Ceres Sizzle 16-and-under travel softball head coach Dima Ferrel praised her team for its gutsy effort at the NSA Baden Shadow Mountain Classic.

Ceres finished third overall in the 16/18 Championship Bracket.

"I'm not upset with them," said Ferrel, whose team has placed first and second once, and third twice this summer. "I'm proud of them. They played really well. Every single girl contributed."

The fifth-seeded Sizzle won two of their five games at the seven-team event, staged Aug. 3-4, at Shadow Mountain Sports Park in Sparks, Nev.

Second-seeded Nevada Nitro won the title.

Top-seeded Ripon Rampage placed second.

Ceres lost 5-0 to Ripon during a semifinal matchup in the afternoon on Aug. 4.

The Sizzle shut out No. 4 Miss Behavin 10-0 in the quarterfinals earlier in the day.

Ceres compiled a 1-2 record en route to earning the No. 5 seed.

The Sizzle posted a 12-2 victory against the Nevada Wildcats.

Ceres lost 6-0 to the Rampage and 5-3 to Miss Behavin.
The Sizzle received contributions from all 12 of their players, including Valaree Gonzalez, Shania Cisneros, Rachel Arrouvet, Kelly Soto, Mercedes Concepcion, Yescenia Godinez, Ariel Knights, Adryana Knights, Bryana Lopez, Marissa Magallanez, Anita Martinez and Lexy Cordova.

"We competed with some of the better teams out there," Ferrel said. "Our girls had to step up to play at that level. It was a great experience. They had fun."