VARSITY AND JV gain WINS OVER KIMBALL

400 photos here

Kimball Jaguars  1R, 3H, 1E

Tracy Bulldogs     6R, 4H, 1E

The Varsity Bulldogs played in a typical early season style of game that was full of slow play highlighted by 10 walks, 4 hit batters and several pitching changes on the Kimball side.  The game started late and went the full seven into the twilight as cars passed by on Lowell in the final inning with their headlights on.  Through all of that, Cooper Wilcox delivered a solid early season performance gaining the victory and only allowing three hits.  

Coach Alkire was pleased with the performance by Wilcox.  "I thought he was pretty efficient today.  He got into a little trouble in a few innings but got out of it. He benefited from some low pitch innings such as a five  pitch first, four pitch fourth, and only nine pitches in each of the last two innings," said Alkire.

Alkire likes the offensive start that lead off hitter Drew Frederick is having.  "He has been our most consistent hitter so far.  He is squaring up the ball and hitting line drives.   As a team we did not chase today and showed some discipline at the plate.   We were however given 14 free bases which helped us get our six runs on the day.  There were two times we had bases loaded with one or no outs and did not produce a run.  We have got to clean that up or we will be exposed in some games ahead."

Alkire also highlighted the running game.  "We had seven stolen bases on seven attempts.   We will need some good baserunning and hitting tomorrow when we take on an always tough Pitman team."

Frederick 3AB, 0R, 2H, 2RBI, 1BB, 1SB

Verduzco 3AB, 0R, 0H, 1BB

Giannini 3AB, 1R, 0H, 1BB, 2SB

Wilcox 3AB, 0R, 0H

Cortinas 0AB, 1R, 0H, 1BB, 1SB

Hall 1AB, 1R, 0H, 2HBP, 2SB

Jones 3AB, 1R, 1H, 1RBI, 1BB, 1SB

Celestine 0AB, 1R, 0H, 1RBI, 4BB, 1SB

Conti 0AB, 0R, 0H

Oneto 1AB, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 2HBP

Jennings 0AB, 0R, 0H, 1BB

Pahulu 4AB, 1R, 1H

Souza 0AB, 0R, 0H

Pitching:

Wilcox (W) 7 IP, 1R, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 1HBP, 5Ks, 78 pitches

Coaches note:  The new Kimball High baseball coach is Richie Pombo.  Coach Alkire coached Richie in 2005-06 when he was a Bulldog.

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The Bulldogs are back in action tomorrow on the road at Pitman (2-0).  They return home for 11 a.m. tourney play on Saturday.  Saturday's game will be  a cash gate.  All regular season games (non tourney) are electronic GoFan purchase.

Tracy 11R-7H-1E
Edison 0R-0H-3E

Pitching
Drew Giannini 3 innings, 0 hits, 0 BB,  9Ks, 55 pitches
Cooper Wilcox 2 innings 0 hits, 1 K, 1 BB, 22 pitches  

Leading hitters:
Jacob Jones 2AB,  0R, 2H,  2RBIs Double
Drew Giannini 3AB, 2R,  2H,  1RBI, Double
Cooper Wilcox 2AB,  0R,  1H, 1RBI
Jordan Hall 2AB, 1R, 1H, 1RBI
Josh Cortinas 1AB, 0R, 1H, 1RBI
Josh Celestine 3AB, 1R, 1H
A.J. Verduzco 3AB, 1R, 1H
Drew Frederick 4AB, 2R, 1H
SB: Jonathan Souza and Drew Frederick ( 1 each).

Sorry I did not have photo coverage of the game as I was out of town.

3-4-22

Tracy Bulldogs   6R, 7H, 0E

Pitman Pride      6R, 8H, 0E

The Varsity Bulldogs (2-0-1) headed East to Turlock today and escaped the gale force winds of Tracy but what started as a smooth cruise with a 5-0 lead slipped away to a 6-6 tie as darkness fell.   

"Drew Giannini was on top of his game through 4 innings," said Coach Alkire. " He had only thrown 59 pitches, and was controlling the Pitman lineup with one- hit ball but when he took the mound in the 5th a series of walks and then a hit caused things to unravel a bit."  

"A factor in us not being able to win this game was the 10 runners we left on base today.   That puts us at 19 stranded runners in two days, and anyone who knows baseball will tell that is a recipe for disaster," said Alkire.

"Austin Oneto came in for relief and we still had a 6-3 lead  but we were unable to get another out before Pitman had tied the game in the 7th with multiple singles and two walks."

