The Kansas high school baseball season kicks off on Mar. 19, opening day for regular season action under KSHSAA regulations. Leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2026 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down to the official Prep Baseball Kansas Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a preseason questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2026 preseason coverage continues today.

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2026 SEASON OUTLOOK

No. of Returning Position Players: 7
No. of Returning Pitchers: 2

Top Returners:

• James Hunt (2026) - RHP, 6'1, 180, R/R
  • Arizona commit
• Cole Ryherd (2027) - SS, 5'7, 160, L/R
  • SIU Edwardsville commit
• Tru Tracy (2027) - RHP/UTL, 5'11, 185
• Nash Kindler (2026) - 3B, 5'7 180
  • SW Tennessee CC commit
    

Top Newcomers:

• Merrick Ginden (2027) - OF, 6'1, 200, R/R
• Hunter Horner (2028) - IF, 5'10, 200, R/R

Key Players Lost:

• Christian Ryan - Rockhurst
• Riley Rigdon - Rockhurst
• Harrison Eibes
• Sam Shelton - Rockhurst

Coach’s Insight: “We return 7 starters from a year ago that bring a year worth of varsity experience. We will be solid in then field and competitive at the plate. We have guys that will compete every at bat, move runners into scoring position, and run the bases aggressively to pressure the opposing defense. This will be an exciting group take the field with. Pitching will be a question mark for us this spring. Though we have a solid #1 at the top, the remainder of our bullpen has not logged many varsity innings. We will work hard to stay in the zone, pitching to contact so that our experienced defense can take care of getting outs for us. We are looking forward to seeing which guys step up for us this spring.” – Joe Allison, head coach

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Find more information on the 2026 Blue Valley West program below:

+ Follow them on X: @BvwBaseball31
+ Visit Prep Baseball Kansas’ 2026 KSHSAA Team Previews page to learn more.

+ If you are a high school coach and didn’t receive our questionnaire, please click HERE to fill out the form

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