tracy American and Sunrise Little League traded the lead back and forth until the very end Saturday before Tracy won, 8-7. Abshire scored for Tracy in the first when he stole home on a wild pitch. By the fifth inning, Sunrise had a 3-1 lead, and Tracy American made it a 5-3 game in the bottom of the fifth with help from base-hit bunts by David Miranda and Bacchetti. Daniel batted in a run on a sacrifice and Thomassen drove in another.

Sunrise responded with three runs in the sixth, and Tracy again came back with hits from Bacchetti and Daniel, and then a two-run double from Kyle Scornaienchi. Sunrise tied the game 7-7 in the top of the seventh, but Tracy put a stop to that threat with an infield double play that put out the go-ahead run with a throw to Thomassen at the plate.

Tracy got on base in the seventh when Nano Aguirre walked, advanced to second on an errant pick-off attempt and went to third on a sacrifice bunt from Miranda. Bacchetti connected for a base hit to score the winning run.

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