Central Catholic two-way star named The Bee’s Baseball Player of the Year
When TP Wentworth entered high school, his only goal was to win a championship for Central Catholic baseball.
The Raiders were one of the top baseball programs in the section with 11 titles prior to his freshman campaign in 2021, but had not won a title since 2009 and did not win a title in one of the section’s top three divisions in program history.
Fast forward four years and Central Catholic has back-to-back outright Valley Oak League titles, a Division III Sac-Joaquin Section title (the program’s 12th section championship overall), a CIF Northern California Regional title and section and NorCal runner-up appearances.
Wentworth has had a lot to do with that. A four-year varsity outfielder who doubled as the team’s ace for two of those seasons, he was one of the section’s best all-around players in his junior year as the Raiders captured Valley Oak League, Sac-Joaquin Section and Northern California Regional titles.
As a senior, he recorded career highs at the plate, driving in 28 runs and hitting seven home runs. On the mound is where he was really dominant, earning 10 wins in 12 appearances, posting a 0.51 earned run average and striking out 119 batters — all career highs. He threw a pair of no-hitters and five shutouts to lead the Raiders to a co-VOL title and runner-up finishes at the section and NorCal levels.
“I just wanted to bring Central Catholic championships, as simple as it sounds,” Wentworth said. “They had been really close prior and had some really good teams that made some runs, but came up a bit short. Knowing the class that was coming in with me and our leadership, bringing some championships was the goal.”
After being named the Valley Oak League MVP and leading the Raiders to at least a share of the league title for a third straight year along with deep section and NorCal Regional playoff runs, TP Wentworth is The Bee’s Baseball Player of the Year.
Wentworth committed to Clemson early in his senior year after over four years of fielding offers from some of the country’s best programs. He received his first offer from San Diego State and says he jumped onto the national recruiting scene his eighth-grade summer at a camp at Stanford. After that camp, the Cardinal offered him a scholarship and he recalls receiving an offer from UCLA not long after that. His size and ability as a pitcher, hitter and outfielder made him one of the nation’s most coveted high school prospects. Over the past four years, the college offers continued to pour in. Soon the college interest turned into MLB interest.
At the Raiders’ season opener, pro scouts lined up behind their home backstop, radar guns in hand when he pitched and phones out taking videos when he was up to bat.
“It’s a great feeling because they’re there to see you and they believe in you and think you have something special in this game,” he said. “It’s not like a college game where there’s thousands of people, so they stand out. My eyes wandered (to see the scouts) a little bit. It was just a really cool feeling to have.”
This year, Wentworth’s numbers ranked among the best in the section and the state. He finished 16th in the state and second in the section in strikeouts, third in the section in home runs, eighth in the section in earned run average and fifth in the section in wins. He did not just excel in baseball, however. The 6-foot-5 multi-sport star was named league MVP for football and basketball and was The Bee’s 2023-24 Football Player of the Year.
Wentworth credits his teammates, and most importantly his coaches for all of the team and individual success he’s seen over the past four years. Head coach Danny Ayala and his staff kept the team ready with precise practice plans and in-game adjustments.
“It was everything I could have asked for,” Wentworth said of his career at Central Catholic. “Knowing the baseball was good but also knowing the potential and we could create this powerhouse because of our great coaching staff, players and people around. … Playing in the biggest games, in the biggest moments, nothing is better than (section championship games at) River Islands. I’m just really proud because Danny and all these guys are the reason we’re here.”
Fan Vote Player of the Year
PAUL WAGNER, SENIOR, HUGHSON
Paul Wagner did some of everything for the Hughson baseball team. While the Huskies were having their best season in recent school history, the senior was simultaneously putting together the best season of his career. Wagner played on the infield and pitched for the Trans Valley League champion Huskies, helping them secure 11 league wins, the most in program history since 2015 (14-1).
Wagner, who will play 3C2A JUCO baseball next year at Ohlone College, played in all 30 games this season, leading the team and posting career highs in batting average (.396), runs scored (45), hits (40) and triples (4). He also posted career highs in RBI (32), doubles (9) and home runs (3). On the mound, Wagner made 11 appearances, finishing 2-1 with a 2.58 ERA and a career high 38 strikeouts.
The Huskies advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V semifinals for the third straight season and secured their third straight season with more than 20 wins. Their 26 wins are the most in recent school history. All season long, Hughson put together one of its best offensive seasons, led by five players with batting averages above .350, three players with more than 30 hits and three players with more than 30 RBI.
