MODESTO — Trace Hernandez lit the fuse for Central Catholic, and Tyler Paul Wentworth changed the game with one explosive swing.

The two seniors were instrumental in the third-seeded Raiders’ 8-2 win over No. 6 Manteca in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinal between Valley Oak League rivals on Thursday.

It was Hernandez who broke up a no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Wentworth followed

“It’s tough to keep them off the scoreboard,” Manteca coach Mark Ruiz said. “You have to score more than one or two runs to beat them. They have a lot of good players on that team, and they’re senior heavy.”

With the Buffaloes (19-9-1) leading 1-0, surprise starting pitcher Eddie Anthony and reliever Cameron Jimenez had a combined no-hitter going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Central Catholic (19-8) came alive when Hernandez dropped a perfect drag bunt and stole second base shortly after.

“That was huge,” Wentworth said. “With his speed, anything he puts in play is going to be a tough out for the defense. He did exactly what we needed him to do right there and brought the spark.

“When he gets on base, we know he’s going to end up on second. He did a great job of getting us going. The inning was what it was because of him.”

Broden Thomas walked, and Xavier Diep singled to load the bases with still no outs. Joe Salacup then drew a full-count, bases-loaded walk to tie the game, turn the lineup over and set the stage for the Wentworth.

Wentworth quickly fell behind in the count after fouling off two pitches, and he fouled off five more in the at-bat.

Finally, on the 10th offering from Jimenez, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Wentworth connected with his mighty left-handed swing and sent a no-doubt-about-it shot to left-center field for the slam.

“I was frustrated,” Wentworth said. “Felt like I was (swinging) early on a lot of pitches. I was just thinking a hit it up the middle and being short to the ball, and not doing too much as I was early in that at-bat.

“I just had to realize I have a lot of strength in my body, and if I can square it up it’s going to go a long way. It worked out.”

The Ripon resident wasn’t done yet.

Wentworth added two more RBIs with a single in the sixth inning, when Central Catholic tacked on three more runs. He finished 2 for 3 with a walk and six RBIs.

The son of famed Manteca High alumnus Kevin Wentworth, “TP” is headed to Clemson.

Winning pitcher Adrian Garcia struck out five and gave up four hits and two walks over five innings. The senior righty overcame a shaky start in which he surrendered three straight hits to spot Manteca the early lead. Hampered by a blister on a big toe, Garcia was replaced by Wesley Payne at the start of the sixth inning.

“Coaches have a good feel for their pitchers, and he’s done it for me for four years,” Central Catholic coach Danny Ayala said. “He’s an unbelievable competitor. The misses he had were barely misses. When I’m watching him, I’m watching the curve ball and the fastball and I told him, ‘Your stuff is really good. Sometimes, you gotta ride with the guy that got you there.”

With freshmen Nate Slikker and Jeremy Cross both throwing four innings in the Buffaloes’ extra-innings win over Del Campo on Tuesday, Ruiz had to get creative with his pitching staff.

He turned to Anthony, who hadn’t pitched all season. The junior was able to get out of the first inning with a double play and walked clean-up batter Fernando Alaniz on four pitches to start the second inning.

That was when Ruiz decided to make the switch, and for a while, the bold decisions were panning out.

Jimenez, only a sophomore, was dominant for three innings, striking out five straight batters at one point before he was done in by control issues.

“We needed to eat up some innings somewhere,” Ruiz said. “Unfortunately, we had to use our guy Slikker, who threw far too many pitches on Tuesday, so he wasn’t available. I thought going out with Eddie to throw at least one inning would be great, and if he could give us two, even better. Walked the leadoff guy (in the second inning), we made the adjustment, and it worked out.

“Cam came out with really good velocity. We could tell he was getting a little bit tired there toward the end of the season, but he was ready to go today. He wanted the ball, and he was ready. I’m really proud of him. He did a great job today.”

Manteca missed a big opportunity in the opening inning. Chris Chavez and Preston Smith hit back-to-back, one-out singles, and Slikker drove in the early run with a hit up the middle. The Buffaloes wound up stranding two base runners in each of the first two innings.

“Credit to them, they made the adjustment and started getting curveball heavy on us,” Ruiz said. “We gave ourselves a shot. We played really well for about five innings. It was a great game.”

It was the final game for four-year standout outfielder Rex Watson, who has signed with the University of San Diego. Stricken by an illness all week, he had the walk-off two-run homer Tuesday in the 3-1 win over Del Campo.

Watson continued to hit the ball hard on Thursday but was a bit unlucky. He led off the game with a deep fly that was caught above the left-field fence by Diep. Watson was again robbed in the fifth inning when his sharp line drive was snagged by diving second baseman Salacup.

“It was just one of those days, couldn’t catch a break,” Watson said. “Not feeling the best, but I was trying to keep the energy as high as possibly could and leave as much I can on the field.”

Watson is just one of two seniors on the team. Michael George also played his last game for Manteca and got to pitch the final inning.

“This year, we went 19-9 with this young of a team, and there is definitely to build off of from that,” Ruiz said. “We’re excited. These guys were led by Rex this year, he’s the captain of our team and he showed them what Manteca baseball is supposed to be and the standard that we want. I’m really proud of Rex, and he’s definitely leaving Manteca High better than when he came in.”