|
|
|
 |
2008 TRACY HIGH VARSITY ROSTER
Wednesday, February 20 GAME 1 SUMMARY
Game Summary:
Wednesday, February 20 VARSITY AND SOPHOMORES GET FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON For the varsity they started their season by entertaining the crowd with a quick 7-1 lead. A few innings later they would have the crowd biting their nails and pacing as the early lead would evaporate to an 8-8 tie after 4 innings. "We responded when we needed to, and that is a sign of a good team," said Coach Alkire. The team would respond in the top of the 5th with the sun setting over the outfield palm trees Ryan Scornaienchi would walk, Johnny Espana got hit by a pitch, Brandon Jossey would walk to load the bases for Preston Mattos. Mattos delivered with a sharp single to score two and give the Bulldogs their first victory. Kyle Moses who had come on to mop up in the 4th, finished off the Patterson batters in the 5th to claim the win. Key hits early in the game that led to the 7-1 lead included Justin Evans, Steven Ramos, Josh Frea, and Johnny Espana. Monday, February 25 GAME 2 SUMMARY On Monday afternoon the varsity proved that with their solid defense, all they need are a few key hits and it will take them a long way. Facing a tough starting pitcher for Sonora, the Bulldogs struck first blood when Steven Ramos and Jacob Valdez walked, Ryan Scornianechi singled to load the bases and then Johnny Espana put the ball in play to score Ramos. With 1 out, Vince Canale hit a sacrafice fly to score Valdez to make it 2-0 after 1 inning. In the 2nd, Daniel Heefner walked, stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on a balk. Justin Evans hit a sacrafice fly to left field with 1 out that scored Heefner. The Bulldogs were cruising after two innings. In the 3rd Josh Frea got into a bit of a jamb and some key hitting by the Sonora Wildcats led to a 3 run inning to tie the game. Key in top half of the 3rd was Bret Maddox coming on in relief and settling things down to limit the Wildcat attack. In the top of the 5th, Sonora had the bases loaded with 1 out and were threatening to take the lead, a key 6-4-3 double play by Ramos, Valdez, and Canale took the air out of Sonora's spirits. In the bottom of the 5th, Justin Evans showed great hustle to beat out an infield hit. Steven Ramos ripped a double which brought Valdez to the plate with runners in scoring position. Valdez wasted no time getting all of the ball and driving it to right center to collect 2 RBIs. Kyle Moses came on in the 6th and 7th to clinch the save and shutdown any further Sonora rally. After the game, Coach Alkire was very pleased with the performance of his team. "There were several key events to our victory. Justin Evans hustle down the line to get on base in the 5th, Bret Maddox coming in to quiet the Sonora bats and settle things down in the middle of the game, and the double by Ramos. I was really impressed with Valdez handling the pressure of the 5th inning at bat and driving the ball to the outfield. I thought the outfield played outstanding. Anything hit out there to Scorniaenchi, Jossey, or Evans was tracked down and caught, stated Alkire."
Tracy Press Game Summary Here Tri Valley Herald Coverage Here
Winning Pitcher: Flores. Game winning HR - Diaz. Monday, February 25 STATS AND GAME SUMMARY
Pitching
Monday, February 25 Short 10 second video below showing a key hit by Ramos and the RBIs collected by Valdez. Thursday, February 28 GAME 3 SUMMARY The varsity spotted East Union 3 runs early in the game, but the Bulldogs did not let that get them down, they came right back to eventually take the lead and then never looked back. More photos coming on Friday.
*Officially does not count The Sophomore's dominated this matchup 11-0 behind the pitching of Ricky Diaz... STORY ON THE SOPHOMORE PAGE!
Thursday, February 28 HANGING IN THERE On Thursday evening at East Union, Daniel Heefner made his 1st start of 2008 and pitched well even though he got into a 3 run deficit hole early through no fault of his own. After giving up 3 unearned runs off of an error, Daniel did not let that afffect him, nor did the team get discouraged by being in a hole early. Daniel responded with 3 shutout innings, and his teammates responded with a lot of hits and runs to secure a victory. Leading the offensive attack was leadoff batter Steven Ramos who dug into the batters box 6 times during the game and got 3 hits, 4 RBIs and key triple to score 2 early. Ryan Scornaienchi also had 3 hits, a RBI, and a double. Vince Canale raked 2 hits and an RBI, and Brandon Jossey collected 3RBIs on 2 hits with 2 runs. After the game Coach Alkire said "our defense struggled a little but our bats pulled us out of the hole and our hits were spread throughout the lineup. We did a nice job challenging their pitchers." Alkire was very impressed with Heefner's first start and Bret Maddox coming on in relief again and getting the team out of a jamb when the game was relatively close. Thursday, February 28
Thursday, February 28 Saturday, March 1 GAME 4 SUMMARY Four regular season games are now in the books, and while it is clear each team has plenty still to work on, one thing is evident, they find a way to win. For the varsity, they had their 2nd game in a row where they got behind early and would rally late to win 9-3. For the Sophomores, they departed Enochs a 10-4 winner.
Pitching
Saturday, March 1 Monday, March 3 GAME 5 SUMMARY
Daniel Heefner collected his first loss of the year tossing 4 innings of 10 hit 3 earned run ball. He had no walks and 2Ks. Preston Mattos came on in relief and gave up 7 hits and 3 earned runs with 3Ks and no walks. "Pitman is a good team and we are going to have to play much better if we are going to compete at the elite level," said Coach Alkire.
Wednesday, March 5 GAME 6 SUMMARY
The varsity rebounded from their first loss of the season earlier in the week and wasted no time responding with their bats. Before I could get my camera out of my bag, Steven Ramos was 1st pitch connecting for a triple. Justin Evans followed with a RBI single and the Bulldogs were off and running. Ramos would stay on fire with his bat having a 4-5 day with a triple and a homerun to deep left (very left). Evans also had a good day at the plate going 2-3 with 3RBIs. Daniel Heefner was 2-2 with double and Jacob Valdez was 1-2 with a triple. Ryan Scornaienchi, Vince Canale, Heefner, Kyle Hassna, and Brandon Jossey all collected doubles. Bret Maddox was the winning pitcher with 4 innings of 6 hit ball. Chris Burgess got some late inning work and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks with 1 strikeout. In his postgame press conference, Coach Vic Alkire expressed his pleasure with how his team responded after the Monday setback at Pitman. "My coaching staff challenged them on Monday night. We have to compete every inning, every at bat, and every pitch. We stayed focused today, and I was very pleased." On Friday Alameda High School comes into town. "They are going to be a very good team, probably one of the best we will face all year," stated Alkire. The Alameda players made the news today in the Bay Area as hundreds of students threatened to walk out of class when they heard that their athletic program might get cut in future budget reductions. Varsity photos in the photo section of website. More to be posted Thursday night.
