Central Valley High School's varsity baseball team nearly beat perennial power Central Catholic twice last season.

The Hawks won the first meeting 6-2 and squandered a late lead while losing 13-7 to the Raiders.

Central Catholic captured the Western Athletic Conference crown the very next week thanks to its two-games-to-none sweep of previously-unbeaten Ceres High.

Central Valley dropped a pair of conference games to Central Catholic this past week.

The Hawks (6-4) dropped into a tie for third place with Los Banos in the WAC.

The Raiders (10-0) moved into a first-place tie atop the league standings with Ceres High.

Hurt by three errors, Central Valley lost 8-2 to Central Catholic on Thursday in Modesto.

Raider Bradley Nightengale outdueled Hawk Raul Godinez on the mound.

Nightengale surrendered one earned run and eight hits with nine strikeouts and one walk over five innings.

Godinez lasted four innings. Raul gave up six earned runs and 11 hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Raul batted 1-for-4 from the plate with one run.

Central Valley teammate Jorge Alvarez had a standout game on offense.

Alvarez batted 3-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Joseph Montalvo batted 2-for-3 with one RBI.

The Hawks gave up five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Central Valley squandered a two-run lead while losing 11-6 to Central Catholic on April 29 in Ceres.

Tied at 6-6, the Raiders scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to secure the victory.

Central Valley lost despite collecting 13 hits and committing just one error.

Kendel Johnson batted 3-for-5 with one triple, one RBI and three runs.

Joseph Zuniga batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.

Montalvo batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Alvarez batted 2-for-4 with one RBI.

Montalvo, who logged 12/3 innings of relief at pitcher, was tagged with the loss.

Joseph yielded six runs and five hits with one strikeout and three walks.

Central Valley will place Los Banos twice this week.

The two teams are battling for the WAC's final playoff berth.

Ceres High 10, Sonora 2
Ceres High School's varsity baseball team notched its 17th straight win on April 28, beating Sonora 10-2 in non-conference play at Art McRae Field.

The Bulldogs improved to 22-3 on the year.

Ceres High suffered its last loss, a 9-1 setback at Manteca High School, on March 13.

Bulldog pitcher Alan Marquez fanned 10 batters, walked none, yielded two runs and surrendered four hits versus the Wildcats. Marquez also contributed on offense. Alan batted 2-for-4 with one double and five RBIs.