LA CUEVA’S DYLAN BLOMKER NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Gatorade today announced Dylan Blomker of La Cueva High School is the 2025-26 Gatorade New Mexico Baseball Player of the Year. Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior first baseman and right-handed pitcher led the Bears (25-4) to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament this past season. Blomker batted .395 with 49 RBI, seven home runs and 20 runs scored. He also went 8-1 on the mound, posting a 1.99 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 53.2 innings pitched to average 2.1 Ks per inning, He was named 5A-District 2 Player of the Year. Blomker has volunteered locally as part of an elementary school literary outreach initiative, including in a question-andanswer session afterward. He has also donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church in addition to fundraising to help raise $4,000 for the Rady Children’s Foundation. “He’s a terrific high school baseball player, playing the game the right way—hard and with integrity,” said Christopher Mondragon, head coach at Manzano High School. “He hit two grand slams against us and didn’t boast or bat flip or [draw] any attention to himself. He just jogged around the bases and cheered with his teammates at home plate. On the mound, we will most definitely see this young man at the next level and above.”
Blomker has maintained a 3.88 weighted GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play baseball at Louisiana State University this fall, but is projected as an early round selection in July’s Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the winners in each sport.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