"A bright spot today was once again the lead off hitting of Drew Frederick   He reached base all five times going 3-3 with a double, two singles, a walk and a hit by pitch.  He is really squaring up the ball and every hit is solid."

"We get right back on the horse at 11 a.m. on Saturday versus Antioch and I hope to see some clutch hitting and good pitching tomorrow.  Jacob Jones will get the start for us."

Frederick 3AB, 2R, 3H, 1RBI, 2B, 1BB, 1HBP

Hall 4AB, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 1SB

Giannini 2AB, 2R, 1H, 1RBI, 3B, 1BB, 1HBP

Wilcox 1AB, 0R, 1H, 1RBI, 2B, 1HBP, 2SAC (suicide squeeze)

Jones 2AB, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 1SAC

Verduzco, 3AB, 1R, 1H, 1BB, 2SB

Celestine 3AB, 0R 1H, 1RBI, 1BB, 1SB

Jennings  2AB, 1R, 0H, 1BB

Oneto 1AB, 0R, 0H

Souza 3AB, 0R, 0H, 1BB

Guiterrez 0AB, 1R, 0H

Pitching

Giannini 4 2/3 IP, 3R, 3H, 6K, 5BB, 3ER, 87 pitches

Oneto 2 IP, 3R, 5H, 3K, 1BB, 3ER, 47 pitches

Jones 0 IP, 0R, 0H, 0K, 1BB, 8 pitches

3-5-22

Antioch Panthers  5R, 7H, 2E

Tracy Bulldogs      10R, 9H, 7E

0,0,3,0,0,0,2

0,1,3,2,0,4,X

Frederick 3AB, 2R, 2H, 3RBI, SAC

Hall 4AB, 1R, 1H

Giannini 4AB, 0R, 0H, 1RBI

Wilcox 3AB, 1R, 2H, 2RBI, 1BB, 1SB

Verduzco 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI, SAC

Celestine 3AB, 0R, 1H, 1RBI, 2B

Pahulu 3AB, 1R, 1H, 0RBI

Jennings 0AB, 0R, 0H

Conti 2AB, 2R, 1H, 0RBI, 1BB, 1SB

Williams 2AB, 3R, 1H, 1RBI, 1BB

Jones 0AB, 0R, 0H

Jones (W) 7IP, 5R, 7H, 10Ks, 0BB, 1ER, 98 pitches

300+ photos uploading around 10 p.m. Saturday here.

Both Coach Alkire and Shull were all smiles with the pitching performance of Jacob Jones.  "He was solid all day long," said Alkire while Shull stated "he pitched his  #@$  off!"    "He had great command and was able to keep his composure and work through a seven error performance by his defense,"   said Alkire.  It is rare in our high school baseball circles to see a pitcher who goes seven innings and have a line with no walks and 10 strikeouts.

Alkire also praised two players who got their first starts.  "Joey Conti was behind the dish today and did an outstanding job receiving the balls from Jones.  His ability to control the plate allowed Jones to feel comfortable throwing any pitch.   Steffan Williams also got the start as our DH and went 1-2 scoring three runs.  Here is an example of two guys who were ready to play when their number was called and they scored 5 of our 10 runs."

It was a day when Tracy got the clutch hits and did not leave as many players stranded on base.  Antioch was coming alive in the game as they had just scored three runs in the top of the 3rd to take a 3-1 lead, but the Bulldogs answered in the bottom of the inning with three of their own and then controlled the game the rest of the way.

3-8-22

250 photos here.

                                                               1|2|3|4|5|6|7|  R|H|E

Mountain House Mustangs  0|1|4|1|1|1|0|  8|7|2

Tracy Bulldogs                               0|1|1|0|0|0|3| 5|7|6

The score made it appear as though it was a relatively close game, but the Dogs were never really in this one.  Tracy (now 3-1-1) came out flat today and proceeded to play sub par ball in many aspects causing them to go down 5-2 after three innings of play and never mount much of a threat until the last inning.

Coach Shull burned a hole in his shoe today making numerous trips to the mound as Tracy went through pitchers Jordan Hall, Josh Celestine, Cooper Wilcox, and Trevor Jennings.  The pitching staff while having some difficulty with wild pitches, passed balls and walks, was not supported by the Tracy defense who generated at least six errors on the day.

