It was a rematch of a March 24 game at West, which the Wolf Pack won, 3-0.
In Monday’s game, the Wolf Pack (13-8) outhit Tracy (16-6), but the Bulldogs capitalized on five West errors to get runners on and around the bases, and rallied in the fourth inning on a string of hits, including Ricky Diaz’s three-run home run.
Tracy’s winning pitcher, Preston Mattos, threw for six innings and struck out eight batters, including three in a row in the fifth inning. Of the two runs he allowed, one came in the third inning when Clyde Parilla hit an infield single and came home when Jonathon Townsend hit a double to right-center. The other was in the sixth, when Tyler Shepherd slammed one out of the park for a solo home run.
“Mattos had his best game of the year by far,” Tracy coach Vic Alkire said. “He made them earn everything they got.”
West coach Jim Rice said that without the errors, it would have been a close game.
“They outplayed us defensively for sure. We had a hard time fielding balls,” he said, adding that he expects his team to come up with a better defense against McNair, which the team played Tuesday and will face again Thursday, before key games against Tokay next week. “It’s a game where we get back in the groove.”
Tracy got on the scoreboard right away in the first after Kyle Moses led off with a double, advanced to third on an outfield throwing error and came home on Brandon Jossey’s ground-out. Tracy got only one hit in the third, Tanner Turner’s leadoff bunt, but Turner was promptly thrown out at second on the next play.
Kyle Moses reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced on an error, and Jacob Valdez reached on an infield error. Moses scored when Jossey grounded out again, and Valdez scored on a passed ball.
In the fourth inning, Tracy’s Daniel Heefner singled and advanced on Tyler Silva’s sacrifice bunt. Robert Emerson reached on an error that also brought in Heefner, but West pitcher Derek Oetken picked Emerson off at first.
Turner singled again, Moses walked, and Valdez got a base hit to right field to bring in Silva. Chris Collins, pinch running for Moses, came home on a passed ball before Jossey reached on a catcher interference call. With two strikes on him, Diaz took a swing at a curveball breaking toward the outside and sent it over the right-center fence to bring in Valdez and Jossey.
West held Tracy after that, as pitchers Taylor Kruger and Riley Goulding allowed only one base hit in the fifth and sixth innings, and struck out five, including three for Kruger in the fifth.
West staged a brief rally in the seventh when Robbie Jackman came in to pitch for Tracy. Victor Jovel started the inning with a single, followed by Jacob Perez’s single. Goulding followed with a shot into right field, which bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double and an RBI. Townsend batted in one more on a ground-out before Shepherd flew out to deep center to end the game.
The crosstown matchup was a late addition to the teams’ schedules after they each had two games rained out in the Lodi/Tokay Easter Tournament.
Tracy will play Tokay at home Saturday, and West will play Logan High of Union City at home Saturday after hosting McNair on Thursday.
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