An unlikely source of inspiration has fueled the El Diamante High School softball team all season long. Jazelyn Zavala, the squad’s special needs team manager, has cheered and supported the Miners during every game and practice. When she isn’t providing water for players or helping with equipment, Zavala is right there with her peers, running the bases and participating in drills at practice. Her inclusion has fostered a family-like environment for first-year co-head coach Gabe Saldana’s squad. “She’s been the best addition to the team,” Saldana said. “We were put in a spot to have someone like her come onto the team, to show us what it’s all about, to show us the life, the energy, the excitement that she brings.” A sisterhood It was Saldana who found a spot on the team for Zavala. After she got cut from junior varsity tryouts, Saldana named Zavala the varsity team manager in charge of day-to-day operations. With her infectious personality and big smile, Zavala was embraced by the team immediately. “That’s the biggest coaching moment of my career,” Saldana said. “To see the girls actually include her on the team and make her feel like she’s a part of the team, and make her feel that she contributes within her own ability, is amazing. To see that and see how they consider her a sister, that’s the biggest thing because what we preach is family. They consider her part of the sisterhood and they watch over her.” Zavala, a freshman, has made a couple of core memories this season. She threw out the ceremonial first pitch on April 10 in an East Yosemite League game against Porterville. The Miners won that contest 10-3. Zavala later made a memory of a lifetime when El Diamante hosted Mt. Whitney on May 1. In the sixth inning, Saldana inserted Zavala into the game as a pinch hitter for an unofficial at-bat. With assistance and coaching from Mt. Whitney pitcher Selina Lopez, Zavala made contact with the ball, hitting an in-the-park home run. Zavala rounded the bases before being stormed by her teammates at home plate. The Miners won 7-3. After the celebration, Lopez surprised Zavala with a gift basket of goodies, which sent her into tears. “That shows sportsmanship and character,” Saldana said. “It was emotional. It was very, very emotional. It could have not gone any better.” An inspiration Taelyn Ochoa, a Redwood transfer, did not meet Zavala until she made the varsity squad this season. But it didn’t take her very long for the two freshmen to develop a friendship. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m not enough but I can be enough for her,” Ochoa said. “I can show her what it’s like to be a nice person and show her things. She teaches me to be better. It’s bigger than softball here. We do care for others here and we can show that we’re more than just a game.” This season, Zavala has watched and cheered on her teammates from the bench. When she stepped into the batter’s box against Mt. Whitney, it was a roller coaster of emotions for the Miners. “Watching her bat, that just brought all the tears, especially for me,” Ochoa said. “The happiness to see her happy because she gets to see us happy when we do come into the game and we do get a good at-bat. To see her get that chance that we get every time we play, it got me very emotional with happiness that I probably never felt before.” How has Zavala inspired the team? “We aspire to be like her,” Ochoa said. “We hang out with her at school. She’s very free with herself. She doesn’t care what people think, and I think that shows, like, ‘I don’t need to care what other people think. I can be just like her, be whoever I want, do whatever I want.’ I think that’s what she shows us.” That was echoed by several of Zavala’s teammates, including star junior slugger Alexis Ruvalcaba, who leads the Miners with a .482 batting average, 22 runs, 27 hits, four doubles and two triples. “She’s just a best friend to us,” Ruvalcaba said. “Someone with a shoulder to cry on. We hang out with her at lunch, too, and we have breakfast with her sometimes. It just feels like she’s a part of the team. “Jazzy has definitely inspired me a lot, especially being a genuine person. She’s just so real with me. I’m just real with her. She brings our team together.” Emily Castanon, a freshman, shared similar sentiments. “She never lets us get down,” Castanon said. “She’s always the first one here at practice and always the last one to leave. She’s always our biggest supporter, no matter what. She just makes us feel special in our own way. She makes us feel like our individual selves and does not compare us to others, to have our own personalities.” El Diamante (9-14-1, 5-5) qualified for the 2025 Central Section Division III playoffs after finishing third in the final East Yosemite League standings. How much has Zavala impacted the Miners this season? “A lot,” Castanon said. “She’s just very sweet. She brings us up when we’re down. She is always really happy for us. She’s always really helpful. She’s always thinking about others rather than herself. She inspires everyone.”...

Senior Miner captures his third straight East Yosemite League title and looks to win his third Central Valley title to end his El Diamante careerVISALIA – Regardless of what happens this postseason, Jaden Castillo has inked his name in the history books for the El Diamante diving program. Over the course of his high school career, the diver has won a pair of Division II Central Section championships and took home the East Yosemite League championship on three separate occasions.......