A bright spot on the day was the continued hot hitting of lead off batter Drew Frederick.  Drew walked in the first and then proceeded to triple in the 3rd, single in the 5th, and single in the 7th.  He would score twice on the day.  Jacob Jones in the 5th spot had two singles early in the game.

Tracy mounted a three run comeback with the sun going down in the 7th.  Trailing 8-2,   Frederick led off with a single, Hall singled, Drew Giannini drew a walk, Wilcox got a Sac Fly to right to score a run and Celestine singled to score a run.  

"The game got away from us in the third inning," said Coach Alkire.  " I thought Jordan had thrown a pretty good 1 1/3 innings, but then walks began to build up.  In the third inning we had a recipe for trouble when there were two additional walks, three errors, and three Mustang hits.  It gave Mountain House  four runs and was the turning point in the game.   It  seemed like we lost interest as a team and did not respond well.   Mountain House got really motivated after that inning and maintained control over us the rest of the way."

The offensive star of the game continued to be Drew Frederick who is having a MVP performance batting a staggering .688 on the season.   "He has one of the best swings I've seen," said Alkire.  "He knows his limitations, never overswings, has a consistent swing that is very level allowing the bat to stay in the strike zone for an extended period."

The Bulldogs travel to North Stockton to face a very good  Bear Creek on Friday.  The starting pitcher will be Drew Giannini.  On Saturday, Jacob Jones will get the start.

Frederick 3AB, 2R, 3H, 0RBI, 3B, 1BB, 1SB

Hall 4AB, 1R, 1H, 1RBI

Giannini 2AB, 1R, 0H, 0RBI, 2BB

Gutirerrez 0AB, 0R, 0H

Wilcox 3AB, 0R, 0H, 1RBI, 1 Sac Fly

Jones 4AB, 1R, 2H, 0RBI 2SB

Celestine 4AB, 0R, 1H, 1RBI

Verduzco 1AB, 0R, 0H, 1RBI, 2HBP, 1 Sac Fly

Conti 1AB, 0R, 0H

Souza 2AB, 0R, 0H

Williams 3AB, 0R, 0H

Jennings 0AB, 0R, 0H

Pitching:

Hall (L) 2 1/3 IP, 3R, 0H, 4K, 3BB, 1ER, 60 pitches 

Celestine 2/3 IP, 3R, 3H, 0K, 1BB, 0ER, 23 pitches

Wilcox 2 1/3 IP, 2R, 3H, 0K, 0BB, 1ER, 33 pitches

Jennings 1 2/3 IP, 0R, 0H, 1K, 0BB, 0ER 22 pitches

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Tuesday Alumni Sighting

Thomas Greely (Class of 2016) was at the ball park Tuesday taking in the action.  After having a great college career with Delta JC and Long Beach State, Thomas is preparing to leave for France to play in their premier baseball league.  Alumni info here.

3-12-22

Varsity                          1|2|3|4|5|6|7| R | H | E

Alameda Hornets  3|0|2|4|0|1|1|11|12|1

Tracy Bulldogs         0|0|0|0|1|2|0|  3|  5 | 1

200 photos from Saturday here

The Bulldogs were rudely greeted by the Hornets on Saturday who brought their powerful bats and off speed pitching which dominated the Dogs in this final game of the Booster Tourney.  After generating three quick runs in the top of the first, Alameda brought more heat in the 3rd and 4th inning when they scored six more on four hits and two back to back monster homeruns.  The top of the Alameda lineup made Tracy pay as balls were hit hard all over the park.   

Other than a Drew Frederick lead off single, the Tracy bats could not generate another hit until Cooper Wilcox got a 4th inning single.  Tracy would finally get on the board to keep the game from being called in the 5th, when Blake Baier singled and Jonathan Souza delivered an RBI single.  Drew Giannini doubled in the 6th and scored on an error and Wilcox also crossed the plate thanks to a walk, two wild pitches, and a Sac Fly by Trevor Jennings.

"I thought we played some clean baseball with just one error, said Coach Vic Alkire.  "Alameda is an outstanding team this year especially their offense.  Some days you have tip your cap to the other team.  I like how we competed today and our all around attitude.  I thought Jennings came in and had a nice three innings.  He did his job today in relief."

