The Ceres Blaze 13-year-old travel baseball team captured the Pony Baseball West Zone NorCal Super Region championship this past week in front of its home fans.
“I’m not surprised at all,” head coach David Rubio said. “We were ready and confident. We’ve been preparing for this since February.”
The Blaze compiled a perfect 3-0 record at the Super Region Tournament, which was staged July 11-13 at Costa Fields.
“We were excited to play and win in front of our home fans,” Rubio said. “It was fun.”
Ceres edged Rocklin 8-5 in the title game on July 13.
The Blaze battled back from a 5-0 deficit.
“We kept chipping away,” Rubio said. “Facing adversity earlier in the season helped us. There have been a couple games we’ve been down and the boys have come back.”
Ceres topped San Francisco Youth Baseball League 17-4 in the semifinals on July 12.
Ceres cruised to a 14-1 win over Rocklin in the quarterfinals on July 11.
The top two teams at Super Regionals qualified for the Zone Tournament.
“We’ve prepped all year for the run we’ve been on,” said Rubio .
“The team is firing on all cylinders right now."
Ceres improved its overall record to 35-8.
The Blaze have played in 10 tournaments since February.
Ceres has finished first four times and second twice.
The Blaze are coached by Rubio, Sammy Huerta and Lorenzo Beltran.
Lorenzo Beltran IV, Xavier Escarcega, Mason Fernandez, Leon Huerta, Chase Matulis, Marcos Molina, Aiden Navarro, Nico Rojas, Christian Rubio, Bentley Sanchez and Elijah Sosa make up Ceres’ 11-person roster.
“Everyone knows our program now,” noted Coach Rubio.
“We have six to seven kids that have been playing for us since they were little. That bond helps. We also got a good coaching staff.”
Blaze 8s place third
The Ceres Blaze eight-year-old travel baseball team finished in third place at the Pony West Zone Pinto Player-Pitch Regional Tournament earlier this month in Modesto.
The Blaze fell one win shy of qualifying for the World Series.
“I’m very proud and happy we made it this far,” head coach Ismael Ontiveros said.
Ceres compiled a 2-2 record at Regionals.
The tournament was staged July 8-13 at Bel Passi Ballpark.
“The boys played great,” Ontiveros said. “Beating two legitimate teams showed us we belonged.”
Ceres lost 12-2 to runner-up Rodeo in the semifinals on July 13.
“Unfortunately, we made more errors than them,” Ontiveros said.
Ceres fell 16-0 to champion Bel Passi Select in the quarterfinals on July 12.
“The team they have is elite,” Ontiveros said. “They’re almost unbeatable. The closest game they’ve had was 4-0 against us.”
“They can hit, pitch and field,” he added. “They can do it all.”
Ceres edged Rodeo 5-4 on July 11.
“We showed what we could do,” Ontiveros said. “We were on our game.”
Ceres pulled away for a 14-4 victory over Rockville on July 8.
“The game was close until the fourth inning,” Ontiveros said. “They made some mistakes and we capitalized.”
Ceres placed first twice and second once while competing in six tournaments this summer.
The Blaze will wrap up Rainbow Youth Baseball League play in August.
“I’m very happy,” Ontiveros said. “Our pitching and catching have gotten a lot better. We’re trying to get more consistent with our hitting and defense. It’s constant work. We’re trying to finish the season strong.”
Ceres will start competing as a nine-and-under team this September.
The Blaze will play in a Fall League at Costa Fields.
Ceres’ current roster features 12 players, including Parker Armstrong, Owen Gregg, Tate Jimenez, Kamden Johnson, Carter Jones, Misael Mora, Alex Ramirez, Silas Rodriguez, Andrew Santillan, Preston Stewart, Eriberto Valencia and AJ Vallesteros.
