Tracy High baseball coach Vic Alkire hopes for a repeat of last year’s championship season, even though he has a much different team this time around.
The Bulldogs came in first in the San Joaquin Athletic Association and made the playoffs, but most of the players who rewrote the team’s record books in batting and pitching have moved on.
“We’ll be young, but I feel like we’ll be solid, and we’ll be better by league (season),” Alkire said.
Despite the losses, some of Tracy’s top performers from last year are back, including pitchers Preston Mattos and Kyle Moses. Tracy’s top batters and power hitters from a year ago were seniors, but infielder Jacob Valdez, returning as a junior this year, was close behind them with a .308 batting average.
Tracy also had a solid sophomore team in 2008. The sophomores came in second in their league behind Lincoln High but started the year with a long string of preseason wins.
“(The varsity team is) getting a 23-3 team that are now juniors,” sophomore coach Ken Perez said, “so I’d say they have some talent.”
Alkire moved Ricky Diaz, who had been the sophomores’ leading pitcher and batter, up to the varsity team at the end of last season to play third base. Alkire said that Robbie Jackman is also among the new varsity players who will be added to the pitching rotation.
Other returning players include Bobby Agard, Daniel Heefner, Chris Burgess, Brandon Jossey, Tyler Silva and Kyle Hassna.
Tracy was set to begin its season on the road, but because of the weather will play Sonora High at home Monday afternoon. Alkire said that the Sonora coaches reported that their field still has snow on it and won’t be ready for play by Monday.
WHAT: Tracy vs. Sonora
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Monday
WHERE: Tracy High, 315 E. 11th St.
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