Baseball: Bulldogs jump to 2-0 in Bruins win

In both games, Tracy found themselves behind and successfully completed comebacks. The sample size is naturally still very small but the early signs show that Muniz is instilling a certain character into this group. When things go wrong, the next man must pick his teammate up. When things go right, the team reaps the benefits. 

“That’s what we work on,” Muniz told the Tracy Press after the Bear Creek win. “If it’s not me, it's somebody else. With these kids, we’re team first. It’s an ‘If I don’t do it, someone else will do it’ mindset. It’s early in the season but we all root for each other. That’s our attitude.” 

Muniz also added that the camaraderie within his team has arguably been the most impressive to him since taking over at the helm. That too was on full display against the Bruins, especially after the ‘Dogs gave up a run in the first inning. 

The visitors scored on a wild pitch from senior Jordan Hall however the ‘Dogs brushed it off like the minor slip up that it ended up being. Hall went on to pillar his team with a terrific performance in which he allowed just one hit over six innings – while striking out six batters.

On offense, Tracy took a few innings to figure out the tricky Bear Creek pitcher. Once they did, however, it all clicked. The ‘Dogs shifted into another gear and notched up a total of nine hits as a team on the day. 

Muniz admitted that it’s too early to jump the gun in any sense when it comes to assessing this team’s potential, however that’s not to say that the ‘Dogs haven’t shown signs of a winning mentality through all of the adversities they’ve faced thus far. 

“Between all of the rain (postponements) and everything we’ve had to face, I think the kids really stepped up and did not let it all affect how we do things,” Muniz said. “I think they have bought into each other, not just me. I’m a new guy coming in and I’m not a salesman. I can’t sell them on anything. But I just hope they can see how hard I work and that they work harder.” 

The ‘Dogs drew level and took the lead against the Bruins on the same play at the bottom of the third inning. The hosts’ relentlessness on offense finally paid dividends when sophomore Elijah Gutierrez hit a strong double into left field to bring home seniors Trevor Jennings and Daniel Behrman to make it 2-1. 

Gutierrez went 2-4 at-bat for the day. Behrman, Jennings and senior Tony Romano all went 2-3 on what ended up being a good hitting day for Tracy. 

The ‘Dogs then added another score at the bottom of the fourth when Romano singled into center field to bat in senior Josh Celestine from second base. Romano connected sweetly with the pitch, sending it low and strong to evade the Bruins second baseman and giving Celestine plenty of time to make his way around the field. 

Tracy completed the damage at the bottom of the sixth when Behrman turned provider at-bat to bring home Romano after hitting a double to make it 4-1. 

The hosts allowed one more run from the visitors at the top of the seventh but then went on to show great composure with junior Ronin Contreras on the mound to close things out as the visitors had the tying runs on base in the latter stages. 

Overall, Muniz is pleased with his start to life as the main man of the program. He’s seeing encouraging things from his ‘Dogs and vows to continue providing the team with the tools necessary to be successful at the business end of the season. 

“We try to give them the best that they can have,” he said. “We have a great booster club and we try to give them what they deserve, from the freshman level all the way up. We come to work hard everyday.

“We know that we’re going to get beat. We have a strong schedule, strong league. You never know what can happen but as of right now, we’re all believing in ourselves. Our motto is ‘Why not us?’ Somebody has to win, why not us?” 

Contact Arion Armeniakos at aarmeniakos@tracypress.com, or call 209-830-4229.