Three of Ceres Youth Baseball's all-star teams finished in the top three at the 38th annual George Costa Tournament last week in Ceres.
The Ceres Gray All-Stars captured the Pony Division 13-14-year-old title with a 15-7 victory over the Ripon Cyclones on the Fourth of July.
"We're really happy," standout player Chris Moscozo said. "We worked very hard for this."
Third-seeded Ceres Gray posted a 4-0-1 record at the six-team event.
The All-Stars earned the right to play for the championship after securing victories over sixth-seeded Bel Passi White (6-5) and second-seeded Los Banos (forfeit) in the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
Moscozo hit an inside-the-park homer to left-center field in the fourth inning of the title game.
"I just creamed the ball," said Chris, who also doubled. "That definitely pumped up our team."
David Brazil, Jesse Hatfield, Wes Ward, Timothy Cardelli, David Griffin, Christian Martinez and Abraham Navarro also contributed on offense.
Brazil went 2-for-3.
Hatfield, Ward, Cardelli, Griffin, Martinez and Navarro all collected one hit.
Brazil, Ceres Gray's starting pitcher, lasted three innings.
Moscozo pitched the fourth and fifth innings.
Jesse Hatfield entered the game in the sixth and tossed two innings of scoreless relief.
Facing a 2-0 deficit after 11/2 innings of play, Ceres Gray scored five runs in the bottom of the second. Ripon failed to respond.
"I was pretty confident we'd come back," Moscozo said. "We have a really good defense. We also have a lot of pitchers. We didn't let our heads down. We kept fighting."
After receiving a bye in the opening round, top-seeded Ceres Red lost 10-8 to the Ripon Cyclones in the semifinals.
The Ceres Red 9-10-year-old all-star team tasted defeat for the first time this year when it lost 14-4 to Atwater in the championship game on Friday.
Third-seeded Ceres edged fourth-seeded Atwater 6-5 in pool play to begin the tournament.
"It's tough to swallow," coach Ron Stahl said. "I can't explain why we got slaughtered today. I think they wanted it more than we did."
Ceres Red dropped to 9-1 on the season. The All-Stars won four of five games at the Costa tournament.
The Ceres Gray 9-10-year-old all-star team had to settle for fourth place after suffering a 10-0 loss to Riverbank Friday morning.
"Our bats just went to sleep," coach Mike McGrath said. "We didn't hit the ball at all. We had a four-day layoff. That really hurt us."
Ceres Gray earned the No. 1 seed after compiling a 2-0 record in pool play. The All-Stars beat ninth-seeded Oakdale (10-3), then lost to fourth-seeded Atwater (15-0) and second-seeded Riverbank.
In the 7-8 division, sixth-seeded Ceres Red topped fourth-seeded Bel Passi Blue 8-2 Friday morning for third place.
"The kids did really good," coach Kevin Oliver said.
Carlos Rodriguez gave the All-Stars some breathing room when he crushed a three-run homer over the left-center fence in the fifth inning. Ceres Red grabbed an 8-1 lead.
"It completely took Bel Passi out of the game," Oliver said.
First baseman Tate Soderstrom was also a major contributor.
"He played a great defensive game," Oliver said.
Ceres Red won two of three games at the tournament. The All-Stars beat third-seeded Atwater 13-1 and lost 7-5 to seventh-seeded Livermore.
Fifth-seeded Ceres Gray fell 12-7 to Bel Passi Blue in the first round.
In the 11-12 division, eighth-seeded Ceres Red beat ninth-seeded Modesto Christian 18-0, then lost 5-1 to top-seeded Bel Passi Red.
Fifth-seeded Ceres Gray lost 21-3 to fourth-seeded Bel Passi Blue.
The Ceres Gray All-Stars captured the Pony Division 13-14-year-old title with a 15-7 victory over the Ripon Cyclones on the Fourth of July.
"We're really happy," standout player Chris Moscozo said. "We worked very hard for this."
Third-seeded Ceres Gray posted a 4-0-1 record at the six-team event.
The All-Stars earned the right to play for the championship after securing victories over sixth-seeded Bel Passi White (6-5) and second-seeded Los Banos (forfeit) in the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
Moscozo hit an inside-the-park homer to left-center field in the fourth inning of the title game.
"I just creamed the ball," said Chris, who also doubled. "That definitely pumped up our team."
David Brazil, Jesse Hatfield, Wes Ward, Timothy Cardelli, David Griffin, Christian Martinez and Abraham Navarro also contributed on offense.
Brazil went 2-for-3.
Hatfield, Ward, Cardelli, Griffin, Martinez and Navarro all collected one hit.
Brazil, Ceres Gray's starting pitcher, lasted three innings.
Moscozo pitched the fourth and fifth innings.
Jesse Hatfield entered the game in the sixth and tossed two innings of scoreless relief.
Facing a 2-0 deficit after 11/2 innings of play, Ceres Gray scored five runs in the bottom of the second. Ripon failed to respond.
"I was pretty confident we'd come back," Moscozo said. "We have a really good defense. We also have a lot of pitchers. We didn't let our heads down. We kept fighting."
After receiving a bye in the opening round, top-seeded Ceres Red lost 10-8 to the Ripon Cyclones in the semifinals.
The Ceres Red 9-10-year-old all-star team tasted defeat for the first time this year when it lost 14-4 to Atwater in the championship game on Friday.
Third-seeded Ceres edged fourth-seeded Atwater 6-5 in pool play to begin the tournament.
"It's tough to swallow," coach Ron Stahl said. "I can't explain why we got slaughtered today. I think they wanted it more than we did."
Ceres Red dropped to 9-1 on the season. The All-Stars won four of five games at the Costa tournament.
The Ceres Gray 9-10-year-old all-star team had to settle for fourth place after suffering a 10-0 loss to Riverbank Friday morning.
"Our bats just went to sleep," coach Mike McGrath said. "We didn't hit the ball at all. We had a four-day layoff. That really hurt us."
Ceres Gray earned the No. 1 seed after compiling a 2-0 record in pool play. The All-Stars beat ninth-seeded Oakdale (10-3), then lost to fourth-seeded Atwater (15-0) and second-seeded Riverbank.
In the 7-8 division, sixth-seeded Ceres Red topped fourth-seeded Bel Passi Blue 8-2 Friday morning for third place.
"The kids did really good," coach Kevin Oliver said.
Carlos Rodriguez gave the All-Stars some breathing room when he crushed a three-run homer over the left-center fence in the fifth inning. Ceres Red grabbed an 8-1 lead.
"It completely took Bel Passi out of the game," Oliver said.
First baseman Tate Soderstrom was also a major contributor.
"He played a great defensive game," Oliver said.
Ceres Red won two of three games at the tournament. The All-Stars beat third-seeded Atwater 13-1 and lost 7-5 to seventh-seeded Livermore.
Fifth-seeded Ceres Gray fell 12-7 to Bel Passi Blue in the first round.
In the 11-12 division, eighth-seeded Ceres Red beat ninth-seeded Modesto Christian 18-0, then lost 5-1 to top-seeded Bel Passi Red.
Fifth-seeded Ceres Gray lost 21-3 to fourth-seeded Bel Passi Blue.
