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Two CYB teams place in the top three
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Two teams from the Ceres Youth Baseball organization finished in the top three in their respective age divisions at the 14th Annual Bel Passi Summer Classic, held in Modesto, July 14-23.

Approximately 62 teams vied for titles at the double-elimination tournament.

8s

The Ceres 8-and-under Red All-Stars took second with an impressive 4-2 record.

"I told my kids there's no way they should be hanging their heads," said Ceres coach Chris Canatsy, whose team improved to 16-5 overall. "Anytime you can place at Bel Passi with 16 teams, that's pretty awesome."

Ceres lost twice to Atwater Youth Baseball, including 10-3 in the championship game on Friday.

The All-Stars posted a 12-9 win over Atwater in the title game at the Waterford tournament.

"We beat them in Waterford and their jaws hit the ground," Canatsy said. "They think they're invincible."

Ceres defeated Chowchilla 13-3 on Thursday, July 15, Bel Passi Blue 8-7 on Saturday, July 17, Atwater Little League 11-3 on Monday, July 19 and Bel Passi Blue 7-1 on Thursday. The All-Stars lost 14-7 to Atwater Youth Baseball on Tuesday, July 20.

The Ceres 8-and-under Grey All-Stars compiled a 1-2 record.

"The kids are having a good time and that's what we're all about," said Ceres coach Joe Hedden.

Ceres has won eight of 16 games this summer.

"For these kids to be playing .500 ball is fantastic," Hedden said. "Last year, they only won two or three games at the 7-8 level."

Ceres won its first game but lost its final two at Bel Passi.

The All-Stars beat Newman 11-4 on Tuesday, July 13. They lost 9-6 to Bel Passi on Saturday, July 17 and 7-5 to Concord on Sunday, July 18.

"We're losing by one, two or three runs everywhere we go," Hedden said. "That's kind of been our season."

10s

The Ceres 10-and-under American All-Stars placed third in a field of 17 with a 3-2 record.

"I'm not disappointed," said Ceres coach Jim Pernetti. "The kids played hard."

The All-Stars lost their final two games.

They lost 5-2 to Concord Red on Thursday and 11-4 to Bel Passi Red on Tuesday, July 20.

Ceres opened tournament play with three straight wins.

The All-Stars edged Modesto Christian 7-6 on Thursday, July 15, beat Concord Blue 8-4 on Saturday, July 17 and defeated the Concord Wildcats 11-7 on Sunday, July 18.

The Ceres 10-and-under National All-Stars finished in the top six with a 3-2 record.

"The boys are always trying to do their best," said Ceres coach Jeff Borden, whose team improved to 25-6-1. "They just love to play baseball."

The All-Stars lost 9-0 to Concord Red on Wednesday night, beat Concord Blue 4-0 on Tuesday, July 20, Gustine 12-0 on Sunday, July 18, Bel Passi Blue 6-0 on Saturday, July 17 and lost 5-3 to the Central Valley Bulldogs on Friday, July 16.

"We played real well defensively," Borden said. "Our bats were a little bit quiet."

12s

The Ceres 12-and-under Red All-Stars finished in the top five in a field of 17 with a 4-2 record.

"When we play in these tournaments, we're not losing by much," said Ceres coach John Patterson. "We're just one pitcher short."

Fernando Espinoza, Ceres' ace pitcher, didn't throw a single pitch during the All-Stars' 5-3 loss to Concord Navy Wednesday night.

"He's been our go-to-guy when we need him the most but I wasn't about to put him in the game," Patterson said. "I didn't want to hurt his arm. He pitched 14 innings and helped us get our four wins."

Concord knocked Ceres out of the tournament. The All-Stars gave up two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"It was a game that we should have won," Patterson said.

The score was tied at 3-all in the fifth inning.

"We kind of blew it in the top of the sixth," Patterson said. "We had a player hit the ball to the fence and get thrown out at third base from right-center field."

Ceres won one of two games in the winner's bracket.

The All-Stars defeated the Modesto Christian Crusaders 11-5 on July 14 but lost 5-3 to Bel Passi Blue on July 16.

Ceres won three of four games in the loser's bracket.

The All-Stars beat Atwater Youth Baseball 17-7 on July 20, Chowchilla 9-2 on July 18 and Weston Ranch 4-3 on July 17.

Oakdale Gold eliminated the Ceres Grey 12-and-under All-Stars from the tournament on Wednesday.

Ceres allowed 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning and committed eight errors in the game in losing 19-2 to Oakdale.

Playing in two tournaments in the same week proved to be tiresome.

The All-Stars placed second in Waterford with a 4-2 record.

"We played a lot of baseball and it finally caught up to us," said Ceres coach David Dart.

Ceres compiled a 2-2 record at Bel Passi.

The All-Stars lost 7-2 to Empire on July 18, beat Atwater Youth Baseball 5-0 on July 17 and defeated Newman 8-5 on July 14.

"I'm very proud of them," Dart said. "They played their hearts out."

14s

The Ceres 14-and-under Red All-Stars compiled a 1-2 record in a field of 12.

The All-Stars lost twice by forfeit so they could play in another tournament. They placed first in Waterford with a 4-2 record.

"The only reason we played in Waterford is because we started it first," said Ceres assistant coach Jeff Lopez Sr.