Baseball Recap: Shafter Starts Season with Victory on the Road

Shafter had to kick off their season on the road on Wednesday, but they showed no ill effects. They were the clear victor by a 16-5 margin over the Golden Valley Bulldogs. The Generals haven't had any issues with the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.

Alex Casanova-Balderrama was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Casanova-Balderrama was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024.

Jaime Martinez

Runs (Career)

02/26/25 @ Golden Valley	3
05/09/24 @ Wasco	2
02/21/24 @ Del Oro	2
05/28/24 @ Eagle Rock	1
05/24/24 vs Torres	1

In other batting news, Shafter got a massive performance out of Jaime Martinez, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance gave Martinez a new career-high in runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Joaquin Garza, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.

Golden Valley's loss dropped their record down to 0-2.

Coming up, Shafter will challenge Rosamond at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. As for Golden Valley, they are packing up and heading out on the road for their first away game this season: they will face off against North at 12:00 p.m. on Monday.