Bee prep baseball Player of Year J.P Acosta’s leadership led the way for Buchanan
Brad Fontes could always rely on J.P. Acosta to get things done for the Buchanan High baseball team, even if that meant delivering a pep talk.
But there was a time earlier in the season when Fontes had to give some advice to Acosta because he saw the struggles the Bears were having at 2-4. Especially Acosta.
“When things started to go sideways, he was just a calming force with those young guys and just took them under his wing and was really concerned about them and helping them,” Fontes said.
“And to the point where I had to tell him ‘you need to get locked in yourself’ because he was scuffling early in the year. And I think a lot of that was because he was worried about these young guys going about it the right way and trying to help them. As a baseball player, he’s just so instinctual — I can’t anticipate where the ball is going to be hit. He’s very advanced for a high school player.”
Acosta settled down and helped the Bears get going as they won six of nine games behind his leadership. That continued in the Tri-River Athletic Conference, capped by a league title and a spot in the Central Section Division I championship game.
Acosta is The Fresno Bee’s Player of the Year.
He said he enjoyed every bit of the season with his teammates.
“I put in as much time as I could with these guys,” he said. “We had a very young team this year, and me and a couple of guys have been on this team for three years: me, Drake Phillips and Colton O’Toole. We each put in our leadership time in each position. I helped out the infielders and you help them get up to TRAC standards because TRAC baseball is a whole different type of environment. Just everyone really chipped in and, just me with my experience, I was able to help out the infielders and really lock us in for TRAC this year”
The TRAC also named Acosta the Player of the Year.
Acosta, who will play at Long Beach State next season, for the season batted .402 with 43 hits, 25 runs, 15 doubles and 33 RBI.
He suffered a shoulder injury while diving for a ball in the Central Section playoffs against Arroyo Grande. That limited Acosta in the playoffs, but he didn’t want to sit. He just kept playing, even at 70 percent.
“I did what I could,” he said.
Acosta said being Player of the Year is great, but he gave all the kudos to his teammates for helping him achieve on the field and at the plate.
“Being able to have the opportunity to be the Player of the Year is a blessing ,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for any more. But I was just really excited to get out of high school and you look back on my last four years and see what I did for the program.”
Coach of the Year: Jim Cranford, Kingsburg
Kingsburg was ready to face any team.
That was evident during the Coca-Cola Classic.
The Vikings made an impressive run, sealed by a 7-2 victory over Clovis in the spring tournament championship.
That win fueled the Vikings during the season, capped by a 7-5 victory over Dos Palos in the Central Section Division III championship.
“I think our kids, just consistency and their work ethic, they really legitimately love to play the game,” Kingsburg coach Jim Cranford said. “I don’t think they care who they’re playing, whether it’s Clovis or Bakersfield schools, our kids just love to play the game. That’s all. That’s what it’s all about. I mean, you can’t say one person stood out for you because all of them did.”
It was Cranford’s first section championship and the first for the school since 2003, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Cranford has a career coaching record of 90-65-3.
Looking back at the season, Cranford said it was all worth it, especially the experience his team had in the Coca-Cola Classic.
“We kind of rolled in that a little bit,” he said. “We played well and then right in the league, we had our ups and downs. I think our kids just persevered and they worked hard through everything.”
Large School Player of the Year: Joey Volchko, Sr., P/DH, Redwood
Joey Volchko did it all for Redwood.
The ace was solid on the mound, going 7-2 with a 0.59 ERA in 59 innings. What’s more? He struck out 134 batters.
Volchko wasn’t just dominant on the mound. He was productive at the plate, too.
He batted .442 with a .500 on-base percentage. He drove in 38 runs, scored 22 times, had eight doubles, three triples and eight home runs.
The Stanford-bound pitcher is expected to be selected by a Major League Baseball team when the draft takes place in July.
Medium School Player of the Year: Houston Hirschkorn, Kingsburg
Houston Hirschkorn was one of the reasons why the Vikings were champions this past season.
He led the team with a .495 batting average. Not just that. He just kept producing at the plate for Kingsburg.
Hirschkorn had 55 hits, 13 doubles and a team-leading 40 RBI.
Hirschkorn was also named the Tri-County Conference — Kings Division Player of the Year.
Small School Player of the Year: Isac Mandujano, Dos Palos
He paved the way for a good season for the Broncos.
Mandujano batted .563 and drove in a team-leading 50 RBI. He also had 49 hits, 16 doubles and powered Dos Palos with 10 home runs.
He led the Broncos to a 26-3 overall record and 10-0 in the West Sierra League.
Mandujano was named the WSL’s Most Valuable Player.
The Bee’s Best of the Best All-Stars
Matthew Bettencourt, Sr., P/INF, El Diamante
Reece Bueno, Sr., P/OF, Redwood
Jonathan Callison, Sr., P/INF, Tulare Western
Xavier Cantu, Sr. P/C, Madera South
Lashawn Carey, Soph, P/OF/INF, Hoover
Marc Carroll, Jr., P/INF, Clovis West
Zax Cerrato, Sr., P/INF, Washington Union
Jordan Chairez, Sr., Fresno
Gio Chavez, Sr, P/OF/INF, Lindsay
Bryce Crook, Jr., P/OF, Central Valley Christian
Jace Davies, Sr., OF, Buchanan
Adam Delgado, Jr., P/OF, Kerman
Francisco Espejo, Sr., Madera
Dominik Espinosa, Sr., P/1B, Fresno
Austin Finegan, Fr., P/OF, Buchanan
Peyton Garcia, Sr., P/C/INF, Fowler
Kenyen Gomez, Jr., INF, Bullard
Braeden Guentz, Sr, P, Buchanan
JT Guerrero, Sr., P, Mt. Whitney
Jorge Gutierrez, Sr., P/INF, Madera South
Rodney Haro, Sr., P/INF/OF, Fowler
Eli Henderson, Sr., INF, Clovis
Houston Hirschkorn, Jr., P/SS, Kingsburg
Holden Hirschkorn, Jr., P/OF, Kingsburg
Collin Hirschkorn, P/INF/OF, Caruthers
John Kasten, Soph, P/C/INF, Clovis
Marcel Leal, Jr., INF, Clovis
Ben Leon, Sr., INF, Tulare Western
Isaiah Leyva, Sr., P/INF, Firebaugh
Isac Mandujano, Dos Palos
Aiden Medina, Jr., P/INF, Hoover
Asa Medina, Soph, P/C/INF, Hoover
Trey Morris, Soph., P/1B, Washington Union
Cayden Munster, Sr., INF, Clovis West
Jaxon Murphy, Sr., OF, Bullard
Tyler O’Toole, Soph, P/OF, Buchanan
Colton O’Toole, Sr., P/OF, Buchanan
Brandon Petty, Sr., P/INF/OF, El Diamante
Drake Phillips, Sr., C/INF, Buchanan
Ty Potts, Sr., INF, Redwood
Sam Reynolds, Sr., P, Bullard
Joey Rico, Sr. P/OF/INF, Redwood
Bo Rico, Sr., C/OF, Redwood
Cam Schneider, Sr., P/INF, Bullard
McGuire Smith, Liberty-Madera Ranchos, Jr., P/UTL, Liberty-Madera Ranchos
Jerod Smith, Soph., P/INF, Fowler
Kelan Turner, Soph., C/INF, Central Valley Christian
Peyton Van Worth, Jr., C, Dos Palos
Dylan Whiteman, Sr., P/INF, Liberty-Madera Ranchos
Trevor Wilson, Sr., Bullard
Ethan Winslow, Sr., P/OF, Kingsburg
