Last 5 Winners: 2021 - McLennan (National Champs), 2020 - Covid, 2019 - New Mexico, 2018 - Temple, 2017 - McLennan
Did we save the best for last? Maybe. Am i (Noah who is writing) a homer about this region? At times. But let’s be honest, Region 5 has a strong history over the last 20 years. Since 1999, They have played in 9 National Title Games, Winning 7, Winning 3 in a Row from 1999-2001 when Grayson won back-to-back titles in ‘99 and ‘00, then North Central won in ‘01. New Mexico won one in 2005. Then the region went to 3 straight national title games from 2007-2009, New Mexico was the runner up in 2007, Grayson won in 2008, and Howard won in 2009 in what many call one of the greatest college baseball seasons of all time going 63-1 with a 57-game win streak. The other two National Title games were both from McLennan in 2015 where they were the runner-up and then of course last year when they won it all.
Last year, this region, like much of the southwest as a whole, got hit with a huge winter storm that shut down a lot of teams for a few weeks. That is when McLennan figured it out and went on their run. Having an undefeated postseason run as well is something that you do not see often.
When looking at this year’s teams, things are going to be interesting as always. The Northside of the region is going to be really good. McLennan has a ton of talent, Weatherford looks to finally break out in a very loud way with the talent they have there. Grayson looks to be on a bit of a down year but I would not count them out at all. Temple is going to be a team that is going to make a lot of noise.
Out West, it looks to be a bit more wide open. NMJC after sitting out last year gets a big group of guys back that are going to make a lot of noise. Midland looks to be about to get back to their 2013-2014 ways when they went to back-to-back world series with a solid group of arms and arguably one of the top infields in the state. El Paso, if they can get the rust off, looks to be a team that is going to make some people have to fight harder than they would expect.
Top Players/Draft Prospects in the Region
*These are in no order
Gavin Pringle - P - Cisco
Samuel Mendez - RHP - Cisco
Mauricio Millan - C - El Paso (Wichita State Commit)
Mitch Stone - RHP - El Paso
Davis Powell - SS - Grayson (Texas State Commit)
JD Gregson - C - Grayson (Texas A&M Commit)
Hayden Blair - OF - HIll (UT-Rio Grande Valley Commit)
Kyle Mosley - RHP - Hill (Pitt Commit)
Hunter Simmons - OF - Howard (Texas Tech Commit)
CJ Difiglia - 2B - Howard
Will Carsten - RHP - McLennan (Oklahoma Commit)
Katcher Halligan - 1B - McLennan
Tyler Wulfert - SS/OF - Midland (Oklahoma State Commit)
Garrett Williams - INF - Midland
Stanley Tucker - SS - NMJC (Texas A&M Commit)
Fernando Gonzalez - LHP - NMJC
Anderson Acinger - 3B - North Central Texas (Texas Tech Commit)
Chris Kean - C - Ranger
Travis Chestnut - 2B - Temple (Texas A&M Commit)
Joseph Redfield - OF - Temple (Sam Houston Commit)
Cal Stark - C - Weatherford
Kade Bragg - LHP - Weatherford (Texas Tech Commit)
Teams/SnapShots
Region 5
Cisco
Clarendon
El Paso
Frank Phillips
Grayson
Hill
Howard
McLennan
Midland
New Mexico
New Mexico Military
North Central Texas
Odessa
Ranger
Temple
Vernon
Weatherford
Western Texas
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