2020 BASEBALL SEASON ENDS QUIETLY
On Friday, April 3, the State CIF canceled the balance of spring sports to include playoffs. The Bulldogs were only able to play 6 games this year going 2-4 when the season was suspended on Friday, March 13th. The JV were 6-2 and the Frosh/Soph were 3-3.
In honor of the Bulldogs who were denied so many athletic experiences this spring, I've created a brief video tribute to their time played. You can view the 6 minute video here
STATS BEING UPDATED
HISTORICAL STATS - Update Sunday April 5
During the break in action I've been able to focus on updating the historical career and single season stats for the Tracy High Baseball program. Over the course of the next several weeks I'll be posting spreadsheets showing the single season and career records for every player in the program going back to the 1980s. Coach Alkire also has a few records of players from the 1950s as well. The top 5 career batting stats are now posted in the historical records section.
Update - The varsity career batting stats have been updated. There are two sections in this report. The top is sorted by batting average with 80 or higher at bats as the sample size. The 2nd half of the report is another sort with players less than 80 at bats. The report is a snapshot in time as play concluded back on Friday, March 13th. View pdf here.
Career pitching stats coming up next.
COACH REFLECTS ON THE FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE THE PAUSE
In his 27th year of coaching, Vic Alkire has experienced a wide variety of baseball events, but the events of last Friday were likely some of the most dramatic of his coaching career. Here were his reflections on entering the sports and school pause.
Early on Friday many of us had heard about the rumors that school might be closed for a few days. We didn't think a whole lot about it as we were focused on game preparation. As the day went on and there was no news, we thought we were in the clear. We went to River Islands a little early to watch some of the JV game and we got a call from Inderkum who was in our Saturday tourney and they said they were no longer allowed to play. The next call was from Alameda with the same news saying they were going to be offline for three weeks. At that point I'm thinking the landscape is changing fast and getting more serious by the hour. I then checked with our Athletic Director and news came that our district had now announced we would be suspending school and athletics starting on Monday the 16th. We still felt at that point we could have several teams in our tourney on Saturday, but within a few moments we went from having 8 schools and slate of 16 teams on Saturday, to basically just our two Bulldog squads available. It was a stunning change of events.
At that point I started projecting ahead what baseball would look like in three weeks and realized we would be jumping right into our league schedule. In those 2-3 hours during the JV game when all this information was coming in was a dizzy chain of events.
As the players assembled and started to play, they were all so positive. It was clearly the best vibe and camaraderie I have seen in a Bulldog team in probably a year and a half. I thought maybe they were realizing how lucky they were to be playing and how precious an opportunity this was. As the game started and we were now fully aware this would be the last game for awhile, my mindset shifted from trying to win the game to making sure we got all the seniors in. As the game went on and some of our players got in that had not had at bats yet this year, the other players became the biggest cheerleaders. It was great to witness the encouragement and fun they were all having.
At the end of the game I told the team I would be communicating with them as soon as I had more information. The only thing I knew for sure at that point was that we would not be getting together for three weeks and I could not have any contact with the team nor could they use any of the high school facilities. I asked them to find a way to stay in shape and baseball ready the best they could.
Now we wait.
Coach Vic
A PLAYERS PERSPECTIVE ON THE sports pause
An Interview With Kieran Davis
With the surreal events we are all dealing with, I took some time this evening to ask Bulldog senior Kieran Davis what was going through his mind as all the virus containment related events have unfolded.
Question: What had been the talk at school leading into today about the uncertainty of sports and school?
Davis: It was kinda a quiet conversation. We all really didn't know everything that was happening. In some ways we were not expecting it to happen today, but spent a lot of time talking about the breaking news as we were stretching pre-game.
Question: How did the day go down for you?
Davis: Right before I got in my car to head to the field, I found out from my dad that school was suspended for three weeks. All of us arrived at the field and started talking about what had just happened. It was a really weird pre-game as we processed the information.
Question: What was the mood in the dugout tonight?
Davis: It was by far the best all year. Everyone got into play and the coaches made sure the seniors who did not get much play so far were getting some time on the field. We were really having fun, it was upbeat, and the crowd was great tonight.
Question: Did you recognize any emotion from the parents, fans, or coaches on what was going on tonight?
Davis: I saw a lot more parents taking pictures and recording video. We finished strong and it felt really good to play so well on a night like this.
Question: What did your coaches say to to the team tonight?
Davis: They said stay ready to play. We expect to be playing in three weeks and stay in baseball shape. Do baseball related activities. Coach could see we were progressing this season and we need to keep the momentum heading into what we hope is league play in April. The coaches were very upbeat tonight.
Question: What are your plans during this unexpected break?
Davis: I haven't really processed this all the way through. Hopefully stay healthy, rehab, spend time with family and plan to take some time to recover and relax before we restart.
Kieran Davis has played at the varsity level all four years and we all hope he and all his teammates see the classroom and the field again soon.
THE COACHES
2020 SCHEDULE
2020 SCHEDULE
Many of the Tracy High coaches have long time ties to the baseball program and school.
DIRECTIONS
2020 SCHEDULE
DIRECTIONS
ALUMNI
HISTORICAL RECORDS
DIRECTIONS
Several Bulldogs who graduate each year move on to play at JC's in the area. A few land in a four year program, while an elite few head into the MLB. View the active list here.
HISTORICAL RECORDS
HISTORICAL RECORDS
HISTORICAL RECORDS
Historical Records will re-post here soon
COLLEGE INFO
HISTORICAL RECORDS
HISTORICAL RECORDS
