Central Valley’s baseball team made program history last week.
The Hawks bested the crosstown-rival Ceres High Bulldogs twice en route to claiming their first-ever league championship.
“It’s a great feeling,” Central Valley head coach Brad Bussard said. “That was our goal at the beginning of the season. The kids have put in a lot of work the last few years.”
The first-place Hawks improved to 16-7 overall and 12-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.
The second-place Bulldogs dropped to 15-6 overall and 9-3 in the WAC standings.
Ceres High needed to sweep Central Valley to keep its league title hopes alive.
“This is the most complete and deepest team Central Valley has ever had,” Bussard said. “We have one of the better pitching staffs in the Sac-Joaquin Section. We’re great defensively. One through nine, we have a lot of guys that do a pretty good job of putting the ball in play.”
The Hawks edged the Bulldogs 1-0 during the first game of the WAC crosstown series on April 15 at Art McRae Field.
Central Valley’s Chris Garcia pitched a complete-game shutout versus Ceres High.
The southpaw allowed no runs and three hits with 13 strikeouts and two walks in seven innings.
Garcia had a pitch count of 92.
“When you got a kid like Chris Garcia on the mound, all you need is one run,” Bussard said. “He was dominant. He came up big when he needed to.”
The Hawks broke a 0-0 tie in the top of the fourth inning. Carter Hernandez scored from third on Caden Mendonca’s two-out double.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games this year,” Bussard said.
The Hawks managed to beat the Bulldogs despite struggling on offense.
Central Valley posted a team batting average of .087 versus Ceres High pitcher Mario Vargas, who gave up one run and two hits with three strikeouts and four walks in seven innings.
Mendonca batted 1-for-3 from the plate with one double and one RBI.
Hernandez batted 0-for-2 with one run.
Andre Flores singled.
“He (Vargas) did just enough to throw off our guys,” Bussard said. “We didn’t have a lot of quality at-bats against him.”
Central Valley topped visiting Ceres High 9-1 during the second game of the much-anticipated matchup on April 17.
“We led the whole game,” Bussard said. “We made a lot of adjustments at practice on Wednesday and the kids applied what they worked on in the game. We’re a tough team to beat when our bats get going.”
The Hawks totaled 13 hits.
Ezequiel Verduzco batted 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBIs and one run against his former team.
Flores batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.
Fernando Dominguez batted 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.
Isaias Valdovinos batted 2-for-2 with two runs.
Edgar Peralta batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Mason Whitworth batted 1-for-2 with two runs.
Garcia batted 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run.
Mendonca batted 2-for-3 with one run.
Central Valley’s Nicholas Dominguez improved his pitching record to 5-0.
He allowed no runs and one hit with five strikeouts and four walks.
Hawk Hunter Shaw gave up one run and two hits with no strikeouts and one walk in two innings.
Central Valley has won its last 11 games versus Ceres High dating back to the 2020-21 school year.
The Hawks improved their head-to-head record against the Bulldogs to 6-0 under third-year head coach Bussard’s guidance.
Bussard, a 2015 Ceres High grad, was a multi-sport standout with the Bulldogs.
He was voted Most Valuable Player of the WAC during his senior year. The Bulldogs went 23-7 on the year, captured their second straight WAC crown (11-1) and participated in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
Bussard filled a key role as Ceres High amassed an 84-31-1 overall record, participated in the postseason four times and claimed two conference titles from 2012-15.
“Central Valley is the baseball school in our town,” he said. “That’s not how it’s been in the past. It’s a big turnaround.”
“We have a great group of kids,” Bussard added. “They work hard. They’re talented. They’re coachable.”
