The Ceres Blaze 14-and-under travel baseball team took second at the NorCal Pony Northeast Super Regional Tournament this past week in Ceres.
The Blaze played six games in six days at the eight-team double-elimination event, which was staged July 11-16 at Costa Fields.
“The boys showed a lot of heart and grit,” head coach Gerardo Hernandez said. “They played hard for each other.”
“There were some quality teams there,” he added. “Everybody had talented players. Bel Passi had the most talent out there.”
Unbeaten Bel Passi eliminated Ceres from the tourney with a 15-2 win in the title game on Sunday.
Ceres needed to top Bel Passi twice to capture the championship.
“They’re a stacked, talented team,” Hernandez said. “The biggest challenge is they have depth. They have no glaring weaknesses. We had to play our A-game. We fought hard.”
The Blaze staved off tournament elimination with four consecutive wins.
Ceres beat Rocklin (5-1), Seaside (7-3), Santa Cruz (17-3) and Rodeo (2-1).
“They really didn’t surprise me,” Hernandez said. “Last year, we were in the same scenario and reached the championship. You just have to worry about one game at a time.”
The Blaze fell into the loser’s bracket after falling 11-1 to Bel Passi in the opening round on July 11.
“We dug ourselves a hole,” Hernandez said. “We took the long road to get there (to the finals). We had to play more games.”
Ceres won two titles and finished second twice this summer.
The Blaze relied on 14 players during the course of the season, including Adrian Vega, Anthony Alberto, Caden Mendonca, Carter Hernandez, Christian Fannin, Cruz Contreras, Eazy Valdovinos, Javin Randhawa, Jayden Reynaga, Jeremy Aguilar, Jesse Vasquez, Marcus Olivas, Pierce Snedeger and Tyson Hunt.
“I’m really happy with the growth and maturity they showed,” coach Hernandez said. “Everybody stepped up.”
The Blaze will compete in the 16-and-under division this fall.
“We’re going to continue to play,” Gerardo Hernandez said. “We have a lot of experience. We’re going to do really well.”