The fans noticed Wagner’s contributions to his team, voting him The Bee’s Baseball Fan Vote Player of the Year. He came in first in the poll, gaining 50% of the more than 17,500 votes. He finished ahead of Chris Garcia of Central Valley and Glen Weber of Oakdale, who came in second and third place, respectively.
2024 All-District Baseball Team
FIRST TEAM
P: Kannon Sharpe – Enochs, Senior
P: Mason Baker – Turlock, Senior
P: Landon Schutte – Oakdale, Sophomore
INF: Noah Cozart – Patterson, Junior
INF: Carlo Antinetti – Oakdale, Senior
INF: Seth Van Dyk – Central Catholic, Senior
INF: Paul Wagner – Hughson, Senior
INF: Dawson Downs – Ripon, Senior
INF: Grant Sonke – Ripon Christian, Senior
INF: Nick Poulus – Enochs, Senior
C: Owen Miller – Turlock, Senior
C: Fernando Alaniz – Central Catholic, Senior
OF: Carter Crivelli – Turlock, Senior
OF: Griffin Costa – Oakdale, Sophomore
OF: Trace Hernandez – Central Catholic, Senior
OF: Henry Robison – Beyer, Senior
OF: Carson Gonzales – Turlock, Senior
UTIL: Caleb Wilson – Hughson, Senior
UTIL: Dominic Joseph – Gregori, Senior
UTIL: Max Medina – Patterson, Sophomore
UTIL: Adrian Garcia – Central Catholic, Senior
SECOND TEAM
P: Kaden Prine – Denair, Junior
P: Wesley Payne – Central Catholic, Senior
P: Andrew Lujan – Turlock, Senior
P: Luke Crivello – Ripon Christian, Senior
P: Nick Dominguez – Central Valley, Junior
P: Brayden Clark – Ceres, Senior
INF: Chris Garcia – Central Valley, Junior
INF: Tommy Chance – Oakdale, Senior
INF: Tyler Castro – Turlock, Senior
INF: Nate Lozano – Patterson, Senior
INF: Glen Weber – Oakdale, Senior
INF: Nathan Cervantes – Pitman, Junior
INF: Vincent Castrejon – Ceres, Junior
C: JC Lupercio – Hughson, Junior
C: Caden Reeve – Enochs, Junior
C: Andre Mendoza-Munoz – Downey, Senior
OF: Jamin Miller – Escalon, Senior
OF: Justin Capell – Beyer, Senior
OF: Logan Ariza – Davis, Junior
OF: Kyan Bowen – Ceres, Senior
UTIL: Aiden Larson – Downey, Senior
UTIL: Alejandro Trujilo – Pitman, Senior
UTIL: Jackson Howell – Big Valley Christian, Sophomore
HONORABLE MENTION
Beyer: Izaiah Ishihara, Marcus Ramos; Big Valley Christian: Logan Stevens; Central Catholic: Joe Salacup, Kayden McHenry; Central Valley: Fernando Dominguez, Eddie Stewart; Ceres: Daniel Davis, Aiden Maines; Davis: Tanner Bland; Downey: Wyatt Edwards, Ryne Moore, Jaxen Rowland; Enochs: John Ramirez, Mike “Kila” Day; Escalon: Greg Adams, Logan Huebner, Nico Franzia; Gregori: Trinity Beland, Lance Eastman, Erick Rosas; Hilmar: John Labno, Jackson Takhar; Hughson: Beau Blake, Blaine Fusi, Carlos Guizar; Johansen: Jesus Atayde, Raymond Chacon, Jordan Vaka; Modesto: Giovanni Lunardi, Jackson Perry; Modesto Christian: Noah Avery, Nate Moore; Oakdale: Christian Diebner, Reid Grandstaff; Patterson: Tony Lomeli, Caden Lozano; Pitman: Daniel Mazon, Jackson Way; Ripon: Isaac Sandoval, Renzo Garcia, Nate Dorn; Ripon Christian: Joshua Buffalow, Dustin Hoekstra, David Koolhaas; Turlock: Josh Ramirez; Turlock Christian: Michael Miller, Will Kelley
▪ How the teams were selected: The Bee’s All-District teams were picked through observation with an emphasis on coach nominations and team playoff success. Players not on these lists were not nominated.
