The Tracy National Astros won the home run derby, and with it the District 67 Little League Tournament of Champions major division banner.
All runs were scored via the long ball Monday at Neil Hafley School, with Tracy National bashing three out of the four to beat tournament host Northgate, 5-1.

Starting pitcher Jerred Finney went the distance, striking out five while limiting the Northgate Yankees’ explosive lineup to just four hits.
Finney was aided by an error-free defense that made several hit-robbing grabs in the infield, but he helped himself at the plate by swatting out two of the home runs. His first one led off the third to give the Astros the 2-1 lead, and his next was a back-breaking three-run bomb an inning later.
“That game could have gone either way, no doubt about it,” Astros manager Rick Helzer said. “We made some plays and got the hits in some timely situations, and we needed those. You have to do that to beat a good team, and that is a very good team.”

Nick Lucchetti sparked Northgate early with a solo shot to left in the first, but Tracy National answered in the bottom half with Braden Oki’s leadoff jack to right center. Oki finished 2 for 2 with two runs, and Finney was 3 for 3 with four RBIs.

Northgate had a good opportunity to at least tie in the fourth after Chris Ah Yo led off with a walk then worked his way to third on a passed ball and wild pitch on consecutive pitches. Lucchetti took the 2-0 offering and grounded it to shortstop Oki, who fired it home to beat Ah Yo for the first out.
Clean-up hitter Jake Pruitt reached on a fielder’s choice, and Jake Larkin singled to left to keep the threat alive. But Finney shut it down with a big strikeout.

“They made all the defensive plays they had to,” Yankee skipper Larry Lucchetti said. “It was just good baseball. They outhit us and their pitcher threw strikes.”

Ah Yo pitched valiantly, firing six strikeouts in four innings. Jake Graves recorded a 1-2-3 fifth in relief.

Had Northgate force today’s “if necessary” championship game, coach Lucchetti would have liked his chances with ace Jake Pruitt available to pitch. Pruitt fanned 14 in Northgate’s first of three consolation bracket contests last Friday, leading the Yanks’ 4-0 shutout of rival Manteca.
The Yankees climbed their way into the championship round by exacting revenge against the Weston Ranch Red Sox, 8-7, on Sunday.

“That’s the hard part about playing through the loser’s bracket, you run out of pitching,” Lucchetti said. “My 1, 2 and 3 (pitchers) were unavailable, but I thought my No. 4 pitched very well. It’s too bad this wasn’t a best-of-three.”

To contact Jonamar Jacinto, e-mail jjacinto@mantecabulletin.com