The Ceres Blaze 11-year-old travel baseball team took third at the 2017 Pony Baseball West Zone-NorCal Northeast Bronco Regional Tournament earlier this month in Vacaville.

Ceres fell short of its goal.

"We were hoping to play in the championship game," head coach Jorge Guerrero said.

The Blaze advanced to Super Regionals by virtue of their top-four finish.

"We expected to qualify," Guerrero said. "We have a lot of talent on the team."

Ceres posted a 2-2 record at Regionals.

Eventual runner-up Golden Eagle Baseball knocked the Blaze out of the tournament.

Ceres suffered a 10-9 loss in extra innings on July 8.

"It was a tough way to lose," Guerrero said. "You expect errors to happen but not four or five in the same game."

The Blaze have compiled a 2-2 record against Golden Eagle this summer.

"We're very similar in talent," Guerrero said.

Ceres High lost 8-3 to eventual-champion Tara Hills during their semifinal matchup on July 8.

"Tara Hills is the best team in the area," Guerrero said. "They have really good chemistry. I believe we can beat them. It just wasn't our day. They didn't make any errors, offensively and defensively. We did."

The Blaze opened the Regional tournament with back-to-back victories.

Ceres beat El Cerrito 24-13 on July 6 and Golden Eagle 6-4 on July 3.

"We're tough to beat when all cylinders are clicking," Guerrero said.