Ceres High's varsity baseball team remained in the hunt for the Western Athletic Conference title and boosted its Sac-Joaquin Section playoff hopes this past week.
"We've put ourselves in a position we want to be in," Bulldogs head coach Clinton Goblirsch said. "But we haven't locked up anything yet. We want to play beyond our next three games. We want to finish the season strong so we can get the best (playoff) seed we can possibly get. We're still in the hunt for a (WAC) championship if we can get some help."
Second-place Ceres High moved to 19-5 overall and 9-3 in the WAC standings after collecting back-to-back victories against fifth-place Pacheco.
"We hit the ball really well both games," Goblirsch said. "We scored a lot of runs. Our pitchers were effective. Our goal is to play well every game."
Host Ceres High managed to beat Pacheco 9-4 on Thursday at Art McRae Field despite committing six errors.
Freshman pitcher Dalton Durossette surrendered no earned runs and seven hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 41/3 innings.
Junior Blane Abeyta tallied five strikeouts while tossing 22/3 innings of relief.
"Dalton gave us four strong innings," Goblirsch said. "He had an effective performance."
Durossette batted 3-for-3 from the plate with one homer, one double, three RBIs and one run.
Abeyta batted 1-for-4 with one homer, two RBIs and one run.
Adrian Lujan batted 2-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and two runs.
Ricky Lopez batted 2-for-2 with one double, one RBI and two runs.
Ismael Ontiveros batted 2-for-4 with one double and two runs.
Brock DeWitt drove in one run.
Eric Davis scored once.
Zach Kommavong doubled.
Austin Schmidt singled.
Junior pitcher Adrian Magdaleno allowed just one hit with six strikeouts and just two walks while leading Ceres High past Pacheco, 15-0, in five innings on April 25 in Los Banos.
"He threw another complete game," Goblirsch said. "He did a great job hitting his spots."
Magdaleno accounted for one of the Bulldogs' 14 hits.
He singled.
Lujan batted 2-for-2 with one triple, one double, two RBIs and three runs.
Abeyta batted 2-for-3 with three RBIs and one run.
Andrew Nowaya chipped in with two RBIs and two runs.
Steven Brown added one RBI and three runs.
Kommavong collected three singles, two RBIs and one run.
Durossette collected three singles, one RBI and two runs.
Lopez scored two runs.
Schmidt doubled and knocked in one run.
DeWitt singled and drove in one run.
Cristian Palafox scored once.
Ontiveros singled.
Ceres High has won its last six conference games.
"We have high expectations," Goblirsch said. "We expect to play well every game. We've relied on good pitching throughout the year. We've been hitting well. Those two things have been our backbone."
First-place Los Banos (10-2) had a one-game lead over the Bulldogs in the WAC standings as of Monday.
Patterson (7-5) and Livingston (6-6) trailed Ceres High by two and three games, respectively.
The Bulldogs' final three regular-season games are against last-place Central Valley.
The crosstown-rival Hawks are coached by Derrick Goblirsch, Clinton's younger brother.
"It's fun coaching against him," Clinton said. "Baseball-wise, we think along the same lines. "I like finishing the regular season off with the crosstown games. Regardless of records, both teams are going to show up and play hard. It will come down to players executing on the field.
Ceres High will play host to Central Valley on Thursday and visit the Hawks on May 9.
Both games will get underway at 4 p.m.
The Bulldogs are seeking to return to the playoffs following a one-year absence.
Ceres High participated in the postseason in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011.
"Ultimately, that's our goal," Goblirsch said.
The Bulldogs placed first in the WAC in 2015 and 2014.
Hawks swept by Tigers
Central Valley's varsity baseball team battled Patterson last week.
The last-place Hawks compiled an 0-2 record versus the third-place Tigers.
Central Valley dropped to 5-18-1 overall and 1-11 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
The Hawks squandered a three-run lead in losing 4-3 to the Tigers on Thursday in Patterson.
Central Valley had six total hits.
Gabriel Quezada batted 1-for-2 with one homer, one RBI and two runs.
Leandro Mercado batted 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Alex Solis batted 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Nico Baca batted 2-for-3 with one run.
Hawk starting pitcher Israel Anaya allowed three runs and two hits with four strikeouts and six walks in 42/3 innings.
Solis gave up one run and three hits with one strikeout and two walks in two innings.
Ahead 3-0, Central Valley allowed three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and one in the seventh.
The Hawks made four errors during their 9-3 loss to the Tigers on April 25 in Ceres.
Both teams erased deficits.
Ahead 2-0, Patterson surrendered three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
The Tigers outscored the Hawks 7-0 the rest of the game.
Central Valley totaled five hits.
Andrew Badillo batted 1-for-3 with one double, one RBI and one run.
Jason Perez batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run.
Mercado batted 1-for-3 with one run.
Solis doubled.
James Andres singled.
Quezada, Ty Borchardt and Joel Branco all contributed at pitcher.
Borchardt yielded two earned runs and six hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 42/3 innings.
Quezada allowed no earned runs and one hit with two strikeouts and three walks in two innings.
Branco gave up no earned runs and no hits with one strikeout and no walks in one innings.
Central Valley will play at crosstown-rival/second-place Ceres High this Thursday.
The game will begin at 4 p.m.
