High school softball: Gardens dominates Jupiter behind 14-strikeout day from Sydney Shaffer
It’s one of the longest-standing rivalries in Palm Beach County high school sports; Palm Beach Gardens vs. Jupiter. This time, behind 14 strikeouts from junior pitcher Sydney Shaffer, Gardens celebrated a big 11-2 win.
What started as a pitching duel between Shaffer and Jupiter’s ace, Sasha Seidel, turned in the Gators' favor in the top of the third inning. Shaffer and Seidel recorded five strikeouts each through the first two innings. It wasn’t until junior shortstop Reagan Towns came up for her second at-bat that Gardens was able to get some offensive production. Towns drove the first pitch she saw into left field to score Nicole Schultz from second. From that point on, the Gators never looked back.
“Everybody knows everybody, so you have to come in with an approach,” said Towns. “We know Sasha throws a rise and screw, so we made a game plan for that and stuck to it.”
Their approach worked. The Gators racked up 11 runs on 14 hits across seven innings. Sophomore Finola Evans led the team with three hits in four at-bats, while Towns, Brynn Dion-Catasus, Shea Towns and Holly Frankl all recorded two hits. “It took us a minute, but we made the adjustments and started to swing the bat like we have been,” said head coach, Randy Jackson.
Three takeaways:
Shaffer is leading the Gators from the circle.
With only one loss on the season, Shaffer has found her groove in the circle. “I was feeling pretty confident tonight,” said the Gator ace. “I was just able to spin the ball really well tonight. And once the team started hitting, the pressure is just lifted.” Shaffer gave up two runs on eight hits and was able to get herself out of trouble when she needed to late in the game.
“Syd is an awesome pitcher,” said Towns. “When you have energy like she does, it rubs off on the rest of the team which makes it easy to play behind her. I just try to always have her back, whether things are going her way or not.”
Gardens looks to carry momentum down the stretch.
With their best start in recent years, Gardens is relying on their experience to carry them in the second half of the season. “This is the point where our schedule doesn’t let up from here on out,” said Jackson. “Syd is coming around, getting stronger. Reagan leads us on both sides of the ball. She keeps us in check, and this whole group is just playing really well right now.”
Jupiter makes most noise late in the game.
The Warriors had a tough night at the plate but they didn’t quit. Despite 14 strikeouts, they were able to put together some better at-bats late in the game. London Gomes, Annalise Maucer and Sienna Rodriguez all tallied two hits. In the bottom of the sixth, they were able to break through and break the shutout, but the mountain was just too big to climb by that point.
The Gators prepare to face the defending state champions Spanish River, and Jupiter travels to West Boca.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: high school softball palm beach gardens jupiter
