Valencia County athletes earn postseason honors in baseball and softball

Valencia County put six athletes on the New Mexico High School Coaches Association’s postseason lists this spring, and the distribution says as much about program strength as it does about individual talent. Four softball players and two baseball players from Los Lunas and Belen earned All-State recognition, a pattern that points to schools building dependable pipelines instead of waiting on one standout class.

In softball, Los Lunas led the way. Outfielder Kelsie De Graaf was named to the 5A All-State First Team, added District 5-5A Player of the Year and All-Metro recognition, and has already signed with Eastern New Mexico University. Her college commitment was publicly recognized at Los Lunas High School with Natalie Madrid and Halie Delgado, another sign that the Tigers’ upperclassmen group has been moving together through the same system and into the next level.

Madrid also kept that momentum going, earning second-team All-State honors as an infielder and heading to College of St. Mary in Nebraska. Brooke Baca rounded out the Los Lunas softball honors with a spot on the All-Metro second team as a pitcher. For a program trying to stay competitive year after year, that kind of spread matters: it shows production at multiple positions, not just one star arm or one power bat.

Belen added its own layer to the county’s softball success. Honey Mirabal was selected to the 4A All-State second team, while her sister Jayda Mirabal received honorable mention. The Mirabals gave Belen another postseason presence on a list that continues to include the Eagles, which matters in a county where school sports remain one of the clearest shared markers of local pride.

Baseball brought similar confirmation for Los Lunas and Belen. Belen infielder Logan Gonzalez earned second-team All-State honors and was also named to the All-Metro second team as an outfielder. At Los Lunas, left-handed pitcher and multi-sport athlete Kaiden Reese picked up honorable mention recognition and was named District 5-5A Player of the Year. Reese and teammate Jasiah Byers also played in the NMHCA All-Star game.

Reese’s 2026 MaxPreps line shows why he stood out: a .407 batting average, .532 on-base percentage, 24 hits, 18 RBIs and 18 runs scored. The baseball season began with practice on Feb. 2 and ran through the state tournament window of May 6, 8-9 and 14-16, and the postseason awards now suggest that Los Lunas and Belen are entering the next cycle with proven talent already in place.

That continuity is not new. Belen’s Lorissa Scott earned District 5-4A Player and Pitcher of the Year honors in the previous postseason cycle and also received All-Metro recognition, reinforcing the idea that Valencia County’s success on the diamond is becoming a repeatable asset rather than a one-year spike.