Twenty years ago, on July 2, 1994, the Manteca Babe Ruth 13 year-old all-stars came alive to capture the District 1 championship at Ripon High on Saturday. Coach Ron Kackley’s boys exploded for 10 early runs en route to a14-10 victory over Modesto. The win qualifies the local squad for the Central California State Tournament which starts in Lompoc on July 13.  Troy Vick and Rich Rocha each had three hits, including one double apiece, to pace the Manteca attack. Rocha drove in four runs.



In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

100 years ago: July 3, 1914 – The Manteca Merchants put another Stockton team sadly to rout Sunday when they put up 12 runs to four. Elmer Blodgett struck out 12 men and allowed only two to reach first base on balls. He pitched a very strong game. The features of the game were eliminated after the first inning when Manteca pulled up with five runs to its credit, except in the seventh inning when the umpire, who had apparently grown tired of the game and stood with arms folded looking out over second base toward Casper’s potato patch, was hit in the back of the neck when Connor attempted to peg second.



90 years ago: July 4, 1924 – The Manteca Firemen baseball team defeated the American Legion aggregation on the high school grounds Sunday afternoon by a score of 7 to 0 in the third of a series of three games, thus winning the local championship. Manager Joe Laurel of the Legion team states that several of his crack players were away for the day, including Al Bowman, catcher.



80 years ago: July 5, 1934 – The Odd Fellows are still topping the local softball league with five wins and no defeats, with the Firemen close on their heels with four games won and one lost.



60 years ago: July 8, 1954 – The Manteca Junior Legion closed the 1954 campaign with a decisive 5-0 victory over Karl Ross Post of Stockton to give them an eight won, seven lost, one tied record for the year. The Holmquist brothers, Dave and John, carried a good part of the pitching and hitting for the year, and teamed up once more in the last game of the season to give one of their better performances.



50 years ago: July 6, 1964 – The McFall-Grisham American Legion team opened second-half play in the District 11 race this weekend by breaking even in two contests. The locals dropped a 6-1 decision to the first-half champions Karl Ross nine on Saturday, then came back to edge Ed Stewart Post 10-9 in a slugfest on Sunday. Paul Goodwin, Greg Wisby and Bill Mendosa led the winners at the plate in the Stewart game with two hits apiece. Mike Hopper, the last of three Manteca pitchers, got credit for the win.



40 years ago: July 3, 1974 – Manteca’s youthful golf star, Gary Lowe, to hardly anyone’s surprise Wednesday, put together a 34-38 par 72 score over his home course to cop the Manteca City Junior Golf Championship. The local 17 year-old thereby qualified for the Junior Tournament of Champions December 26 on Pebble Beach’s famed 18 holes. His performance Wednesday over the 6,800 yard Manteca Park Course, in spite of a day termed “near perfect” by Pro Paul Biocini, was short of the all-time, all-age bracket record 64 Lowe fired here when he was 15.



30 years ago: July 2, 1984 – Dennis Gase hurled a no-hitter Sunday and his teammates provided him with more than enough support as the Manteca Babe Ruth all-stars rebounded from a first-round loss to crush Lodi Blue 12-0 in the 13 year-old District tournament. Gase didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven. Only one Lodi base-runner kept him from a perfect game. Ray Ballard had a double and a single in Manteca’s nine-hit attack.

At East Union High on Sunday, Oakdale’s Superior Concrete drubbed the pitching-short Manteca Twins 11-0 in Babe Ruth 16-18 Baseball action. The Twins managed only one hit, a single by Steve Wisby.

Albert Tanghal capped a three-run uprising in the seventh inning Tuesday night by doubling home the winning runs as Manteca’s American Legion team pulled off a come-from-behind 9-8 victory over Franklin. Larry Machado led the locals at the plate with a double and two singles. Carl Dunbar, pitching the final four innings for Manteca, allowed but one hit and struck out five.

SSC Development of Manteca pounded out nine hits and erupted for a pair of big innings en route to an easy 13-1 victory over Tracy Moose in Tri-County Babe Rut h 16-18 Baseball action on the Manteca High diamond. Mike Deanda was two-for-two at the plate, including a two-run double in a big second inning.

The Manteca Dolphins swim team kept coming up with the right strokes to post yet another lopsided victory, this time a 905-610 decision over Hughson. And once again, Jeffrey Dufek and Torsten Hartwell had something to say about it. Each had three individual first-place finishes. Eric Wohle, Suzi Clark, Debbie Rosado and Mike Thomas also placed first in three individual events.

Manteca right-hander Robbie Woods tossed a one-hitter and struck out 15 Galt batters, including the first six he faced, to lead the Manteca Babe Ruth 14-15 all-stars to a 14-0 win in the opening round of the district tournament. Woods added a pair of hits to Manteca’s 12-hit offense, as did Donnie Hall and Pete Moreno Jr.



20 years ago: July 4, 1994 – John Tubbs pounded three hits and knocked in three runs to help power Tubbs & Sons Electric to a 7-2 Babe Ruth 16-18 Baseball win over Ripon at Ripon High on Sunday. Tubbs Electric also got plenty of pitching support from Peter Martinez, who struck out seven and gave up only four hits in the six innings he worked.

Cal West was held to just one hit and dropped a 3-2 decision to Tracy Sunday in Babe Ruth 16-18 Baseball action at Manteca High. Matt Ramey got the only local hit, a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth to drive in Ben Gushea.

Stingy defense, solid pitching and a scrambling offense carried the Manteca Babe Ruth 15 year-old all-stars to a 5-0 triumph over San Benito in their opener of the District 1 Tournament at East Union High on Sunday. Nick McCreery twriled a one-hit gem and the Manteca defense made just one error as the locals advanced to the winners’ bracket final against Tracy. McCreery also collected two hits at the plate and drove in a run.