Frederick 3AB, 0R, 1H

Hall 2AB, 0R, 0H, BB

Giannini 3AB,1R, 1H, 2B, SB

Wilcox 2AB, 1R, 1H, BB

Jones 2AB, 0R, 0H

Jennings 0AB, 0R, 0H, 1RBI, Sac

Verduzco 2AB, 0R, 0H 

Williams 1AB, 0R, 0H

Celestine 2AB, 0R, 0H

Oneto 1AB, 0R, 0H

Pahulu 2AB, 0R, 0H

Baier 1AB, 0R, 1H

Gutierrez 0AB, 1R, 0H

Conti 1AB, 0R, 0H

Souza 2AB, 0R, 1H, 1RBI

Pitching:

Jones (L) 4 IP, 9R, 8H, 3K, 1BB, 8 ER, 86 pitches

Jennings 3 IP, 2R, 4H, 3K, 2BB, 2ER, 51 pitches

Awaiting information on a JV score.

Tracy 6R|8H|3E

Millennium 3R|5H|1E

Score by innings

Tracy-0-1-3-1-1-1-X

Millennium 0-0-3-0-0-0-0

AB -R-H-RBI

Frederick- 4-1-2-1  HR

Hall-4-2-2-0.  1SB

Giannini-3-1-1-0

Wilcox-2-0-0-1 Sac

Jones-2-1-2-2. HP  SB

Oneto-0-0-0-0

Verduzco-2-0-0-0. BB

Celestine-2-1-0-1. BB. 2 SB

Pahulu-2-0-0-0

Williams-1-0-0-0

Baier-0-0-0-0

Souza-2-0-1-0

Conti-1-0-0-0

Gutierrez-0-1-0-0

Pitching:

Jones-3 IP 3R 4Hits 3 K’s 1 BB 0 ER 71 pitches

Oneto-4 IP 0R 1Hit 3 K’s 1BB 0 ER 

53 pitches

Oneto came in relief in the top of the 4th to completely shut down the Millennium bats in the final 4 innings and secure the win for Tracy. Oneto was excellent as he gave up only 1 hit and 1 walk.

     
Jones, Frederick and Hall led Tracy wit each having 2 hits. Frederick added a HR to left field to start our comeback from a 3-1 deficit.

      Celestine added an RBI along with a walk and 2 stolen bases including stealing home in the 4th inning.

     We get right back at it tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. at Banner Island. Drew Giannini will be on the mound for Tracy to face Heritage.

March 19, 2022

David Jones took pictures on Saturday and has them on his photo website here.

By Inning

Tracy        2-0-0-3-0-2-1          8R  | 9H | 2E

Heritage 1-1-0-2-2-0-1          7R  | 9H | 1E

AB-R-H-RBI

Frederick-3-1-1-0  SB Sac

Hall-1-2-0-0. 2BB

Williams-1-1-1-1

Giannini-3-0-1-2  BB

Wilcox-3-0-0-1. BB

Jones-4-1-3-1

Verduzco-3-0-1-0. Sac

Celestine-3-0-1-0. BB

Jennings-2-1-0-0. 2BB

Pahulu-0-0-0-0

Conti-1-1-0-0. BB

Baier-1-0-1-0

Gutierrez-0-1-0-0. SB

Giannini 6 IP,  7 hits 3 walks 4 strikeouts 6 runs 1 earned run 93 pitches

Hall (W) 1IP, 2hits 2BB 1strikeout 1 run 1earned run. 25 pitches.

In what was possibly the most stressful and exciting game for Tracy baseball in the last 4-5 years, Tracy defeated Heritage 8-7 having to come from behind on 3 separate occasions at Banner Island, home of the Stockton Ports. 

Trailing 6-5 going into the 6th inning, Tracy scored 2 runs to lead 7-6 only to have Heritage tie the game at 7-7 in the top of the 7th inning. In Tracy’s final at bat in the bottom of the 7th inning Jacob Jones led of the inning by beating out an infield hit. A throwing error by a Heritage infielder sent Jones to 2nd base. A.J. Verduzco sacrificed Jones to 3rd base but was safe at 1st base on the play. Heritage then intentionally walk Josh Celestine to load the bases. With one out and Joey Conti at bat the Heritage pitcher threw a wild pitch allowing Jacob Jones to slide home with the winning run on a very close play at the plate. The Tracy dugout erupted onto the field congratulating Jones while celebrating the win.

"Drew Giannini was very good on the mound tonight, having to get through some difficult situations but was up to the challenge," said Coach Vic Alkire.

“Blake Baier and Steffan Willians both had pinch hit singles in our 6th inning 2 run rally in a critical part of our game tonight.”

“Jacob Jones continued his hot streak at the plate with 3 more hits”.

