PREP ATHLETICS
St. Pius X baseball has made a coaching change
Three Las Cruces schools, AHS also looking for new coaches
Prep baseball has seen a flurry of coaching exits since the end of the season.
In the metro area, the biggest change comes at St. Pius, where Jim Stebbins has resigned. Assistant coach Kurt Hurley has already been upgraded to interim head coach, and it is not yet known if he will have the job permanently going forward.
Stebbins coached the Sartans for three seasons, going 50-34. St. Pius finished 15-13 this year, losing to Artesia in the Class 4A quarterfinals.
Stebbins said he would likely return in a head coaching capacity at some point.
Hurley is himself a St. Pius X alum, having graduated there in 2007.
Longtime sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High coach Robert Padilla announced his retirement. He spent 19 years at AHS, seven in softball and the last 12 in baseball.
Las Cruces has seen some real upheaval, with three of its four public schools now in the market for a head coach.
Rusty Evans had been the only head coach Centennial ever had, and he won 197 games with the Hawks since the school opened. And Centennial won the 5A state title in 2016; there was a Class 6A during that time.
Gil Padilla at Las Cruces was one of the longest tenured head coaches in prep baseball. But he has retired after a quarter century coaching the Bulldawgs. He is among the top five in coaching victories, with 426. He took Las Cruces into one title game, in 2003 where it fell to La Cueva.
Carlos Lara has stepped down at Organ Mountain after several seasons coaching the Knights.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Cleveland has filled its girls soccer coaching vacancy. Shannon Gill, who is the sister of Storm boys coach Shaun Gill, has been hired to take over the program.
Gill takes over from Greg Rusk, a multiple state champion who retired after last season.
Cleveland has consistently been one of 5A鈥檚 best programs, and won the state championship in the 2023 season.
SIGNINGS: Bernalillo High School is sending a handful of athletes to the next level.
Two baseball players have signed 鈥� Jacob Duran to Luna Community College in Las Vegas, N.M., and Zach Duran to the College of the Southwest in Hobbs.
Also, two of the Spartans鈥� prominent female powerlifters are going to continue to lift in college.
Bella Perez, who was a Class 4A state champion in her weight class, along with Miekaylah Coriz, both have signed with Missouri Valley State. Coriz was a state runner-up this past April.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .
