Tracy Press

With a potential 10-run rule defeat looming, the Tracy Little League Junior American All-Stars sparked a seven-hit, seven-run rally Friday to come within striking distance of the Northern California Division II championship.

In the seventh inning, the Rocklin Junior All-Stars held back Tracy American’s final push and claimed the 11-8 win at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, for a berth in the Western Regional tournament in Orange County next week.

“The kids battled back,” manager Mark Scornaienchi said. “The coaches and kids felt we could win this thing, and we put ourselves in a position to win it, but it didn’t happen.”

Manny Robles pitched for Tracy and Joe Reboca closed for the last two innings. Scornaienchi said Rocklin batters hit and scored consistently, taking the lead with three runs in the second inning, another in the third, three more in the fourth, and four in the fifth inning to take an 11-0 lead over Tracy.

“The first four innings, we were hitting the ball really well, but their defense came up with some great plays,” Scornaienchi said.

Rocklin could have ended the game in the fifth inning, but Tracy American found the gaps in Rocklin’s defense. With one out, Chase Johnson got a base hit, Darren Elbert got on through an error and Nano Aguirre got another hit to load the bases. David Garcia batted in two, Chris Bacchetti walked to load the bases again, Cody Daniel and Jason Thomassen both drove in runs, Johnson drove in two and Austin Larson hit a double to drive in one more before Rocklin could end the inning.

In the seventh, Tracy threatened to close the gap when Reboca got a base hit, Thomassen walked and Johnson drove Reboca home on a sacrifice line drive. Daniel O’Brien walked, but the Rocklin pitcher ended the game on a strikeout with the tying run at the plate.

Rocklin had to come up through the losers bracket and beat Tracy twice in order to win the Division championship. Rocklin will represent Northern California in the Western Region tournament in Aliso Viejo, which is the last stop before the Junior League World Series next month in Michigan.

Tracy Junior American ends its season with a 10-2 record, second place in the division and the Section 3 title and is one of three Tracy Little League All-Star teams to win their District 67 titles. The other district champions are the 11-12 Tracy National All-Stars and the 9-10 Tracy American 1 All-Stars.

Tracy Junior American beat Rocklin 5-1 in Tuesday’s semifinal game, when pitcher Manny Robles and the Tracy American defense shut out Rocklin for the first five innings.

Rocklin came back Thursday with a four-run first inning that included a three-run home run over the center-field fence. The batting attack continued for the rest of the game for the 12-2 win.

Tracy American managed four hits Thursday to Rocklin’s 12. Tracy’s Cody Daniel singled and Joe Reboca doubled in the first inning, and the team scored when Jason Thomassen and

Darren Elbert walked. Tracy got another run in the second when Spencer Freeman got on base through an error, advanced on Chris Bacchetti’s sacrifice bunt and came around to score on

Daniel’s second base hit of the day.

After that, the Rocklin team held Tracy American scoreless and allowed only one hit.

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