The Bill Evans Memorial Scholarship/Ceres High School Softball Tournament will be staged for the first time at the George Costa Ball Field Complex this week in Ceres.
Evans, who dedicated more than 40 years of his life to coaching college, high school and travel softball, passed away at the age of 63 in June of 2020.
“Bill is such a legend in the softball community,” Bulldogs’ head coach Mike Corsaut said. “He helped develop so many girls.”
A total of 15 teams will compete at the CHS Tournament, including Ceres High, Central Valley, Beyer, Buhach Colony, Central Catholic, Escalon, Golden Valley, Gregori, Hughson, Lincoln of Stockton, Lodi, Los Banos, Merced, Modesto High and Oakdale.
The schools will be split up into three pools of five teams.
Ceres High, Buhach Colony, Hughson, Lincoln and Lodi will make up the Black Pool.
Central Valley, Beyer, Escalon, Oakdale and Merced make up the White Pool.
Central Catholic, Golden Valley, Gregori, Los Banos and Modesto High make up the Red Pool.
Escalon, Oakdale, Central Catholic, Merced, Lincoln, Ceres High and Golden Valley enter the 2022 season ranked 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 20th and 23rd, respectively, in the Sac-Joaquin Section according to MaxPreps.
“We have seven of the top 25 teams from our section coming,” Corsaut said. “You play good teams to make yourself better.”
Games will be played today through Saturday.
“It’s awesome Ceres Youth Baseball is letting us use their fields,” Corsaut said. “They’re not charging us. It’s a pretty cool gesture. I can’t thank them enough. If this is a success, we’re going to do it next year.”
Ceres High will play against Lincoln (3:30 p.m.) and Lodi (5:15 p.m.) on Friday. The Bulldogs will face Buhach Colony (9:45 a.m.) and Merced (11:30 a.m.) on Saturday.
Central Valley will play against Escalon (3:30 p.m.) and Oakdale (5:15 p.m.) on Thursday. The Hawks will face Lodi (11:30 a.m.) and Beyer (3 p.m.) on Saturday.
Ceres High continued its winning ways under Corsaut’s guidance last spring.
The Bulldogs claimed their second league title in the past three seasons.
Ceres High placed first in the 2021 Western Athletic Conference standings with a perfect 15-0 record. The Bulldogs finished 16-3 on the year.
Central Valley (8-7) took third.
Playoffs were canceled during the 2020-21 school year due to COVID-19 safety concerns. “I’m using this tournament to see who our starting nine is going to be for when league starts,” Corsaut said. “It gives me an opportunity to play everybody.”
