YOUR AD HERE »

Truckee baseball | Wolverines runner-up in Redding tournament

Special to the Sun
Pat McKechnie / Submitted to swright@sierrasun.comTruckee senior Troy Allen is hit by a pitch that was called a foul ball during the Shasta Lake Bass Easter Baseball Classic in Redding last week.
ALL |

With a mixed bag of wins and losses, the Truckee baseball team came away from last week’s Shasta Lake Bass Easter Baseball Classic with a second-place finish.

Played at the Big League Dreams Sports Park in Redding, the park features five baseball fields, three of which are replica fields, including Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.

Truckee received a first-round bye and advanced to the third round by virtue of their 11-10 win over South Tahoe on April 6.



On the way to Redding, the Wolverines stopped to play Chico High, in Chico, on Wednesday. The Panthers led all the way in a 10-4 victory over Truckee.

After Chico pushed across eight runs off starter Tanner Churich in 2-plus innings, Tony Buranzon took the hill with no outs in the third. Buranzon went on to throw four innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out five. Churich led Truckee at the plate with two hits.



The next day Truckee played Marysville at the Wrigley replica field. Despite the 5-1 loss to the Indians, the Wolverines advanced to the semifinals because the Marysville pitcher exceeded his allowed innings in a week.

Troy Allen collected two hits for Truckee, while James DePew went six innings on the hill, surrendering four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six.

Immediately after the Marysville game, Truckee moved over the Fenway Park to take on Paradise in the semifinal round. The Wolverines dominated this game, winning 12-5.

Truckee pushed across two runs in the first before plating 10 in the third. DePew led off with a home run, as the Wolverines sent 14 batters to the plate and held a 12-0 lead after three.

While Paradise would score three in the fourth and a couple more in the fifth, Truckee held on to advance to the championship game Friday against the Maxwell Panthers.

Maxwell entered the game 20-0 on the season with pitcher Steve Perry, 8-0 on the season, having thrown four consecutive no-hitters earlier in the season.

Tyler Wells (9-0) got the start for the Panthers, and have the Truckee batters off balance from the start. Churich reached base on an error in the first, but was doubled off on a fly to right by DePew. Churich was the last Truckee batter to reach first base in the game, as Wells and Perry would combine to throw a no-hitter, facing the minimum of 21 batters in seven innings.

While the Wolverines had a tough time at the plate, Truckee pitchers put forward a great effort. Erik Holmer got the start, while Stein Retzlaff and Ryan Smith threw an inning each in relief. The three combined to allow only two earned runs and three hits, but three Truckee errors, four walks and three hit batters inhibited their efforts in the 6-0 loss.

Truckee is now 12-13 on the season and remains 5-2 in Mount Rose League play.

After the Wolverines travel to Portola on Monday, they will set their sights on finishing out their league schedule with three games against Sparks. Wednesday’s game is at Sparks, while Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled to be played at Truckee River Regional Park at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Taking the series against Sparks should give the Wolverines the No. 1 Mount Rose League seed for the 3A playoffs, while losing the series could force Truckee to miss the postseason entirely.

and#8212; This article was submitted to Sports Editor Sylas Wright at swright@sierrasun.com.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.