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Sizzle teams claim titles at home
Queen of Diamonds Tournament
The Ceres Sizzle 10-and-under travel softball team finished in first place at the Queen of Diamonds Tournament earlier this month at Costa Fields.

The Ceres Sizzle had three travel softball teams finish first overall in their respective age groups at home earlier this month.

The Sizzle 14-and-under squad claimed the title in the Silver Bracket of the Queen of Diamonds Tournament, staged July 17-18 at the George Costa Ball Field Complex.

Ceres didn’t place the previous weekend in Manteca.

“We played a lot better than the week before,” head coach Audel Valencia said. “We limited our errors. That helped us play close games. Everybody contributed.”

Ceres compiled a 2-4 record.

The Sizzle closed out the tournament with back-to-back wins after losing all three of their games in pool play.

“It’s always nice to place anywhere,” Valencia said. “But you always want to do well in front of your home fans. There’s a lot of support.”

The Sizzle topped the Elite 6-2 for the championship on July 18.

“It was the last game of the season,” Valencia said. “The girls really wanted to win. They needed it.”

The Sizzle had nine hits.

Makenna Azevedo batted 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.

Ariana Arellano batted 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run.

Jannet Valencia batted 1-for-1 with two runs.

Priscilla Hamidat batted 2-for-2 with one run.

Amaya Castrejon batted 2-for-3 with one run.

Jayden Corona batted 1-for-3 with one RBI.

Brianna Espinoza drove in one run.

The Sizzle 12s took first in the Gold Bracket.

“They try harder when they’re at home,” head coach Nikole Ferrel said. 

Ceres won five of its six games.

“Everything was clicking,” Ferrel said. “We did great on offense. We didn’t leave a lot of runners on base. Our defense was on point. Our pitchers did a really good job.”

Ceres cruised to a 7-1 win over the San Mateo Slammers in the finals on July 18.

The Sizzle lost 9-3 to the Slammers in pool play on July 17.

Ceres batted 7-for-18 from the plate as a team during the rematch.

Jolissa Guillory batted 1-for-1 with two runs.

Reylena Herrera batted 2-for-3 with one run.

Gabriela Ortiz collected one RBI and one run.

Amalia Ferrel was the winning pitcher. She allowed one run and four hits with one strikeout and two walks.

“That’s the team we wanted to play because we wanted redemption,” coach Ferrel said. “The girls knew they had to work harder and they did. We had a great game.”

The Sizzle 10s claimed the championship in the Gold Bracket.

Ceres won all four of its games. The Sizzle outscored their opponents, 32-1.

“They all played amazing,” head coach Sierra De Leon said.