Ceres High’s baseball program won one of its two games against league competition last week to remain in the hunt for a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth.
Central Valley compiled a 2-1 record, including a 1-1 mark in conference play.
The third-place Bulldogs split a two-game Western Athletic Conference series versus the second-place Los Banos Tigers.
Mountain House, Los Banos, Ceres High and Lathrop are battling for the WAC’s three playoff spots.
The Bulldogs moved to 8-11 on the season and 6-4 in the league standings.
Ceres High edged host Los Banos 2-1 on Wednesday.
Bulldog junior Brayden Clark improved his pitching record to 3-0.
He gave up one unearned run and four hits with four strikeouts in 61/3 innings.
Ceres High’s Jorge Gonzalez picked up the save in relief of Clark.
He had one strikeout in 12/3 innings.
Tied at 1-1, Zion Wesir drove in what proved to be the winning run in the top of the fifth inning. Ernie Miranda scored from third base on Wesir’s single.
Wesir batted 1-for-3 from the plate for the game with one single and one RBI.
Miranda tallied one run, two stolen bases and one walk.
Carson Ulrich chipped in with one run and one walk.
Ceres High lost 7-5 to Los Banos on Friday at Art McRae Field.
Kyan Bowen started at pitcher. He yielded two earned runs with three strikeouts in 12/3 innings. Bowen exited the game after throwing his 45th pitch.
Gonzalez and Landyn Hudson had four and three strikeouts, respectively, while making relief appearances at pitcher.
Josh Prestridge led the way on offense as he batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.
Miranda batted 2-for-4 with one RBI and one walk.
Bowen batted 1-for-1 with one RBI.
Sixth-place Central Valley split a two-game Central California Conference series against seventh-place Merced.
The Hawks shut out the Bears 8-0 on April 18 in Ceres.
Ryan Estermann improved his pitching record to 4-2. He surrendered no runs and six hits with two strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Estermann helped his own cause by batting 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs.
Jayson Casias batted 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.
Eddie Stewart batted 2-for-2 with one double and three runs.
Fernando Dominguez batted 2-for-3 with one double and two RBIs.
Central Valley dropped to 3-7 in the CCC standings after losing 2-1 to host Merced in 10 innings on Thursday.
Hawk pitcher Diego Delahoya (3-3) allowed one run and six hits with nine strikeouts and six walks in eight innings.
Casias batted 1-for-5 with one run.
Miguel Espinoza and Chris Garcia both singled.
Central Valley defeated Escalon 2-0 in non-league play on Friday in Ceres.
Gage Mastropierro improved his pitching record to 2-0. He yielded no runs and four hits with four strikeouts and four walks in four innings.
Jake Olson batted 2-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
Juan Alonzo batted 1-for-2 with one run.
Central Valley moved to 11-11 on the season.
SOFTBALL
Ceres High’s softball program posted a 2-1 record versus WAC rivals.
Central Valley suffered its first loss in CCC play.
The Bulldogs’ conference title hopes took a hit after losing 7-6 to the Beyer Patriots at home on April 21.
Ceres High dropped to 11-6 overall and into second place in the conference standings (7-2).
Beyer exacted revenge for an 11-2 loss.
Bulldog starting pitcher Kylie Bond (7-1) surrendered three earned runs and three hits with two strikeouts and three walks in five innings.
Ava Montesdeoca batted 2-for-4 with one triple, one double, two RBIs and one run.
Sehren Martinez batted 2-for-4 with one triple, one RBI and one run.
Alizae Cole batted 2-for-4 with one run.
Ceres High routed host Lathrop 13-0 in six innings on April 18.
Cole (4-4) totaled a season-high 12 strikeouts at pitcher. She allowed on runs and two hits in six innings.
Martinez batted 4-for-4 with two homers, one triple, three RBIs and four runs.
Bella Bravo batted 3-for-4 with one triple, one double and five RBIs.
Ceres High topped visiting Mountain House 9-3 on April 17.
Bond gave up three runs and six hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
Cole had five strikeouts in two innings.
Martinez batted 3-for-4 with one triple, one double, five RBIs and three runs.
Montesdeoca batted 2-for-4 with one double, one RBI and two runs.
George batted 1-for-3 with one double, one RBI and one run.
Central Valley dropped to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the CCC after losing 2-0 at Atwater on Friday.
The Falcons avenged a 6-3 loss and snapped the Hawks’ eight-game win streak.
Central Valley dropped into a two-way tie for place in the league standings with El Capitan.
Hawk pitcher Janessa Godinez (10-2) allowed two unearned and three hits with five strikeouts and one walk in six innings.
Central Valley’s Allie Peterman batted 2-for-2 from the plate against Atwater.
Victoria Lloyd batted 2-for-3.
Gabriela Delatorre and Micaela Martinez both batted 1-for-3.
Atwater scored two runs on a pair of Central Valley errors in the bottom of the sixth inning.