Friday, March 7 GAME 7 SUMMARY - ALAMEDA
Coach Alkire was very pleased with his team's performance when interviewed Friday night. "We did not make any errors this evening. That is key when you are going to play a solid club like Alameda." Alkire went on to say that he thought the pitching of Josh Frea and Kyle Moses set the tone for the game. "Josh came up big for us today. He gave us 4 solid innings and Kyle Moses got us the rest of the way home." In the 2nd with 2 outs, Jacob Valdez hit a solid double to right center to score B.J. O'Bryan for the first run of the game. Alameda would come back and take the lead in the 5th with 2 runs, but Tracy would not roll over. After back to back walks to Ramos and Evans, Ryan Scornaienchi was patient at the plate and made those walks hurt. He scorched a double to score the 2 runners on base and give Tracy the lead that they would not relinquish. Tracy Press Coverage of the game
Tuesday, March 11 GAME 8 SUMMARY - GOLDEN VALLEY
Freshman win 7-3. Details developing on the freshman page. Sophomores win big and remain undefeated. See the sophomore page. With 1 out in the bottom of the 7th and Steven Ramos on base, Ryan Scornaienchi came up to face the Golden Valley right handed pitcher who threw sidearm. After having 1 strike against him, Ryan was waiting patiently for the next pitch. He had waited long enough and loudly called time, but the umpire did not grant the request and on came the pitch. Ryan quickly put his top hand back on the bat, liked what he saw coming, and swung away sending the ball like a Barry Bonds shot deep into right field. The Golden Valley right fielder made a valiant effort for the ball, even vaulting over the fence, but it was not enough. Walk Off Homer...... Tracy Wins! It ended with Ryan Scornaienchi as the hero crossing home plate, but there was more to this win then just his blast to right field. You need to rewind to the beginning and the middle of this game and dig deeper. "Daniel Heefner didn't have his best stuff today, but he battled through it and kept us in the game through 6 innings," stated Coach Vic Alkire. "Things started clicking for him in the 5th and 6th as he began to find his location and cut through the Golden Valley batters. We had our opportunity late becuse Daniel kept the Golden Valley damage to a minimum." Facing a tough opponent in Golden Valley and the Duke University bound 4.6GPA Trevor Caesar on the mound, the Tracy bats could not get more than a run in, even though they had runners at 2nd and or 3rd in several early innings. Coach Alkire reflected back to the ugly side of the game. "We comitted 5 errors early. The win was nice, but did we learn from our mistakes?" Coach would later say that he thought his team did learn from the mistakes. "We battled them to the very end and that makes us a better team. This team did exactly what the coaches ask of them day in and day out and that is to compete on every pitch all the way to the end. It is a hard thing to do, it is not automatic. You have to focus and not let the game beat you down. Today we stayed tough to the end."
MEDIA REPORTS OF THE GV GAME Tracy Press coverage of the GV game here Herald Coverage here HOMERUN DERBY FOR VARSITY
On Wednesday afternoon Tracy varsity and sophomores traveled to central Stockton and took care of their opponent. For the varsity it was easy, for the Sophomores it was a bit of a struggle.
As the stats will show you above, it was a homerun derby at Stagg today as Scornaienchi, Canale and Ramos sent the ball sailing into the Stockton subdivisions. "Bret Maddox pitched very effectively, making the Stagg batters put the ball in play and we did a good job defensively catching the ball," said Coach Alkire. For Maddox it was his 2nd win in two days. Saturday, March 15 VARSITY FALL vs Pacific Grove The varsity got roughed up early but battled back late in the game to take it into extra innings before falling 6-5. Varsity had to play catchup early as the Pacific Grove #3 hitter (Ruiz) tagged a homerun to right off of starter Josh Frea on a 0-1 count in the 1st inning. Tracy responded in the top half of the 2nd when Vince Canale got hit by a pitch and Brandon Jossey hit a hooking line drive into right field for a RBI double that he advanced to 3rd on when the cutoff went home. With the score 2-1, Pacific Grove came back in the 3rd and put 3 more on the board with 2 more homeruns (one by #1 batter Sublet and the 2nd of the day by Ruiz). With Tracy not responding, Pacific Grove put another run on the board in the 4th to make it 5-1. It looked like the game was over, but Tracy would battle back to cut the deficit to 5-2 with a run in the 5th when Valdez would score on a Scornaienchi fielders choice. In the 7th, Tracy showed their ability to battle back once again when they put up 3 runs to tie the game. Ramos singled to lead off, Evans singled, Scornaienchi was walked, O'Bryan walked, then Canale and Hassna each collected RBIs on force outs. The game would stay tied until the bottom of the 8th when PG would load the bases and then connect on a deep fly ball to center to score the runner from 3rd. Tracy pitched Josh Frea, Kyle Moses, Preston Mattos, and Daniel Heefner.
Thursday, March 13 Thursday, March 13 Saturday, March 15
Sunday, April 27 THE VARSITY LEADER BOARD (updated through Chavez Series)
*Minimum 50 plate apperances
Monday, March 24 TRACY TAKES GAME 1 IN DECISIVE FASHION Atwater/Winton Easter Lions Tournament
More photos are loading in the photo section of the site. Bret Maddox pitched a nice game for the Bulldogs as they cruised to a win in the first game of the Easter tournament in Atwater Monday morning. "He was very efficient with his pitches and that allowed him to go 6 innings for us," commented Coach Alkire after the game. "It was the longest performance of any of my pitchers all season." Maddox numbers were 6 innings pitched, 2 runs (2 earned), 4 hits, 7 strikeouts, and 3 walks, making him 5-0 on the season. Tracy also put up some heavy offensive numbers with B.J. O'Bryan providing a spark in the 2nd and 3rd innings. "He really helped us out a lot with a double in the 2nd to score Canale, and then a double in the 3rd to score Evans and Canale," said Alkire. Ryan Scornaienchi also hit the long ball with a triple in the middle of the game to stretch the lead to a comfortable margin. Jacob Valdez put the finishing touches on Patterson with a grand slam in the bottom of the 6th inning. Monday, March 24 Game 1 Easter Tourney
Tuesday, March 25 CLOSE CALL Atwater/Winton Easter Lions Tournament
"This was a pretty stressful game, but the outcome followed a script I've seen a few times already this season," said Coach Vic Alkire. The script he was referring to, was a team that can find a way to claw back into games when they get behind. "I was proud of the team today. They did not give up and they put a few runs on the board each of the middle innings so we could get back in it, and rack up another win." Coach Alkire was especially pleased with the pitching performance of Kyle Moses who picked up a well earned victory coming into the game in the bottom of the 2nd and was able to shutdown the Moreau attack after some early errors. Alkire also pointed to a play in the 5th that may have gone unnoticed by many. "It was a ball that only traveled a few feet, but it was a key at bat." He was referring to Bobby Agard who had come on to pinch hit with a runner at 3rd. He took the count deep (approximately 7 pitches) before putting the ball in play to allow the go ahead run to score. "That's what we are looking for in that situation. Just shorten up on the swing, make contact, don't swing for the fences, and good things will happen." Game 2 (Easter Tourney) Recap
Heefner: 1 IP, 3 runs, 4 hits, 0Ks, 2 BB, 3 ER Moses(w): 5 IP, 2 runs, 2hits, 7Ks, 2BB, 0ER O'Bryan: 1 IP, 0 runs, 0hits, 3Ks, 1BB Game recap: In the top of the 1st, Tracy would score when Ramos and Scornaienchi singled. Scornaienchi stole 2nd and then Canale hit a 2 RBI single. In the top of the 4th, Heefner walked, Hassna got hit by a pitch, and Valdez singled in Heefner. In the top of the 5th, Evans walked, Canale reached on a fielders choice. O'Bryan singled in Evans and Canale with 2 outs to tie the game 5-5. Agard singles in O'Bryan to make it 6-5. In the top of the 6th, Valdez walked, Ramos doubles him home, Canale doubles in Ramos. Wednesday, March 26 RECORD SETTING NIGHT
Adding a level of excitement to the Atwater game was the record setting performance of Ryan Scornaienchi who would collect two hits to claim the THS Baseball All-Time Hits Leader. For Tracy, they got the scoring started early when B.J. O'Bryan would knock in 2 runs in the 1st inning with 2 outs. In the bottom of the first Bulldog starter Josh Frea was cruising along until Atwater batter Austin Aragon hit a homerun to left field to make the score 2-1. After that homerun and another hit, Frea would settle down and not give up another hit through his 4 innings of work. "Josh set the tone for us by his pitching performance tonight," said Coach Alkire. Frea would only walk two and he collected 5 strikeouts enroute to his victory. Chris Burgess came on in the fifth to finish the game. The Tracy bats were hot in the cold night air of Atwater. "I don't think anyone has produced more RBIs this tournament than B.J. O'Bryan," said Alkire. "He is really having a good tournament and his 1st inning RBIs set us on the road to victory."
