Dreams die for Tracy Little League as south rises again in state

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 15, 2005 | by John Murphy, CORRESPONDENT

SAN BERNARDINO -- The Tracy Little League team made one fatal mistake in Sunday's 7-2 loss to Southern California.

It woke up the sleeping giant.

And because it did, the Rancho Buena Vista Little League team of Vista will advance to the Little League World Series this week in Williamsport, Pa.

It was SoCal's 20th consecutive win without a loss in the West Regional final.

Meantime, it is the end of the line for Tracy, the Northern California representative in the regional.

"They have such good hitters," NorCal manager Emmett Lee said after the loss.

The end for Tracy came swiftly and joltingly in the fifth inning after SoCal had tied the score in the fourth on center fielder Reed Reznicek's two-run home run.

SoCal put runners on second and third base with nobody out in the fifth.

Then Lee made the fateful decision to intentionally walk cleanup hitter Royce Copeland to get to Reznicek.

The free pass brought up Reznicek, who hit a grand slam off the bottom of the scoreboard in right-center field.

"I didn't think they were going to walk Royce to pitch to me because I hit a homer the time before," Reznicek said. "But my coach told me before I got up that when that happens, it's time for your mouthto water (in anticipation)."

Lee, the genial 69-year-old man who manages Tracy, defended his decision: "The second-guessers can just go away," he said. "I'd do the same thing again if I had it to do all over again."

NorCal took its 2-0 lead in the second inning on third baseman Alex Flores' two-run home run to right field off SoCal's Nathan Lewis. The ball just eluded the glove of right fielder Dylan Demeyer, who had his back against the fence, 200 feet from home plate.

SoCal tied the game in the fourth against NorCal starter Kyle Moses. Second baseman Copeland hit an infield single, then Reznicek powered a shot off the scoreboard in right field for a two-run home run.

"They're really impressive offensively," Lee said. "Their kids have such good bat speed and so much power. It's tough to contain them all."

Left-hander Lewis was outstanding for SoCal. He gave up just three hits, striking out nine and walking none. He kept NorCal off balance all game long with a decent fastball and a slow curve.

The Tracy kids were understandably crestfallen after the loss. But Lee, the former Tracy High teacher whose grandson, Joshua Wesely, is a star on the team, was as proud as can be.

"When I look back upon this season, I'm going to think about how neat it was to manage my grandson," he said. "And all of these kids became like my grandchildren during the season."