April 14, 2005
The New Mexico baseball program has signed three more players to National Letters of Intent for the 2005-06 season, bringing the class to a total of 14 players. The players include Zach Arnett (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva High School), Scott Gracey (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva High School) and Dane Hamilton (Grand Junction, Colo./Grand Junction High School).
Zach Arnett 5-11 200 Catcher R/R Albuquerque, N.M. (La Cueva High School)
Arnett was a key member of La Cueva’s historic 70-game winning streak, which established a national record for the longest winning streak in high school baseball…led La Cueva to back-to-back state championships in baseball as the starting catcher…a 2004 all-state selection…La Cueva is currently ranked No. 1 in Class 5A in New Mexico…currently batting .478, which is 10th best in the state…tied for second in the state with four homers and has 20 runs driven in…was also an all-state linebacker for the Bears’ football state championship team…recruited by numerous schools to play baseball and football before choosing the Lobos…will reunite with former La Cueva teammate Jordan Pacheco, who is currently a freshman for UNM, and current high school teammate Scott Gracey, who also signed a NLI with the University of New Mexico.
Scott Gracey 6-2 170 Infielder R/R Albuquerque, N.M. (La Cueva High School)
Gracey is the starting shortstop for La Cueva and will be an infielder for the Lobos…was also an instrumental figure in helping La Cueva set the national high school baseball record with 70 straight victories…La Cueva is currently ranked No. 1 in Class 5A in New Mexico…joins La Cueva teammate Zach Arnett in signing with the Lobos, and will reunite with former La Cueva teammate Jordan Pacheco at UNM…his father, Bill, was a former assistant softball coach at UNM.
Dane Hamilton 6-2 175 Infielder R/R Grand Junction, Colo. (Grand Junction High School)
Hamilton will be an infielder for the Lobos…named preseason all-state by the Rocky Mountain News…has good speed and will provide UNM with another left-handed bat in the lineup…future teammate Darren Coltrinari, who is a junior at UNM, is also from Grand Junction, Colo.
Arnett, Gracey and Hamilton join Aaron Bates (RHP – Frisco, Texas/Frisco High School), Kris Cichoski (RHP – Las Vegas, Nev./Durango High School), Brent Fisher (LHP/OF – Goodyear, Ariz./Tolleson High School), Jared Hood (OF – Marshall, Texas/Marshall High School), Drew Kendrick (OF/RHP – Forney, Texas/Forney High School), Chace Lankford (RHP/OF – Forney, Texas/Forney High School), Michael McClaren (RHP – Las Vegas, Nev./Durango High School), David Phillips (RHP – Houston, Texas/El Paso Community College), Derek Pilkington (OF – Sterling, Colo./Sterling High School), Jordan Salazar (INF/RHP – Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial High School) and Kyle Winters (RHP – Arvada, Colo. – Pomona High School), who all signed NLI’s in the fall.