Tevin Mitchell and Clovis are the top team in the Central Section this season.
File photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
MaxPreps 2015 Central Section Baseball Fab 5 presented by the Army National Guard
1. Clovis2014 finish: 33-5
Head coach: James Patrick
The Cougars posted one of the best seasons in school history, going 33-5 with a Central Section Division I championship and a No. 4 national ranking by MaxPreps. While first round draft pick Jacob Gatewood and all-area pitcher McCarthy Tatum have graduated, Clovis still returns several of the section's top players.
Tevin Mitchell returns at shortstop. He batted .354 last year and he has committed to play at UC Santa Barbara next season.
Preston Mott, one of the top pitchers in the Fresno area, also returns. He went 8-1 with 66 strikeouts in 84.2 innings pitched.
Dakota Stilson is also back after batting .321 last year.
View last season's Central Section baseball rankings, presented by the Army National Guard2. Buchanan (Clovis)2014 finish: 25-8
Head coach: Tom Donald
The Bears have won 25 games each of the past two seasons and finished second in the section last year behind Clovis. Buchanan lost All-American Trenton Kemp in the outfield, but all-area pitcher
Conner Loeprich returns after going 10-3 and all-area honor mention infielder
Ross Dodds is also back.
View last season's California baseball playoff brackets3. Tulare Western2014 finish: 29-5-1
Head coach: Ken Searcy
The Mustangs won the Division II section championship and return the top two pitchers from last year in
Kobe Portillo (11-1 record, 1.60 ERA) and
Jordan Padilla (7-0, 1.63). Three of the team's top offensive performers also return.
Daniel "Nugget" Martinho returns in the infield after batting .286 last year while junior catcher
Michael Salazar (.348) also returns.
Andrew Muller (.347) returns in the infield.
View last season's California baseball stat leaders4. Frontier (Bakersfield)2014 finish: 25-7
Head coach: John Moncier
Frontier fell to Clovis West in the second round of last year's Division I playoffs. The pitching staff should be solid with junior
McLain Branch returning from a season when he went 4-0 with two saves. Senior
Griffin Owen is also back after going 3-0. The offense should also be strong with
Logan Gillaspie (.409) returning along with
Harley Lopez (.327) and
Konner Dodge (.257).
View the MaxPreps Central Section baseball pro photo galleries5. Centennial (Bakersfield)2014 finish: 15-13
Head coach: Dan Durham
The Golden Hawks exited the Central Section Division I playoffs in the first round last year, but the team's top pitcher and top four offensive performers return to make Centennial a contender from the south end of the section.
Andrew Hansen leads the list of returning players as he batted .356 with four home runs and also had a 7-2 record with a 1.84 ERA. Junior
Colby Freeman returns after batting .316 with three home runs while
Chris Laurente batted .312 last year as a junior.