Ceres High’s baseball team has won seven of its last nine games.

The Bulldogs remained in second place in the Western Athletic Conference this past week after earning a two-game sweep of Pacheco.

“Our attitudes changed after losing all of those preseason games,” Ceres High pitcher Noel Anaya said. “Everyone started putting in extra work and it’s paid off.”

Ceres High improved to 7-11 overall and 7-1 in the league standings after edging the Panthers 6-5 on April 7 at Art McRae Field.

Daniel Gonzalez earned his first victory of the season at pitcher.

He gave up two runs and three hits with two strikeouts while tossing three innings of relief.

Jorge Gonzalez picked up the save. He yielded no runs and no hits with one strikeout in one inning.

Landyn Hudson, Ceres High’s starter, surrendered two earned runs and four hits with four strikeouts in three innings.

Anaya and Jorge Gonzalez also contributed on offense.

Anaya batted 2-for-3 with one triple, one RBI and one run.

Gonzalez batted 1-for-1 with one triple, one RBI and one run.

Reis Smith batted 2-for-3 with one double, two RBIs and one run.

Nick Villalobos batted 2-for-4 with one double, one RBI and one run.

Josh Prestridge batted 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run.

Xavier Pompa batted 1-for-4 with one run.

Adrian Ontiveros batted 1-for-3 with one double.

Isac Cordova batted 1-for-3 with one double.

Ceres High bested Pacheco 8-4 on April 5 in Los Banos.

Anaya (3-1) was the winning pitcher.

He allowed three earned runs and five hits with four strikeouts in 52/3 innings.

“I was placing the ball where it needed to be,” Anaya said. “My defense played well behind me. Without them, the outcome would have been different.”

Anaya batted 2-for-2 from the plate with one RBI and one run.

Cordova batted 2-for-3 with one double, one RBI and two runs.

Vincent Castrejon batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run.

Villalobos batted 1-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and one run.

Prestridge batted 2-for-5 with one run.

Hudson batted 1-for-2 with one run.

Ontiveros batted 1-for-3 with one run.

Ceres High has experienced a major turnaround since dropping its first nine games of the season.

“Right now, we’re in a good spot,” Anaya said. “I’m not surprised. Our team is talented. We have to continue to put in the work. If you practice hard, it transfers into games.”

CV splits with Merced

Central Valley’s baseball team salvaged a split during its two-game series against Merced last week.

“It was a battle,” Hawks’ senior pitcher/San Francisco State commit Gabrial Lopez said. “They did a lot of things right. So did we.”

Central Valley improved to 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the Central California Conference with a 3-1 win over Merced on April 8 in Ceres.

The win helped the fourth-place Hawks boost their playoff chances.

The Bears (3-5) dropped to fifth place.

The top four teams will be awarded berths to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs at the end of the regular season.

“It would be extremely disappointing if we didn’t make playoffs,” Lopez said. “We have the talent to get there and do well.”

Lopez evened his pitching record at 4-4.

He had eight strikeouts, yielded one run and allowed two hits in five innings versus Merced.

Ryan Estermann, Miguel Espinoza, Garret Garcia, Samuel Wilson, Edmund Stewart, Caiden Whittle and Chris Garcia all contributed on offense.

Estermann batted 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Espinoza batted 1-for-2 with one double and one run.

Garret Garcia batted 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Wilson batted 1-for-4 with one double and one run.

Chris Garcia pitched a gem of game during Central Valley’s 2-0 loss at Merced on April 6.

Garcia (4-2) allowed just one earned run and two hits with six strikeouts in 51/3 innings.

“He’s given us chances to win games all year,” Lopez said. 

The Hawks lost by shutout for the fourth time this season.

Central Valley collected eight hits against the Bears. 

Wilson batted 3-for-3 with one double.

Espinoza, Stewart, Whittle, Garret Garcia and Alan Lopez all singled.

Central Valley’s final four league games are against Buhach Colony and Golden Valley.

“Fourth place isn’t what we’re shooting for,” Gabrial Lopez said. “We want to win the rest of our games.”

BOYS TENNIS

Central Valley’s boys tennis team secured a playoff berth-just its third in program history-this past week.

The third-place Hawks improved to 9-3 in the Central California Conference standings after collecting wins against Golden Valley and Atwater.

“It’s what I expected from this group,” head coach Mike Rodriguez said. “We have experience. We’re solid all the way through our lineup.”

Central Valley earned a hard-fought 6-3 win while battling Atwater on April 5 in Ceres.

The Hawks led 4-3 before taking two of three doubles matches from the Falcons to secure the team victory.

Aiden Sinlapaxay and Joaquin Pulido prevailed in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles.

Jose Alvarez and Braulio Arellano prevailed in three sets, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 10-7, at No. 2 doubles.

Ruben Hernandez, Omar Lepe, Lourdvic Polanes and Enrique Lepe contributed to Central Valley’s point total.

Hernandez prevailed 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.

Omar Lepe prevailed 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

Polanes prevailed 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.

