There's plenty of new blood (eight teams) vying for the Division III baseball title in 2015. Can the new blood equal or surpass teams who were close in 2014?

The opening round played Saturday May 2 pared the field from 24 teams to 16 with the top eight seeds drawing first-round byes in the single-elimination tournament. Of the 16 teams remaining, eight repeated advancement to the round of 16 (second round) from last year -- Northwest Christian, Estrella Foothills, Sahuarita, Bisbee, Payson, Scottsdale Christian, Fountain Hills and Yuma Catholic. The eight teams not in the top 16 a year ago and there now -- Rio Rico, Wickenburg, Amphitheater, Blue Ridge, Thatcher, Combs, Walden Grove and Willcox.

So who has the best chance of taking the title come Saturday May 16? Perhaps peaking at the top five seeds will shed some light on it. In the past four years a top-five seed has won the title every year. That's a trend. This is baseball, however, and the margin of error between winning and losing often is thin whether it's a 1-2 matchup or a 1-16 matchup.

Here's a look at this year's top five seeds -- No. 1 Northwest Christian, No. 2 Willcox, No. 3 Fountain Hills, No. 4 Scottsdale Christian and No. 5 Bisbee. Three of the five (NWC, Fountain Hills, Scottsdale Christian) reached the final eight last year and two (Fountain Hills and NWC) made it to the semis.

NO. 1 NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN (22-5): Coach Rod Bair has a veteran team that has essentially matched last year's play (NWC was 25-6 in 2014 and finished runner-up). Offensively the Crusaders are led by Colin Ledbetter with a .458 average, 6 home runs and 42 RBI. Add AJ Graffanino (478), Drew Inness (.459) and Easton Hunt (.423) and there's lots of support for an experienced pitching staff. Leading the staff are senior Steve Butts (6-0), junior Jake Huey (5-1) and junior Austin Worrell. All have state tourney experience.

NO. 2 WILLCOX (24-6): Willcox's success centers around seven seniors, six of them returning starters. Leading the Cowboys on the mound are Travis Regalado (5-1, 2.30 ERA) and Chris Granado (4-0, 3.00 ERA). At the plate Daniel Daiz (.534, 5 HR and 20 RBI) and Jake Whitfield (.476) are the top hitters with four or five more right behind them.

NO. 3 FOUNTAIN HILLS (24-3): Fountain Hills just missed reaching the title game last year, dropping a 1-0 contest in eight innings in the semis to eventual champion Palo Verde. Coach Mike Bruguglio's squad features one of the state's best players in Devin Foyle. Foyle does it all. He enters the tournament with a .578 average, 11 homers and 42 RBI. Twenty-seven of his 37 hits are for extra bases. He's outstanding on the bases as well with 16 steals in 16 attempts. Foes fear him as his 29 walks should tell you. Foyle also pitches. He is 8-0 with a 0.72 ERA and has 96 strikeouts in 58 innings. Nice complements to Foyle at the plate are Paul Bryniarski (.461, 49 RBI) and on the mound Matt Wolkamp (8-0, 1.06 ERA).

NO. 4 SCOTTSDALE CHRISTIAN (17-8):  Scottsdale Christian earned a much higher seed this year (4 compared to 16 last year).  First-year coach Tim Salmon has the staff ace back from last year -- senior Robert Reasor. Reasor pitched the first two games at state last year with plenty of rest between the first and second games and Reasor tossed a pair of shutouts. Reasor brings a 9-1 record and 1.28 ERA to the tournament plus a .444 average and 24 RBI. The Eagles will need to get the pitching staff to come through in the quarters should they advance as that is where its season came to an abrupt end vs. Fountain Hills in 2014 quarters. Another qualify bat in SCA's lineup belongs to Marcus Skundrich (.464 average and 27 RBI.

NO. 5 BISBEE (21-5):  Bisbee was the No. 1 seed last year, but ran into Scottsdale Christian's Reasor in its first round game and was eliminated via shutout. If the Pumas prevail in their second-round game on Friday they may see Scottsdale Christian in a rematch although might not see Reasor this time. Bisbee is led by senior Eric Sproule, who sports a 5-1 record and 1.26 ERA. Sproule also adds offense to the mix with a .422 average. A pair of sophomores lead the Pumas offense -- Obed Cordova (.507 avg., 27 RBI) and Christian Ballesteros (.473 avg., 28 RBI). Senior Manny Ramirez gives Bisbee a 1-2 punch on the mound with a 5-3 record, 1.66 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 50 innings.