Jensen sign with Chicago Cubs

Salinas native Michael Jensen had a big decision to make- attend a four-year school or sign with the Chicago Cubs organization. Jensen said when the Cubs offered to pay for his schooling about two weeks ago, on top of signing bonus and deal that was already offered, it was too sweet to pass up. Jensen, a 2009 Salinas High graduate, was also offered a scholarship to pitch at USC. "I'm signed to be a Cub," the 6-foot-1, 195 pounder said. "The offer that the Cubs made was really enticing. It's my dream to play for a major league team."

HARTNELL MAKES PUSH FOR PLAYOFFS

Michael Jensen continues to throw strikes, win games and keep the four-year college recruiters arriving to the Panther games. Auburn has now joined the hunt for Jensen, along with Texas and USC, who have been on his trail for weeks. A recruiter for Auburn sat behind the home plate screen Tuesday at Hartnell with speed gun in hand as Jensen breezed through six innings in a 9-1 Panther win over Mission College of Santa Clara. With 10 games to go the Panthers, 7-7 in the Coast Pacific Conference and 12-14 overall, are making a late-season push to the playoffs behind one of the best starting rotation in the state and a lineup that has started hitting just in time. Kyle Watase hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Marc Flores, a freshman from King City added a two-run blast in the third to stake Jensen to a 6-0 lead. Flores leads the Panthers in homers with three and RBIs with 18. Seven of Hartnell's starting nine had at least one hit. Watase had three, Flores homered and doubled and Chris Liu-Saguid had two hits. Darrell Sinclair, also from King city, added a two-run triple in the fourth inning to give Hartnell an 8-0 advantage.

JENSEN MAKES DIVISION 1 PITCH IN HARTNELL VICTORY

Michael Jensen gave another Division 1 pitching performance Tuesday, which should come as no surprise to the University of Texas and USC. Both high-profile Division 1 college baseball programs have been heavily pursuing the unflappable sophomore right-hander from Salinas High, and for good reason.
Jensen, who entered Tuesday's game with a 4-1 record, a 1.44 earned run average, a 90-plus mile per hour fastball that has struck out 54 in 48 innings, pitched Hartnell to an 8-1 win over San Mateo, ranked No. 11 in the Northern California Top 20 poll. Kyle Watase belted a 2 run homer in the 6th inning to give Hartnell a 2-1 lead. "That gave us a lot of momentum," Jensen said. Hartnell, 4-4 in conference in the Coast Pacific Conference and 1--1- overall, scored four times in the seventh, with two forced home on bases-loaded walks.

PANTHERS RALLY TO BEAT MPC

Michael Jensen struck out 11 MPC hitters in eight innings to get the win.

The panthers got a couple of runs Tuesday in the ninth inning to beat rival Monterey Peninsula College 4-3 in a Coast Conference contest. Hartnell went 1-1 in conference and Monterey went to 1-2. Hartnell trailed 3-2 going to the top of the ninth. Kyle Watase opened the ninth for Hartnell by rolling an 0-2 pitch to the right of the second baseman. The ball glanced off his glove for an error. Pinch-runner Cody Guenthart was wild pitched to second and took third on a bunt from Christopher Liu-Saguid. With Darrell Sinclair batting, Mike Aldrete uncorked a wild pitch on ball four, bringing home the tying run. Benny Uncangco followed with a single to right to put runners at first and second. Dylan Comilla then tapped a grounder to the right of the shortstop. The ball skidded off the bottom of his glove and rolled into shallow left field for an error, allowing the tie-breaking run to score. Dillon Given retired MPC in order in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save. "Typical Hartnell-MPC game, "Givens said.

HARTNELL STICKS TO TRADITION OF STRONG DEFENSE AND PITCHING

The Hartnell College baseball team typically plays the old fashioned way: pitching and defense. And that's what the Panthers are pinning their hopes to again this year.
"We've always been about pitching and defense, "said Hartnell coach Rich Givens. "We've always had at least one real good pitcher. This year we have three."
Hartnell's three-man rotation is led by three Divsion 1 prospects. Michael Jensen, Michaelangelo Guzman, and Cory Carma. All three are sophomores. And all three are home-grown. Jensen and Carma come from Salinas High and Guzman from Soledad.
Guzman, a left-handeer whose fastball has been clocked at 93 miles per hour, has already signed a letter of intent to play for Oral Roberts next year. Jensen, a right-hander who has had his fastball hit 95 on occasion, has been followed heavily by radar gun-touting recruiters and has had talks with Texas, USC, Mississippi and Long Beach State, among others. Carma has been throwing in the mid-to high- 80's, and is considered by Given his most polished pitcher. "He can throw any pitch, fastball, curveball, and change-up, any time." Given said. Good Luck to the Panthers this season.

GUZMAN SIGNS WITH ORAL ROBERTS

MICHAELANGELO GUZMAN *5-11 *LHP * HARTNELL COLLEGE. Currently a sophomore at Hartnell College. Earned all conference honors after posting a 7-3 record and 3.38 ERA. Tossed 72.0 innings, striking out 68 and allowing only 56 hits. 2009 graduate of Soledad High School... ended career as Soledad's career, single-season and single-game leader in strikouts....also belted eight home runs as a senior....three-time all-league selection....chose ORU over USC and others. Says coach Walton from ORU, "Michaelangelo is a power left-hander, something we haven't had a lot of in recent years. His fastball is 86-90 and he owns an above-average curveball. He could fill a lot of roles for us, everything from a weekend starting pitcher to a situational reliever. He'll give us a lot of options, and he's only going to get better."

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