The Ceres Sizzle 18-and-under travel softball team placed in three of five tournaments this season.
“They exceeded my expectations,” head coach Audel Valencia said. “They did a great job.”
Ceres concluded the 2023 season with a 2-2 showing at the NSA Pacific Coast Western Nationals, held July 26-30 at Pedretti Fields in Turlock.
The tournament featured a combined 12 teams from the 18u and 16u age groups.
“I thought the girls had a good time,” Valencia said. “It was nice to see teams from other places.”
“We definitely could have played better,” he added.
The Sizzle posted a 2-2 record.
“It was definitely tougher competition. We had to play mistake-free and we didn’t. We didn’t execute when we had to.”
The Westside Bullets eliminated the Sizzle from the tournament with a 6-2 win in the loser’s bracket on July 28.
“We couldn’t find timing against their pitcher."
The Sizzle lost 8-4 to the eventual-champion Sonora Stack in the elimination bracket on July 28.
“It was very competitive until they took advantage of our mistakes. They put a lot of pressure on our defense. They were hitting everything hard.”
Ceres won both of its games in pool play.
The Sizzle shut out the Brawlers 10-0 and topped the CA Valley Firecrackers 8-1 on July 27.
“We were swinging the bats well and capitalized every time we had runners in scoring position."
Ceres’ roster featured 11 players, including Makenna Azevedo, Jayden Corona, Athena Dizney, Destiny Herrera, Emily Lopez, Vanessa Millan, Aleksa Oliveros, Xhena Romo, Nani Sagapolu, A.J. Wright and Jannet Valencia.
The Sizzle played in five tournaments this year.
Ceres placed first once and second twice.
“They surprised the heck out of me,” said the coach. “They did a great job competing. I thought we did pretty well considering practice time was scarce. We only practiced once a week.”
Valencia split time coaching two Sizzle teams (18s, 8s).
The Sizzle 18s will have high expectations heading into the 2023-24 season.
“The majority of the team is coming back. We’ll make another run in the fall.”
