By JONAMAR JACINTO
Sports editor of the
Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin
The Tracy National Astros dodged a bullet in the top of the third inning then returned fire with a bomb in the bottom half in their 8-4 major division victory over the Spreckels Park Indians Monday at Bassi Field.
Tracy National will meet rival Tracy American in a District 67 Tournament of Champions quarterfinal Wednesday.
Astros ace Isiah Blue managed to work out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam by retiring the rest of the order via strikeouts to keep the score deadlocked at 1.
Braeden Oki then led off Tracy National’s turn in the third with a deep home run to straightaway center, jump starting a three-run rally. Oki, who plated three runs and drove in two others, was a single shy of the cycle and also recorded the save with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
Spreckels Park, to its credit, battled back in the fourth to tie it, but the previous inning was no doubt an opportunity wasted.
The top third of the lineup did well to load the bases, a sequence punctuated by Kody Justis’ bunt single, in the third against the hard-throwing Blue, who ended up with 10 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
“That was the killer right there,” Indians manager Kindal Justis said. “My 1-2-3 guys did their job. With no outs and your 4-5-6 batters up you should be scoring some runs. We didn’t get anything and that hurt us a lot.”
Spreckels got some runs the hard way in the fourth to gain new life. Nick Oseguera sliced the 4-1 deficit in half with a grounder, and Michael Garibay and Kody Justis (doubled) followed with clutch two-out knocks.
But Tracy National worked its own two-out magic in the fourth to jump ahead for good. Oki highlighted the flurry with a run-scoring triple to right, and he was sent home by Jordan Dewitt’s drive to right. Dewitt scored on a pickoff throwing error to third to complete the rally. The Astros ran across one more in the fifth.
“We played a great game overall, but the mental errors were what killed us,” coach Justis said. “We were swinging at bad pitches, and we weren’t consistently in the game on defense. Other than that we had clutch hits when we needed them, and Justin Killian pitched a great game.”
Killian was solid in his 3 2/3 innings of work, as he struck out seven. Isaiah Carrillo sparked the offense with a 2-for-3 effort, and Kody Justis finished 2 for 4.
The loss knocks Spreckels Park into the consolation bracket, where it will play the winner of today’s Manteca-Lathrop contest on Thursday back at Bassi Field. The Indians have to win four straight to advance to the championship round, where it will have to win two more for the title.
“Now it’s a long haul for us, but I’ve got the (pitching) staff to do it and the kids have the heart to get it done,” Kindal Justis said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Weston Ranch 13, Patterson 2
After a hard-fought 5-3 victory over Manteca in the opener Sunday, the Weston Ranch Red Sox gave themselves a little more breathing room early on in Monday’s contest.
The Red Sox knocked in eight runs in the first, and Alex Vega fired seven strikeouts in the four-inning affair. Derek Gordon was 3 for 3 with two triples and three runs. Colton Mallette produced a double and two runs in his 2-for-3 effort, and Vincent Armandaris turned in three RBIs.
Weston Ranch will next challenge tournament host Northgate Wednesday at 6 p.m.
To contact Jonamar Jacinto, e-mail jjacinto@mantecabulletin.com, or call (209) 249-3538.
