Nineteen days removed from securing a hard-fought 2-1 win over Ceres High in baseball, Central Valley earned additional bragging rights by beating the Bulldogs twice on May 11.
“It’s fun to play those guys,” Central Valley junior pitcher Gabrial Lopez said. “Everybody on our team knows everybody on their team. There are a lot of friendships. We don’t have any bad blood.”
Central Valley won the second game of the doubleheader, 4-0, against Ceres High at Art McRae Field.
Lopez’s bid for a no-hitter—which would have been his second of the season—was broken up with two outs in the final inning.
Nick Villalobos, Lopez’s former Ceres Blaze travel teammate, reached base on an infield single.
He put the ball in play three other times against Lopez during the course of the game.
“He was battling with me all day,” said Lopez, who allowed no runs and one hit with 10 strikeouts and two walks while pitching a complete-game shutout. “I couldn’t strike him out. He’s a good fastball hitter.”
The Hawks had a host of contributors on offense.
Diego Delahoya batted 1-for-2 from the plate with one double, one RBI and one run.
Samuel Wilson batted 1-for-3 with two runs.
Donnie Tonelli batted 3-for-4 with one run.
Isaiah Hidalgo drove in one run.
Ryan Estermann, Sergio Solis and Angel Vega all singled.
Visiting Central Valley won the first game of the doubleheader, 10-4.
Estermann notched his first win of the season at pitcher.
He gave up three earned runs and eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks in five innings.
Estermann batted 3-for-4 from the plate with two RBIs and one run.
Hidalgo batted 2-for-3 with one homer, three RBIs and two runs.
Solis batted 1-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.
Wilson batted 1-for-3 with one run.
Vega batted 1-for-4 with one run
Kaiden Whittle scored twice.
Tonelli added one run.
Villalobos batted 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run.
Ceres High teammate Miguel Espinoza batted 2-for-3 with one double and two RBIs.
Josh Prestridge batted 3-for-4 with one double and one run.
Noel Anaya batted 2-for-4 with one run.
Adrian Ontiveros batted 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Eli Beltran scored once.
Xavier Pompa doubled.
Central Valley improved to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Ceres High dropped to 5-7 and 3-4.
The Hawks amassed a 2-5-1 record during the 2020 COVID-shortened season.
“The key to winning is the level of focus we have right now,” Lopez said. “We figured out how to win. Instead of being a bunch of individuals, we’re doing things as a team. Everybody executes their role.”
