Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s baseball programs competed in different tournaments during Spring Break.
The Bulldogs finished fourth overall at 52nd Annual Dick Windemuth Easter Tournament, which was staged April 10-13 at Modesto High School.
The Hawks placed fifth at Mark Dickens Tournament, held April 10-12 at Oakdale High School.
“The kids did a great job of executing throughout the tournament,” Central Valley leader Brad Bussard said. “Our only loss was to the champion. Turlock has always been one of the best programs in the area. Back-to-back years, we’ve competed with them. Last year, we lost 2-1. Our goal is to build a program like that.”
“We didn’t do as well as we wanted to,” said Ceres High Coach Raul Godinez. “But there were a lot of positives in our losses. We were competing with teams.”
The Hawks (9-10) won two of three games.
Central Valley claimed the consolation title with a 6-2 win over Oakdale on April 12.
“We played a brand of baseball we’ve been preaching to the kids all year,” Bussard said. “From a hitting perspective, we did a good job of putting the ball in play. Our pitching competed and made them earn their way.”
Hawk pitcher Diego Delahoya gave up one earned run and eight hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
“He threw a great game."
Central Valley’s Garret Garcia batted 2-for-4 from the plate with one homer, two RBIs and one run.
Ryan Estermann batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and two runs.
Caiden Whittle batted 1-for-2 with one run.
Fernando Dominguez had one RBI.
Jayson Casias and Jake Olson both scored once.
Eddie Stewart collected two singles.
Chris Garcia and Edward Peralta both singled.
Southpaw Chris Garcia made his season-debut at pitcher during Central Valley’s 14-1 five-inning victory against Las Plumas of Chico on April 11.
He allowed no runs with three strikeouts in two innings while earning a no-decision.
“It was definitely nice seeing him on the mound,” commented Bussard. “He’s our ace. He gives our team a different energy. We’re relaxed and confident.”
Chris Garcia was cleared to pitch after being sidelined with an arm injury.
“He’s on a limited pitch count. Each week will get progressively higher. We’re not rushing him back.”
Ryan Estermann got the win in relief of Chris Garcia.
He yielded no earned runs and two hits with one strikeout and one walk in three innings.
Stewart batted 3-for-3 from the plate with four RBIs and one run.
Estermann battled 1-for-4 with one homer, three RBIs and one run.
Chris Garcia batted 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs.
Whittle batted 1-for-1 with one RBI and two runs.
Dominguez batted 1-for-2 with one double, one RBI and two runs.
Delahoya and Garret Garcia both batted 1-for-2 with two runs.
Miguel Espinoza batted 1-for-3 with one double, one RBI and one run.
Casias batted 1-for-2 with one run.
Central Valley lost 6-2 to first-place Turlock in the opening round on April 10.
“We played a really good game,” Bussard said. “They executed when they needed to.”
Hawk pitcher Fernando Dominguez allowed six runs and nine hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 41/3 innings.
Estermann batted 1-for-3 from the plate with one RBI.
Olson scored one run.
The Bulldogs (7-10) posted a 2-2 record in Modesto.
Ceres High lost 13-6 to Patterson during the third-place game on April 13.
The Bulldogs fell behind 7-0 through two innings of play.
Ceres High cut the deficit to three runs in the third inning.
“We can’t let one bad inning dictate a whole game,” said Godinez .
“They were a good team. I can’t take anything away from them.”
Bulldog Vincent Castrejon batted 2-for-3 from the plate with one RBI and two runs.
Brayden Clark batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run.
Aiden Maines and Zion Wesir both batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.
Ceres High blanked Beyer 6-0 on April 12.
The game was stopped after five innings as the time limit expired.
“It’s our first shutout of the season,” Godinez said.
Clark totaled a career-high 11 strikeouts while starring at pitcher.
He allowed just three hits in five innings.
“It was a good confidence boost for him."
Castrejon batted 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs and two runs.
Daniel Davis batted 1-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.
Kyan Bowen batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.
Jorge Gonzalez chipped in with one RBI and one run.
Modesto High edged Ceres High 7-6 on April 11.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases twice and failed to score.
“It was a tough loss. We were one hit way from us potentially winning.”
Castrejon had one RBI, two runs and two walks.
Gonzalez had one double, one RBI and one run.
Joshua Prestridge had two runs and three walks.
Ceres High defeated Escalon 7-5 on April 10.
Gonzalez had seven strikeouts in 41/3 innings on the mound.
Zach Van Atta tallied two strikeouts in 22/3 innings of relief.
Van Atta drove in one run on offense.
Adrian Ontiveros batted 1-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.
Xander Hernandez batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and two runs.
Castrejon batted 1-for-3 with one run.
