Shafter spring sports in full swing

Shafter High spring sports teams are in the backstretch of their league seasons, with Generals thriving in the South Sequoia League, battling for titles.

The Shafter High girls softball team is having an amazing season, raising their record to 14-2-2 with two wins over Kennedy last week. The squads play the same team twice in the week, having both a home and away series. Last week, the Lady Generals pitched a shutout for the series, blanking Kenney 14-0 and 16-0 in the wins. In the victories, Serenity Angulo pitched shutouts, while the offense exploded for over 20 hits on the week, to go with the 30 runs. Shafter still has Taft on their schedule, with a two-game finale with rival Wasco in May.

On the boys diamond, the SHS baseball team is currently 7-7 overall, with a 3-3 record in the SSL. Junior Jacob Bernal is leading the team at the plate, having one of the top batting averages in the SSL at .654. The Generals finished up a tough series with powerhouse Kennedy, losing in the finale of the series, 15-0. But, the Generals did beat the McFarland Cougars twice the previous week, improving their standing in the SSL by scores of 13-0 and 8-5. In the victory at home against the Cougars, the Generals offense slammed 14 hits on their way to the win. Sophomore Christopher Espinoza went a perfect 3-3 at the plate, with Bernal going 2-4. One of Espinoza's hit was a triple. Junior Jesus Paez pitched the shutout, allowing only four hits and striking out 10 in the game.

On the track, the boys and girls teams are having strong SSL seasons, with a few of the athletes making their presence known in the invitationals throughout the season. Jocelyn Pierucci is leading the way for the Generals' girls team, near the top in the league in the shotput and discus events. She also threw a personal best at the Fowler Throwing Championships in Fowler with a throw of over 32' in the shot put, a personal best for her, good for third place in the prestigious Invitational division. Pierucci also placed third in the shotput at the Kern Invitational in Bakersfield. On the boys side, Koa Rhodes has placed near the top in the high jump event, with Jeronimo Ceja near the top in the throwing event in the Varsity division.

The Shafter swimming squads are completing their SSL seasons, battling Wasco for the league championship. The girls relay team has already qualified for the Valley Championships, as well as qualifying in individual events. The team, consisting of Josephine Martin, Annemarie Piuser, Sydnee Macias and Rilynn Lee, took a second place in a loaded invitational at Sunnyside High School in Fresno. Martin also broke a 10-year-old butterfly record in that same meet.

League championships for these sports will be determined in the next three weeks, with the post-seasons in the first to middle part of May.