The Ceres Blaze 13-and-under travel baseball team finished in the top four while competing at the Pony Baseball Zone Championship earlier this month in West Hills.

“It’s the toughest tournament we’ve been a part of,” head coach Jorge Guerrero said. 

A total of eight teams participated in the Zone Championship, including Ceres, Campbell, Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Jacinto, Sierra Madre, West Hills and Kauai (Hawaii).

Costa Mesa advanced to the International World Series after besting Long Beach 7-1 in the finals.

“It was solid competition,” Guerrero stated. “We knew it was going to be tough. If we would have won one more game, we would have finished in the top three.”

The Blaze compiled a 1-2 record at the Zone Championship.

Ceres faced teams that had larger talent pools to choose from when selecting rosters.

“The other teams had a lot of players from bigger cities,” Guerrero said. “That’s just the way it is.”

West Hills knocked Ceres out of the tournament with a 7-2 win on July 13.

The Blaze never recovered after falling behind 4-0.

“We weren’t able to get out of innings without them scoring a run here or there,” Guerrero said. “We just couldn’t get a clutch hit.”

Ceres lost 18-3 to Long Beach on July 12.

“We had to play a perfect game to win it,” Guerrero said. “They figured out our pitching.”

The Blaze trailed 4-3 early in the game.

“The first few innings, it was competitive,” Guerrero stated. “We just couldn’t hit after that.”

Ceres topped Kauai (Hawaii) 5-0 in the opening round on July 11.

“Our defense played a perfect game,” Guerrero said. “We had some clutch hits.”

“The lead never felt safe,” he added.

The Blaze played in four tournaments this season.

Ceres won the Pony Baseball West Zone NorCal Super Region title at Costa Fields.

The Blaze took first at the George Costa Tournament and second at Modesto Nuts-hosted MLB Playball Weekend Tournament at John Thurman Field.

“I’ve been coaching for 12 years,” Guerrero said. “This is one of my better teams. This team is really special. They have really good chemistry. Everybody knows their role. That translated into how they played on the field.”

The Blaze will compete in the 14-and-under age division this upcoming season

A total of 11 players from the Blaze 13-and-under team will be added to the fall roster.

“We’re taking a break until the second week of September,” Guerrero said.