Burgess: 2 IP, 1 run, 2 hits, 3 Ks, 0 BB, 1 ER Thursday, March 27 REFLECTIONS ON A RECORD The record setting hit, #76 was not a dramatic shot to right center like so many other of his hits, but rather a check swing blooper up the 3rd base line. It didn't matter though, for Ryan it was just another way he was contributing to a team win. "I knew the record was out there, it was in the back of my head, but when I stepped into the batters box each time tonight, my focus was solely on generating a hit for the team," said Ryan. "Even though it was just a check swing, I felt confident I was going to beat it out." After the game, the previous holder of the record, Steve Alkire, weighed in with his thoughts. "Ryan had such a great sophomore year. He had some 30 hits that year. I knew he would eventually break my record. He works so hard, he is a great team player. It is fantastic to see such a great kid get this accomplishment. I couldn't be happier. It has been a pleasure coaching him these past three years." For Alkire, he had a great junior year collecting 30 hits, followed by 31 hits in his senior year. Thursday, March 27 A COOL BIRTHDAY PRESENT If you noticed on Wednesday, the Bulldogs had a special VIP in the dugout. Zachary, grandson of Coach Alkire was celebrating a birthday and was asked what he wanted for a present. "I want to spend the day with Grandpa and my Uncle, and be the batboy." Wish granted. Happy Birthday Zachary! Thursday, March 27 MID SEASON GLORY "Once again pitching was the name of the game," said Coach Alkire very late Thursday night as he reflected on a solid performance by his ballclub after they swept their opponents in the 49th annual Atwater-Winton Lions Club Easter Tournament. Tracy defeated crosstown rival West in decisive fashion to take 1st. West took 2nd, and Atwater took 3rd in the tourney. Preston Mattos and Daniel Heefner would hold the West bats to just 1 hit and 1 unearned run. "Vinny and B.J. came up big again with key hits throughout the tournament, said Alkire." "Canale would have a 2 run single in the 3rd and O'Bryan had a 2 run single in the 5th. "Preston making his first start of the year, held West hitless through 4 innings. "He was using his change-up to keep the West hitters off balance. I was pleased to see Heefner come in and pitch 3 strong innings to close the game out. Our pitching has been fairly effective lately, especially in this tournament." That it has as only 15 hits were given up by Bulldog pitchers in 4 games. "Credit Coach Crivello who has done an excellent job with our pitching staff to bring them along and make them believe in themselves," said Alkire. When asked what some of the other highlights were in the tournament, Alkire responded with the offense of Stevie Ramos. "He was on base 12 times in the 4 game tournament. Scornaienchi, Canale, and O'Bryan did an excellent job driving him in." All tournament players were Steven Ramos, Vince Canale, and B.J. O'Bryan. B.J. was also named MVP of the tournament.
Friday, March 28 Championship Game Stats
Pitching: Mattos 4 IP, 1 Run, 1 ER, 0 Hits, 4 Ks, 4 BB Heefner 3 IP, 0 Runs, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 3 Ks, 0 BB Friday, March 28 VARSITY TOURNAMENT SUMMARY 11 key RBIs led senior B.J. O'Bryan to be named the MVP of the Easter tournament.
Tuesday, April 1 MISSED OPPORTUNITIES Were the bulldogs looking ahead to Friday's game against West and league next week? The bulldogs managed only 1 run through 6 innings and missed out on several scoring opportunities, especially in the bottom of the 4th when they had bases loaded but could not generate any runs. They also made some defensive errors that allowed Manteca to open up a lead. Credit the bulldogs for coming back and getting 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th to tie, but they let Manteca move ahead in the 8th and Tracy fell 6-4.
Coaches Postgame Press Conference: "I don't think we had the proper mental approach to the game today," said Coach Vic Alkire. "It seemed like our focus was off today and Manteca made us pay for it. We just need to refocus and come out on Friday and play like we have our first 14 games of the season. I think we learned something from today's game and along with the fact that we are playing West on Friday, that should be incentive enough to have us ready to compete." Alkire went on to say that the bright spot in the Tuesday game was the play of Vince Canale. "He was 3-4 with a double, triple, and 3 RBIs."
Pitching: Maddox 3 IP, 2 runs, 4 hits, 2Ks, 1 BB, 2 ER Frea (L) 4 1/3 IP, 4 runs, 5 hits, 3Ks, 1 BB, 2 ER Burgess 2/3 IP, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 Ks, 0 BB, 0ER Sophomores win with only 4 hits. More info posted on the sophomore page.
