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Sizzlin performance
Ceres Sizzle 12-and-under travel softball team tops field at home tourney
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The Ceres Sizzle 12-and-under travel softball team compiled a 5-0 record en route to a first-place finish at its home tournament. - photo by Contributed to the Courier

Head coach Vince Carvajal talked about the importance of home-field advantage following the Ceres Sizzle 12-and-under travel softball team's title-clinching performance at its own tournament this past week.

The Sizzle won all five of their games at George Costa Ball Field Complex and improved to 9-4 on the year.

Ceres did not place during its previous two tournaments.

"The girls played here during rec. season," Carvajal said. "There were no butterflies. They were comfortable."

Ceres outscored its five opponents, 52-8.

Samantha Carvajal, Sierra Jones, Yesina Zuniga, Vivian Moreno and Isabel Diazdeleon all batted over .500.

"Everyone was hitting because of momentum," Vince Carvajal said.

Playing with their families in the stands, the Sizzle posted an 8-1 win over Hilmar in the championship game on Sunday.

Samantha Carvajal pitched a complete game. She allowed just one run and five hits with seven strikeouts.

"Everyone was confident," coach Carvajal said. "We had a lot of support. The girls played their hearts out."

Hanna Brown was the winning pitching during Ceres' 12-4 victory against Atwater in the semifinals on Sunday.
Brown had three strikeouts in four innings.

The Sizzle beat Atwater (15-0), Gustine (7-1) and Hilmar (10-2) on Saturday.

Ceres will play in the Sonora this weekend.

"I've been doing this (coaching) for 16 years," Vince Carvajal said. "This is one of the best travel teams I've seen come out of Ceres in this age group. It's great for the city. This is the future."