Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s baseball teams both enjoyed productive starts to the Western Athletic Conference season.

Ceres High swept Johansen during the opening week of WAC play.

Vincent Castrejon tossed a no-hitter during the Bulldogs’ 4-0 WAC season-opening victory over the visiting Vikings on March 11 at Art McRae Field.

“It’s a big accomplishment for me,” he said. “As a kid, I didn’t get a lot of playing time. I had to work really hard outside of practice to become a starter, especially in high school.”

Castrejon totaled a career-high 13 strikeouts in seven innings.

“I felt really dialed in and had confidence in my stuff,” he said. “I mainly focused on getting ahead of batters. My game plan was to throw a lot of strikes and make my defense work.”

Assistant coach Dalton Durossette was in charge of pitch selection.

Durossette amassed a 7-4 record with a 2.53 ERA, one no-hitter, one shutout, three complete games and 56 strikeouts while starring at pitcher during his freshman year at Ceres High.

“It’s cool I’m able to learn from a guy like that,” Castrejon said. “He was a big-time player. He had college offers.”

Daniel Davis started at catcher against Johansen.

“We’ve known each other for so long,” Castrejon said. “We played travel ball together. The chemistry is there. Everything clicks.”

Castrejon struck out the final three batters he faced.

“I had zero clue I had a no-hitter,” he said. “I didn’t figure it out until after we had a team talk after the game. The team was excited. They knew what was going on. It was a cool feeling.”

Johansen threatened to break up Castrejon’s no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Ceres High second baseman Aiden Maines field a slow, rolling groundball and threw a strike to first base.

“My team was able to back me up on defense and keep the no-hitter going,” Castrejon said.

Castrejon started playing baseball at the age of seven.

“This is my first career no-hitter,” he said. “I have the ball sitting on my shelf. I thought about getting a display case for it.”

Castrejon was sidelined with a left shoulder injury during his final season of football this past fall.

He had surgery in September to repair a labrum tear.

“I was lucky it was my non-dominant arm,” Castrejon said. “I’m just about back to full-strength. I’m really glad I’m able to play, especially baseball. Baseball is my favorite sport. I’m expecting a lot for myself this season.”

Ceres High collected seven hits on offense.

Freshman Ashton Urena batted 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs.

Carson Ulrich batted 2-for-3 with one double and one run.

Isaac Moreno batted 1-for-3 with one run.

Castrejon and Maines both scored once.

Davis doubled.

Anthony Trevino singled.

The Bulldogs scored one run in the bottom of the second inning, two in the third and one in the fifth en route to shutting out the Vikings.

Ceres High earned a two-game sweep against Johansen following its 12-0 mercy-rule shutout win on the road last Thursday.

Urena was the winning pitcher. He allowed no runs and three hits with 11 strikeouts and one walk in 41/3 innings.

The Bulldogs piled up 11 hits on offense.

Castrejon batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs and four runs.

Daniel Davis batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

Anthony Trevino batted 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 8-3 overall.

Central Valley improved to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the WAC standings after edging Pacheco 5-4 on Thursday in Ceres.

Hunter Shaw was the winning pitcher. He also got the save.

Shaw gave up no runs and two hits with five strikeouts and no walks in 31/3 innings.

Carlos Hernandez led the way on offense as he batted 1-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs.

Chris Garcia and Edgar Peralta both scored a pair of runs.

Mason Whitworth contributed one run.

Central Valley opened WAC play with a 4-2 extra-inning win at Pacheco on March 11.

Garcia starred at pitcher.

The southpaw surrendered no runs and two hits with 15 strikeouts and three walks in 72/3 innings.

He picked up the win and save in relief of Isaias Valdovinos.

The Hawks had seven hits on offense.

Whitworth batted 3-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and one run.

Adrian Vega batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run.

Valdovinos batted 1-for-4 with one run.

SOFTBALL

Central Valley’s and Ceres High’s softball teams opened Western Athletic Conference play last week.

The Hawks improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in the WAC standings following Friday’s 19-2 mercy-rule victory over the host Pacheco Panthers.

Central Valley pitcher Brooklynn Steeley allowed no earned runs and two hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in five innings.

The Hawks totaled 10 hits on offense. 

Gabriela Delatorre batted 3-for-3 with one home run, one triple, four RBIs and three runs.

Alayah Villa batted 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs.

Reylena Herrera batted 1-for-2 with one double, two RBIs and two runs.

Valerie Espinoza batted 1-for-2 with one double, two RBIs and two runs.

The Bulldogs fell to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in league after losing 14-9 to Livingston on March 12 in Ceres.

Ahead 9-8, Ceres High allowed six runs in the bottom of the momentum-swaying fifth inning.

The Bulldogs lost to the Wolves despite totaling nine runs and 10 hits.

Ceres High stranded 10 runners on base

Kyleigh Robinson batted 1-for-4 with one home run, two RBIs and one run.

Alizae Cole batted 2-for-2 with one double and three runs.

Ava Montesdeoca batted 3-for-4 from the plate with two triples and two runs.

BOYS TENNIS

Central Valley’s boys tennis team improved to 2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference standings after besting Livingston 8-1 on March 12 in Ceres.

The Hawks swept all three doubles and won five of six singles matches versus the Wolves.

Darien Pongbandith and Leo Navarro prevailed 6-1, 6-3 in No. 1 doubles play.

Blake Silva and Emmanuel Carranza prevailed 6-1, 6-1 in No. 2 doubles play.

Roman Parodi and Osvaldo Cisneros prevailed 6-1, 6-0 in No. 3 doubles play.

Israel Guajardo prevailed 6-1, 6-1 in No. 2 singles play. 

Avori Ortega prevailed 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles play.

Silas Rodriguez prevailed 6-2, 6-4 in No. 4 singles play.

Alex Aguilar prevailed 6-1, 6-0 in No. 5 singles play.

Jaylan Tagadaya prevailed by forfeit in No. 6 singles play.