Baseball Recap: Shafter Beats Kennedy for Their Third Straight Victory

Shafter had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Kennedy Thunderbirds a 10-0 shutout. That's the second time they've managed to beat them this season, as they also won 16-4 last Tuesday.

Andy Gomez and Nini Garcia made a splash 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 pitched 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 scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Garcia scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. That's the most runs Gomez has posted since back in February.

In other batting news, Joaquin Garza and Lukas Pena did most of the damage at the plate: Garza scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3, while Pena scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. 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 scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.

Shafter hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in four consecutive matches.

Shafter pushed their record up to 10-4 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Kennedy, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 5-11.

Shafter and Kennedy will both get a bit of extra prep time before their next games. The next time the Generals see the field they'll take on Taft at 4:00 p.m. on the 22nd. As for Kennedy, their break will end when they face Delano at 4:00 p.m. on the 22nd.