Ceres High's varsity baseball team did the expected in beating Livingston twice this past week.

The 2014 Western Athletic Conference champion Bulldogs improved to 18-5 on the year and remained in first place in the league standings (7-1).

The Wolves dropped to 10-10 and 2-6.

"Livingston is a lot better than what their record is," Ceres High head coach John Bussard said. "They're a well-coached group. We took care of business. Our pitching was really good. Offensively, we hit the ball very well. We got to shore up some things on defense."

Visiting Ceres High erased a two-run deficit in beating Livingston 4-2 on Friday.

Brad Bussard pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs.

Bussard tallied eight strikeouts in seven innings. He surrendered two runs and four hits.

"Brad threw fantastic," John Bussard said.

Brad Bussard batted 1-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs.

Haaydn Martinez batted 1-for-3 with one double, one RBI and one run.

Merrik Price batted 1-for-3 with one RBI.

Drew Stahl scored once.

The Bulldogs broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh inning.

The two teams combined for five errors during the contest, including two by Ceres High.

The Bulldogs pulled away for a 12-3 win over the Wolves on Wednesday at Art McRae Field.

Ceres High had 12 hits on offense.

Brett Conway batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

Brad Bussard batted 1-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

Ricky Lopez batted 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run.

Stahl batted 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run.

Brent Bussard and Ismael Ontiveros both batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run.

Price and Izaiah Hernandez chipped in with two runs apiece.

Martinez collected one RBI.
Stahl, Ceres High's starting pitcher, had 11 strikeouts and three walks in six innings.

He allowed three runs and scattered seven hits.

Ceres High scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Bulldogs and Wolves totaled nine errors, including six by Livingston.

Ceres High will play at Pacheco today and host the Panthers on Friday. Both games will get underway at 4 p.m.

The Bulldogs are closing in on their second straight WAC crown.

"Central Catholic had the target on their back for years," coach Bussard said. "Now, we're that team. We put a lot of work into this program to get it to where it needs to be. The kids have high expectations. I'd be surprised if we didn't get ourselves in a positon to repeat. We just have to take care of business this week."