The Goblirsch brothers, Clinton and Derrick, will be in opposite dugouts when their respective varsity baseball teams face off in Western Athletic Conference play this season.
Clinton was promoted from assistant to head coach at Ceres High after John Bussard stepped down so he could watch his twin sons Brad and Brent compete at the college level.
Derrick earned a promotion after Greg Magni ended his coaching career following the 2013 campaign to become Central Valley's athletic director.
"I'm excited for him (Clinton)," Derrick said. "We talk all the time about baseball. It's going to be fun competing against him. It's going to be a friendly rivalry."
"We have a great working relationship," Clinton said. "We're pretty supportive of each other."
Clinton takes over a tradition-rich program.
The Bulldogs will be vying for their third consecutive WAC crown and sixth straight Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth.
The tasks will be challenging as Ceres High graduated seven of nine starters from last year's team, including WAC Most Valuable Player Brad Bussard, Pitcher of the Year Drew Stahl, Brett Conway, Merrik Price, Izaiah Hernandez and Brent Bussard.
Ricky Lopez (Jr.), Ismael Ontiveros (Jr.), Haaydn Martinez (Jr.), Damion Reyes (Sr.), Austin Kubala (Sr.), Adrian Lujan (Jr.), Blane Abeyta (Jr.), Zach Kommavong (Jr.) and Nick Jones (Jr.) will try to help the Bulldogs continue their winning ways.
"Our expectation is to perform at a high level even though we graduated a lot of guys," Clinton said. "We still have some good ball players. We've had some success the last five years and are hoping to continue that. I want to keep the program headed in the right direction."
The Hawks had a combined record of 6-18 in WAC play the past two seasons.
Winless in 2015, Central Valley has nowhere to go but up this year.
Michael Lopez (Sr.), Robert Nieto (Sr.), Adrian Alvarez (Jr.), Tyler Borchardt (Jr.), Leandro Mercado (Jr.), Israel Anaya (So.) and Alexis Solis (Fr.) will try to help the Hawks reverse their fortunes.
"The guys want to make playoffs," Derrick said. "It's a realistic goal for us. We definitely have the talent. We lost a lot of close games last year. We just need to get better each week."
The top three teams in the WAC qualify for the playoffs.
Clinton and Derrick graduated from Ceres High in 2002 and 2005, respectively.
Derrick earned eight varsity letters, including four in basketball, two in baseball and two in football.
Clinton earned six varsity letters: two in basketball, two in baseball and two in football.
Clinton and Derrick played one season of basketball together.
Clinton teaches social studies at his alma mater.
Derrick teaches math at Central Valley.
"He's giving back to the Ceres community, too," Clinton said.
The Bulldogs will play host to the Hawks today and at Central Valley on Thursday.
Both games will get underway at 4 p.m.
"We open league against CV," Clinton said. "It's going to be fun and competitive. I'll be rooting for them as long as we're not playing them."
"Since I've taken over, we're 0-4 against them," Derrick said. "We'll try to get one or two from them this year."
