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: 1
No. of Returning Pitchers: 2

Top Returners:

• Oscar Diez (2026) - C/OF, 6'1", 185 lbs, R/R
  • Returning starter and All-Sunflower league player. Will anchor our defense behind the plate and add stability to the middle of our order.
• James Quance (2026) - RHP, 6'2", 175 lbs
  • New York Univ. commit 
  • James is one of our committed players and expected to be a leader on the mound this year. He had over 30 varsity innings a season ago.
• Grant Seibert (2026) - RHP/INF, 6'2", 170 lbs
  • Grant is another returning pitcher with over 30 varsity innings last year. He carried a sub 2.00 ERA last season. 1.12 ERA.

Top Newcomers:

• Lucas Steinbacher (2027) - SS/INF, 6'0", 195, R/R
  • Lucas will look to solidify our left side of the infield and be a strong run producer this season.
• Gavin Perez (2026) - LHP/CF, 6'0", 170 lbs
  • Gavin is coming off an arm injury, but his athleticism in the OF and strong arm (upper 80's) on the mound will give us a solid lefty option on the mound.

Key Players Lost:

• Michael Winter - Texas
• Carter Rose - Cowley
• Colton Sims - West Virginia
• Kyler Schuessler - Hutchinson CC
• Nate Schlote - Vanderbilt

Coach’s Insight: “We will have strong senior leadership this year. Our returning players have varsity experience and are primed to take on a bigger role this season. We lost 14 seniors from last year, so we will have a group that is hungry and ready to prove themselves at the varsity level. Inexperience [will be a weakness]. We are basically fielding a brand new team, with a new head coach. We will learn together as we go, but it won't be for a lack of effort. I expect this group to mature and get better as the season progresses.” – John Urick, head coach

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Find more information on the 2026 Shawnee Mission East program below:

+ Follow them on X: @SMEbaseball
+ 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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