State Small Schools Player of the Year Jensen Hirschkorn of Kingsburg (left) was prolific home run hitter and could just about strike everyone out as a pitcher. At right is State Junior Player of the Year Jordan Ayala of Norco, who was the top freshman last season and reclassed during the season. Photos: @KHSBaseball_1 / X.com & norcohs_athletics / Instagram.com.
Just like with Mr. Baseball, the State Junior of the Year honor also is claimed by a player who has reclassified and in the case of Norco’s Jordan Ayala he reclassified into the same class as a teammate who perhaps would have been Junior of the Year if he was still a sophomore. Highly ranked MLB prospects also gain top honors for medium schools and small schools. Plus, we have a sophomore of the year from the CIF L.A. City Section and a freshman of the year from Santa Barbara County.
For more on Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year Jared Grindlinger, CLICK HERE.
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Congratulations to the following five players also who also have been selected this week as Cal-Hi Sports State Players of the Year.
JUNIORS:
Jordan Ayala (Norco)
There has never been a season of these honors in baseball in which the reclassification of players has been more of an issue. In the end, once a player has announced they have reclassified, they are indeed considered for that class and no longer the class they were previously part of. It’s not just the previous juniors reclassing to seniors like Jared Grindlinger of Huntington Beach. There were even more sophomores who reclassed to juniors, such as Norco’s Ayala, along with others like Brogan Witcher from Liberty of Bakersfield and Striker Pence from Santiago of Corona.
When players reclass, they immediately change it on their social media platforms plus all of the various scouting services and national organizations like Prep Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game and more all switch them into the new classes as well. While Grindlinger announced his move before the season, most of the juniors like Ayala did it after the season began. Instead of considering them still as sophomores, however, we’re switching them to the next class right away. It can’t be changed if the player of the year process has already begun or if it’s a reclassification and players of the year or class-by-class all-state teams have already been posted. Other than that, however, once a player switches we will switch it as well.
This brings us again back to Jordan. His reclassification put him in the same class as Norco teammate Dylan Seward. Two years ago, Seward was the State Freshman of the Year. Last year, Seward was strongly considered for State Sophomore of the Year, but that one went to Grindlinger (now a senior). Ayala was State Freshman of the Year. So this year both Ayala and Seward from the same team were up for State Junior of the Year. To be clear, Norco head coach Gary Parcell (the school’s longtime head coach who was named State Coach of the Year last week) was not asked even off the record to pick between his own players. We just laughed about it. Seward is the more highly ranked MLB prospect between the two, but Ayala fits the description of player of the year a bit better historically the way we’ve done it over the years because he also pitches and hits.
Ayala has been named the Riverside Press-Enterprise All-Inland Player of the Year. His pitching this season was off the charts. Jordan didn’t give up a run in his first 36 2/3 innings. He ended 8-2 with a 0.74 ERA and he had 91 strikeouts in in 66 innings.
In Norco’s 3-0 win in the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs over an Orange Lutheran team that won the National High School Invitational and won the Boras Classic state title, Ayala tossed a two-hitter over seven innings and he smashed a home run to account for one of the runs. He also pitched a gem in the CIFSS D1 final vs St. John Bosco with 10 strikeouts and a three-hitter, but the Braves’ Julian Garcia (a senior) was even better with a one-hitter and 14 strikeouts in a 2-0 win.
As a batter for the season, Ayala wound up third on the Norco team with a .390 average. He also was tied for second with 39 hits (Seward had 48 hits, seven homers and 29 RBI) and he had four homers, nine doubles and 26 RBI.
Two-time Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year Seth Hernandez of Corona from two years ago was the last state junior of the year from the Inland Empire. Ayala isn’t the first from Norco, either. In 2008, Matt Hobgood of the Cougars was the junior honoree. The only other winner from the Inland Empire on the junior list we have that goes back to 1940 is Ontario Chaffey’s Larry Maxie for 1957.
