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Davis defeats Ceres, 3-2
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Chad Leazer threw his glove against the backstop in disgust and stormed off the field.

Leazer pitched a gem of a game but a few costly errors allowed the Davis Spartans to escape with a 3-2 victory over the slumping Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in Modesto. The senior allowed two earned runs on six hits and fanned five batters in seven innings.

"Chad threw really well," said Ceres coach Tim Williams. "You take away the first inning and they didn't touch him."

Davis coach Brian Bettencourt was also impressed with Leazer's effort.

"He kept us off balance and moved the ball around," Bettencourt said.

Ceres failed to snap its 16-game losing streak and fell to 1-14 in the Central California Conference standings.

The Bulldogs have lost 17 straight, including 13 in league.

"We're just not getting it done," Williams said.

Davis improved to 9-6 in the CCC and kept its slim playoff hopes alive. The Spartans and the Merced Bears are fighting for the fourth and final playoff spot.

"If you want to be a playoff contender you can't make mistakes," Bettencourt said.

Davis scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Ceres committed three errors in the inning.

Joey Blakely reached first on Hector Reyes' error at shortstop and pinch runner Ronnie Delaney moved to second on Eric Stahl's sacrifice bunt. Tom Fores reached on Brian Borges' error in center field.

Delaney and Fores advanced on a wild pitch. Joe Walker attempted to bunt but didn't make contact. Delaney and Fores were running on the pitch.

Delaney got in a rundown on the squeeze play but ended up scoring on Reyes' poor throw to home plate.

"That wasn't pretty," Bettencourt said. "That's for sure."

Leazer allowed two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning.

David Tanaka led off the inning with a single to left and moved to second on Randy Atchison's error in the outfield. Jesse Moya followed with an RBI triple to right field and scored on Andrew Carmichael's single to center.

Ceres responded with two runs in the top of the third inning.

Borges singled to center, stole second and moved to third on Stanhope's single to left. Borges scored on Brad Simmons' infield single between Davis' third baseman and shortstop.

With two out and two runners on, Davis pitcher Derek Cram walked Atchison. He walked Reyes with the bases loaded to force in the tying run.

Ceres plays host to Davis today at 3:30 p.m. - By DALE BUTLER / Staff Reporter of The Ceres (Calif.) Courier