Central Valley’s and Ceres High’s baseball teams had perfect records in Western Athletic Conference play heading into last week.
The Hawks remained unbeaten following their two-game, mercy-rule sweep of the Lathrop Spartans.
The Bulldogs had their 12-game winning streak snapped after settling for a split versus the Beyer Patriots.
“We’re really starting to see the team we envisioned,” Central Valley leader Brad Bussard stated. “All the credit goes to our players. They’ve produced. They’ve done a great job competing in league play.”
“If you told me we were going to win that many games in a row, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Ceres High head coach Bret Durossette said. “It’s awesome.”
Central Valley improved to 14-7 overall and 10-0 in the WAC standings with an 11-1 victory over host Lathrop in five innings on April 10.
Hawk starting pitcher Nicholas Dominguez gave up no runs and two hits with three strikeouts and two walks in four innings.
Central Valley notched a 14-0, five-inning win against Lathrop on April 8 in Ceres.
The Hawks had a host of contributors on offense against the fifth-place Spartans (5-13, 3-7).
Fernando Dominguez batted 1-for-2 from the plate with one homer, three RBIs and two runs.
Andre Flores batted 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Chris Garcia batted 0-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.
Garcia, Central Valley’s ace pitcher, totaled nine strikeouts and no walks in four innings. He allowed no runs and just one hit.
The Hawks posted a team batting average of .522 against the Spartans.
Garcia batted 1-for-3 from the plate with two runs.
Caden Mendonca batted 3-for-3 with one triple, three RBIs and three runs.
Flores batted 1-for-2 with one triple, two RBIs and one run.
Beyer snapped Ceres High’s 12-game unbeaten streak with a 9-7 win on April 10 at Art McRae Field.
The Bulldogs (15-4, 9-1) dropped to second place in the WAC.
The Patriots (9-6, 6-4) climbed to third place in the league standings.
Just two of Beyer’s runs were earned as Ceres High committed three errors during the game.
The Bulldogs collected 10 hits and six walks on offense.
Carson Ulrich batted 3-for-4 with one double, two runs and one RBI.
Daniel Davis batted 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run.
Aiden Maines batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.
Ceres High pitcher Ashton Urena yielded just one earned run and five walks with two strikeouts and four walks in 31/3 innings.
The Bulldogs pulled away for a 7-2 victory over the Patriots on April 8 in Modesto.
Vincent Castrejon improved his pitching record to 8-1. He tallied nine strikeouts and three walks in seven innings.
Castrejon surrendered no earned runs and four hits.
The Bulldogs posted a team batting average of .323 against the Patriots.
Castrejon batted 4-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and two runs.
Junior Sombrerero batted 2-for-3 with one run.
Mario Vargas batted 1-for-2 with one run.
First-place Central Valley and second-place Ceres High will face off twice this week.
The Hawks will play host to the Bulldogs this Thursday at 4 p.m.
The first game of the crosstown series was staged on Tuesday at Ceres High. The final score was unavailable before press time.