Recent State Juniors of the Year: 2025 – Tyler Spangler (Concord De La Salle); 2024 – Seth Hernandez (Corona); 2023 – Bryce Rainer (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2022 – Gavin Grahovac (Villa Park); 2021 – Malcolm Moore (Sacramento McClatchy); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Jared Jones (La Mirada); 2018 – Dawson Netz (Pasadena Maranatha); 2017 – Grant Holman (Chula Vista Eastlake); 2016 – Royce Lewis (SJ Capistrano JSerra); 2015 – Jeremy Ydens (Mountain View St. Francis); 2014 – Joe DeMers (Pleasant Hill College Park); 2013 – Jack Flaherty (North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake); 2012 – Brett Seeburger (Vista); 2011 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2010 – J.D. Davis (Elk Grove); 2009 – Jake Rodriguez (Elk Grove).
Carlos Acuna from Birmingham of Lake Balboa came out on top in final sophomore of the year calculations. Photo: Code5photos / Instagram.com.
SOPHOMORES:
Carlos Acuna (Birmingham, Lake Balboa)
Since we didn’t consider Norco’s Jordan Ayala any longer for the sophomores (along with Bakersfield Liberty’s Brogan Witcher and Corona Santiago’s Striker Pence) due to reclassification decisions, that did open it up for others still counted for the Class of 2028. And while there are some highly ranked MLB recruits in the class, none of those players has accomplished that much yet on the high school level. The one sophomore who has emerged to be the state winner is Acuna.
Acuna’s recent selection as the L.A. Daily News Pitcher of the Year and being a player who also was a top hitter for a team that won the CIF L.A. City Section Open Division championship were two big factors in the nod to him as state sophomore of the year.
In Birmingham’s 4-2 win over El Camino Real of Woodland Hills at Dodger Stadium in the CIF L.A. City final, Acuna didn’t pitch and didn’t have the game-winning hit. But he was dominant in every outing he had as a pitcher. Carlos ended the season with a 11-0 record, a 1.19 ERA and he struck out 109 batters in 88 innings. As a batter, he had his moments as well with a .326 average on 30 hits. He also had one homer, 16 runs scored and 13 RBI.
In three of Acuna’s games, he had more than 10 strikeouts, including 15 in a win over Christian Brothers of Sacramento at the San Diego Mike Morrow Lions tourney and 11 in a win over Granada Hills Charter.
There have been several state sophomores of the year from the San Fernando Valley in recent years, including Bryce Rainer of Harvard-Westlake in 2022 and Hunter Greene of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in 2015. Acuna is the first winner ever from Birmingham, but El Camino Real has had two — Ryan McGuire in 1988 and Jason Felice in 1979. The last state soph of the year from the L.A. City Section would be Mike Moustakas of Chatsworth in 2005.
Recent State Sophomores of the Year: 2025 – Jared Grindlinger (Huntington Beach); 2024 – Anthony Murphy (Corona); 2023 – Diego Velazquez (Crespi, Encino); 2022 – Bryce Rainer (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2021 – Gavin Grahovac (Villa Park); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Jonathan Cymrot (San Jose Valley Christian); 2018 – Jared Jones (La Mirada); 2017 – Kyle Ashworth (Tustin Foothill); 2016 – Brandon Dieter (West Covina South Hills); 2015 – Hunter Greene (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame); 2014 – Mickey Moniak (Carlsbad La Costa Canyon); 2013 – Joe DeMers (Pleasant Hill College Park); 2012 – Alex Jackson (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2011 – Ryan “Rowdy” Tellez (Elk Grove); 2010 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2009 – Christian Lopes (Valencia).
Mattias Di Maggio from Dos Pueblos of Goleta is the first-ever State Freshman of Year in baseball from Santa Barbara County. Photo: X.com.
FRESHMEN:
Mattias Di Maggio (Dos Pueblos, Goleta)
A four-year run of winners in this category from the Inland Empire gets broken with selection of Di Maggio. He’s also regarded as one of the top Class of 2029 prospects in the nation and he will come into his sophomore season after having a monster freshman season based on what he’s done already for Dos Pueblos High and not just the summer/club stuff.
Several years ago, when we wrote up Jesse Di Maggio of Dos Pueblos, Matti’s older brother, we asked about any relation to the legendary Joe DiMaggio of MLB fame, but were told that they weren’t related. In a feature earlier this season about Mattias, however, by Tarek Fattal of High School Sports on SI it was reported that the brothers are “distant cousins” of the Yankee great. We know from our own ancestry research how those things can change and get discovered.
