The varsity baseball teams from Tracy and West high schools finished their crosstown baseball game just before darkness fell at Tracy High on Friday, but not before the visiting team saw a 10-0 lead nearly evaporate in the bottom of the third inning.

But West (2-0) held on for a 12-8 win over Tracy (2-1) as the game was called because of darkness at the end of five innings.

As West coach Stephen Theall said, “No lead is ever safe.”

West was up 10-0 after a six-run rally in the third inning, which was when Theall saw one of his baserunners miss a chance to steal home when a pitch went in the dirt.

“I remember telling him, ‘Tracy is too good a team for us to not take advantage of those opportunities this early in the game,’ and it showed right there. They put up that seven-run third inning.”

Tracy coach Vic Alkire said the win went to the team that could outlast the other, in spite of mistakes on the mound and on the base paths.

“It wasn’t a well-played game on our part, that’s for sure. I’ll give West credit, because they took advantage of our mistakes, and we made a lot of mistakes today,” Alkire said.

West started well, as Jonathan Townsend walked in the first and scored on Taylor Kruger’s single into right field.

In the second inning, West’s Nathan Trujillo singled, Clyde Parilla walked and Jacob Lopez bashed a three-run homer over the left-field fence off Tracy pitcher Alex Flores. The shot gave West a 4-0 lead.

“He threw it right where I wanted it. It brought out team up,” Lopez said. “We were pretty much pumped up the whole game.”

The homer wrote a bit more history in the developing West-Tracy rivalry. As is typical of any contest between the two teams, Lopez and Flores play on the same club team in the summer, and both were on the 2005 Tracy National Little League team that went to the Western Region finals.

“Another game, another win, but it’s always great to beat Tracy, because they’re our crosstown rival,” Lopez said.

West senior pitcher Derek Oetken, who got the win, went for two innings and allowed no hits.

With Jake Shull on the mound for Tracy, West rallied for six more runs in the top of the third as Oetken led off with a double to deep left, Taylor Kruger and Victor Jovel walked, and Trujillo hit a double just over the head of Tracy center fielder Brandon Jossey to drive in three runs.

“All I wanted to do was get it up the middle and get some runs and then execute it,” Trujillo said. “As long as it got out there, I was glad with it.”

Sal Alvarado drove in Trujillo on a single and scored on a passed ball, and Jake Wilson walked and came in when Townsend reached on a fielder’s choice.

Tracy had its turn in the bottom of the third, when Oetken walked five, Tracy’s Robert Emerson reached first on a dropped third strike and Tanner Turner singled. Markell Ransome and Jake Peterson pitched relief for West and gave up four more walks before Kruger went in to finish the inning and eventually the game for West. Oetken gave up four runs in the inning, and Ransome allowed three.

The Bulldogs chipped away at the Wolf Pack lead again in the fourth when Jossey reached on a single and Shull drove him in on a double to deep right.

But West scored two in the fifth after Parilla walked and Lopez singled — both scored on passed balls. That put the game just out of reach, as descending darkness and Kruger’s solid relief pitching finished the game.

Sophomores: Tracy 7, West 1

At Monte Vista Middle School, the Bulldogs took a 7-1 win after winning pitcher Ryan Black pitched five innings and held West to two hits. Reilly Oki closed the last two innings, recording three strikeouts and allowing one hit.

Tracy had base hits from Matt Loscavio, Cody Daniel, Daniel O’Brien and Chris Bacchetti, but the team was even more effective on the baselines with 15 stolen bases, including five for Loscavio and four for Daniel.

Rafael Tijero doubled and singled for West, and Johnny Gori also had a base hit.

• Contact Bob Brownne at 830-4227 or brownne@tracypress.com.