Albuquerque Baseball Academy team hopes to make history at Connie Mack World Series

Up and down the list of past champions at the Connie Mack World Series, what jumps out is that this is most assuredly not a compilation of winners near and far.

Far? Plenty of those. From New York. Massachusetts. Ohio. Georgia. Even Puerto Rico.

Near? You won’t find any on this list.

Farmington might be the host city of the CMWS, but there’s never been a tournament champion team from New Mexico.

Enter the 2025 Navy team from the Albuquerque Baseball Academy, a group that hopes to redirect this particular narrative.

“Honestly,” said Adriel Figueroa-Brito, one of the standouts from Sandia High’s state championship team last May, “I think we’ll do better than a lot of people expect.”

This group qualified for the CMWS earlier this month at a qualifier in Farmington, and the game that punched their ticket was closed out by Figueroa-Brito, who’ll play outfield, second base or pitcher for what is now Mack’s 2025 host team.

This roster is stacked with some of the top talent from the metro area from the last high school season, and they’re predominantly Class of 2025 graduates.

Artesia’s Jack Byers is an exception, since he’s about to enter his senior season for the Bulldogs.

“I think our team is definitely full of a lot of great talent,” said Byers, a corner infielder on this team who has Division I offers so far from Oklahoma State, Oregon State (which has had great success plucking New Mexico prep talent) and Texas Tech. “It’ll be fun to get in there and compete and show them what New Mexico is all about.”

There has been a tweak to qualifying for the Connie Mack, which has struggled to see a New Mexico entry charge deep into the bracket. Mostly, it’s been a team from the Four Corners in the field, but the ABA, which has seen spectacular results over the years in terms of talent development, won this qualifier to become the official New Mexico challenger for the 2025 event.

“Every time we go into a game,” observed Figueroa-Brito, “it’s just playing loose, knowing that regardless of what we do, the next guy is gonna pick us up. It’s been stress-free this summer.”

That vibe is almost sure to change starting next weekend.

This year’s World Series begins on Friday at multiple locations in Farmington; the ABA squad, plus the other 11 teams in the field, have one pool play game Friday and two more pool play games Saturday. Bracket play begins next Sunday

“It’s really nice to play against the top level,” Byers said.

He’s one of a handful of players from outside Albuquerque on this roster, but a good number of local players on this team are friends.

“It’s great,” Figueroa-Brito said. “I’ve known most of these guys since I was 12 or 13. We all mesh together.”

Now they attempt to crack the biggest puzzle they’ve ever attempted to solve: becoming the first team from New Mexico to win this event which dates back to the 1960s.

“A big part of what we’ve been talking about is (feeling) we’re good enough to compete with anyone,” said former La Cueva standout Reid Jacobson, who has signed to play with the Lobos. “It’s baseball, you never know what’s gonna happen.”

One of the unique aspects of this ABA squad is that every player going to Farmington, at least those who have graduated — there are a small handful of players on the roster from the Class of 2026 who are uncommitted — have signed with a college. Every one of them.

This is a highly decorated bunch, to say the least. And their refrain is one of the most familiar there is in the 505/575.

“People always overlook New Mexico,” Jacobson said. “Not just for baseball. I still think people look down on New Mexico. Definitely something to play for on that front.”

As with any tournament at any level, pitching is the throughline that determines success.

ABA heads to Farmington later in the week rich with mound talent. Among the players listed on the roster are Albuquerque Academy’s Matt Delaney, Los Lunas’ Matty Castillo and Eldorado’s Jace Sanchez-Reynolds. Byers and Figueroa-Brito are in that group, and it’s a large one, who can eat key innings if necessary. It unfortunately will not include incoming senior Dylan Blomker of La Cueva, an LSU commit who was on the original ABA Mack roster but won’t be available in Farmington.

“I’ve seen all these guys at their best,” Jacobson, an all-state second baseman at La Cueva, noted, “and when you watch these guys at their best, it’s hard to think that (other teams) can beat them.”

Of course, most every team coming to Farmington this week has similar beliefs and ambitions, but none of them carry a chip.

“We’ve always had talent here,” Figueroa-Brito said. “We’ve just been overlooked since we were from New Mexico.”