Six local little league teams are preparing for the District 67 Tournament of Champions, which will begin Saturday, June 16, in three nearby cities.

The teams from Tracy Little League advancing after winning qualifier tournaments this week are the Minor American Yankees, the Major American Yankees, the Major National Phillies and the Junior American Tigers.

Local championship games were played Thursday in the Minor National and Junior National divisions. Those scores were not available at press time.

Also heading to the District 67 tournament is the Mountain House Little League Major Giants which went 16-3 in inter-league play this season against teams from Patterson, Weston Ranch and Lathrop. The Mountain House Minor Yankees advance after emerging as division champions with a 14-3-1 in the local league.

The District 67 Minor division tournament will be at Brock Elementary School in Manteca, the Majors at Mossdale Landing Community Park in Lathrop, and the Juniors at Las Palmas Fields in Patterson. Games will continue through next weekend.



Minor A American

The Yankees had to climb up through the elimination bracket and win two games in a row against the previously undefeated Angels to claim the Minor A American division title in the double-elimination tournament.

The Yankees 9-7 victory in the second of a best-of-three series on Tuesday, June 12, at Monticello School, opened with a four runs in the first inning. Jeremiah Fontenot’s triple in that first inning rally gave the Yankees the confidence to keep coming back, even after the Angels responded with five runs on six hits, including a triple for Josh Garcia, in the bottom of the first.

The Yankees kept battling back, and took an 8-5 lead in the fourth inning and held on from there. Leading hitters included Matthew Pombo and Joshua Hernandez, with three hits each, and Jesse Gonsalves, Ethan Haines and Dale Vollbrecht, who each had two hits.

Pombo pitched 5 1/3 innings for the win and struck out seven batters.

Garcia and Joe Perry were the leading hitters for the Angels with two hits each, and Jaydon DePerio, Ryan Anderson, Kyle Corona and Silas Jones also contributed hits in the team’s first-inning rally.

Tuesday’s win followed the Yankees’ 7-5 upset over the Angels on Monday, June 11, at Monticello School, where the Yankees made the most of their last chance in the top of the sixth to force the second game.

Jeremiah Fontenot’s triple to right field, his fourth hit of the day, brought in the go-ahead run for the Yankees. D’Andre Diaz, Christopher Payne and Ethan Haines also contributed hits to the sixth-inning rally, Haines with his third base hit of the day.

Yankees closing pitcher Matthew Pombo got the win after he threw for 1 1/3 innings and struck out three Angels batters, including two in the bottom of the sixth.

The Yankees 18-6 final record included three losses to the Angels, who ended up finishing at 18-2-1 after the Yankees brought strong hitting and a lot of determination to the best-of-three championship series.



Minor A National

The Minor A National championship will also have to go to a second game after the Rockies came up with a five-run fifth inning for an 11-7 win over the Giants at Monticello Elementary School in Tracy, on Wednesday, June 13.

The breakout inning featured Joey Page’s bases-loaded double which brought in three runs.

The Rockies had a 6-1 lead at the end of three with base hits from Thomas Anderson, T.J. Rucker, Jaden Anson, Brandon Royal and Ryan Herrera. Walks and batters hit by pitches, plus a stolen base for Matthew Canada allowed the Giants to score four in the fourth inning.

The Giants then scored two more in the fifth as Rey Rey Bicomong walked and then stole second, third and home. Tio Villalobos walked and stole second and third and then came home on a bases-loaded walk to put the Giants up 7-6 in the top of the fifth.

Gabriel Andora doubled to start the Rockies fifth-inning rally and Royal, Anderson and Bachetti also had base hits in the fifth. Ryan came in to pitch for the Rockies in the fifth inning and got the win after he retired the side in the sixth.

The teams played again Thursday, June 14, at Jefferson School in Tracy. The score was not available at press time.



Major American

The Yankees won their division title on Tuesday, June 12, at Jefferson School in Tracy after coming into the tournament as the No. 2 seed.

They went undefeated through the championship bracket, including a 12-6 win over the Indians in the championship game.

The Indians had a 6-0 lead in the second inning as Jonathan Behling and Justin Crone doubled and Michael Maciel singled to sustain the scoring explosion.

The Yankees rallied to tie it up in the bottom of the third as Korey Reyes and Kris Reyes hit back-to-back doubles and Christopher Bronson singled.

The Yankees logged six more runs on six base hits in the fifth inning, with Michael Weeks, Miles Turner, Korey Reyes, Bronson, Bradley Maddox and Trent Zwickey all getting base hits. Zwickey came in to pitch in the second inning, retired the side in three consecutive innings, and held on through the sixth for the win.



Major National

The Phillies had to come up through the elimination bracket and won two in a row against the Dodgers at Jefferson School in Tracy to earn the Major National division title.

The Phillies’ Jeremias DePerio hit a three-run homer in the first inning of the final game of the best-of-three series on Wednesday, June 13, on the way to an 8-2 win.

Cole Murray, Jacob Terry and Nick Sansoni also got hits in the first inning, and Terry and Sansoni singled again in the second to help score two more for the Phillies.

Ryan Rivera pitched all six innings for the win and struck out 11 Dodger batters.

The Phillies forced won the first game of the series, 13-3, on Tuesday, June 12, at Jefferson School.

The Phillies started with a seven-run first inning where Ryan Rivera, Cole Murray, Jimmy Thomas and Jesse Roy all singled and Mikey O’Leary and Kyle Hickok doubled. Thomas singled during the Phillies’ four-run third inning, and Murray, Jacob Terry and Nick Sansoni all singled in the fourth to score two more and end the game early. Jeremias DePerio pitched all four innings for the win and struck out five batters.

The Dodgers got their three runs in the second inning on hits from Jack Traut, Joey Mellick and Mitch De La Rosa.



Junior American

The Indians won the first championship game against the Tigers in double-elimination on Tuesday, June 12, but the Tigers made their second chance count with a 10-6 win on Wednesday, June 13, at Monticello School.

The Tigers overcame the Indians’ early 3-1 lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Indians tied it up 4-4 in the top of the fourth before the Tigers rallied for four-runs in the bottom of the fourth and held onto the lead from there.

Thomas Greeley led the way for the Tigers with three base hits, including an RBI double in the third. Troy Dennett, Christian Rosette, Antonio Giglioti and Tyler Diaz also had base hits for the Tigers. Greeley pitched 5 2/3 innings for the win and struck out five batters.

Ronaldo Tijero, Chad Hanville and Cody Bolton each had two hits for the Indians, Greg Guillen hit a two-RBI single in the first, and Conner Johnson, Andrew Ross and Anthony Queresma also had hits.

The Indians had been on a roll after they came up through the elimination bracket and beat the Tigers 13-7 on Tuesday, June 12, to force the second championship game. The Indians opened Tuesday’s game with a five-run first inning sparked by base hits from Chad Hanville, Conner Johnson, Greg Guillen and a double for Andrew Ross. The Indians took a 9-0 lead in the third as Hanville singled again and Johnson doubled.

Thomas Greeley, Tyler Diaz and Austin Pemberton all hit doubles in the Tigers’ six-run rally in the bottom of the third to get their team on the scoreboard, but the Indians scored three more in the fourth and the Tigers would only score one more in the bottom of the seventh.

The Indians’ Cody Bolton pitched the entire game for the win and struck out nine batters.



Junior National

Teams will play for the Junior National title on Thursday, June 14, at Monticello School. Details from the three-team tournament were not available as of press time.