Update: Ceres softball remains undefeated in WAC; Pitman golfer aces Par-4
With no playoffs this year, Ceres High softball coach Mike Corsaut said he has something special for his team if they finish the Western Athletic Conference undefeated.
While Corsaut, who has coached softball in the area for over 25 years, wouldn’t disclose what the surprise is, he said the team is motivated to win all 15 of their league games.
On Wednesday in their toughest test yet, the Bulldogs took advantage of three costly errors by Los Banos to win, 3-1, at Ceres High.
“We just took what we can get,” Corsaut said. “It was the small things and we were off our game.”
The Bulldogs (6-3, 5-0) entered the game having scored at least 10 runs during their four-game winning streak but Los Banos junior pitcher Paige Smith did a great job of mixing up her pitches and forcing a lot of pop outs.
Ceres took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a bloop single to center field that scored sophomore Sehren Martinez. Los Banos tied the game in the top of the sixth on a run-producing groundout by Smith.
Ceres re-took the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Bulldogs junior Alayna De La Torre led off with a triple and later scored on an RBI groundout by freshman Aryana Maldonado.
Bulldogs junior pitcher Brooklyn Heffernan threw a complete game while striking out 12.
“She was on today,” Corsaut said.
Corsaut said a lot of the success this season is a result of the strong pitching staff.
Ceres is at Davis on Monday for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Pitman 10, Turlock 0: The Pride (5-0) scored four runs in the fourth in its win over the Bulldogs (0-3).
Enochs 10, Modesto 0: The Eagles (3-0) scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth in their win over the Panthers (1-2). Seniors Brisaeda Baxter and Kayla Simpson both had two runs scored.
Beyer 33, Davis 0: Junior Delaney Pratt had five RBIs and sophomore Alison Robinson and freshman Dahlia Valadez each had four RBIs in the win for the Patriots (3-2).
Oakdale 10, Manteca 0: Junior Amanda Bricker had a home run in the win for the Mustangs (8-3) and freshman Raegen Everett threw six shutout innings while striking out six. Oakdale sophomore Delainey Everett was 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
Boys Basketball
Gregori 75, Turlock 64: The Jaguars (3-0) remained undefeated with a Central California Athletic League win over the Bulldogs (1-2).
Senior Carlos Hernandez had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Gregori and junior Kyle Monk had 17 points and four rebounds.
Bulldogs senior Cameron Walker had 24 points.
Pitman 80, Downey 53: The Pride (2-1) beat the Knights (0-3) in a CCAL matchup.
Sophomore Lloyd French led Downey with 19 points and sophomore Jahmaree Gonder added 17.
Modesto Christian 92, Venture Academy 59: Sophomore Bryant Davis led the Crusaders (2-0) with 18 points and freshman Jamari Phillips added 17 in the win.
Girls Basketball
Pitman 44, Modesto Christian 40: The Pride beat the Crusaders in a non-league game on Wednesday.
Girls Volleyball
Central Catholic 3, Oakdale 0: The Raiders beat the Mustangs in straight sets on Wednesday. Senior Lily Clemmer-Gillum had eight kills for Central Catholic and senior Kalli McElrath added 10 digs.
Other sports
Pitman freshman makes hole-in-one on Par 4: Pitman freshman Aric Singh said he knew he’d lost his match as he approached the Par-4, 263-yard 18th hole at River Oaks Golf Course in Ceres earlier this month.
“I just wanted to try and get some distance,” Singh said. “I didn’t care if it went off the course.”
Not only did Singh reach the green, but his tee shot landed on the fringe, rolled five feet and into the cup for a rare albatross..
Not a bad way to end the round.
“I did the Tiger Woods fist shake and threw my club in the air,” Singh said.
Singh said he normally hits his tee shots straight with his Cobra King SPEEDZONE driver but said he “winged it” and “hit it as hard as I could.”
It was the second time in his life he’s driven a Par-4 – both times on the 18th at River Oaks.
“The drive went left and swung back right,” Singh said. “It was super special.”
Singh said he doesn’t have any photos or video of the shot, but celebrated by buying a couple of sodas from a local gas station with some friends.
“I had a great round that day,” Singh said.
Local little league having fundraiser to fix baseball field: The Modesto Empire Little League recently started a fundraiser to fix one of its baseball fields that hasn’t been usable for multiple years, according to Vice President Eric Norton.
Norton said the little league started a fundraiser on Facebook with hopes of raising $5,000 to “get the field fixed professionally with the sod cut, field laser graded, field surface material laid down, and a mound created and new bases set in.”
The league allows kids from ages 4-12 but next year will add a Juniors 13-14 division, Norton said.
CIF State updates playoff schedule: While the news had no effect on CIF Sac-Joaquin Section schools since there are no playoffs for any sports, the CIF State announced on Tuesday they will have Southern California Regional Championships for baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, and boys volleyball.
With only the Central Coast Section and Oakland section having playoffs in the Northern California, the organization said there won’t be any NorCal regional championships.
Also, there won’t be any state championships for swimming and diving, track and field, and wrestling.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 7:58 PM.
