Jorge Guerrero Jr. coached a pair of Ceres Blaze travel baseball teams with assistance from his son Jorge III during Pony West Zone Super Region Tournament play earlier this month at the George Costa Ball Field Complex.

“We had to jump from one field to the other,” Guerrero Jr. said. “It was fun. The parents were very understanding. They were supportive.”

The Blaze 10-and-under and 14-and-under teams both finished in third place.

The top two teams in each age bracket qualified for the Zone tournament.

“We tried to win it,” Guerrero Jr. said. “We didn’t. But getting to Sunday and giving ourselves a chance to move on was special.”

The Blaze 10s compiled a 3-2 record at the Mustang Super Region Tournament, which was staged July 17-20.

“The kids have surprised a lot of people,” Guerrero Jr. said. “All of them were rec ball players a year and a half ago. We develop our players. We don’t go out and recruit players from other organizations.”

Ceres collected wins against Roseville Select (16-14) and Rockville (13-9) on July 19, and Roseville Select (19-18) on July 17.

The Blaze lost to runner-up Vacaville (21-5) on July 20 and first-place Carmel (6-5) on July 18.

“We lost to the eventual champion by one run,” Guerrero Jr. said. “They’ve been mercy-ruling everyone except us. If we would have won that game, we would have made it to Zones.”

Ceres battled back from a nine-run deficit during its victory against Roseville Select on July 17.

“It was really special,” Guerrero Jr. said. 

The Blaze 10-year-old team’s roster features 13 players, including Aaron Duran, Luis Guerrero, Ethan Jiménez, Ramon Nuño, Knixon Ornelas, Gioni Orozco, Santiago Peña, Matthew Perez, Silver Quiroz, Noah Ramos, Omar Serna, Jayden Velasquez and Andrew Yorba.

The Blaze 14s posted a 2-2 record at the Pony Super Region Tournament, staged July 15-20 in Ceres.

The Blaze were a late addition to the tournament as they filled in for the Ceres All-Star team, which could not compete due to a conflicting schedule.

“We’re not happy with the result,” Guerrero Jr. said. “But we’re happy with the way the boys competed. They battled. They should be satisfied with their performance.”

Second-place Rodeo held on for a 5-1 win over Ceres in the semifinals on July 20.

The Blaze struggled in clutch situations.

“We had a lot of chances in the game,” Guerrero Jr. said. “Our bats went silent.”

Ceres lost 6-4 to first-place Campbell on July 19.

“The last inning, we had bases loaded,” Guerrero Jr. said. “We couldn’t get the (key) hit.”

Ceres rolled to a 14-4 victory over San Francisco Youth Baseball League on July 18.

Ceres opened the tournament with a 17-1 win against Rocklin on July 16.

The Blaze 14-year-old team’s roster features 13 players, including Jake Bounmany, Giovanni Ceja, Edgar Gonzalez, Giovanni Guerrero, Julian Gutierrez, Jesus Guzman, Chris Jones, Oli Loomis, Damian Mendoza, Victor Nuño, Antonio Peña, Preston Sanchez and Aaron Vasquez.

Ceres welcomed being the host site of West Zone Bronco and Pony Super Regional Tournaments.

“There wasn’t pressure,” Guerrero Jr. said. “The stands were packed. It was really fun.”