For the second time in three days, the No. 1 Tracy High softball team needed 10 innings to decide the outcome of their CIF SJS Division 2 playoff game. On Saturday at Sacramento State, the section championship was on the line.
After punching their ticket to the first-place clash against No. 7 Rocklin in dramatic fashion – on a walk-off RBI double from junior ReAnna Zuniga against No. 5 Vacaville last Thursday – the Bulldogs were on the wrong side of history in their 7-5 defeat to the Thunder.
Having held Rocklin scoreless for five straight innings, junior ace Elisa Galli was finally cracked by the strong Thunder bats in the top of the 10th frame when RBIs from Marley Hogue and Savannah Lorenzini gave the seven-seed a two-run lead. In essentially the exact same position as they were in against Vacaville, the bottom of the batting order for the Bulldogs failed to come through against Rocklin’s freshman pitcher Payton Prior to bring home Tracy’s first section title since 2018. “We just didn’t get the key hits when we needed to,” ‘Dogs’ head coach Paulette Keeney said afterwards.
“This team has always has the desire to be the best and win, we just came up short in a couple of key situations where we needed a base hit today.” With freshman Hayden Fell placed on second base, sophomore Ava Nelson (0-4) and freshman Ava Crivello (1-4) quickly grounded out to put the Bulldogs on the brink of defeat. Last week’s star Zuniga gave Tracy hope with a single to get F.