“It took a complete team effort tonight with many of our players contributing in crucial situations”.———————

Frosh / Soph fall to Heritage 5-3.

Wyatt Irwin and David Madrid joined the team from the JV squad and Irwin started on the mound with Madrid receiving the pitches.  Heritage scored one in the first, but Irwin did strike out three in the inning.

In the 4th, Heritage went up 3-0 but Tracy answered going on a two out rally.  Jace Johnson, Madrid, and Jack Karle all scored to tie the game.  Heritage got the deciding two extra runs in the 5th and maintained a 5-3 lead to the finish.  Bryce Correll finished the game on the mound preventing any further scoring.

Tracy will get a rematch against Heritage next Saturday at 10 a.m.

Friday, March 25, 2022

Tracy            5R | 5H | 2E

Oak Ridge 6R | 9H | 2E

After a rough first inning where Oak Ridge scored five runs on six hits, Tracy made it a ballgame but eventually lost a hard fought game losing 6-5 to a very good Oak Ridge team.  Cooper Wilcox gave up the five runs in the first inning before pitching two hit baseball through the 6th inning, and only throwing 53 pitches over his final five innings.  Wilcox also helped his cause by homering in the 6th to draw Tracy to within a run.  Drew Giannini also added two hits and Jacob Jones had two RBIs.

"I thought we did did an excellent job of responding to the five run deficit we faced after just a half inning of play," said Coach Vic Alkire in his postgame presser.  "This team does play hard for seven innings any time they take the field which to me, shows character."

Tracy will start league play on on Tuesday when they host Lincoln at 4 p.m.

Frederick 2AB, 1R, 0H, 0RBI, 1 HBP

Hall 3AB, 1R, 1H, 0 RBI

Giannini 3AB, 2R, 2H, 0RBI, 2B

Jones 3AB, 0R, 0H, 2RBI

Wilcox 3AB, 1R, 2H, 2RBI, HR

Verduzco 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Celestine 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Oneto 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Conti 3 AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Pitching

Wilcox (L) 6 IP, 6R, 8H, 2K, 3BB, 5ER, 80 pitches

Hall 1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1K, 0BB, 0ER, 20 pitches

Tracy JV lose to Oak Ridge 11-5

                                          1|2|3|4|5|6|7|  R|H|E    

Lodi Flames               2|1|1|0|1|0|0|   5|8|2 

Tracy Bulldogs         0|0|2|0|0|1|0|   3|5|3

Saturday, April 23, 2022

300 photos here.

Drew Giannini was fired up on Saturday and blasted two homeruns to drive in all three of the Tracy runs, but there were not enough of other Bulldog contributors to gain the advantage on Lodi.   In all there would be 12 Bulldog strikeouts on the day as good pitching and a confusing strike zone frustrated the Dogs for seven innings.

Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the first, the Dogs had their first two batters on the bases but three consecutive strikeouts left a great scoring opportunity melting on the base paths.  When Joey Conti singled in the 3rd, Giannini came up with two outs and crushed the first of his two homeruns to make the score 4-2 Lodi.    Offensively Tracy could not get any more momentum until a determined Giannini got physical with another ball in the 6th and hit it into the Monte Vista School structures.   Cooper Wilcox followed with a single but there was no further offense on the day.

Austin Oneto started for the Bulldogs and was replaced by Giannini on the mound in the 5th.  "Oneto did a good job for us on the mound especially due to the fact that he did not know he was going to pitch until he arrived at the park," said Alkire.

Of note should be a fantastic catch made in left field by Tyler Pahulu in the 5th inning.  He streaked towards deep left center and reached across his body to snag a ball (pictured below in 2 images).

The Bulldogs now shift their focus to the Tokay Tigers next week who are in a three way tie for 2nd place in the TCAL with a record of 6-3 along with St. Mary's and Lodi.

Frederick 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI, 1SB

Jones 3AB, 0R, 1H, 0RBI, 1SB

Giannini 3AB, 2R, 2H, 3RBI, 2HR

Wilcox 3AB, 0R, 1H, 0RBI

Hall 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Verduzco 2AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Williams 1AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Celestine 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Pahulu 3AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Conti 3AB, 1R, 1H, 0RBI

Oneto 0AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Jennings 0AB, 0R, 0H, 0RBI

Pitching

Oneto (L) 4 IP, 4R, 6H, 4K, 0BB, 2ER, 66 pitches

Giannini 3 IP, 1R, 2H, 4K, 0BB, 1ER, 34 pitches