With pitchers Brett Arnold, Vince Wheeland and Chris Brown leading the way, the Ceres 12-and-under Valley All-Stars finished first with a 5-0-1 record at the Waterford Tournament, held at Beard Park, July 5-11.

"For missing two key players in that tournament, they did pretty good," said Ceres coach Jeff Brown.

The All-Stars improved to 16-5-1. They've placed in the top three in three tournaments this summer, including first in Waterford (5-0-1), second in Empire (5-1) and third in Turlock (4-2).

"The kids have been playing together for a number of years now," Brown said. "They play really well together."

The Valley All-Stars overcame a 3-2 deficit and defeated the Ceres Grey All-Stars 7-3 in the championship game on July 11.

"They enjoyed it," Brown said.

The Grey All-Stars stranded two runners on base in the top of the sixth inning. Brown struck out the last two batters to end the game for the Valley All-Stars.

The Valley All-Stars advanced to the title game after edging Oakdale Red 8-6 on July 11.

They also beat Oakdale Red 15-1 on July 10, tied Ceres Red 1-1 on July 10, routed Waterford 22-2 on July 9 and defeated Ceres Grey 7-2 on July 8