Baseball Game Preview: Taft Wildcats vs. Shafter Generals

By Team Reports Apr 19, 2025, 3:37am

Baseball Preview: Taft Wildcats vs. Shafter Generals

Suggested Video

Taft has gone a perfect 10-0 against Shafter recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Wildcats are taking a road trip to square off against the Generals at 4:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

If Taft beats Shafter with ten runs on Tuesday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. The Wildcats never let Minarets get on the board and left with a 10-0 win on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.

Brock Heber

Runs

04/15/25 vs Minarets2
03/28/25 vs Garces Memorial2
03/20/25 vs Kennedy2
04/14/25 vs McLane1
03/18/25 @ Kennedy1
+ 1 more games

Taft saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brock Heber, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. The Wildcats are undefeated when Heber posts two or more runs, but 4-11 otherwise.

Taft was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .391. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Shafter came out on top against Kennedy last Thursday thanks in part to the team's impressive five-run first inning. The Generals were the clear victors by a 10-0 margin over the Thunderbirds. The victory continues a trend for the Generals in their matchups with the Thunderbirds: they've now won four in a row.

Andy Gomez and Nini Garcia made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Gomez didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Garcia tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances. At the plate, Gomez got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base, while Garcia went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run. That's the most runs Gomez has posted since back in February.

In other batting news, Shafter let Joaquin Garza and Lukas Pena run wild. Garza went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double, while Pena went 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Pena is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Alex Casanova-Balderrama, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

Shafter's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Taft, their record is now 7-11.

Taft skirted past Shafter 3-2 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Generals turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps