MaxPreps 2015 New Mexico preseason baseball Fab 5, presented by the Army National Guard

1. La Cueva (Albuquerque)
2014 finish: 26-3
Head coach: Gerard Pineda

Winners of eight state championships since 2003 and the state champion last year at the 5A level, La Cueva will play at the 6A level in 2015. The Bears have enough offensive talent to return to the championship game, but will likely need to find some starting pitching to win it all. According to coach Gerard Pineda, La Cueva loses 75 percent of the innings pitched from last year's 26-3 season. The good news for the Bears is that eight starters return, including first baseman Caleb McAlister, who has signed with Washington State, outfielder Austin Bell, who has signed with New Mexico, and catcher Andrew Pratt, who has also signed with New Mexico. McAlister batted .426 last year while Bell batted .359 and Pratt batted .458 with eight home runs. McAlister was also first team all-state last year.

View last season's New Mexico baseball rankings, presented by the Army National Guard

2. Piedra Vista (Farmington)
2014 finish: 22-9
Head coach: Mike McGaha



Although last year's Class 4A state champions will need to replace state MVP Matt Martin, Piedra Vista still has five players returning who earned all-state status last season. Topping the list is catcher Zach Ahlgrim, who batted .406 with 31 RBIs and 15 doubles. The pitching staff includes three players with more than five wins last year. Wyatt Weaver went 6-2 with a 2.36 ERA while Gunner Archuleta was 6-2 with a 1.67 ERA and Phillip Archuleta was 5-2 with a 2.74 ERA. Weaver was also one of the team's top hitters at .373 with 24 runs scored while outfielder Tyler Archuleta batted .323 with 13 RBIs and 20 runs scored.

View last season's New Mexico baseball playoff brackets

3. Eldorado (Albuquerque)
2014 finish: 23-7
Head coach: Jim Johns

Last year's Class 5A runner-up returns eight players with varsity experience, including three who are entering their third year on the varsity level. Austin Treadwell, who has verbally committed to New Mexico, returns in the outfield after earning all-state honors while batting .330 with three home runs. Also back for their third year on the varsity team are second baseman Craig Buzzard and first baseman Andrew Stubbs. Buzzard batted .383 with nine doubles last year while Stubbs, an Eastern New Mexico commit, batted .430 with 42 RBIs, 11 doubles and three home runs. Nathaniel Garley, a junior, earned all-state honors last year as a sophomore while batting .268.

View last season's New Mexico baseball stat leaders

4. Mayfield (Las Cruces)
2014 finish: 21-9
Head coach: Miguel Gomez



The Trojans came within one run of advancing to the Class 5A state championship last year, as they fell to Eldorado 9-8 in the semifinals. Although all-state players Josh Gomez, Justin Rivera and David Montoya have graduated, coach Miguel Gomez welcomes back all-state pitchers Eric Lucero and Ben Tingen. Lucero made the first team while Tingen was honorable mention.

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5. Volcano Vista (Albuquerque)
2014 finish: 19-8
Head coach: Kevin Andersh

Volcano Vista has won at least 18 games each of the past five seasons and had wins over Piedra Vista, La Cueva and Eldorado last year, as well as a victory over defending 2013 state champion Rio Rancho. The Hawks return Reyes Kahn, who earned first team all-state honors as a utility player and honorable mention honors as a designated hitter. Also back is Chris Padilla, who earned second team all-state honors in the outfield.