Enrique Lepe prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 5 singles.

Kai Sivongxay and Dylan Chahaun lost 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 at No. 3 doubles.

Central Valley topped Golden Valley 8-1 on Thursday in Merced.

The Hawks swept all six singles and won two of three doubles matches versus the Cougars.

Ruben Hernandez prevailed 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.

Omar Lepe prevailed 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

Polanes prevailed 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.

Willy Souksavath prevailed 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at No. 4 singles.

Enrique Lepe prevailed 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.

Jesus Hernandez prevailed 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.

Sinlapaxay and Pulido prevailed 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.

Alvarez and Arellano prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 at No. 2 doubles.

The Hawks made their last postseason appearance in 2016.

Dawgs wins twice

Ceres High’s boys tennis team remained in fourth place in the Western Athletic Conference standings this past week after winning two of three matches.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-4 in WAC play following Thursday’s 6-3 home victory over the Johansen Vikings.

Eduardo Ramirez won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.

Noah Zamora won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.

Gilbert Zamora III won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

Serjio Gonzalez won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.

Ian Saldana and Nathan Barajas won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.

Daniel Gonzales and Fabian Torres won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Ceres High topped Grace Davis on Wednesday in Modesto.

Noah Zamora won 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.

Manuel Calderon won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Gilbert Zamora III won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.

Isaiah Gudino won 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-8) at No. 5 singles.

Gonzalez won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.

Saldana and Barajas won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.

Ceres High lost 7-2 to visiting Beyer on April 5.

Gilbert Zamora III won 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

Torres and Barajas won 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Central Valley’s boys volleyball team dropped to 9-7 overall and 3-5 in the Central California Conference standings this past week after dropping a pair of matches.

“It puts playoffs in question for us now,” head coach Donald Dudley said. “If we win out, we’ll have a shot.”

The Hawks competed shorthanded versus Patterson and Buhach Colony.

“It was a rough week,” Dudley said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have our two setters. When you make one rotation change, it impacts how the ball gets to your best player.”

Central Valley lost 3-1 at Patterson on Thursday.

David Luna led the Hawks with 14 digs and two aces.

Yoshi Kumar had 13 kills, eight digs, three aces and three assists.

Bernardo Pulido had 13 digs, six assists, four kills one ace.

Gerardo Pantoja had 11 assists, five digs and one kill.

Elias Vasquez had six digs.

Gage Mastropierro had four kills, three aces and two digs.

Andrew Dong had one kill.

Central Valley lost 3-0 at Buhach Colony on April 5.

The Hawks had no bench players.

Pulido led Central Valley with 15 digs, 13 assists, four kills and one ace.

Kumar had 15 kills, 10 digs, three aces and two assists.

Luna had 11 digs.

Pantoja had 10 digs, eight assists, three kills, one ace and one block.

Vasquez had two digs.

Mastropierro had two kills, two blocks and one dig.

Dong had two kills, one block and one dig.

Hitters Pantoja and Pulido contributed at different positions last week.

“That was their first time setting,” Dudley said. “They tried their best.”

CHS falls twice

Ceres High’s boys volleyball team lost a pair of league matches this past week.

The Bulldogs dropped to 2-12 overall and 1-9 in the Western Athletic Conference after falling 3-1 to the visiting Mountain House Mustangs on April 6 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Ceres High suffered a 3-2 loss at Grace Davis on April 4.

BOYS GOLF

Ceres High’s boys golf team resumed its season following a break from competition.

The shorthanded Bulldogs secured a split during the opening week of Western Athletic Conference play on April 6.

“The boys did pretty well for not playing a match in three weeks,” head coach Ron Edwards said. “All we’ve been doing is practicing.”

Erik Hott, Ceres High’s top player and a first-team all-conference performer as a junior, was sidelined with a knee injury.

“It’s been bothering him for a while,” Edwards said. “He hurt it playing golf two weeks ago. Not having him in the lineup made a difference. I had to bump everyone up. The others pulled their weight. I’m proud of them.”

Ceres High edged Los Banos by six strokes, 613-619, at Creekside Golf Course in Modesto.

Ceres High lost 556-613 to Lathrop.

Jayson Homsombath led the Bulldogs with a 24-over-par 96.

Zachary Chastain and Benjamin Larranaga shot 116 and 117, respectively.

Christopher Dunn and Alejandro Plantillas rounded out Ceres High’s scorecard with identical rounds of 142.

Gauchos 193, Hawks 198

Central Valley’s and El Capitan’s boys golf teams battled on April 6 at St. Stanislaus.

The Hawks lost by just five strokes, 193-198, to the visiting Gauchos.

Central Valley dropped to 5-5 overall and 3-5 in the Central California Conference dual standings.

Dylan Jacobson led the Hawks with a 35.

Victor Alvarez, Jadon Rafatti, Dillon Brush and Alijah Lopez shot 39, 40, 41 and 43, respectively.

Central Valley competed shorthanded against El Capitan as two starters were sidelined for missing practice.