Tuesday, April 1 Friday, April 4 TRACY SWEEPS THE CROSSTOWN CLASSIC
Game time 2 hours, 5 minutes. Attendance 165. Pitching: Heefner 2 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 2 Ks, 0 walks, 3 earned runs, 5 runs, 1 HBP Moses 1 1/3 IP, 0 hits, 2Ks, 2BB, 0ER Maddox (w) 2 IP, 0 runs, 0hits, 1K, 0BB, 0ER O'Bryan (s) 1 IP, 0 hits, 1K, 0BB, 0ER
Friday, April 4 CANALE CRUSHES WEST Vince Canale crushed a grand slam early in the game to give Tracy an 8-1 lead. He thought he had put the game away, but some errors brought West back in the game. Canale then took matters into his own hands and blasted another homerun to give Tracy a 3 run lead and the eventual win over West. "There were a lot of momentum changers in this game today," said Coach Alkire at the varsity pizza party after the game. West looked like they had things going their way when they loaded the bases on 2 singles to start the game followed by a Canale error at 1st. A comebacker to starting pitcher Daniel Heefner allowed a 1-2-3 double play to occur. A strikeout ended the West threat. In the bottom of the 1st, Tracy went quietly. In the top of the 2nd, West batter Derek Oetken singled and advanced to 2nd on an error. Oetken would score on a single that was misplayed by Ryan Scornaienchi in left. With the score 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 2nd, Tracy would have their biggest inning of the game. With 1 out, Heefner singled, Josh Frea and Johnny Espana walked. Jacob Valdez came to bat with the bases loaded and worked a walk to bring in a run. A wild pitch scored Frea to make it 2-1 Tracy. Steven Ramos walked and then Justin Evans hit a ground ball in the 5-6 hole to score two. With the bases loaded again, Vince Canale stepped to the plate and connected on a grand slam to right field. With the score 8-1 the momentum seemed all on Tracy's side. Wrong. In the 3rd, West got a hit followed by a hit batter. A single now makes it 8-2. Canale makes a throwing error on a fielders choice to score another run (now 8-3). At this point Justin Evans would make a great diving catch to double up a runner at 2nd who was being waved home by Coach Jim Rice. With 2 outs West gets a 2 run homerun Anthony Salsedo to draw closer 8-5. Kyle Moses would relieve Heefner and get a comebacker to get the 3rd out. In the bottom of the 3rd, Tracy bats could not mount a rally. In the top of the 4th, West shortened the Tracy lead even more with a run to make it 8-6. Tracy responded in their half of the 4th with their own momentum changer when Canale homered again to make it 9-6. In the 5th it becomes a pitchers duel as Bret Maddox replaced Moses who was missing high on his pitches. Maddox quieted the West bats and held them in check through the 5th and 6th to get the win. West brought Derek Oetken in as their 3rd pitcher and he also limited the Tracy attack through the rest of the game. A good defensive play was made by B.J. O'Bryan in the 5th to keep another West run from scoring. B.J. O'Bryan pitched a strong 7th inning to record a save. Coach Alkire had plenty to say about Canale. "He is really dialed in right now. For two games in a row, he has been nails." "It took us 4 pitchers and a couple of outstanding defensive plays in the outfield to win it today." MORE PICS ARE IN THE PHOTO SECTION TO THE LEFT Saturday, April 5 HOW DID TRACY WIN FRIDAY? HERE WERE THE KEYS TO VICTORY Coach Alkire had time to reflect on Friday's game and came up with these key events that made the difference in Friday's game versus crosstown rival West: 1) In the first inning, Daniel Heefner inducing Tyler Shepherd to hit a one hopper back to him that started a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded an no outs. View image here 2) In the 2nd inning, Justin Evans bases loaded single to drive in two runs 3) In the 2nd inning, Vince Canale's grand slam to add 4 more runs to the inning and make it 8-1. View image here. View a 2nd image here. 4) In the 3rd inning, Kyle Moses coming in to relieve Heefner and immediately retire Kevin Walker to end the inning. View image here. 5) In the 3rd, the diving catch and then double play by Justin Evans of a Mike Wentz line drive. Evans would get up and throw to 2nd to get the runner who had been waved home by Coach Rice believing the ball was going to fall. View image here. 6) In the 4th, Canale's 2nd homerun which was a towering shot 335 feet to right center. View the homer here. 7) In the 5th, Bret Maddox comes in as relief for Kyle Moses. Maddox would retire 6 consecutive West batters and pick up his 6th win of the year. See image here. (editors note: I gotta kick out of seeing this kid in a pressure packed situation yell to his Dad between innings of his pitching performance, "Hey dad get me a hot dog and some snickers." Must be nice to be so relaxed. I guess that's why he is 6-0. 8) In the top of the 5th, B.J. O'Bryan runs towards the right center gap to track down a Kevin Walker blast that could have been extra bases and likely one or two more runs. View image here. 9) In the 6th, Daniel Heefner shows his range at 3rd by going into the hole to field and throw a Anthony Salsedo ground ball to end the 6th. View image here. 10) The perfect 7th inning thrown by reliever B.J. O'Bryan. He would strikeout Ryan Devencenzi and Mike Wentz to preserve the win. View image here. 11) The tremendous turnout and support by the many Bulldog fans! View some of them here. Wednesday, April 9 ANOTHER WIN 7 wins this season + the solo win last year. That makes Bret 6th all time in wins for a THS pitcher and he is now in 3rd place for most wins in a single season. Congratulations Bret! Wednesday, April 9 VARSITY CRUISE TO 1ST LEAGUE WIN
TRACY PRESS COVERAGE OF LEAGUE GAME 1 HERE Wednesday, April 9 Bear Creek would score early on walks, stolen bases and a double and with the game tied 3-3 in the 3rd with 2 outs, Tracy kicked it into gear and began to put the game out of reach. Bret Maddox came on in early relief of Preston Mattos to start the 4th and settled things down. "We like putting Bret into the game in these tense situations. He is so valuable in just putting the other team into neutral offensively," said Coach Alkire. "We scored 8 of our 16 runs with 2 outs today. Any day you can do that, you are doing something right. I was happy with our approach at the plate. It was something we have been working on in practice. In the 1st Tracy would score 3 runs when Ramos singled, Evans doubled, Scornaienchi walked, and O'Bryan singled to score Ramos and Evans. In the 3rd O'Bryan singled again, Josh Frea singled, and Johnny Espana hit a shot down the 3rd baseline to score O'Bryan. Jacob Valdez hit a short fly ball to left field that could not be played which allowed Frea to score. Ramos would then hit a shot to the fence that almost left the park. It would score two more. In the top of the 4th, Johnny Espana made a nice defensive play to record an out on a foul ball that hugged the fence by the backstop. In the bottom of the 4th, Canale walked, Daniel Heefner singled, and Frea collected 2 RBIs on his 3rd hit of the day. In the top of the 5th Tyler Eppler would rough up Maddox a bit with a 2 run homerun. That would be the end of the Bear Creek offense as Maddox would limit the Bruins to just 2 hits for the remainder of the game. With the score 9-5, Tracy came to bat in the 5th and had another big inning. With 1 out, Evans would reach on an error. Scornaienchi would single, Canale would walk, and O'Bryan would walk to bring in a run. Heefner would hit a short fly ball to center to score 2 and make the score 12-5. Frea would come to the plate and get his 4th single of the day to score 2 more runs and advance the lead to 14-5. In the 6th and final inning of the day, Tracy would turn out the lights on the Bruins quickly. Tyler Silva walked and then Ryan Scornaienchi took a 0-1 pitch and belted it over the right center field fence. Alkire ended his press conference talking about Josh Frea's performance at the plate. "He has really taken advantage of the opportunity that has been provided to him. We let him have some at bats in the West game last week and he came through. It continued today with 4 hits. His performance is an example for the rest of the team." Alkire also announced Friday's starter, Daniel Heefner.
