Ceres High’s Vincent Castrejon and Daniel Davis competed against Central Valley’s Nicholas Dominguez, Edgar Peralta and Fernando Dominguez at the 33rd Modesto Sunrise Rotary High School All-Star Baseball Classic earlier this month.
Castrejon, Davis and the Blue All-Stars rallied for a 9-8 victory against Peralta, Nicholas Dominguez, Fernando Dominguez and the Gold All-Stars on June 14 at John Thurman Field.
“It was really cool to represent not just myself but my school,” Castrejon said.
“It was really cool getting the opportunity to play in the all-star game,” Davis said. “I worked four years to get there.”
“It was definitely a huge honor to play against the best competition in the area,” Nicholas Dominguez said. “It was like having a Dream Team going against a Dream Team.”
“It was a pretty cool experience,” Fernando Dominguez said.
“It was my last high-school game,” Peralta said. “I tried to make the best of it. I had fun. I was able to connect with other players and future teammates I’ll play with in college.”
“It was fun to watch them (Peralta, Nicholas Dominguez and Fernando Dominguez) from a fan’s perspective instead of dealing with the stress of coaching a game,” Central Valley leader Brad Bussard said. “I congratulated all three of them for being there and representing our school.”
The Blue team was coached by the Ceres High father-son tandem of Bret and Dalton Durossette, along with Riverbank’s Stan Montalbo II and Johansen’s David Vancas.
“I was so excited for our kids,” Bret Durossette said. “It’s a big deal to play in an all-star game. They did awesome.”
“Getting to coach with him (Dalton) again was the most amazing thing,” he added. “I got to listen to him talk with the kids at the end of the game. They were so excited they won.”
Castrejon, a senior, logged playing time at pitcher and shortstop.
“It was definitely a goal to make it to an all-star game before I graduated,” he said.
Castrejon allowed no runs and no hits with one strikeout in the first inning.
He batted 2-for-2 from the plate with one double, one single, one RBI and one walk.
“He did great,” Bret Durossette said. “He was Vinnie.”
Davis, a senior, logged playing time at catcher and first base.
“I enjoyed playing alongside and against higher-skilled guys,” he said.
Davis batted 1-for-2 from the plate with one run.
He threw out a runner trying to steal second base.
“It was an amazing throw,” Bret Durossette said. “He got us out of the inning. They could have scored more runs.”
Castrejon, Davis and the Blue team battled back from a three-run deficit.
The Gold team led 6-3 through six innings of play.
“We started to string hits together,” Castrejon said. “That brought energy back to the team.”
“Nobody quit,” Davis said. “Everybody kept fighting.”
“Obviously, it wasn’t what we wanted,” Nicholas Dominguez said. “We wanted to win. We made a couple mistakes. They capitalized. In baseball, that can happen.”
The Gold team’s comeback attempt fell short in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Blue team got out of a bases-loaded jam as Castrejon fielded a slowly-hit groundball and threw to first base for the final out.
“I focused on making the play,” Castrejon said. “I was able to field it quickly and throw to first.”
Blue team players celebrated on the field at the conclusion of the game.
“It was a really cool moment,” Castrejon said.
The Rotary All-Star Game was previously held at Stanislaus State.
The contest was moved to the Modesto Nuts minor-league baseball team’s home ballpark this year.
Castrejon, Davis, Nicholas Dominguez and Fernando Dominguez played at Thurman Field for the second year in a row.
Castrejon, Davis and Ceres High lost 5-4 to Beyer in 2024.
Nicholas Dominguez, Fernando Dominguez and Central Valley earned a hard-fought 4-3 win over Downey.
“I’ve watched a decent amount of games there,” Castrejon said. “It was a really cool experience being on the opposite side.”
“I remember going there as a kid to watch games with the Ceres Blaze,” Davis said. “The field is beautiful. It’s maintained so well.”
“It’s been a dream to play there since I was younger,” Nicholas Dominguez said. “It’s a crazy experience.”
“Playing on that field for a second time was fun,” Fernando Dominguez said. “I grew up watching games there as a little kid.”
Castrejon and Davis helped lead the Bulldogs to a 19-9 overall record and second-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference (10-4) this spring.
Ceres High qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs for the 10th time in the past 15 seasons.
Castrejon and Davis were teammates for five seasons at Ceres High, including three years in football and two in baseball.
“We grew up playing together,” Castrejon said. “It was really cool to experience one last game with him and share that win with him.”
“We’ve been playing together for so long,” Davis stated. “It was really cool to end high school that way. It was pretty special.”
Castrejon and Davis will attend UC Santa Barbara and Hocking College, respectively, this fall.
Davis will continue his baseball career in Ohio.
Castrejon will try to earn a roster spot as a walk-on player.
“My goal is to play baseball,” Castrejon said.
Nicholas Dominguez, a senior, logged playing time at pitcher.
“I was glad to represent my school and tried to put on a show for everyone,” he said.
Nicholas Dominguez gave up two unearned runs on the mound with one strikeout and two walks in the second inning.
“I wasn’t proud of my performance,” he said. “I didn’t have my command on-point. But it’s another learning experience.”
Peralta, a senior, logged playing time in left field.
He batted 0-for-1 from the plate with two walks.
“I treated it like any other game,” Peralta said. “Offensively, I did alright. I drew two walks and made some solid contact with the ball. Not much action in the outfield.”
Fernando Dominguez, a junior, logged playing time at catcher.
He batted 1-for-2 from the plate.
“It was a fun experience competing with other guys, especially my senior teammates,” Fernando Dominguez said. “It was my last game with them.”
“It was a bittersweet moment,” Nicholas Dominguez said. “Fernando’s been catching me for the past two seasons.”
Peralta, Nicholas Dominguez and Fernando Dominguez led Central Valley to a 21-9 overall record, first-place finish in the WAC standings (14-0) and berth to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-I playoffs.
Peralta and Nicholas Dominguez played baseball and football together for a combined seven seasons at Central Valley.
They’ll continue their baseball careers at Merced College next spring.
“We’re close friends,” Nicholas Dominguez said. “I met Edgar for the first time freshman year.”
“Me and Nick have been teammates in high school for the past four years,” Peralta said. “He’s a good friend. I’m ready to start this next chapter with him. Merced College has a really good baseball program. Hopefully, I can get playing time. But I wouldn’t mind redshirting to get bigger, stronger and faster.”
Central Valley’s Chris Garcia and Ceres High’s Aiden Maines were also selected to play in the Rotary All-Star Game.
Maines didn’t attend due to another commitment (family vacation).
Garcia missed the contest for an unspecified reason.
