Catcher Sashel Palacios to retire from professional softball

Savanna Collins

Aug 23, 2024

After seven seasons of professional softball, catcher Sashel Palacios is retiring.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympian and Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball athlete will play her last game on Sunday night alongside her sister Sharlize Palacios with her family cheering her on.

Sashel was a four-year letter winner at Arizona State before beginning her professional career with the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch League. She made her pro debut on June 6, 2018, and was named the NPF Rookie of the Week after batting .556 in their six-game opening series against the Aussie Spirit. Palacios signed the following season with the Cleveland Comets and hit .217 with 13 RBI during the 2019 season.

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Ahead of her sophomore year at Arizona State, Sashel joined the Mexican National Team. Her first international competition was with Team Mexico at the 2014 World Cup of Softball. Sashel also competed in the 2017 and 2019 Pan American Games with Team Mexico and won a Silver medal during the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.

She helped Team Mexico to a first-place finish at the 2019 WBSC Americas Olympic Qualifier and secured Mexico’s first-ever Olympic berth in softball. She hit .222 in five games at the Tokyo Olympics, recording hits in Team Mexico’s victories against Italy and Australia.

She has competed with AU Pro Softball since its inception in 2020. Sashel waited to retire until her sister and UCLA Bruin Sharlize joined the league. With a five-year age gap, this season marked the first time the sisters have competed together in their softball careers.

The 2024 season has been Sashel’s best in her AU Pro Softball career. She was a captain for the first time in Week Two and rose to second overall on the leaderboard in Week Three to be the Orange team captain. She holds a 5-1 record for the teams she has led and ranks fifth heading into the final weekend.

Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.