Ceres High’s varsity baseball team beat Johansen twice by the mercy rule in Western Athletic Conference play last week.

“Even though we won, I still think we should have played better,” junior catcher Josh Pernetti said. 

The second-place Bulldogs moved to 7-9 overall and 5-1 in the WAC standings after shutting out the Vikings 11-0 in five innings on Friday at Art McRae Field.

“It’s been a good year so far,” Pernetti said. “But there’s always room for improvement. We’ll be better as a team if we clean up our defense.”

Pernetti, Brock DeWitt, Efrain Brito, Michael Aveytia, Daniel Gamez, Chris Madariaga, Dominic Magdaleno and Andrew Kommavong all contributed on offense.

Pernetti collected one RBI and one run.

DeWitt batted 2-for-3 with one double, three RBIS and two runs.

Brito batted 2-for-3 with one triple and four RBIs.

Aveytia chipped in with three RBIs and one run.

Gamez and Madariaga both had two singles and two runs.

Magdaleno scored twice.

Kommavong added one run.

Magdaleno was the Bulldogs’ starting pitcher.

He had three strikeouts and one walk over four innings.

Ceres High bested Johansen 11-0 in six innings on April 3 in Modesto.

“We were patient on offense,” Pernetti said. “We weren’t wasting at-bats.”

Justin Prestridge led the way on offense, finishing 2-for-3 with one double, two RBIs and three runs.

Brock Moore finished 1-for-4 with one double, three RBIs and two runs.

DeWitt finished 2-for-3 with one double and three runs.

Pernetti finished 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.

Madariaga finished 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Kommavong finished 1-for-2 with one run.

Brito scored once.

Isaiah Alcorn was the winning pitcher.

He surrendered no runs and two hits with two strikeouts and two walks in three innings.

Ceres High has eight games left on its WAC schedule.

The Bulldogs earned just two league wins a year ago.

“We’re competing,” Pernetti said while talking about Ceres High’s major turnaround this spring. “We’re having fun as a team. There’s nothing to be disappointed about.”

Gauchos sweep Hawks

A newcomer to the Central California Conference, Central Valley’s varsity baseball team has lost its last five games.

The Hawks were swept by the El Capitan Gauchos last week.

“It’s a step up in competition,” senior standout infielder/pitcher Alex Solis said. “I think we can turn things around. We just have to stay focused and plug away. We can play really good like we’ve shown before.”

Central Valley dropped to 7-10 overall and 1-5 in the CCC standings after losing 12-5 to El Capitan on Thursday in Ceres.

The Gauchos improved to 9-8 and 4-2.

The Hawks were outscored 11-0 during the final five innings.

“We had a chance to split with them,” said Solis, whose team led 5-1 heading into the top of the third. “They came back the second game.”

Solis batted 2-for-4 from the plate with one double and one RBI.

Angel Porras batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.

Angel Vega batted 2-for-3 with one RBI.

Leo Lujan added one RBI and one run.

Luis Valdovinos and Gabrial Lopez both singled twice and scored once.

Adrian Garcia singled and scored once.

Derek Bolivar singled.

Solis started at pitcher.

He yielded five earned runs and nine hits with four strikeouts and one walk in five innings.

Central Valley dropped the series opener, 11-0, in five innings to El Capitan on April 2 in Merced.

“They’re definitely a quality team,” Solis said. “They do a lot of the little things right.”

The Hawks mustered just two hits on offense.

Garcia and Sergio Solis both singled.

Lopez, Central Valley’s starting pitcher, gave up five earned runs and 11 hits with one strikeout and two walks in three innings.

The Hawks contributed to their own demise by committing four errors.

Central Valley fell behind 5-0 in the first inning.

The Hawks allowed one run in the second inning, four in the third and one in the fourth on their way to losing by the mercy rule.

“We tried our best,” Alex Solis said. “We just came out flat. We struggled on offense.”