ORANGE COUNTY GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR 2023-24
All-County softball player Taylor Shumaker of Esperanza, who also played on the school’s flag football team, is pictured at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Name: Taylor Shumaker
School: Esperanza
Year: Senior
Sports: Softball, flag football
Notable highlights: Taylor Shumaker encountered her share of questions when she joined Esperanza’s inaugural flag football team.
Why would a blue-chip softball recruit bound for the University of Florida play flag football? And how would she balance the schedule with travel softball?
The senior responded with her heart.
“If I could have played flag football all four years of high school, I so would have,” she said. “Every single girl on that flag football team wanted to win every single game. We loved being around each other. It was just so much fun.”
And so began an exceptional chain of athletics for Shumaker in 2023-24. She not only struck a balance with flag football, but excelled to help the Aztecs finish undefeated. The new sport, she said, raised her level in softball and contributed to a dominating spring.
“She was amazing,” Esperanza flag football coach Jimmy Valverde said. “She’s a winner. Determined. Hard-worker. Not satisfied.”
In the fall, the 6-foot Shumaker earned second-team All-County honors in flag football as a pass rusher. She also racked up 38 receptions for 676 yards and 16 touchdowns.
In softball, Shumaker earned glowing reviews from opposing coaches en route to being selected the Orange County Player of the Year.
The Crestview League MVP led Orange County in home runs (18), finished fourth in batting average (.636) and tied for sixth in RBIs (37).
She posted a .725 on-base percentage, scored 43 runs and became a vocal leader for the Aztecs (15-12), who reached the Division 1 playoffs.
Shumaker also played outstanding defense in center field, including robbing a home run with a leaping catch above the fence against El Dorado.
“(Flag football) made my game so much better,” she said.
And Shumaker certainly made Esperanza better.
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