Season of success finally ends for Generals spring sports teams

The Shafter Generals spring sports seasons came to an end this week, with losses in the Central Section playoffs for the Shafter High softball and baseball teams. The baseball team, who came into the Division VI playoffs as the No. 1 seed, lost to the eighth-seeded team from Orange Cove High School, 5-0. Shafter could not get any offense going in the game, with the Orange Cove pitching strong throughout the game. The Pirates scored quickly in the game, putting the Generals playing catch-up for the rest of the game.

On the softball diamond, the Shafter Lady Generals were the second upset victim in two weeks for the Reedley High team who came into the playoffs with the No. 15 seed. Shafter lost to Reedley on Thursday afternoon by a score of 4-3. Reedley scored first in the third inning, going up 1-0. The Lady Generals answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning, taking a 3-1 lead.

Reedley scored three runs in the fifth inning, going up 4-3. Shafter couldn’t manage to get another run across, ending their season with a quarterfinal exit. Ariana Vega had a hot game for the Lady Generals, getting two of the three RBIs for the Lady Generals. Vega signed earlier in the week to a scholarship agreement to play basketball for the University of Saint Katherine Firebirds. [See profile on Page 4.]

Shafter will be looking for another great year in 2024, getting the majority of their roster back from this year’s team. Coach Garcia said that she was proud of the girls who didn’t give up in any game and pulled out their first round game after being down by five runs in the sixth inning of the game against Sierra Pacific to set up the matchup against Reedley.

On the track, the Shafter High girls track team saw one athlete narrowly miss qualifying and advancing to the State track meet at Clovis-Buchanan High School this weekend. Joselyn Pierucci placed eighth at the Central Section Masters meet in Clovis, barely missing out on a State slot.