Battle-tested Ceres wins first softball section title in 21 years

When you get a phone call saying your house is on fire and you’re 2,400 miles away, wrapping up a softball tournament in Hawaii …

Why not us?

When you’ve lost the first game of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship round and all the momentum you’ve built up over the last few days has evaporated …

Why not us?

When you have arguably the best player in the Stanislaus District in spikes and a mitt – boy or girl – but the postseason never lasts as long as you would hope …

Why not us?

When you’re asked to change positions and put ego aside, as right fielder Jessica Arreola was …

Why not us?

When the section and the state smile on your closest rivals, Oakdale and East Union, and overlook a program that has won 77.4 percent of its games in the last three years (65-19) …

Why not us?

On Thursday evening, before raucous supporters, the Ceres High School softball team finally got the answer to a question that has shaped its seasons under coach Angela Durossette. It came in the form of a blue felt banner with white lettering: Division III champions.

The Bulldogs scored three runs in the first inning of Game 2 and held on for a 3-2 victory over Benicia, clinching the program’s first section title in more than two decades with a series of hair-raising defensive plays.

Ceres’ last appearance in a section final was in 1995, when it beat East Union for the Division II crown.

It’s been a long road back, said Nicole Bates, a fourth-year varsity starter and preseason All-American.

“It’s the greatest feeling. I can’t even explain it,” said Bates, who was 6 for 7 with two doubles in the two games. “We’ve been working for this for four years. We’ve wanted this for four years. And in our senior year, we got it. It’s the best way to end the season.”

Ceres (23-4) needed to win only once Thursday after moving through the winners’ bracket unscathed. Benicia heightened the drama with an 8-1 victory in the first game, forcing a winner-take-all showdown under the lights at the Sacramento Softball Complex.

“We just had to dig deep,” Bates said. “We were tired. Everyone’s tired because we’ve played so many games. We just dug deep and made our plays. We pulled it all together, and we worked for it.”

The University of Washington-bound star set the tone early in the second game with a leadoff double into the right-center-field gap. As she came to a stop at second base, Bates turned toward her dugout, clenched both fists and screamed.

Bates’ roar snapped the Bulldogs, out of sorts throughout the first game, from their malaise.

“We were flat the first game,” Bates said, “so it was about pumping us up and trying to get that win.”

Bates advanced to third on a rare throwing error by San Diego State-bound shortstop Shelby Thompson and scored on a passed ball.

A walk to Mahlena O’Neal and a single by MacKenzie Veuve loaded the bases, putting Benicia ace McKenna Gregory in a pickle. Gregory was the hero in Game 1, blasting two home runs while limiting Ceres to one run and six hits in the victory.

She was hardly the picture of confidence or control a mere half-hour later. Gregory issued back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Andrea Duran and Callie Nunes to make it 3-1.

The Bulldogs wouldn’t need any more offense, even against an offensive power like the Panthers. Benicia had six hits, including two doubles by leadoff hitter Olivia Mackey, but the Ceres defense made sure the big hit – notably the long ball – never materialized.

Bates sealed the championship with an unassisted double play, triggering a mob scene near the pitching circle. Players, coaches and fans streamed out of the Ceres dugout. One fan even lost his slippers during the sprint from bleacher to bump.

“Why not us?” was a slogan that transcended the diamond at Ceres High. It was a battle cry that united an entire campus.

Arreola, a former second baseman, made a diving catch in shallow right-center field in the sixth inning.

“Jessica does everything we ask of her,” Durossette said. “Last year, she played second base for us. This year, I told her we need you in right field. That transition for her was, ‘Whatever you need, however we can win.’ They just refused to lose.”

The play of the night, however, belonged to center fielder Sabrina Baisdon, who crashed through the breakaway fence to pull back what would have been a three-run homer in the fifth.

Thompson pounded a ball over Baisdon’s head to straightaway center. She spun and tracked it to the fence, making the over-the-shoulder catch just before flipping out of bounds.

Benicia’s Mackey was allowed to come home on the dead ball to make it 3-2, but Nunes – a stalwart throughout the postseason – limited the damage with an infield fly and strikeout.

“Callie is our pitcher, and she works her butt off,” said Baisdon, who also robbed Elizabeth Sweeney of a home run in Game 1. “We know we have to defend for her on every play. Our outfield, we know we have each others’ backs, and that’s why we’re all-out diving out here.”

Only one thought went through Baisdon’s mind as she closed in on ball and fence, and it had nothing to do with safety.

That thought: Why not us?

“We worked so hard for sections this whole year. We’ve been called the underdogs, and we really wanted it,” Baisdon said. “I know we needed that ball.”

Durossette, whose family was displaced by a fire earlier in the season, was awarded the banner by section Commissioner Mike Garrison.

She turned and held it aloft for the Bulldog bunch.

“When we took over the program, our main focus was this,” said Durossette, who was joined in the dugout by husband Bret and son Dalton. “It wasn’t in the cards last year. The ‘Why not us?’ was started last year. We brought that into (the program) the last two years. They deserve it. They’re fighters.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 12:53 AM with the headline "Battle-tested Ceres wins first softball section title in 21 years."