Pitching: Mattos 3IP, 3 runs, 5 hits, 1K, 1BB, 3ER Maddox 3 IP, 2 runs, 3 hits, 3Ks, 1BB, 2ER, 1HBP Saturday, April 12 HOW THE DOGS SCORED ON FRIDAY 1st Inning: Ramos records first out on a 5-3. Evans singles over 2nd base. Scornaienchi hits ball to left field fence. Runners on 2nd and 3rd. Canale hits infield chopper that scores Evans. Bad throw to 1st scores Sconaienchi. 2 runs total. 3rd inning: Evans singles to left. Evans picked off base. Canale hits to right. Scornaienchi takes an extra base to 3rd. O;Bryan hits slow roller down 1st base line and avoids the tag. Scornaienchi scores, Canale to 3rd. Heefner hit by a pitch. Frea walks to score Canale. Espana shot down 3rd base line to score two. Valdez strikes out. Ramos hit by a pitch. Evans hits to center to collect two RBIs (0-2 pitch). Scornaeinchi drives a ball to the wall but it is caught for the 3rd out. 4th inning: Canale leads off with a double. O'Bryan lines out. Heefner singles to left to advance Canale to 3rd. Good base running by Heefner to take 2nd on the throw into the infield. Agard walks to load the bases. Espana walks to score Canale. Valdez grounds into a potential double play but a good slide by Espana at 2nd breaks up the play. Ramos singles off the pitchers glove. Scornaienchi ends the inning on a strikeout. 5th inning: Canale singles to start the inning. O'Bryan grounds out. Silva beats out an infield play. Espana hits a ground ball that is misplayed by the 2nd baseman causing Canale to score. Valdez grounds out to end the inning. Tuesday, April 15 LEAGUE GAME 2 SUMMARY
On a beautiful Friday evening, Tracy High Varsity won easily versus Bear Creek 12-4. Daniel Heefner started the game and got relief from Josh Frea and Chris Burgess. Coach Alkire was very pleased with the relief pitching performance when he met the media this evening. "Josh Frea and Chris Burgess gave us exactly what we want from our relief staff. After Daniel had a real good 8 pitch 1st inning, he began to struggle a bit as he started elevating his pitches. Josh came in and retired all 5 of the batters he faced. Chris struck out 4 of the 6 batters he faced." Vince Canale and Justin Evans led the Bulldog charge with 7 hits and 4 RBIs between the two of them. Alkire went on to comment on the batting performance of Evans and Canale. "Vinny has really been hot the last 4-5 games. He has found his groove and the only time he got out, he tagged the ball 350 feet. I'm pleased to see Justin back on track too, he was on base all 5 times today. When you get Ramos or Evans on base, it means good things with Scornaienchi and Canale following."
Wednesday, April 16 VARSITY AND SOPHOMORES SWAT THE YELLOWJACKETS
WP: Maddox Steven Ramos connected on the first pitch of the game and sent it 350 feet over the right field fence to deliver a message that Tracy was ready to defend their 1st place position in the SJAA. Bret Maddox (Mr. Dependable) came in for early relief of B.J. O'Bryan and pitched 4 2/3 inning of shutout/one hit baseball, striking out 6 Franklin batters to gain him his 8th win of the season. "Bret has come out of the bullpen numerous times for us this year to settle the game down and today was just another one of those times," said Coach Vic Alkire. "His consistency has been amazing and his value to us as a reliver has been one of the big keys to our good start this year." Vince Canale continued his hot hotting by going 2 for 3 with 4 (record setting) RBIs. Justin Evans backed Canale with 3 hits and 2 RBIs of his own. Stevie Ramos added 3 more hits today including a double and a homerun to increase his hit total for the season to an amazing 37 hits. "Stevie chose a good time to show his power as the Sacramento City College coach had driven down to watch Stevie play today," said Alkire. "It was nice to see Tyler Silva come off the bench today and go 2 for 2 with a RBI" "We will see the Yellowjackets again on Friday, and this team has a history of bouncing back after defeat to take it to their opponents. We had better be prepared," said Alkire.
Pitching: O'Bryan 1 IP, 3 Runs, 3 hits, 1K, 0BB, 3 ER Maddox (w) 4.2 IP, 0 runs, 1hit, 6Ks, 3BB, 0ER Mattos 1.1 IP, 2 runs, 0 hits, 1 K, 4 BB, 1 ER
WP: Jackman It was the Alex Flores and Dominik Nazario show for the Sophomores. Details on the Sophomore page. Wednesday, April 16 Wednesday, April 16 HOW THE DOGS SCORED 1st inning: Ramos leads off with a 1st pitch homerun. Evans singles, Scornaienchi reaches base on an error. Canale flies out to center. O'Bryan doubles to score Evans and Scornaienchi. Tracy 4-0 Franklin scores 2 in the bottom of the 1st. 4-2 2nd inning: Espana grounds out. Valdez singles. Ramos doubles. Evans strikes out. Scornaienchi hit by pitch. Canale singles to collect 2 RBIs. Tracy 6-2. 6th inning: Ramos leads off with a single and is then picked off at 1st (questionable call). Evans singles. Scornaienchi walks. Canale walks. Maddox with a force out but 2 runs score. Heefner singles. Agard grounds out. Tracy 9-2. 7th inning: Silva singles. Valdez strikes out. Ramos walks. Evans singles in two runs. Scornaienchi doubles. Canale triples. Mattos walks. Heefner strikes out. Agard walks. Silva singles to collect an RBI. Tracy 15 runs. B-7th - 1st batter flies out to Jossey in center. 2nd batter walks. 3rd batter strikes out. 4th batter walks. 5th batter stays alive on an error by Heefener attempting a force out at 2nd which then allows 2 runs to score. 6th batter of the inning flies to Heefner to end the game. Final: 15-4.
Friday, April 18 TRACY TEAMS ADVANCE TO 4-0 IN LEAGUE On Friday the varsity and sophomores produced wins to advance their undefeated league season to 4-0 with 6 games left to play. Tracy Press Coverage Here.
