Kingsburg High Senior Pitcher Ranked Top 30 MLB Draft Prospect, Committed to LSU

Jensen Hirschkorn stood out from the moment Jim Cranford first saw him. The Kingsburg High senior right-handed pitcher, who stands 6-foot-7, is now ranked among MLB's top 30 draft prospects for this year's draft and rated the tenth-best high school player in the country, putting the small Central Valley city on the national baseball map.

Cranford, who has coached for 40 years, receives 10 to 15 emails daily from professional scouts asking about Hirschkorn's health and pitching schedule. Those same scouts regularly show up to Kingsburg High games whenever Jensen is slated to take the mound.

"I know a lot of people have him high on their draft boards," Cranford said. "You know, he's a once-in-a-lifetime kid. I've been doing this for 40 years. He's the best one I've coached, and they just don't come around like him."

Cranford's first look at Jensen came during a summer league game when the pitcher was still in sixth grade. Needing extra players, Cranford called him up. Jensen went 6-for-6 across a doubleheader and played roughly five different positions. "Not to offend his brothers," Cranford said, "but he was the best player on that field as a sixth grader."

Those brothers are Jensen's twins, who also played for the Kingsburg Vikings and are both currently playing college baseball. Their father, Oscar Hirschkorn, is the longtime head coach at Fresno Pacific, making baseball a family institution in Kingsburg. Cranford said it is hard to remember a time when the Hirschkorn name was not in his lineup.

Jensen credited his brothers and Cranford for shaping his work ethic. "They're some of the hardest workers I know," he said. "Learning from them and taking what I can from them, and just coach Cranford always keeping us disciplined, working hard and making sure we earn everything."

Despite the professional attention, Jensen remains committed to Louisiana State University, one of the premier baseball programs in the country. "It's been a dream come true," he said. "Just dreaming about it since I was a little kid. Just wanted to compete with the best players." He is expected to weigh that commitment against the possibility of entering the MLB Draft, a decision that will define the next chapter of his career.

His impact in Kingsburg extends beyond the diamond. Teammate Jonah Lopez described Jensen's presence simply: "He's a leader on the field. He's a leader off it, too. You see Jensen downtown walking around. All the kids want to act a little better."

For a town of roughly 12,000 people between Fresno and Visalia, a top-30 MLB draft prospect walking the downtown streets is something Kingsburg has not seen before, and Cranford does not expect to see again anytime soon.