Winter Springs baseball coach Mike Bradley said a decision by Tripp Rosenberger to focus on his future last summer paid off big for the Bears’ pitcher heading into his senior year.
He was the ace on a loaded pitching staff. Rosenberger won six games, struck out 66 hitters in 64 1⁄3 innings with a 1.52 ERA and helped lead Winter Springs into the Class 5A FHSAA state championship game, where they lost a tough one 5-4 against Tallahassee Lincoln.
And for all of that, Rosenberger has been voted the Sentinel’s Player of the Year by area baseball coaches.
Rosenberger, who is headed to Northwest Florida State University, edged out Hagerty’s star sophomore Isaias Torres for the honor, and rounding out the top five were Jack Fleming of Winter Springs, Nate Davis of Bishop Moore and Max Sakala of Orangewood Christian.
“He’s just an overall great pitcher. He’s got command of three different pitcher, he’s a hard worker, he’s a competitive kid and he’s really matured,” Bradley said. “He stepped up. He was voted as co-captain on our team. He wanted the ball and he went out there and performed.”
Bradley said it was Rosenberger’s focus during the offseason last summer that led to an impressive senior season.
“It happened for him on the travel-ball circuit,” Bradley said. “That’s when he really flipped the switch from being a guy on the staff that we can rely on to the dude on the staff that we relied on.
TFA’s Sentinel Varsity Baseball Player of the Year Blake Fields hit, pitched and inspired
“I think he saw an increase in college interest and that whole maturity thing coming together your senior year and it’s like, ‘This is what I want to do, this is what I want to do and it’s going well for me right now and I know if I continue to work hard.” He’s got a workout program he’s following, and a pitching program. For Tripp, he finally turned that page.”
Bradley said he’s fun to be around, but he knows when it’s time to get serious.
“He’s a great kid, a likeable guy with high energy and he gets good grades. He’s serious but funny,” Bradley said. “One of the comments the kids wrote about him was that he knows when to turn it on when he needs to turn it on and he knows how to keep it chill and cool and fun for everybody when it needs to be.”
All-Area Baseball First Team
(Listed in order of coaches’ voting)
Isaias Torres, So., Pitcher-Infielder, Hagerty
Batted .317 (32-for-101) with 9 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs and 24 RBI. As a pitcher he was 7-4 and struck out 84 batters.
Jackson Fleming, Jr., Outfielder, Winter Park
Highest batting average in the area at .543 (49-for-92). Leadoff hitter had 49 hits, scored 24 runs and had 19 stolen bases.
Nate Davis, Sr., Outfielder, Bishop Moore
Batted .406 (41-for-101) and had 5 doubles, 4 triples and 8 home runs. Stole 17 bases and made just 1 error in 55 chances (98%).
Max Sakala, Jr., Pitcher, Orangewood Christian
Standout pitcher who is committed to Miami, went 12-2 with 125 strikeouts. Also a top hitter who batted .455 (35-for-77) with 5 doubles, a triple and 27 RBI.
Tyler Lomas, Sr., Infielder, Bishop Moore
Batted .444 (44-for-99) and had 14 doubles, 4 home runs and 28 RBI. Stole 15 bases.
Miguel Acosta, Sr., Outfielder, West Orange
Batted .454 (44-for-97) with 7 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs and 15 RBI. Stole 15 bases.
Danny Garcia, Sr., Infielder, Bishop Moore
Batted .400 (28-for-70) with 6 double and 4 home runs. Had 2 errors in 59 chances at second base (96%).
Tyler Kenast, Sr., Pitcher-Infielder, Winter Springs
A Texas Tech commit, he was 6-0 on the mound with 49 strikeouts and a 1.67 ERA. At the plate, he batted .314 with 5 doubles a triple and a home run.
Cannon Koronka, Infielder, The First Academy
Batted .436 (44-for-101) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 21 RBI.
Ryland Sander, So., Pitcher-Outfielder, Winter Springs
Bears top stopper was 2-0 with 23 strikeouts in 22 2⁄3 innings and did not allow an earned run. Batted .343 (23-for-67) with 5 doubles and 12 RBI.
JT Costello, Sr., Pitcher, Bishop Moore
Was 7-0 with 102 strikeouts and a .049 ERA. At the plate, he batted .362 (21-for 58) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 13 RBI.
Second Team
(Listed in alphabetical order)
Noah Adkins, Jr., Pitcher, Hagerty
Fabian Antonsanti, Sr., Utility, Lake Minneola
Carson Balls, Sr., Catcher, Orangewood Christian
Braeden Barnes, Sr., Pitcher, Eustis
Kinon Bastian, Jr., Outfielder, The First Academy
Diego Boras, Sr., Outfielder, Windermere
Elijah Dyer, Sr., Pitcher, Lake Mary
Louis Hernandez, Sr, Shortstop, Lake Mary
Malachi Meyers, Sr., Infielder, Lake Minneola
Elijah Prisciandaro, So., Outfielder, Lake Mary
Carter Reis, So., Outfielder-Pitcher, Orlando Christian Prep
Ryder Simon, Jr., Pitcher-Infielder, Winter Park
Honorable Mention
(Listed by school)
Bishop Moore: Will Kane, Sr., Catcher; Emmit Whalen, Jr., Pitcher.
East River: Jace Kennedy, Fr., Outfielder; Jake Roberts, Jr., Outfielder; Elijah Sealey, Sr., Pitcher.
Eustis: Ethan Jackson, So., Infielder.
Gateway: Maicol Santiago, Sr., Pitcher-Infielder.
Hagerty: Carlos Cruz, Jr., Infielder; Jalin Copeland, Sr., Utility; Keltan Fitzgerald, Sr., Pitcher; Outfielder; Aiden Kearney, So., Infielder.
Lake Highland Prep: Oliver Dugan, So., Utility; Ari Lanxner, Sr., Catcher; Alec Ochipiniti, Jr., Utility.
Lake Howell: Diego Miranda, Sr., Infielder.
Legacy Charter: Kevin Barnard, Sr., Infielder.
Montverde: Max Irving, Sr., Infielder.
Mount Dora Christian: Eli Field, Sr., Utility; Braden Waring, Sr., Infielder; Britton Wise, Jr., Outfielder.
Olympia: Daniel Dias, Fr., Utility.
South Lake: Zander Siokis, Sr., Utility.
Timber Creek: Hunter Wieckowski, Jr., Pitcher.
Tohopekaliga: Santiago Montero, Fr., Infielder.
Umatilla: Dominick Mathe, Sr., Catcher.
Winter Springs: Robbie Mungovan, Sr., Pitcher; Edward Risano, Sr., Catcher.
West Orange: Jack Patterson, Jr., Infielder; Lukas Stirewalt, Jr., Pitcher.
Winter Park: Trey Hodges, So., Utility, Winter Park; Matt Logan, Sr., Infielder; Dylan Malave, Sr., Catcher; Pietro Pugliese, Outfielder.
Lake Minneola: Maddux Bultema, Sr., Pitcher; Chase Dougherty, Jr., Utility; Colson May, Sr., Outfielder; Dylan Montrowl, Jr., Utility.
Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.