Daniel Heefner delivered 7 solid innings of pitching and the Tracy bats supported him in a 10-2 win today at Tracy. The Bulldog bats roughed up the Franklin ace early and the game quickly was Heefner's to dominate. "We had a really good approach at the plate this afternoon," said Coach Vic Alkire. We were up against a good pitcher in Jess Covarruvias and he is at his best when he makes batters chase his curveball. "We were patient and made him throw us strikes." When Tracy got their first at bats, Steven Ramos showed his patience by working a walk. Justin Evans would produce a nice bunt down the 1st base line which caused Covarruvias to miss Justin moving up the line. Ryan Scornaienchi would walk to load the bases and the hot hitting Vince Canale would single to the left side to score two. B.J. O'Bryan then singled to the right side to score two and make it 4-0 after 1 inning. Just as important, the Tracy batters had made Covarruvias throw over 30 pitches in that first inning. In the 2nd Tracy kept the heat on Franklin when Jacob Valdez took the 2nd pitch of the inning and lifted it high into the air as it carried over the right field porch for a homerun. At 5-0 after two, Heefner had a nice cushion from which to operate. "Daniel gave us 3 good innings where he was dominant. Those first 3 innings he had a low pitch count," said Alkire. "In the 4th he got a bit out of rhythm, but Coach Crivello went out there and helped correct the problem. He got it under control and worked through it. We were real happy as a coaching staff to see Daniel go deep into this game. That has been one of our goals this season." In the 3rd, Tracy put another run on the board when B.J. O'Bryan hit a shot off the fence for a double. He would advance on 2 passed balls and wild pitches to score. In the 4th, Canale would collect an RBI when he doubled to score Scornaienchi who reached base on a walk. O'Bryan reaches base on an error, and an error during a Heefner grounder scores Canale. 2 more Tracy runs would cross the plate in the 6th when Justin Evans led off with a walk and Scornaienchi hit a homerun to centerfield. Friday, April 18
Wednesday, April 23 CHAVEZ GIVES TRACY A SCARE The sophomore squad had no problem taking care of business against Chavez as they won by 22 runs on 20 hits Wednesday night. The same could not be said for the Bulldog varsity squad. Tracy had their hands full with the Chavez Titans who would go up 4-1 in the first on a grand slam off starter Bret Maddox. Josh Frea came into the game and slowed the Titan attack but after 4 innings, Chavez still led 7-6. Kyle Moses came in and began to change the flow of the game as he limited Chavez to just one more run in the remaining four innings. This allowed Tracy to claw their way back into the game and take an 8-7 lead. In the bottom of the 7th Chavez tied the game causing extra innings. Tracy would score three in the top of the 8th and would eventually closeout the Titans in the bottom of the 8th, but not before the Titans put a real scare into the 20th ranked Bulldogs. COACHES PRESS CONFERENCE: "Josh Frea came in the game for us during a difficult situation in the 1st with no outs. He pitched 3 solid innings striking out 8 batters before running into trouble in the 4th. Kyle Moses was able to shutdown Chavez the rest of the way striking out 6 and allowing only 1 unearned run. Kyle showed composure well beyond his years by getting out of a 7th inning jam with the bases loaded and the winning run on 3rd. He would give up a short fly ball to center that Brandon Jossey caught and was able to hold the runner at third. Moses would then follow with a strikeout to the Chavez lead off hitter and finally force a pop up to Preston Mattos at 3rd. The first half of the game belonged to Stevie Ramos who slammed a homerun over the centerfield fence on the game's 1st pitch and would later hit a bases loaded double off the right-center field fence to drive in three more runs in the 2nd inning. Kyle Moses picked up the momentum in the 4th inning and dominated the last half of the game for Tracy. The Ramos/Moses combination was the driving force behind the 18th win of the year." Wednesday, April 23 Photos of Wednesday's game courtesy of Lynn Jossey.
Pitching: Maddox 0 IP, 4 runs, 1 hit, 0Ks, 3BB, 4ER Frea 3.2 IP, 3 runs, 4 hits, 8Ks, 5 BB, 3ER Moses 4.1 IP, 1 run, 3 hits, 6Ks, 2BB, 0ER Wednesday, April 23
WP: Moses 5-0
Friday, April 25
Robbie Jackman pitches Tracy to victory. Details coming on the Sophomore page.
Friday, April 25 TITANS KNOCK TRACY OFF THEIR PEDESTAL Tracy could only muster 2 runs through 5 innings and while it was nice to have the lead with Daniel Heefner pitching well, something told you that the Tracy offense needed to open things up more. That would not happen. Needing only 6 outs to seal the shutout, the wheels began to fall off the Bulldog bus. Tracy pitching gave up 4 consecutive walks followed by a single, another walk, and a squeeze allowing the Chavez Titans to surge ahead and take a 5-2 lead. Tracy mounted a 6th inning comeback, but could only generate 1 run with the bases loaded and no outs. The big guns of Tracy tried to drive in the runs, but popped up instead to dampen the come from behind rally. In the 7th, Chavez widened their lead with 3 more Tracy walks, an error at 3rd followed by 2 more walks before the 3rd out could be recorded. In all 10 walks were granted in the final two innings! Tracy batting was weak against Chavez with only 6 hits generated during the day. Chavez Coach Peter Gallegos was very proud of his club and his pitcher Antonio Fields who gave it is all in the 7 inning battle. "He threw his heart out and although he was struggling and spent at the end, there was no way I was going to take him out, he earned this victory." Coach Alkire had a lot of thoughts running through his mind during his postgame news conference. "Chavez took advantage of the opportunities we gave them this afternoon. Our team did not," said Alkire. "It was very disappointing to see our club give up 8 runs on only 2 hits!" The loss was painful as it gave Tracy their first loss of league, ended a 6 game winning streak, and it knocked them out of the top 20 in Nor Cal rankings. In other news...both the Freshman and Sophomores continued their pursuit of league perfection with wins in their final game against Chavez. Wednesday, April 30 BALL BOUNCES BULLDOGS WAY FOR KEY WIN It was a tense battle that you would expect with the two leaders of the SJAA going head to head late in the season. The game had good pitching, lead changes, a lot of coaching strategy, and a few ugly plays. In the end, Tracy battled from a two run deficit and held on in the 7th to win 4-2.
Early in the game, starter Josh Frea got into some trouble due to some Bulldog fielding errors. Bret Maddox came on in early relief and quieted the Lodi bats down through the next 5 innings. For Maddox his work earned him his 9th win on the season which placed him in a tie for the most single season pitching wins at 9. He joins the company of Danny Auchard from the class of 1988 who was another lefty who would go on and sign with the Mets and have some success in their farm system. In the 7th, B.J. O'Bryan came in for the save. Things got a bit dicey as the first Lodi batter walked, the 2nd got on with an error, and the 3rd batter walked. O'Bryan would make his best pitch against the #4 batter in the lineup when he threw him a 2-2 knee high fastball for a called 3rd strike. With 1 out and the bases loaded, O'Bryan got the next batter to hit into a 1-2-3 double play to preserve the victory and 1st place for the Bulldogs. During the coaches post game press conference, an interesting fact came to light. With Steven Ramos going 0-3 today, this ended an amazing 23 game hitting streak that dates back to the playoff game last May against St. Mary's at Billy Hebert field. "This is an amazing run that he should be proud of, said Coach Alkire. "I don't have any historical stats, but this has got to be the longest or one of the longest in THS history. It is quite an accomplishment for any high school baseball player." Coach Alkire went on to speak about the keys to the game. After that early 2 run deficit, we did not get down as a team. Bret came in and gave us the type of performance that we have come to identify with him. He just calmed things down and gave us 5 innings of 1 hit baseball. He kept it close so we could eventually rally." A win on Friday by the Bulldogs will put them in the drivers seat for the remainder of the season. It could quite possibly give them their 1st league title. Daniel Heefner will be the starting pitcher for the game that is scheduled to start 30 minutes after the Sophomore game (which begins at 3:30 p.m.).
