The First Annual Ceres Blaze Summer Baseball Camp will be staged, July 19-21, at George Costa Fields.

“We’ve had a lot of people reaching out about summer camp options,” said Rafael Valencia, sponsorship director for Ceres Youth Baseball & Softball Organization and coach for the 8-and-under Blaze. “I thought it would be cool to partner with Central Valley High School and have their coaches work with our kids. It’s important for the kids to learn what their coaching style is like and see how they run things.”

More than 30 players, aged 6-13, have already signed up for the clinic.

Cost is $100 per camper.

Registration will open at 9:30 a.m.

Cash, check or Venmo payments will be accepted.

“We’re hoping to get at least 50 kids,” Valencia said. 

Each session will start at 10 a.m.

Central Valley High School’s baseball staff will lead the instruction with assistance from Blaze coaches.

“I’ve known Brad (Bussard) for a long time,” Valencia said. “I coached him in basketball at Ceres High School. I thought it would be cool to bring him and his staff in to work with the kids.”

“For the Blaze to reach out to me and my program, it shows the progress our school has made in baseball,” said Bussard, head coach of the Hawks. “It’s extremely important to teach our youth how to play the game the right way and develop skillsets at an early age.”

Central Valley and Blaze coaches will focus on all aspects of the game during the three-day camp.

They’ll also stress the importance working hard in the classroom.

“We’re going to teach them the daily drills we do with our players,” Bussard said. “They’re not complicated.”

“We’ll be working on all fundamentals—hitting, fielding and throwing,” Valencia added. “We’ll have some fun drills and competitive games they can do throughout the three days. We’ll try to make improvement year after year.”

Former Blaze players Alex Solis (Stanislaus State) and Orlando Leon (University of Hawai’i at Hilo) are planning on attending the camp.

They’ll demonstrate drills and answer questions.

Blaze alum Sergio Solis (Cal State Monterey Bay) and Gabrial Lopez (San Francisco State) want to attend but can’t due to conflicting schedules.

They’re playing college summer baseball together in Colorado.

Alex, Sergio and Gabrial were all standouts at Central Valley High School.

Orlando starred at Central Catholic High School.

Alex, Sergio, Gabrial and Orlando also played for the Ceres Youth Baseball program.

“If you want to build a championship program, and keep the best talent in Ceres, you have to build those relationships at a young age,” Bussard said.

“We’ve sent kids to play college baseball four out of the last five years,” he added. “That says a lot about our program.”

A multi-sport athlete at Ceres High School, 36-year-old Valencia (class of 2005) has fond memories of playing baseball in his hometown. 

“I started there,” Valencia said. “I played t-ball through Pony. I had a lot of really good coaches that I still know and call friends.”

To find out more information about the Blaze Summer Baseball Camp, contact Valencia at 209-606-8362.