The Ceres Blaze travel baseball program had two teams finish in first place at its 6th Annual Toy Drive Tournament last month at Costa Fields.
Arsenal Baseball Tourneys co-hosted this year’s event.
The Blaze 11-and-under squad compiled a 3-0 record in its age bracket at the Toy Drive tourney.
“We finally had a breakthrough,” said Jorge Guerrero, head coach of the Blaze 11s and president of Ceres Youth Baseball & Softball Organization. “We hadn’t won a tournament in more than a year. The kids finally clicked. They’re finding their place on the team.”
Ceres edged Patterson Shock 7-6 in the title game on Nov. 9.
The Blaze battled back from a 4-0 deficit.
Matthew Perez drove in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
His walk-off single scored Knixon Ornelas from third base with one out.
“It was pretty wild,” Guerrero said.
Down 6-1, Ceres tied the game with a five-run outburst in the fourth inning.
“The kids kept fighting,” Guerrero said.
Ceres defeated the Shock 9-1 and Manteca FireWolves 15-3 on Nov. 8.
“Overall, we played good baseball,” Guerrero said.
The Blaze competed with a 12-player roster: Perez, Ornelas, Aaron Duran, Luis Guerrero, Ethan Jiménez, Ramon Nuño, Santiago Peña, Silver Quiroz, Noah Ramos, Jayden Velasquez and Andrew Yorba.
Ceres has three assistant coaches, including Marty Sanchez, Julian Gutiérrez, Eric Duran and Tony Guerrero.
The Blaze eight-and-under team won all four of its games at the Toy Drive tourney.
Ceres continued its run of success.
“Throughout summer league and fall ball, we won both those leagues while going undefeated,” leader Randy Wheeler said. “Very special group of boys and great group of coaches.”
Roman Raj was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Zeke Goblirsch was voted MVP during the championship game.
Ceres defeated the PA Defenders of Modesto 9-4 in the finals on Nov. 9.
The Blaze cruised to a 9-1 win over the Sentinels in the semifinals on Nov. 9.
Ceres topped the Sentinels 18-7 and Mad City Sluggers 8-0 on Nov. 8.
The Blaze roster features 10 players, including Raj, Goblirsch, Malaki Amkhamavong, Adrian Barragan, Sebastian Delagrande, Zael Jones, Jahaziel Lopez, Jeremiah Lopez, Diego Santillan and Adan Valencia.
Wheeler, Juan Santillan, Derrick Goblirsch and Ralph Valencia make up Ceres’ coaching staff.
The Blaze staged their first Toy Drive Tournament six years ago.
“Every player on every team that participates in the tournament has to bring at least one toy valued at $20,” Guerrero said. “All the toys go to families in need in our community.”
All toys collected are donated to the Ceres Police, Modesto Police and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s departments to support local children in the Central Valley.
A record-number 550-plus toys were donated this year.
“We want people to understand what we do,” Guerrero said.