Di Maggio ranked among the state leaders as a freshman with 11 home runs. He also batted an even .500 on 42 hits and he had nine doubles with one triple. He added 10 innings of pitching, but it’s his sweet swing from the left side that has scouts most impressed. He also only struck out once and and scored 37 runs.
In a 14-8 win over Burroughs of Burbank in the CIFSS D3 playoffs, Mattias went 3-for-5 with two RBI. In the next round, when the Chargers topped Edison of Huntington Beach, 10-7, Di Maggio went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, one homer and one RBI. He was 1-for-3 with an RBI in a 13-6 loss to eventual champion Mira Costa in the quarterfinals.
Prior to this honor, Di Maggio has been named MVP of the Channel League and joined freshman pitcher Zach Partee of Agoura as the only ninth graders to be first team on any of the top three All-CIFSS teams. The other freshman who was seriously considered to be on top of this category was Liberty of Bakersfield’s Pierce Buckey, who had the most homers (12) for a freshman in the state this season.
There has never been a state freshman of the year honoree in baseball from Santa Barbara County, but current Channel League member Rio Mesa of Oxnard had Dmitri Young in 1988.
Recent State Freshmen of the Year: 2025 – Jordan Ayala (Norco); 2024 – Dylan Seward (Norco); 2023 – Anthony Murphy (Corona); 2022 – Brady Ebel (Etiwanda); 2021 – Bryce Rainer (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Luke Davis (Cypress); 2018 – Jonathan Cymrot (Valley Christian, San Jose); 2017 – Lucas Gordon (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame); 2016 – Jasiah Dixon (Orange Lutheran); 2015 – Joey Magrisi (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2014 – Tommy Palomera (Chatsworth); 2013 – Conrado Diaz (San Ysidro); 2012 – Jagger Rusconi (Valencia West Ranch); 2011 – Alex Jackson (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2010 – J.R. Crawford (Lakewood); 2009 – Ty France (Covina South Hills); 2008 – Christian Lopes (Valencia).
Logan Schmidt made his only high school season count at Ganesha of Pomona. Photo: prepbaseballca / Instagram.com.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS:
Logan Schmidt (Ganesha, Pomona)
One year after the leader of a team that won the CIF Southern Section D2 title claimed this honor, it’s gone to the top player on the team that won this year’s CIFSS D2 championship.
Schmidt and the Giants had a more interesting path to their title. After Schmidt had three hits to help them defeat Newport Harbor of Newport Beach, 2-1, in the semifinals, there was a day in which it looked like many of the team’s top players, including himself, would be missing the title game in order to participate in a club showcase event in Mississippi. With help from the Pomona Unified School District, the players and head coach Jared Sandler were on hand for the title game vs Loyola of Los Angeles. Schmidt came on to pitch the final inning.
Already named as the San Gabriel Valley Tribune Player of the Year and CIFSS D2 Player of the Year, Schmidt also was considered one of the top three finalists for State Player of the Year. He clearly has that combination of being a dominant pitcher and hitter that we traditionally value just a bit more than just being a top hitter or just a top pitcher.
Schmidt previously hadn’t been considered near the top of any high school yearly honors simply because he didn’t play high school baseball until his senior season. He had only been doing home schooling prior to this year. He sure made up for lost time, similar to two-time State Player of the Year Seth Hernandez of Corona, who was home schooled until his junior year.
Pitching is what seems to be projecting the highest for Logan as an MLB prospect. A left-hander with a 6-foot-4 frame, Schmidt racked up a 10-0 record this season with a 0.12 ERA. He also had 103 strikeouts in 60 innings. He only allowed one earned run all season and just 15 batters were able to get a hit off him. Schmidt, who has a college commitment to LSU, also has been in the top 25 to top 30 of the most recent MLB mock drafts.
The hitting part of it for Logan isn’t far off from the pitching, either. He was the second-leading hitter for the 26-3-1 Giants with a .568 batting average. He also belted five homers with 34 RBI, scored 30 runs and he had 12 doubles with three triples.
