The Ceres Sizzle 16-and-under travel softball team placed in its first two tournaments of the summer.

“The girls are firing on all cylinders, especially hitting,” head coach Jeff Graham said. “We’ve adopted the mentality we’re going to be more aggressive at the plate. We’ve refined our base running. We’re taking advantage of miscues.”

Second-seeded Ceres finished in first place in the Silver Bracket of the AST California Top Gun Fastpitch Tournament this past weekend at Antelope Community Park.

“It was a higher-level tournament,” Graham said. “We were facing 18-and-under college pitchers. My girls didn’t care. They were smacking them around.”

The Sizzle topped the West Coast Wolverines (Oregon) 10-5 in the championship game on Sunday.

Ceres defeated the Lincoln All-Stars 15-4 on Sunday in the semifinals.

The Sizzle dropped into the Silver Bracket after losing 8-2 to the Yardsharks (Sacramento) on Sunday.

Ceres compiled a 2-1 record in seeding play on Saturday.

The Sizzle collected wins against the Lincoln All-Stars (14-0) and Chico Lady Aces (9-0).

Ceres lost 3-0 to California Gold 18U.

Layla Lozano, Sydney Graham, Journey Estrella, Aaliah Padilla, Jackie Guillory, Alice Neal and Selene Valencia led the way on offense.

Lozano batted .545 from the plate with two doubles, three RBIs and one run.

Sydney Graham batted .400 with four singles, five RBIs, four runs, four walks and four stolen bases.

Estrella batted .364 with four singles, five RBIs and two stolen bases.

Padilla batted .333 with three singles, two RBIs, three runs, two walks and four stolen bases.

Guillory batted .308 with one double, three singles, six RBIs, five runs and one stolen base.

Neal batted .300 with one double, two singles, three RBIs, three runs, two walks and four stolen bases.

Valencia batted .250 with three singles, four RBIs, six runs, two walks and six stolen bases.

“Our hitters were on fire,” coach Graham said.

Padilla, Jadyn Williams, Savannah Vasquez and Janessa McClure all contributed at pitcher.

Willems totaled four strikeouts.

Vasquez and McClure both had three strikeouts.

Padilla had two strikeouts.

“It’s really nice,” coach Graham said while talking about his team’s depth at pitcher.

Ceres placed second at the NSA Queen of Diamonds, staged June 13-14, at the Tracy Softball Complex.

The Sizzle compiled a 3-2 record.

Second-seeded Ceres lost 11-1 to Bases Academy 18U in the finals on June 14.

The Sizzle edged Duck Mafia 7-6 in the semifinals on June 14.

Ceres won two of three games in seeding play.

The Sizzle earned wins against Duck Mafia (9-2) and Santa Nella Nightmares (12-0).

Ceres lost to Bases Academy 18U (6-5).

The Sizzle will play in the Girls Fastpitch League this summer at George Costa Fields in Ceres. The seven-week season begins this week.

“We’re getting our girls more reps,” Jeff Graham said. “We’re using it as practice. I get to play girls out of position and try new things.”

Coach Graham is carrying 14 players on his team roster this season.

Lozano, Estrella, Padilla, Valencia, Williams, Vasquez, McClure, Sydney Graham, Genevieve Armenta, Kayli Parker, Marian Verdugo and Payton Graham are returners.

Guillory and Neal are newcomers.

“We’re not the most dominant team,” coach Graham said. “We’re competitive because we’re a family. We do stuff outside of softball. We have movie and bowling nights. The girls are making TikToks together. They’re all friends. That’s important.”