After a pair of wins over Stagg — and one by the 10-run rule — already under their belts in 2007, the Tracy High baseball team knew Monday’s contest wouldn’t be nearly as difficult as the last two times it took the field.

But while the Delta Kings (1-8 preseason) didn’t provide as much of a challenge as CIF North Coast Section champions Alameda did on Saturday or crosstown rivals West did on Friday, the Bulldogs’ Daniel Heefner still impressed. In his debut start, the only sophomore on the roster allowed only one run on five hits over four innings in an 11-1 six-inning win, delayed about a half-hour by a cold, constant drizzle at Tracy Ballpark.

“It went good; I didn’t give up any walks — that helped,” said Heefner, who throws a moving circle-changeup teammates insist on calling a “gyro-ball.” By any name, it was part of the reason behind his seven strikeouts and his first win after missing time with a shoulder injury earlier in the season.

“I thought Heefner came out and did a real nice job,” said Tracy coach Vic Alkire, pointing to the lack of walks. “That’s the key to being successful as a pitcher.”

The only run Stagg could muster was a fourth-inning home run. But even that didn’t matter, as Matt Furtado pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out three. Justin Evans, who replaced Heefner in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, collected three hits, and Johnny España added two more. Two of Evans’s hits — a double and a triple — went for extra bases.

Tracy (9-5 preseason) went up 9-0 after the third inning, and while Stagg responded with the home run, Heefner scored on Ryan Scornaienchi’s fifth-inning groundout before Bret Maddox ended the game with a bases-loaded sacrifice-fly to score Justin Koski in the sixth.

Next up for Tracy is Florin, whom the Bulldogs will play Monday in Lodi in the opening round of the Lodi Tournament.

n Rain delays

Both the Tracy and West high sophomore games were cancelled Monday because of the rain.

The two teams will play each other in a just-scheduled contest Wednesday at the Tracy Ballpark.

Alameda 7, Tracy 5 (8 innings)

On Saturday, the Bulldogs played their second extra-inning game in as many days, but eventually lost to Alameda (6-1), who defeated De La Salle for the North Coast Section title in 2006.

“It was almost like we picked up where we left off Friday night (against West),” Alkire said. “We played right with them, but we didn’t get the hit we needed to win the game for us.”

Junior starter B.J. O’Bryan, slated to be Tracy’s No. 1 starter this year, pitched well early — allowing two runs on four hits in four innings, striking out two — but left with an arm injury, the full extent of which will be known later this week. Furtado pitched two scoreless innings in relief to rescue Tracy from a jam.

España was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Chris Anklam and Scornaienchi both added doubles.

(S) Alameda 5, Tracy 1

On Saturday, the Bullpups (10-3) got a run early but couldn’t pierce Alameda’s armor thereafter.

Bobby Agard stuck out two and allowed three earned runs over five innings, and Dante Dell’aringa allowed one run on one hit over two innings.

Preston Mattos and Agard both knocked doubles, and Tyler Silva was 2-for-3. Jay Levand and Ryan Kelly both added hits.

Gymnastics

Tracy, West in preseason meet

The Tracy and West high gymnastics teams had to travel to the South Bay to compete in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, but the long drive was worth it Monday when the Bulldogs and Wolf Pack finished 1-2 in a meet at Gilroy High.

“It was a good first meet,” Tracy-West coach Jamie Ulloa said. “It gave everyone a good idea of what to expect out of a meet.”

Tracy scored a 150.55, powered by Jennifer Brawley’s first-place finish; the junior scored an 35.65 all-around, with a 9.4 in floor, 9.5 in beam, 8.8 on uneven bars and 8.9 on the vault.

West senior Stephanie Stokes hit a 34.4 overall thanks to an 8.9 in floor, 8.25 in beam and 8.85 on vault, and Tracy freshman Breanna Ingram-Noriega was third with a 33.9 all-around.

The two teams will compete April 3 at Classic Gymnastics in Tracy.