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: All but 1

Top Returners:

• Ty Heitschmidt (2026) - 1B/P, 6'4 215 lbs, L/L
  • Ottawa commit
  • .517 AVG, .608 OBP, 1.539 OPS, 10 2B, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 11 BB; 41.1 IP, 2.20 ERA, 70 K
  • 1st Team All-League 1B, 1st Team All-State 1B, 2nd Team All-League P.
• Jack Opat - OF/P/C, 6'0 200 lbs,
  • .283 AVG, .500 OBP, .916 OPS, 24 R, 11 BB, 12 HBP
  • HM All-League UTL; Jack was born without his left hand and is the toughest, hardest-working player I have ever been around.
• Kaleb Burgardt - SS/P, 6'0 145 lbs
  • .349 AVG, .438 OBP, 11 RBI, 16 R; 26.0 IP, 3.50 ERA, 1.846 WHIP
  • Only 4 strikeouts as a freshman last season. HM All-League SS.
• Tanner Lohrey - UTL, 6'0 160 lbs
  • .302 AVG, .362 OBP
  • Became a full-time starter about halfway through last season.

Top Newcomers:

• Kam Davis (2029) - C/INF, FR, 6'1, 150 lbs
• Mason Riedel (2029) - C/OF, FR, 5'11 175 lbs
  • Both guys will get a shot to play early on. We are in need of a starting catcher, and both come in with good experience and natural ability.

Key Players Lost:

• Nick Jones
• Corbin Pywell

Coach’s Insight: “We will play to our agressiveness this season. We have a group of guys who are very willing to try new things and aren't afraid to fail. With a young team, this will be a great season for guys to grow from game one on. We are fairly young. We have five returning seniors and one returning junior. All six have starting experience and will play a big role for us this season. The rest of our group is comprised of sophomores and freshmen who will all get a chance to play meaningful innings for our varsity squad this season.” – Dalton Eastep, head coach

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Find more information on the 2026 Smoky Valley program below:

+ 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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