MaxPreps 2015 Virginia Baseball Fab 5 presented by the Army National Guard
1. Freeman (Richmond)2014 finish: 26-2
Head coach: Ray Moore
Freeman lost only one game in the regular season and then fell to Hickory in the Class 5A state championship game. Freeman will field one of the top batteries in the state with the combo of
Danny Lynch and
Logan Harvey. Lynch is ranked as the No. 5 player in the state by Perfect Game while Harvey is ranked No. 14 overall. Lynch is headed to Virginia while Harvey will play at Wake Forest.
View last season's Virginia baseball rankings, presented by the Army National Guard2. Hickory (Chesapeake)2014 finish: 22-4
Head coach: Hank Kraft
Hickory captured the Class 5A state championship last year with a win over Freeman. Hickory fielded one of the top freshmen in the nation last year in
Michael Polansky. He is back for his sophomore year at third base while his brother
Stephen, a senior, will play in the outfield. The Hawks have the No. 4 pitcher in the state, according to Perfect Game, in senior
Connor Eason.
View last season's Virginia baseball playoff brackets3. Cosby (Midlothian)2014 finish: 21-2
Head coach: Tim Lowery
Cosby reached the semifinals of the Class 6A state tournament, where it fell to Chantilly. It marked the second loss in a row for Cosby, which also lost to Western Branch. Cosby had won 21 straight games to start the season. The Titans return half of the infield, with
Matthew Pita at shortstop and
Jake Huggins at first base. Junior
Christian Hague leads the pitching staff.
View last season's Virginia baseball stat leaders4. Madison (Vienna)2014 finish: 21-3
Head coach: Mark Gjormand
Although Madison lost to McLean in the regional semifinals, it returns the bulk of last year's team. Four of those returning players are headed to play college ball next year, including pitcher
John DeFazio (Virginia Tech), pitcher
Brian Eckert (Radford), outfielder
Owen Socher (William and Mary) and pitcher
David McGuire (Francis Marion).
View the MaxPreps Virginia baseball pro photo galleries5. Western Branch (Chesapeake)2014 finish: 27-2
Head coach: Roland Wright
Western Branch posted wins over Hickory and Cosby last year en route to winning the Class 6A championship. The Bruins return three of the top players from last year's team in pitcher
Colin Selby, catcher
Grant Maiorana and third baseman
Matthew Roth. Maiorana is headed to Virginia Tech while Roth will play at Radford next year.