Ceres High’s varsity baseball team looked forward to the challenge of competing against 2018 Sac-Joaquin Section Division-III champion Beyer last week.

The Bulldogs secured a split versus the Patriots in Western Athletic Conference action.

“Our team was excited to play against them,” Ceres High junior catcher Josh Pernetti said. “We should have won both games. We just had some mistakes on the field.”

Ceres High stormed out to a 6-0 lead and held on for a 10-8 victory against Beyer on March 27 in Modesto.

The two teams combined for 25 hits, including 12 by the Bulldogs.

Ceres High and Beyer each committed just one error on defense.

Bulldog Isaiah Alcorn led the way on offense, finishing 2-for-4 with one homer, one double, four RBIs and one run.

Brock DeWitt finished 3-for-5 with one double and three runs.

Brock Moore finished 1-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.

Gabe Flores finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

Josh Pernetti chipped in with one single, RBI and run.

Efrain Brito collected one RBI and one run.

Justin Prestridge singled and knocked in one run.

Chris Madariaga singled and scored once.

Michael Aveytia scored once.

Andrew Kommavong singled twice.

Alcorn notched his first victory of the season at pitcher.

He gave up six runs and seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks in 51/3 innings.

Host Ceres High lost 10-6 to Beyer on Friday at Art McRae Field.

Tied at 0-0, the Patriots tallied three runs in the fifth inning, four in the sixth and three in the seventh.

The Bulldogs scored five times in the final inning to cut the deficit to four.

Ceres High made four errors during the game.

The Bulldogs mustered just five hits on offense.

Aveytia batted 1-for-4 with one double, one RBI and one run.

DeWitt batted 2-for-2 with one run.

Kommavong batted 1-for-4 with one run.

Pernetti had one RBI and one run.

Alcorn and Madariaga both scored once.

Daniel Gamez plated one run.

Prestridge, Ceres High’s starting pitcher, was tagged with the loss.

He allowed three runs and four hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings.

The Bulldogs dropped to 5-9 overall and 3-1 in the WAC standings.

The Patriots improved to 5-8 and 1-3.

Ceres High tallied just two league wins in 2018.

“The biggest difference this year is team chemistry,” Pernetti said. “We’re having fun. We can’t get complacent. We have to keep getting better.”

Third-place Ceres High (5-9, 3-1) will play at fifth-place Johansen (1-7, 0-3) today and host the Vikings on Friday.

Both games will begin at 4 p.m.

“We got confidence right now,” Pernetti said. “We have to keep it rolling.”