Pat Herrera won't go far to his next baseball coaching job. About two miles, in fact.

The former Desert Ridge coach, who guided the Jaguars to a pair of state titles in 2009 and 2010 in a nearly decade stint at the Gilbert school, was hired at Skyline High on Tuesday after the Mesa Governing Board approved his hire at its final May meeting of 2013. The East Valley Tribune reported last week that Herrera resigned from Desert Ridge on May 23.

Desert Ridge averaged 23 wins over the past nine years with Herrera at the helm and was a perennial state title contender the past five years. Desert Ridge produced another solid season in 2013 going 26-6, but was one-and-done in the Division I state tournament with a 6-5 loss to Mountain Pointe.

Skyline's baseball program has struggled over the years with only one winning season -- 16-11 in 2010. The Coyotes were 3-25 in 2013.  Herrera will be Skyline's third coach in three years.  

Herrera is the second new hire in baseball among East Valley programs. Chandler High recently tabbed former Globe head coach and Florence assistant Dave Lopez. Lopez takes over for Jeff Tallman, who piloted the Wolves the last four seasons.Lopez was head coach at Globe from 2008-2010 and a varsity assistant the last couple at Florence. Lopez compiled a 55-21 record in his three seasons as head coach at Globe.