Pony Leagues nearing end of season

The Shafter Recreation and Parks District's Pony League baseball and softball seasons are entering the home stretch, with plenty of great games being played.

The leagues, which have enjoyed the highest registration numbers in the last decade, have just a few weeks to go.

With the end of the 2023 season approaching, the friendly competition in both 14U and 11U baseball and softball continues to grow. In these divisions, there are 22 teams, 12 in the Pony division and 10 in the Mustang division. In Pony Baseball, the 11U Blue Jays, coached by Victor Marin, and the 14U Diamondbacks, coached by Abel Perez, are both ahead with 3-0 standings. In Pony softball, the 11U White Sox, coached by Darien Munoz, are leading with 3 wins and 0 losses and the 14U Yankees, coached by Emilio Arismendez, are ahead with 4 wins and 0 losses.

On Monday evening, the Girls 11U Yankees mounted a comeback in the last inning, giving them a 13-12 victory over the Dodgers.

On the boys side, the 11U Giants beat the Angels by a score of 12-1. The community's support for youth sports is evident in that every team in the Pony leagues was sponsored this season. According to District Manager Phillip Jimenez, special thanks go out to Cabrera's Trucking Inc, Kern Iron Works, Richland Chevrolet, Arc Energy Co, Accelerado Offroad, N&L Farm Labor Services Inc, General's Headquarters and Shafter Ag Solutions Inc. for sponsoring the teams.. Pony major league sponsors include Nick Torres Construction, Perez Trans LLC, General Printing Services, R&O Fishing Tools, The Kiwanis Club of Shafter, Gonzalez Ag Inc., Beautiful You Medical Aesthetics, the Shafter Women's Club, Sno-Fun, Piuser Construction, Castro Towing, Kern Craft Construction, Phatboyz Barber Shop, EZ Cow Haul, Morris Images, Snow Farm, Tinajero Ag Inc. and the Shafter Lions Club.

This season's sponsors allowed Shafter Recreation SRPD to buy additional equipment and jerseys. "We are immensely grateful to our sponsors and the Shafter community," Jimenez said.. "Our organization is very excited about this Ppny baseball/softball season and hope the community continues to support our upcoming sports such as volleyball, tennis, soccer and cross country as well as our fall baseball/softball season."