Pitching: Frea 1 IP, 2 runs, 1 hits, 2Ks, 1BB, 2 HBP, 0ER Maddox 5 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 3K, 0 BB, 0ER, 2HBP O'Bryan 1 IP 0 runs, 1 hit, 1K, 2BB, 0 ER Wednesday, April 30 HOW THE VARSITY BULLDOGS SCORED In the bottom of the 4th, Vince Canale leads off with a double to right center. B.J. O'Bryan bunts down the 3rd base line and the ball is fielded by the pitcher Toon who cannot make a good throw to 1st. The ball gets by the 1st baseman and Canale scores. In the 5th with 1 out Jacob Valdez is hit by a pitch. Steven Ramos flies to center for the 2nd out. Just Evans hits a chopper down the 3rd base line that cannot be played properly by Lodi. With runners on 1st and 3rd, Ryan Scornaienchi hits a towering fly ball to center but the Lodi centerfielder cannot pick it up in the sky. It drops in scoring two and giving the Bulldogs the lead. In the 6th, another run is added when Johnny Espana singles, Daniel Heefner gets on with an error, Tyler Silva walks, and Jacob Valdez hits a sacrafice fly to left to score Diaz (running for Espana). Friday, May 2 ON THE DOORSTEP WITH WIN NUMBER 20
"Daniel was outstanding on the mound tonight," said an elated Coach Alkire after the game. "One of the keys to the game was when we didn't play very good defense that first inning and Lodi scored two unearned runs. Daniel kept his composure and came right back and had a one-two-three 2nd and 3rd inning. Daniel set the tone for our ballclub and he supported his pitching by having a 2-3 night at the plate." "You could just tell we took the wind out of Lodi's sails when we came back in 2nd and placed 4 more runs on the board after they had just tied us in the bottom of the 1st. Their dugout got pretty quiet." Alkire went on to highlight other players as well. "Vince Canale is on fire in league play. Tonight was one of the best hitting nights a high school player can have." Alkire was referring to Canale's 3 for 4 night with 3 doubles and 4RBIs. "Another key aspect to our victory was the defensive play of Brandon Jossey in centerfield. He had a nice game and it is good to see him coming back from his injury. He gives you a lot of comfort knowing he is going to track down all those balls hit to the gaps," said Alkire. There were many other positives to take away from Zupo field Friday night. Ryan Scornaienchi came back from a couple of strikeouts to blast his sixth homerun of the season. Stevie Ramos set two records Friday night as he recorded his 43rd hit (single season record) and he crossed home plate for the 35th time (single season record). Stevie would also have 2-3 night at the plate and get the game started with a triple down the right field line. After a slow start at the plate, Ricky Diaz launched a triple to left center, Johnny Espana had a solid game behind the plate, and the bench was into the game all night with plenty of festive chants! All in all, it was a enjoyable Friday night of baseball in early May. Friday, May 2
Heefner (w) 7 innings, 2 runs, 0 earned, 2 hits, 3 walks. Pictures loading on the photo page. Wednesday, May 7 LINCOLN SHUTS DOWN TRACY "Not on our home turf" said a Lincoln parent in the middle of the game. Lincoln wanted to ensure there would be no celebration by Tracy of a SJAA championship on their field. With good pitching from their sophomore southpaw, Lincoln defeated Tracy 4-0. The outcome of this game allows Lincoln to stay alive for a playoff spot and will force Tracy to win at home on Friday if the Bulldogs are going to win a SJAA championship outright. Coach Alkire met the media Wednesday night and reflected on the 1st matchup with Lincoln. "There are games where you just have to give the other team credit for having a good approach to the game, and this afternoon Lincoln did have a good approach. They kept the pressure on us and Josh Rodriguez did an excellent job on the mound keeping us off balance at the plate. When you get that good of a performance from the pitcher and play error free baseball, you have an excellent chance of winning. Lincoln did that and gave Rodriguez all the run support he needed. I think we will come out on Friday and play like we did last week against Lodi. I think you will see a different team on Friday. If we win Friday, we will still have a league title and today's game will be meaningless," said Alkire.
Pitching: Frea 2 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 2 Ks, 1 BB, 2 ER Maddox 3 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 2 Ks, 1 BB, 1 ER Lincoln Pitcher (Rodriguez): 7 IP, 0R, 1H, 9Ks, 3BB, 3HBP
SOPHOMORE GAME SUMMARY:For the sophomores, they played relatively well behind the pitching of freshman Tyler Trew, however Lincoln was one run better. The win by Lincoln eliminated Tracy from a league title and allowed Lincoln to claim the sophomore crown for 2008. "We have really had a good season where we have over achieved. I'm very pleased with the performance of the sophomores and a 22-3 record is an excellent season," said Coach Perez. "Today Tyler Trew pitched very well for us. He is everything that was advertised. He pitched 6 innings and only threw 62 pitches. Our star hitter today was Robbie Jackman who went 1-3 with 2RBIs, a single and a sac fly." Perez also commented on a key point in the game when Trew singled in the 3rd and then stole 2nd. "Unfortunately, Jackman and Flores struck out, but with 2 outs, Jake Finney hit a laser to right field. Give the Lincoln rightfielder credit as he made a great catch to save a run. That was a critical spot in the game today." Now it's on to the last Sophomore game of the year. "We would really like to finish strong. Lincoln has a habit of playing us hard and knocking us out of the title. I think we owe them one," said Perez.
Friday, May 9 DRAMA IN THE 7TH LEADS TO A TRACY CHAMPIONSHIP
If you have been waiting all these years to win a league championship outright, why tiptoe onto the winners throne. The Bulldogs made winning the league title a dramatic event Friday afternoon as they came from behind to take the league crown away from Lincoln before a large crowd of fans. There is plenty of drama and plays to talk about that led to the Bulldogs getting to the 7th inning, but before we discuss all that, let's get right to the dramatic 7th. With Lincoln leading by one, the Lincoln coach stays with his starter to attempt to get him a complete game win. On the first pitch, Ryan Scornaienchi blast a homerun to center (I believe the ball is still going). With the game tied Lincoln changes pitchers. Vince Canale walks and then Moses and O'Bryan get out on 3rd strike bunt attempts and a strikeout respectively. Canale steals 2nd during the inning and a wild throw by the catcher allows Canale to advance to 3rd. Johnny Espana walks and takes 2nd on a steal attempt. With the count 0-2 on Diaz, the Lincoln pitcher throws a pitch low and away that gets by the catcher. Canale breaks for home but the ball bounces off the backstop favorably back to the catcher. He turns and throws to the pitcher who is covering the plate and all fans on hand (including Canale) think we are headed to extra innings. The ball is thrown wildly and Canale scores. Game, set, match! Game summary: In the 2nd, some Lincoln balls hit to the outfield are misjudged and 2 early runs score forcing Tracy to play catch up. Tracy gets 3 runs on the board in the 3rd when Ricky Diaz leads off the inning with a walk. Jacob Valdez singles, Ramos singles to collect an RBI and Evans walks to bring in a run. Ryan Scornaienchi is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and that also scores a run. In the 4th, Diaz again leads off and singles. Valdez lays down a sac bunt and Ramos homers to allow Tracy to take the lead 5-2. Lincoln puts together a 4 run 6th when the top of the order puts together 2 singles and a double. A sacrafice fly to center and a bunt provide Lincoln with a one run lead needing 6 outs to defeat Tracy. Tracy gets one baserunner in the 6th on a Valdez single but ultimately walks away empty. In the 7th, Moses gets the top of the Lincoln order to go quietly to set the stage for the dramatic Tracy comeback which started with Scornaienchi's blast.
