Central Valley’s Western Athletic Conference-championship baseball team faced little resistance while earning a two-game sweep of crosstown-rival Ceres High last week.
The Hawks have compiled a 13-0 record versus the Bulldogs since the 2020-21 school year.
Ceres High beat Central Valley twice (6-5, 6-2) in 2019-20.
“Our goal is to build one of the best programs in the area,” Central Valley head coach/former Ceres High multi-sport standout Brad Bussard stated. “We’re at that point. Now, it’s time to become one of the elite programs in the area.”
“They’re really talented,” Ceres High leader Bret Durossette said. They’re doing a good job of playing baseball. They’re having a lot of success. Good for them. They’re a Ceres team. I want them to do well.”
The first-place/Sac-Joaquin Section playoff-bound Hawks improved to 18-6 overall and 12-0 in the WAC with a 12-3 road win against the Bulldogs on April 23 at Art McRae Field.
Fourth-place Ceres High dropped to 12-10-1 overall and 7-5 in the conference standings.
“We’re headed in the right direction,” Bussard said. “We’ve handled business in league. We’re looking forward to playoffs.”
“We’ve won more games than we’ve lost,” Durossette stated. “But we haven’t played good baseball in the last two to three weeks. We have two games left. We have to sweep Livingston. If we make playoffs, that will be a great experience for the kids.”
Central Valley sophomore Noah Maldonado improved his pitching record to 7-2
He gave up three runs and four hits with eight strikeouts and six walks in five innings.
“He was lights out,” Durossette said. “We didn’t make any adjustments.”
“He’s been super consistent this year,” Bussard added.
The Hawks posted a team batting average of .353 against the Bulldogs.
Central Valley collected 12 hits in 34 at-bats.
Maldonado batted 1-for-3 with one triple, two RBIs and one run.
Mason Whitworth batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs.
Fernando Dominguez batted 1-for-4 with one double, one RBI and two runs.
Ezequiel Verduzco batted 3-for-5 with one RBI and one run.
Isaiah Valdovinos and Adrian Vega both batted 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run.
Tyson Hunt batted 2-for-3 with one double and one run.
Carter Hernandez accounted for two runs.
Dominic Delatorre singled.
Ceres High batted .181 from the plate as a team.
The Bulldogs collected six hits in 33 at-bats.
Ceres High committed three errors on defense.
The Hawks led 7-1 at the end of the second inning.
Ahead 9-1, Central Valley surrendered two runs in the fifth inning.
“We didn’t play a very complete game,” Bussard said. “But we got the job done.”
“We’d have to play mistake-free baseball to compete with them,” Durossette added.
Central Valley clinched its second straight WAC championship with a 13-0 win over visiting Ceres High in five innings on April 22.
Hawk players and coaches posed for a group picture after the game.
“There wasn’t much of a celebration,” Bussard said. “Obviously, our guys are excited about winning another league title. That was our expectation. Our goal is to make a playoff run.”
Central Valley totaled 11 hits against Ceres High during the crosstown opener.
Verduzco batted 3-for-3 with one double, three RBIs and two runs.
Valdovinos batted 2-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and three runs.
Vega batted 2-for-2 with three RBIs and one run.
Whitworth batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and two runs.
Dominguez batted 1-for-2 with two runs.
Hernandez batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run.
Nathan Cazares had one RBI.
Hunt scored once.
Delatorre singled.
Hunt improved his pitching record to 6-2.
He gave up no runs and one hit with three strikeouts and one walk in four innings.
“He’s been our ace all year,” Bussard said.
Ceres High struggled on offense.
The Bulldogs managed to collect just one hit off Hunt.
“We put the ball in play right to them,” Durossette said.
The Hawks scored all of their runs during the first three innings, including four in the first.
“We played a pretty solid game,” Bussard said. “We jumped on them early and didn’t let up. We were expecting a more competitive series. It’s a credit to our guys for taking care of business.”
“I’m disappointed we didn’t play as well as I thought we could,” Durossette said.
