Ceres High's varsity baseball team opened its preseason schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 24 with an impressive 11-2 win against host Hughson in a game that was stopped after six innings of play due to darkness.

The Bulldogs totaled nine hits on offense.

Robert Cope homered, singled and drove in two runs. Chad Atchison had a home run and one RBI. Grant Hurst and Tyler Brenning chipped in with two singles and two RBIs apiece. Martino Bertolotti knocked in two runs. Josh Edwards and Josh Jones both had an RBI. Tyler Cummings collected two singles.

"We were aggressive on fastballs," Cope said. "We didn't let them go by."

Ceres High used three different pitchers, including Jimmy Chesney, Bryson Waring and Tyler Cummings.

Waring picked up the win. The freshman southpaw had seven strikeouts in three innings.

"His fastball has a lot of movement," said Julio Marquez, co-head coach of the Bulldogs. "If he gets control of his offspeed stuff, he'll be dominant."

Tied at 2-all, Ceres High tallied nine unanswered runs over the final four innings to put the contest out of reach.

"We got runners into scoring position and executed," Cope said.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good in the top of the third inning.

Robert deposited a 3-1 pitch over the center-field fence. Chad homered to right field.

"I didn't think about the score," Cope said. "I was just trying to find a pitch I could handle. As soon as I hit it, I knew it had a chance to go out."

Ceres High pushed two runs across home plate in the second inning, and three in the third, fourth and sixth.