Hughson baseball iron men hope to lead team to league, postseason success
There was a chance Hughson’s JC Lupercio wouldn’t suit up this season.
Nursing a left shoulder injury and knowing he’d need surgery before starting his college career at Delta College, he almost opted to sit out the season. He says it took a couple of weeks to decide and that he talked it over with his future college coach, his coach at Hughson and his teammates before deciding to suit up.
He plays every day with two braces on his left shoulder and only plays catcher. He’s batting .562 with nine hits, nine runs scored, three RBI, a pair of doubles and even a home run. He has not had an at bat since Feb. 25, but wants to be on the field because he loves baseball and he loves his team.
“I look at these guys and I think, ‘Yeah, I have to push through for these guys,’” he said. “After a couple of weeks of practice where I couldn’t do anything, I thought, ‘Yeah, I have to get back.’”
Lupercio is one of three four-year varsity players on this year’s Huskies roster hoping to lead the team to success along with Carlos Guizar Jr. and Max Mankins.
This season, Lupercio and Guizar hit a milestone, playing 100 career varsity games for the Huskies. They played through nagging injuries and illness to reach a mark not many high school athletes get to. Mankins, who missed time earlier in his career with a hand injury, will reach the 100-game mark this season as well.
They all do it as multi-sport athletes. Lupercio plays basketball and Guizar and Mankins have been staples on each of the Huskies’ three section championship football teams.
Would they consider themselves iron men?
“Like Cal Ripken?” Lupercio said with a laugh. A nod to the professional baseball player who was nicknamed Major League Baseball’s iron man and owns the streak for most consecutive games played (2,632).
“I mean I would say so,” Guizar said.
Lupercio added, “I would say we’re tough. And not only us, but our whole team.”
A need to win
Goals entering a season are usually similar for most teams: win league and make deep playoff runs. Over the last three full seasons, Hughson, by the standards of many teams, has been successful.
The Huskies have completed the past three years with three finishes in the Trans-Valley League, including a league title last season and have made at least the section semifinals every year for the past three years.
In 2023, they went to the section title game, falling to Bradshaw Christian. The next two seasons, they lost to Linden in the section semifinals series. The following two seasons, they were swept by Sutter in the Division V semifinals series. This year, they want more
“We’ve got to get that revenge back after (losing) in the last two years, even going back to our freshman year,” Guizar said. “Winning at sections is something we need to do, and even make a run at state too.”
Lupercio and Guizar say getting so close to a blue championship banner their whole high school careers drives them to make one final push as the team’s senior leaders. They have had players hit the weight room hard, putting on anywhere from 15-25 pounds of muscle and are making sure the younger players understand the opportunity in front of them with more than two-thirds of the season remaining.
Their careers have included position changes and new roles.
Guizar started as a third baseman, but Hughson coaches realized his calling was at first. Lupercio, during his first two seasons, played on the infield, but after their starting catcher missed time with an injury, he stepped in. He has only been catching for two seasons.
They had to grow into their roles as leaders. As freshmen, they learned from their seniors. As sophomores, they started to find their voices and in their final two seasons, it is their team.
This team is different
Lupercio and Guizar have seen it all at the varsity level, but they feel like this year’s team is different.
The Huskies in 2025 are 14-2 overall, 6-0 in TVL play and after Friday’s 23-0 win over Orestimba, are on a seven-game win streak. Five players are hitting .400 or better, six players have more than 15 hits and two players already have four or more home runs.
“On the surface, they see Junior and I and they see that we’re tough, but this whole team is tough as nails,” Lupercio said.
They’re also unselfish.
Head coach Charly Garza says they don’t chase stats. They’re not swinging for fences against slower pitching, instead opting to keep it simple: base hit, line drive, ground ball through the infield. They take the big hits as they come.
They also have fun together in the dugout. Starters volunteer their spot in the lineup to get bench players at bats and time in the field.
“Their approaches, the pitching, all of it. These guys have what it takes up here,” Garza said, pointing to his head noting the team’s high baseball IQ. “Mentally, they’re making the right decisions to help us get as far as we can go.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 10:15 AM.
