MORRISTOWN, TN – Walters State's Deniel Ortiz and Karson Bonaparte were honored by the NJCAA after successful 2024 campaigns.  

On Monday, Ortiz was named an NJCAA DI Baseball Third Team All-American. Meanwhile, Bonaparte was named an NJCAA DI Baseball Honorable Mention All-American. 

The honor comes after Ortiz was named the TCCAA Player of the Year and Bonaparte was named the TCCAA Pitcher of the Year. 

After a phenomenal freshman season, Ortiz was exceptional during his sophomore year in 2024. Ortiz finished the season with a .391 batting average, 18 homers and 61 RBIs. Ortiz was first in the conference in home runs by six, first in runs batted in and third in batting average. Ortiz also led the conference in OBP at .532 and was second in walks with 48. He was first in the conference with 71 runs, as well. 

For his career, Ortiz hit .387 in 117 games. He hit 34 home runs and drove in 116 runs, while walking 91 times. He scored 147 runs and had a .535 OBP.

Meanwhile, Bonaparte was named an Honorable Mention All-American following a 10-3 record on the mound. Bonaparte led the league in wins, in ERA at 2.96 and was seventh in the conference in strikeouts with 78 in 73 innings pitched. Bonaparte won seven games in conference play, as opposed to just one defeat. He had two complete game shutouts and allowed just four home runs all year. 

For his career at Walters State, Bonaparte finished with a 15-3 record in 31 appearances. Bonaparte had three saves and threw 106.1 innings. He struck out 122 batters and finished with a 2.71 ERA. 

For a complete list of NJCAA DI Baseball All-Americans, visit https://www.njcaa.org/sports/bsb/2023-24/div1/all-americans/index. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics