Coach Muniz begins his 2nd year as Head Varsity Coach. Muniz coached at Mt. Eden and Kimball High in the past and was the Tracy High Freshman coach in 2021 and 2022. He had a career in Bay Area law enforcement.
Jason has been an assistant coach with Ted Muniz for the last three years at Tracy High. He had a career in law enforcement.
Jake was a star baseball player with the Bulldogs from 2009- 2012 and excelled as a catcher and hitter. He would go on to pitch for Fresno State and then entered the Detroit Tigers Farm system before retiring a couple of years ago.
Fred joined the varsity coaching staff in the 2023 season.
Adam grew up in Tracy and went to Tracy High where he played baseball all four years. As a freshman, he was on the JV team and then became a 3-year starter for Coach Alkire on the varsity team.
After graduating, Deharo traveled to Australia to play on an international baseball team representing the United States. Adam would go on to play in a semi-pro league in the Bay Area for a couple of years then continuing to play in the Cal-Mex league for about 10 years. It was at this point he started to enjoy coaching more than playing and he started running a travel baseball team which he has maintained for nearly a decade.
Adam has been the JV coach for several years now.
President: Melanie Juran
VP: Cambria Briesach
Treasurer: Jennifer Jesser
Secretary: Kirsten Campbell
Fundraising: Myra Torres
February 2024
The 2024 season is just a few days away as the JV and Varsity will play host to the very strong Alameda Hornets in the THS Boosters Tourney on Saturday morning. As the countdown to first pitch begins, I took the opportunity to ask 2nd year varsity head coach Ted Muniz some questions about his team, his baseball program, and those that support Bulldog Baseball.
Q - The field looks very good to start the season coach, who are the unsung hero's in having it look so good and overcoming the deluge of water this year?
A - First off, Rick Pereira from the District is our main maintenance guy and he puts an enormous amount of effort and quality workmanship into it Being retired, I can supplement along with my assistant coaches Jason Martinez and Fred Juarez.
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Q - The Booster Program is about to host a 3-week tournament. Can you share the value that this tournament brings to the program?
A - Baseball does not get any funding from other sources like the school. We have to do a lot of begging, borrowing, and asking of others to be successful. We have the apple sales campaign, and the Vertical Raise as two legs of our funding stool. I realize that puts a lot of demands on the parents and players (especially for the multi-sport athletes who do it 2-3 times a year x 4 years). The 3rd leg of fundraising is this tournament which is a critical piece to our success.
Our expenses to run a program our steep. Uniforms are costly, baseballs are a big expense as well. We spend almost $100 per dozen on a game balls and $70 per dozen on practice balls. When you add in all the home games times 3 levels of play, wet weather, and lost foul balls then I think you can appreciate the expense. A set of catching gear runs $700. We have other recurring expenses as well all the way down to gas for our mowers.
Our Booster Board is fantastic and will work very hard over the course of the next 3 weeks to pull off this tournament. In addition to the fundraising aspect, families and fans of Bulldog baseball are treated to some Saturday baseball for 3 weeks which allows for a big turn out.
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Q - Starting your 4th year coaching at Tracy High and 2nd year as varsity head coach, what have you learned?
A - This is a pretty tight knit community. We get a lot of support from the parents. In my four years here, I have never had any problems with the parents. The support from the school and especially Matt Shrout our Athletic Director is top notch. Even our Superintendent, Rob Pecot is very supportive and has shown his interest in our program.
Vic Alkire did a tremendous job building this Bulldog program in his 28 years at the helm, and I never want to disappoint him in my leadership role. Having had experience coaching at other schools, I can tell you it is different here. The support is amazing, and when we ask for something, we get it.
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Q - Tell me about the makeup of your team from an experience level going into 2024?
A - We are a young team. We had a lot of senior experience graduate and the only full-time starters returning are Tony Romano, Ronin Contreras, and Elijah Gutierrez. We are carrying a lot of players this year on the varsity and many are underclassmen. Even though we are young, this team has confidence and I'm excited to see them execute when called upon.
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Q - Who will be in the mix on the mound this year?
A - You will see Jace Johnson, Wyatt Brandt, David Madrid, Jake Tyler, Kayden Mattos, Dylan Giannini, and Bryce Corell. Maybe some others as we evolve. I was really pleased in our two scrimmages to see how few walks this group gave up. These guys can throw strikes.
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Q - Name me some players we should be on the lookout for this year?
A - I think besides our known guys, I suggest you keep your eye on David Goularte, Jason Campbell, Ryan Torres, Kayden Mattos, and Wyatt Brandt.
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Q - Having coached for so many years, what still motivates you going into the first pitch of a season?
A - The young men assembled on the team. They inspire me and I want to inspire them. If I can make a difference in one of these kids lives on or off the field that would make me so happy. I really hope I get a phone call in 10 years from one of them saying I had an impact in some way. I want to provide life lessons through coaching. If we as coaches can make them laugh and enjoy the journey, then we are successful.
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Q - Anything else before we go?
A - I'm very appreciative of my other coaches, Adam Deharo (JV) and Sal Alvardo (Frosh). They work hard and love the game.
I 'm ready to go. I've been fiddling with the lineup card every night and Wally my grandson is also excited to be out there mixing it up with team again this year. I'm really appreciative of the players and how they interact with him. Wally will hopefully be our bat boy several times this year.