KINGSBURG – Kingsburg baseball phenom Jensen Hirschkorn doesn’t need to worry about his future. With plenty of pro aspirations and a college offer sitting on his lap, at this point, all Hirschkorn has to do is round third towards the home stretch of his high school career and help his fellow Vikings get over the hump.
Hirschkorn, who’s verbally committed to playing college ball at Louisiana State University (LSU), is also currently ranked as the #5-ranked high school pitching prospect in the entire nation by MLB.com. Whether he chooses to attend one of the nation’s most successful college baseball programs or venture into a surefire MLB career, Hirschkorn’s gaze right now is focused purely on going out on top with the Vikings.
“I’m just trying to have a lot of fun with this team right now, and enjoy the last few months that I’m here,” said Hirschkorn. “Still trying just to have fun and enjoy what’s out in front of me right now.”
Hirschkorn’s prodigious talents have helped return the Vikings to the fleet of the Central Section’s elite programs this season.
Armed with a nasty, three-pitch arsenal (fastball, slider, changeup), Hirschkorn’s lanky, 6-foot-7-inch frame on the mound has currently produced a microscopic 0.78 ERA, an eye-popping 74 strikeouts and a 5-1 record, according to stats in MaxPreps as of April 16.
Offensively, Hirschkorn has unloaded on his fellow counterparts with his tremendous reach and plate coverage. A .593 batting average, 6 home runs, 32 hits, 25 RBIs and 1.111 slugging percentage, according to numbers in MaxPreps, also make him a nightmare for the opposition. It’s easy to see why the MLB scouts have gathered in droves to assess his talent.
Despite all of his dominance on the mound and in the batter’s box, Hirschkorn feels like he still needs to be better. Even with the MLB accolades and A+ scouting reports, Hirschkorn is still working on lighting up the JUGS gun and the scoreboard.
“I would say, maybe get a little stronger and just more strikes on the mound,” said Hirschkorn. “And hitting-wise, just getting more hits. Getting on base, maybe stay focused.”
With Kingsburg currently sitting in first place in the Tri-County-Kings, and a tough Sierra Pacific team hot on their heels, Hirschkorn feels that he – and his fellow Vikings – just need to take everything in stride on the diamond.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure, except the pressure that we put on ourselves,” said Hirschkorn. “I don’t think we’re gonna press on that right now. I think we’re gonna go out there and do our job like we always try to do.”
Filtering out the noise
It’s easy to see why the MLB scouts salivate about Hirschkorn’s talent. But even with the pro buzz and lofty expectations dangling over him, Hirschkorn has managed to filter out all of the distractions to focus on the bigger task at hand.
“My main focus is what’s on the field, just winning games for this team, and doing my job out here,” said Hirschkorn. “Just have fun with it, enjoy it, because it’s a good experience for me. Not a lot of people get to do this, so yeah, just very thankful for it. Just try to get to our goal, which is Valley, then State.”
And while it could be easy for Hirschkorn to get caught up in all the hoopla, he’s managed to stay grounded and humble, with the help of some tremendous family support.
“My parents have been the biggest help to me – they’ve always been there and just always supported me with what I need to do,” said Hirschkorn.
When Hirschkorn has the opportunity to come up big for Kingsburg in that final game, all he has to do is decide how to go out. Hirschkorn could finish with a loud thump off the bat, or the sound of a sizzling fastball in the catcher’s mitt.
“I feel like a walk-off home run would be pretty sweet – that would be pretty awesome,” said Hirschkorn. “Even though a seven-inning shutout is pretty cool, the walk-offs don’t come around that much.”
