The Goblirsch brothers coached against each other this past week when Ceres High and Central Valley faced off in varsity baseball.
The Bulldogs opened Western Athletic Conference play with a home-and-away series sweep of the crosstown-rival Hawks.
Parents Rick and Kimli Goblirsch watched from the stands.
"They wished us both luck before our teams played," said Clinton Goblirsch, Ceres High's new head coach.
"Obviously, they weren't choosing one over the other," said Derrick Goblirsch, Central Valley's third-year leader. They were rooting for both of us."
The Bulldogs erased a two-run deficit while rallying for a 7-3 victory over the visiting Hawks during Game One on Wednesday at Art McRae Field.
"It was very competitive," Clinton said. "We fell behind early and battled back. They played well."
"We walked too many guys," Derrick said. "That was our downfall."
Haaydn Martinez and Ty Borchardt were both effective while starting at pitcher for Ceres High and Central Valley, respectively.
Martinez yielded two runs and six hits with one strikeout and three walks in five innings.
Borchardt gave up two runs and four hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 42/3 innings.
"I'm definitely happy with Ty's performance," Derrick said. "He's kept us in games all year. He's done a really good job throwing his off-speed pitch for strikes."
"Haaydn's pitching, and some defensive plays and timely hitting, sparked us," Clinton said. "He threw great."
Ceres High had six hits against Central Valley.
Ismael Ontiveros batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.
Ricky Lopez batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Adrian Lujan batted 1-for-4 with one double and one RBI.
Zach Kommavong batted 1-for-2 with one run.
Blane Abeyta scored twice.
Damion Reyes, Austin Schmidt and Eric Davis all chipped in with one run apiece.
Austin Kubala had one RBI.
The Hawks amassed eight hits.
Alex Solis batted 2-for-3 with one double and two runs.
Andrew Sen batted 2-for-4 with one double and one run.
Mikie Lopez, Bryan Saaty, Leandro Mercado and Robert Nieto all singled.
The score was tied at 2-2 when Borchardt exited the game in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Bulldogs seized the momentum by tallying five runs in the sixth.
Kommavong, Reyes and Schmidt, Ceres High's first three batters, reached base via walks.
Ontiveros' two-run single scored Kommavong and Reyes.
Schmidt and Ontiveros scored on Lopez's hit.
Abeyta, who walked as well, accounted for the Bulldogs' final run.
Blane scored on a fielder's choice.
Central Valley built a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
The Hawks loaded the bases as Solis got hit by a pitch, Sen reached on an error and Mikie Lopez singled.
Solis raced home on Adrian Alvarez's sacrifice fly to center.
Sen scored on an errant throw to third base.
Ceres High won the second game, 6-1, at Central Valley on Thursday.
Both teams collected eight hits.
The Bulldogs played flawless defense, while the Hawks committed three errors.
Central Valley also grounded into double plays in the first and second innings.
Nick Jones pitched a gem of a game while leading the Bulldogs past the Hawks.
He allowed just one run, scattered eight hits, struck out three and walked none in seven innings.
Jones received plenty of run support from his Ceres High teammates.
Reyes batted 1-for-3 with one double, two RBIs and one run.
Lujan batted 2-for-3 with two runs.
Kommavong and Schmidt each batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.
Ontiveros batted 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Martinez batted 1-for-4 with one RBI.
Kubala singled.
Ricky Lopez scored one run.
The Bulldogs scored five times in the top of the fourth inning.
Mikie Lopez, Central Valley's ace pitcher, tallied five strikeouts and just one walk over seven innings.
He allowed six runs (two earned) and eight hits while tossing a complete game.
Mikie Lopez batted 1-for-3 on offense.
Mercado batted 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Alvarez batted 1-for-3 with one double and one run.
Moses Ghiorso batted 2-for-3.
Nieto, Solis and Israel Anaya all singled.
"I thought we played really well, especially the first game," Derrick said. "It was fun and competitive. I enjoyed it."
"I'm happy we're 2-0," Clinton said. "That was our goal coming in. I hope they do well throughout the rest of league. They're moving in the right direction in terms of improvement from last year."
Clinton and Derrick ate pizza at their parents' house following the conclusion of the crosstown series.
They shifted their focus to the Art McRae Easter Tournament.
The Bulldogs and Hawks are co-hosting the eight-team event, March 28-31.
"I wouldn't say I'm surprised," said Clinton, whose new-look team improved to 8-2-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the WAC. "That was our expectation coming in. We still have a lot of stuff to improve on to get to where we want to be." We just want to continue to pitch and play defense well, and get timely hitting."
"We didn't play bad this week," said Derrick, whose team dropped to 5-5-2 and 0-2-0. "We just want to get back to where we were playing a couple weeks ago when we won three games. We just want to play to the best of our ability."
