Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s baseball teams and Central Valley’s softball program have new head coaches.
First-year leaders Raul Godinez, Brad Bussard and Jimmy Bates attended Ceres schools. They were also standout, multi-sport athletes.
Godinez, 27, has been tapped to coach Ceres High baseball.
The 2014 Central Valley graduate replaced Clinton Goblirsch, who led the Bulldogs to an 80-83 record and three Sac-Joaquin Section playoff appearances in seven seasons.
“I always wanted to come back to Ceres,” Godinez said. “I feel at home. I get to help the community I grew up in, which is a plus. Ceres is a smaller town. Everybody knows each other.”
Godinez attended Central Valley as a sophomore, junior and senior.
He played baseball and football.
He also wrestled.
Godinez spent his freshman year at Ceres High.
He was also a student at Mae Hensley Jr. High and La Rosa Elementary School.
Godinez earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Stanislaus State in 2019.
He started working for Ceres Unified School District this academic year.
He was hired to serve as a student support specialist at Ceres High.
He was previously employed as a teacher’s aide at Stanislaus Academy in Turlock for three years.
“I’m representing the Bulldogs to the fullest now,” Godinez said. “But at the end of the day, we’re all from Ceres. It’s cool to see the good talent coming out of this town.”
Bussard, 26, was promoted to head coach of Central Valley’s baseball program.
He replaced nine-year leader Derrick Goblirsch, who stepped down to spend more time with his family and focus on coaching football.
“It’s exciting being able to give back to the community I was raised in,” Bussard said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Bussard was an assistant on Goblirsch’s staff for two years. A P.E. teacher at Central Valley since 2020-21, Bussard also coaches junior-varsity football at the high school.
Bussard assisted Jimmy Davis on the diamond for one season (2019-20) at Gregori High School.
“I’ve learned a lot from my mentors,” said Bussard, who singled out Goblirsch, Davis and his father John. “They helped me prepare for this.”
Bussard inherits a program that had a combined record of 28-18, qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs once and captured one league title the past two seasons.
Central Valley made program history in 2022 by securing just its second postseason berth. Seeded 14th, the Hawks won one of two games while placing in the top eight in the Division-I bracket. Central Valley upset heavily-favored Elk Grove 3-2 in the opening round.
The Hawks annexed their first-ever conference championship and went 14-4 in 2021. Central Valley won eight of nine games against Western Athletic Conference South competition.
“We should be really solid the years moving forward,” Bussard said. “We got a lot of young talent. Hopefully, we can bring some championships to Central Valley.”
Bussard played college baseball for Holy Names University from 2016-19.
He ranks third in team history for most games played.
Bussard was named to the PacWest All-Academic Team his senior, junior, sophomore and freshman years.
He was a Division 2 Athletics Directors Association Academic Achievement Award winner in 2017.
Bussard earned degrees in kinesiology and communications.
Bussard played baseball, football and basketball at Ceres High School.
He was named Bulldog Male Athlete of the Year as a senior.
He was voted Most Valuable Player of the Western Athletic Conference in baseball during his final season.
Bussard attended Mae Hensley Jr. High.
“I’m a Hawk now. They welcomed me in like family. I love it over here.”
Bates, 27, planned to serve as an assistant coach on Bussard’s baseball staff prior to being named leader of Central Valley’s softball program.
The 2014 Ceres High grad took over for Regina Selfridge, who stepped down to work on completing her master’s degree.
The Hawks amassed a 41-69 record while showing marked improvement during Selfridge’s six years as head coach.
Central Valley finished fourth in the ultra-competitive Central California Conference with a 5-7 mark this past spring.
“My career plan was to run a softball program,” said Bates. “The opportunity came up a lot sooner than I was expecting. I’m super pumped. My coaching style revolves around teaching these young athletes to compete. The biggest thing I want to instill is a culture where the girls are playing for each other instead of as individual players.”
Bates began his teaching career with CUSD in 2019-20 as an eighth grade math instructor at Cesar Chavez Jr. High.
He spent two years there before being hired to teach ninth-grade math at Central Valley.
Bates was a long-term substitute teacher for the district in 2019-20.
“I just want to give back to the community that gave so many opportunities to me when I was growing up. It was a really special time.”
Bates earned his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership from the University of Washington in June of 2019.
He completed the program in one year.
Jimmy reunited with his younger sibling Sis.
They both filled integral roles as the third-ranked Huskies compiled a 52-9 overall record, advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division-I Women’s College World Series and tied for first in the Pac-12 standings (20-4).
Jimmy was a graduate manager.
Sis batted leadoff and starred at shortstop.
Jimmy and Sis were both awarded Pac-12 championship rings.
Bates received a bachelor’s degree in business from UC Irvine in 2018. He was voted Ceres High’s Bulldog Male Athlete of the Year as a senior.
He earned six varsity letters during his prep athletic career, including three in baseball, two in basketball and one in football. He had a cumulative GPA of 4.083.
Bates attended Mae Hensley Jr. High and Carroll Fowler Elementary.