Current MLB pitcher Peter Lambert of San Dimas is the last Medium Schools State Player of the Year from the San Gabriel Valley. Lambert was winner in 2015. Rio Ruiz of Bishop Amat won the same honor in 2011. The list of previous honorees also includes Billy Kilmer from Citrus of Azusa for 1957.
Recent Medium Schools State Players of the Year: 2025 – Hunter Manning (Valencia West Ranch); 2024 – Boston Bateman (Camarillo); 2023 – Toby Twist (Bakersfield Christian); 2022 – Eric Bitonti (San Bernardino Aquinas); 2021 – Tucker Bougie (Mill Valley Tamalpais); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Colin Barber (Chico Pleasant Valley); 2018 – Tyson Heaton (Yucaipa); 2017 – Matt Sauer (Santa Maria Righetti); 2016 – Sean Reynolds (Redondo Beach Redondo Union); 2015 – Peter Lambert (San Dimas); 2014 – Chris Mathewson (Fontana Kaiser); 2013 – Dominic Smith (Gardena Serra); 2012 – Troy Conyers (Lakeside El Capitan); 2011 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2010 – Angelo Gumbs (Torrance); 2009 – Ryan Wilkins (San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 2008 – Kyle Skipworth (Riverside Rubidoux); 2007 – Mike Stanton (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame).
SMALL SCHOOLS:
Jensen Hirschkorn (Kingsburg)
This category in recent seasons has become the domain of the CIF Central Section. State strikeout leader Blake Moore of California City got it for last year and it went to McGuire Smith of Madera Ranchos Liberty the year before that. There are many others, including three years in a row for Woodlake’s future MLB player Ron Robinson from 1978 to 1980, but Jensen is the first one from Kingsburg.
Hirschkorn comes from an athletic family. His older twin brothers, Houston and Holden, were multi-sport standouts at Kingsburg and Jensen continued to play multi-sports even as baseball became more of a priorty.
For this past season in leading Kingsburg to a 23-8 record and final No. 6 state ranking for D4 schools due to a loss to in the CIF Central Section D3 semifinals to Central Valley Christian of Visalia, Hirschkorn racked up a 9-1 pitching record with a 0.71 ERA. He also had 112 strikeouts in 59 innings.
As a batter, Jensen crushed it for a .560 batting average with 47 hits, eight homers, 11 doubles and 32 RBI.
There were two separate games during the season in which Hirschkorn pitching five-inning no-hitters. He had one with eight strikeouts and no walks vs. Bakersfield and another with 11 strikeouts and no walks vs Kerman. He also had two separate games in which he hit two homers.
Before the baseball season began, Jensen had to transition into it after a high-scoring basketball season. Using his 6-foot-6 frame to his advantage, he averaged 18.9 points and 15.1 rebounds per game and gained all-state divisional recognition. He also averaged 4.2 assists, 3.1 blocks and 3.1 steals per game.
We’re pretty sure Jensen knows of our medium schools player of the year since like Logan Schmidt he has signed with LSU. Also like Schmidt, Jensen may not attend LSU and he’s a projected high pick in the upcoming MLB Draft. We’ve seen him as high as in the top 30 as well. Who knows maybe they’ll get picked right next to each other.
Recent Small Schools State Players of the Year: 2025 – Blake Moore (California City); 2024 – McGuire Smith (Liberty, Madera Ranchos); 2023 – Cody New (Hesperia Christian); 2022 – Nick Dugan (Eureka St. Bernard’s); 2021 – Braden Ross (El Cajon Christian); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Daniel Carrion (Winters); 2018 – Alex Williams (Redwood Christian, San Lorenzo); 2017 – Robert Cruz (Redlands Arrowhead Christian); 2016 – Brett Super (Newport Beach Sage Hill); 2015 – Nico Hoerner (Oakland Head-Royce); 2014 – Nico Hoerner (Oakland Head-Royce); 2013 – Carlos Salazar (Kerman); 2012 – Nolan Gannon (Solana Beach Santa Fe Christian); 2011 – Robb Woodcock (Kentfield Marin Catholic); 2010 – Dylan Covey (Sierra Madre Maranatha); 2009 – Andrew Rich (Easton Washington); 2008 – Clay Cederquist (Fowler).
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