Sophomores win final game to finish strong! Details on the sophomore page. Congratulations player and coaches on an awesome 23-3 season.
Wednesday, May 7
COACH ALKIRE REFLECTS ON THE VICTORY
"Two good at bats by two veteran players in the 7th inning," stated Coach Alkire late Friday night. He was referring to Ryan Scornaienchi and Vince Canale who came up clutch in the 7th when Tracy had their backs against the wall. "Ryan took the pressure off of the team as he started the inning with a homerun to tie the game. It changed everything and allowed the players that followed him to come to the plate with less stress on their shoulders. Canale, being a 3 year varsity player showed a cool, calm presence at the plate to work the walk after going 3-2 and fouling off pitches. I was delighted by the performance that Daniel Heefner gave us this afternoon, said Alkire. He took a 1 hitter into the 6th for us before he ran out of gas. Kyle Moses has been our good luck charm all year and once again he gave us some of that mojo. After getting roughed up pitching out of the stretch in relief of Heefner, he settled down and got the Lincoln bats to go 1-2-3 in the 7th. Obviously the other big play of the game was the homerun in the 4th by Steven Ramos. It was a momentum changer and took the pressure off of us for awhile. "I'm very excited personally with what we have accomplished and I'm also very excited for the student athletes. You know we challenged three players three years ago (referring to Canale, Scornaienchi, and O'Bryan). You are the future of THS baseball I said in 2005. At that point we had not won a playoff game in at least 16 years. These kids helped us win 3 straight and we have continued to evolve. First it was just make the playoffs. Now it's a league title. I'm sure everyone on the team is excited, but we are not satisfied. We are looking forward to playing an excellent team in Golden Valley on Wednesday. "This is an exciting time for Tracy High Baseball. I think there are more good things to come. The boys in the program and those just entering, are in for a special era." Footnote: The league title is the first since 1988 when Tracy went 21-8 with Steve Lopez (now football coach at West) at the helm. It was a 3-way shared title that year. The 2008 league title is significant because there is no indication that the Bulldogs have ever won their own title. Records go back to 1958. Friday, May 9 VIDEO OF VICTORY IS ON YOU TUBE
GAME STATS
Pitching: Heefner 5IP, 5 runs, 3 earned, 5 hits, 3Ks, 1 BB (no decision) Moses (W) 2IP, 1 run, 2 hits, 1K, 0BB, 0 ER Tracy Press coverage here Wednesday, May 14 SUN SETS ON THE BULLDOGS SPECIAL SEASON Golden Valley lit up the Bulldogs in the first inning with a 8 run, 13 plate appearance attack. It was a brutal way to start the game, but give the Bulldogs credit as they immediately responded in their half of the 1st with 3 runs. The Bulldogs would scratch and claw their way back into the game throughout the remaining innings, but the first inning deficit was too large to make up. The loss put a sad end to what had been a very special and historic year for the THS baseball program. On a beautiful night at UOP, the Bulldogs had their largest fan base of the year come out to support them. Golden Valley started the game with what should have been a pop up for the first out, but the tough spin on the ball would cause problems for Johnny Espana to make the play and GV was in business with a runner on 2nd. After a ground out for the 1st out, an assault of 13 GV batters would come to the plate in the 1st to give a comfortable 8 run lead for their ace. A great catch by Brandon Jossey to record the 3rd out would finally put a bandage on the bleeding in the top of the 1st. The Bulldogs immediately fought back when Cesar walked Ramos and Evans and then with 2 outs, Bobby Agard delivered a hit down the 3rd base line to score two. B.J. O'Bryan followed with a hit to score Agard. With the score 8-3, B.J. O'bryan who had come into the game in relief of Daniel Heefner, began to control the GV lineup with some help from his defense. Jossey would make another acrobatic catch in the 2nd with a runner on 3rd to prevent further GV scoring. In the bottom of the 2nd Tracy put another run on the board when Diaz, Evans, and Scornaienchi walked. Canale hit a ball to the 3rd baseman but he misplayed the ball allowing Diaz to score. With O'Bryan and Maddox holding Golden Valley scoreless, another Tracy scoring threat was mounted in the 6th when Silva walked, Valdez and Ramos singled, Evans walked, and then Scornaienchi walked to collect the RBI. Silva almost got Tracy another run earlier in the inning, but was gunned down at the plate by a good throw from the GV left fielder. Photographic evidence showed that it was a close play but he was out (see below). In the 7th the Bulldog bats were ready for a comeback as they hit the ball hard with Agard doubling and Josh Frea hitting a ball hard to left field but a catch was made. The rally ended their as the final two batters went down on strikeouts.
Thursday, May 15
Pitching: Heefner .3 IP, 7 runs, 5 hits, 0 Ks, 1 BB, 6 ER O'Bryan 4.6 IP, 1 run, 4 hits, 1 K, 1BB, 0 ER, 1 HBP Maddox 2 IP, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 K, 0 BB, 0 ER Thursday, May 15 COACH ALKIRE PROVIDES FINAL POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE With several hours to reflect on the season ending loss last night against Golden Valley, varsity Coach Vic Alkire was very open with his thoughts which touched on the loss, his seniors, and optimism about next year. "We really dug ourselves a huge hole that would be hard for any team to overcome. I was confident that we would battle for 7 innings. It has been the character of our team all season long. Sure enough we did what I don't think many other teams could have done. We battled right back and were not initimidated by their star pitcher. We drove him out of the game after two innings. This was a testament to our players and the belief they have in themselves. We really came close to getting that game back. There were two situations later in the game where we had the tieing run on base and good hitters at the plate. That's all you can ask for is to have the chance." Alkire went on to acknowledge some special player accomplishments from the playoff game. "Probably our two best performances were the two players that have the most injuries on the team. Brandon Jossey has been battling back and hip pain most of the year and he was determined to get out there an give us his all in the playoffs. He was spectacular in center and his plays probably saved at least four runs. B.J. O'Bryan also gave it his all and probably did not have a whole lot left in his arm which has been injured all year. He fought threw the pain and gave our team 4 2/3 innings of almost perfect baseball. It was very inspiring." When asked about his emotions over the past 24 hours, Alkire mentioned he has been through a range of emotions. "My first reaction was shock and sadness. Shock that you don't expect it to be your last game and suddenly it's upon you. Sadness that you are not going to be going out to practice the next day with this wonderful group of kids to keep the season alive. Those thoughts have given way to excitement and optimism about next year. We are already talking about some possible rosters and lineups for next year. One thing is for certain, the 2008 team is the benchmark for all other THS teams to follow. This was a great collection of team baseball players. I want to thank the seniors for 2-3 years of varsity service. They have changed the expectations of our baseball program. Alkire ended his press conference with a challenge to all the underclassmen. " They need to start working today on being ready for 2009. There is a tradition and standard to uphold and preparation begins now." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
TRACY HIGH BASEBALL |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
