Tracy Press

 
Junior Pumas seal tournament win in Sacramento

Junior Pumas’ Yolanda Tavares takes a shot. Courtesy photo

The Tracy Velocity under-9 girls Junior Pumas affirmed their No. 2 state ranking this past weekend with a win at the California Rush State Fair Tournament in Sacramento.

In the first game Saturday at the Cherry Island Soccer Complex, the Pumas beat the Sacramento Blaze, 8-0. Alexis Vilarino and Jenna Zuniga each scored hat tricks. Jocelyn Reyes and Leyla Pepic also scored for the Puma, while Brittani Edwards and Alexa Mayen controlled the midfield.

In the second game, the Pumas beat the San Juan Spirits White, 9-0. Jenna Zuniga led with four goals, while Leyla Pepic got a hat trick and Alexis Vilarino scored two.

On Sunday morning, the Pumas beat the No. 3-ranked San Juan Blue with a 5-1 effort. Jenna Zuniga and Alexis Vilarino each scored two, and Airyana Verdugo’s one-touch goal off a corner kick sealed the win. Yolanda Tavares and Cindy Alvarez played solid defense, and Jasmine Loaiza and Faith Chavez played tough.

The Pumas played a solid Elk Grove team for the championship Sunday afternoon but pulled out the victory, 2-1, on goals from Jenna Zuniga on a penalty kick and Alexis Vilarino. Marcella Salyer played tough all weekend in the goal box and has allowed only one goal in the past five games.

The Pumas play again this weekend in the nationally ranked Mustang Stampede tournament in Danville, where they play the So Cal Blues, ranked No. 11 nationally, on Friday evening.

Titans one run shy of NSA championship
The Tracy Titans 10-and-under girls fastpitch softball team ended up one run short of the National Softball Association Western World Series championship last month in Reno and had to settle for second place.

The Titans went undefeated through six games before losing two in a row in the championship games July 18 to the Carson Valley Hotshots, who came up through the loser bracket and took a 6-5 win in the first game against the Titans and a 5-4 win in the second.

Pitchers Alyssa Ellis, Hailey Garza, Sonia Reddy and Samantha Sarmiento combined for 69 strikeouts over eight games, and catchers Allison Corliss and Peyton Davis threw out five would-be base stealers. Ali Davis, Miranda May, Emily Ochoa, Felicia Suniga and Adriana Telly all played solid defense.

Hailey Martin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored in the first two games to lead her team, and Shelby Weeks went 11-for-18 in the tournament with a home run, six stolen bases and 10 runs scored.

The big hit for the Titans came in the quarterfinal game against the Bakersfield Rebels, when Alyssa Ellis hit a grand slam to help her team come from behind and take a win.

Junior Olympic jumper takes fourth
Long-jumper Essence White of Tracy took fourth place in the Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships last month in Omaha, Neb.

White, 13, cleared 16 feet, 10.75 inches, in the finals July 26. White is a member of the Northwest Express track and field club, which works out at Modesto Junior College.

The first-place jumper in the youth women’s competition was Tessa Runels of Union City, a member of the Mission Valley track and field club, with a jump of 17-8.25.

Little League rival eliminated
The Rocklin Little League Junior All-Stars, who beat the Tracy Little League Junior American team for the Northern California division championship July 25, were eliminated from the Western Regional Tournament in Aliso Viejo on Sunday.

Rocklin logged three big wins in a row — 11-1 against St. Helens of Oregon, 10-0 against Columbia of Washington and 10-0 against Butte Northwest/Mile High of Montana — before Tijeras Creek Little League of Rancho Santa Margarita, representing Southern California, beat Rocklin, 18-8.

Tijeras Creek faced Hilo American/National Little League of Hawaii in the championship game Tuesday night.

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