Ceres High School grads Andrea Duran and Vianney Perez don’t know if they’ll get to play softball for Cal State Monterey Bay this spring due to concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Decisions regarding California Collegiate Athletic Association activities and return to play timelines are expected to be announced this month.

“The CCAA will continue to plan on a return to competition for all of our sports in the spring when it is deemed safe and appropriate,” Commissioner Mitch Cox said.

“We’re practicing as if we are going to have a season,” Perez said.  “I have no idea what’s going to happen. The control is completely out of my hands. I’m itching to play. This is the longest I’ve gone without playing.”

“I try not to stress out about it,” Duran said. “But it’s hard right now. We don’t know if we’re going to play. We’ll find out by the end of the month.”

Duran and Perez participated in mandatory team workouts via Zoom meetings last week.

They’ve been training together on their own time in Ceres for the past several months.

“The first few weeks were optional,” Duran said. “She (head coach Andrea Kenney) wanted to give us time to get used to the semester. She’s also having us do community service through Zoom. We’re reading to elementary students from the Monterey area two times a week for about an hour.”

“We’re expected to work out every day,” Perez added. “We hit off the tee, and do glove work, agility drills and weights on our own. We have to send videos of ourselves working out to hold each other accountable.”

Duran was recruited to play second base for NCAA Division-II Monterey Bay, which finished 12-12 during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

A middle infielder at Ceres High, Perez was recruited to play third base for the Otters.

Duran and Perez graduated from Ceres High in 2020 and 2018, respectively.

They were teammates for two seasons.

Duran spent the past two years at Santa Cruz’s Cabrillo College, which is located just 30 minutes from Monterey Bay.

She started at second base both seasons.

Duran earned South Coast Conference honors her freshman year as the Seahawks compiled a 24-15 record and advanced to the Northern California Playoffs. She hit .284 with 14 doubles, 29 runs, 17 RBIs and eight walks in 39 games.

Cabrillo College’s 2020 campaign was canceled because of COVID-19.

Duran batted .475 with one triple, six doubles, 15 RBIs, 12 runs and just three strikeouts in 20 games.

The Seahawks went 7-14 on the season.

Duran was a member of Ceres High’s 2016 Sac-Joaquin Section Division-III championship team.

Perez was enjoying her best season to date at Ceres High prior to the 2020 campaign being cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She hit .636 (14-for-22) with two homers, two triples, six RBIs and 14 runs while batting leadoff for the 6-2 Bulldogs.

Perez filled a key role while leading Ceres High to the Western Athletic Conference championship and a 19-6 overall record in 2019.

Duran and Perez both currently reside in Ceres. 

They live five miles from each other. 

“She has my back and I have hers,” Duran said. “We hold each other accountable.”

Cal State Monterey Bay’s 2020-21 academic year got underway with distance learning in August.