Alexander Olivas is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student covering Cesar Chavez High School for AzPreps365.com

Need some more team chemistry? Look for a pair down in Laveen.

Cesar Chavez baseball’s dynamic duo of Adolfo Pacheco and Jaidan Tafoya found chemistry and have made a big impact on the baseball team in their first full year as teammates.

Pacheco, a junior, and Jaidan, a senior, have been teammates dating back to when they were in Little League, but after some time apart, the two have now become teammates once again in high school. Although this season is the first full season both players got to be on the field together since the very first game, the impact they’ve made on the team is as big as if they’ve been teammates for more than one year. 

“They’re both leaders, they both like to take charge, they both like to take responsibility for their actions,” said head coach Sergio Acosta. “They take for whatever it’s worth, whether it’s a bad day or a good day they take it and move forward with it.” 

Last year the pair got to play together briefly as Pacheco sat out some games of the season due to transfer rules because of his transfer from Apollo High School. However, Pacheco has quickly found the support and environment with his new team in which he felt that was not there while attending Apollo.

“I left because of communications issues, a lot of dislikes, so I wanted to go somewhere where I felt cared for and felt like I had support behind my back and when I came here I felt that and it made a huge difference,” said Pacheco. “All I wanted to do is just prove myself and prove that I was capable, I just came in with a fire to do more than I anticipated to do.”

The move has so far proved to have been a good thing for both the team and Pacheco as he currently leads the team so far this season in both batting average and in home runs. Jaidan on the other hand has been on the varsity team and started for the Champions since his freshman year and has grown into a huge leader for the team coming into his senior season.

Jaidan also has been on a tear this season as he's currently leading the team in the pitching category with a 5-0 record and an ERA of 3.50, with the latest victory coming against the San Luis Sidewinders after pitching seven innings and giving up one earned run. He’s also currently one of the top five on the team in both batting average and on base percentage alongside while batting in the cleanup spot, but says that all he cares about is helping the team in any way he could and believes a lot in his teammates.

“Just getting a lot of strikes and ground balls for my teammates and believing in my teammates on making plays and doing everything,” said Jaidan. “I have a lot of trust in this team and I feel like we could go far if we keep on doing what we do.”

While both players have been on a role batting in the third and clean-up spots, they say they mainly don’t look at anything else other than winning games and helping the team in any way possible. The duo is also described as leaders on the team who give it their all everytime where it’s in practice, in the game, or off the field and always find ways to get better and stronger.

“They take it seriously, every rep that they get is almost like a live play. I know Jaiden is always at home trying to better himself like watching film of MLB players and college players, Adolfo he’s always working consistently and they’re both constantly working,” said parent Thomas Tafoya. “They both compete a lot, their wants and will, just how strong they both got over the years while playing and a lot of it comes from their work ethic.”

Off the field both maintain great personalities with a lot of support keeping them in a good position to keep continuing on setting the example for the younger players on the team. Both also have goals to play ball at the next level, but if it’s not a possibility then they have their eyes set on attending college to still pursue a career through their academics.

A lot of expectations surround the two players down the stretch of the season but those around them expect them to simply lead the team and motivate the other players to give it their all in order to find success.

“I just expect them to pretty much be the guys and the leaders to rally the team because when they get going everybody else just follows,” said Thomas. “I just expect a lot more leadership and fight and I think they’ll get everyone else on the team to follow their lead.”