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.

---

2026 SEASON OUTLOOK

No. of Returning Position Players: 7
No. of Returning Pitchers: 5

Top Returners:

• JJ Grove (2026) - SS
  • Butler CC commit 
  • JJ will be the catalyst this year. He is coming off a great junior season where he was named PBR All Classes 1st Team All-State.
• Cavin Rundell (2026) - C
  • Kansas Wesleyan commit 
  • Cav will be a 4-year starter behind the plate and is the defensive leader. He threw out 20 guys last spring. This will be his 4th year as a top of the lineup bat. Cav is an X-factor for this group and is working to have a great senior year.
• Tryston Garrison (2026) - P/INF
  • Tabor commit 
  • Tryston will be in his 2nd year as a starter on the mound and has added some velo going into his senior year. He is also a middle of the order bat that we expect to have a big impact this year.
• Aiden Parrett (2026) - LHP
  • This will be Aiden's 4th year on the mound at the varsity level for us. He was our top reliever last year, throwing 30 innings with a 2.56 ERA. Aiden will transition to a starter this season.
• Cole Hutchison (2028) - INF/P
  • Cole started 2B as a freshman last year. He is a do-it-all athlete that has grown and put on muscle in the offseason. Cole led the team with 27 SB's. He is a great defender and will be an important bat in the lineup and will throw more on the mound.

Top Newcomers:

• Christian Laws (2026) - LHP/OF
  • Christian will be a 4th year varsity player that will jump into this lineup immediately being one of the top power bats on the team. He will also be a starting pitcher and brings a ton of varsity experience on the mound as well.

Key Players Lost:

• Will Beckmann - Tabor
• Grant Myers

Coach’s Insight: “Experience will be the biggest strength. This team has a lot of varsity games played. Three 4-year starters and three more seniors who have been seeing varsity time since their sophomore year. This team also returns two sophomores that started every game as freshmen last season. Defense should also be a strength as almost every player is projected to start at the same position as last year. Any time a team loses two guys that combined for 90 innings worth of starting pitching and were 1st Team All-League guys, it will be tough to replace. The projected starters this year are excited for the challenge and have pitched a lot of varsity innings in their career. It is their turn to step up and be "the guy" on the mound.” – Gavin Darr, head coach

---

Find more information on the 2026 Wichita Northwest program below:

+ Follow them on X: @NWGrizzBaseball
+ 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

---

Related Content