The Missouri high school baseball season kicks off on Mar. 19, opening day for regular season action under MSHSAA 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 Missouri 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: 5

Top Returners:

• Chase Ransom (2026) - C, 5'10, R/R
  • Calvary commit
  • Chase put up some great numbers last season leading the team with the best batting average and hits. He's a great leader who has potential to play on the next level.
• Ethan Terry (2026) - SS, 5'8, R/R
  • He's probably the most complete player we have returning this season. Can selectively put the ball in play anywhere on the field. As a pitcher, he's a sleeper in the state and should make a ton of noise on the mound this season.
• Tyler Ransom (2026) - 1B, 5'9, L/L
  • Tyler can play the outfield if needed and will be a good reliever for us this season. As a leadoff hitter, he usually gets us going by finding ways to get on base and score runs early in the games.
• Jackson Ransom (2026) - P, 6'0, L/R
  • Jackson is the ace in our rotation. His record last season probably didn't show how good he is because of our tough conference but he has definitely improved. Something has changed about him during the off-season in a good way and I believe this is the season he really shows the state who he really his in every appearance on the mound.
• Xavier Gunner (2026) - P, 5'9, R/R
  • We welcome Xavier back into our lineup this season after suffering a season-ending injury early in the year. He's back and looks amazing at the plate and in the field which gives our lineup a boost from last year.

Top Newcomers:

• Damian Holguin
• Uri Mckee

Key Players Lost:

• Kaden Daniels
• Jose Esparza 

Coach’s Insight: “Defense will be our strength. If we can stay off the field and not have long innings we should have a chance in every game on our schedule this season. The key is limiting errors which cost us a ton of games last year despite having a better year than the year before. The bottom of our lineup will be tested throughout the year but with Gunner back along with Jackson Ransom we should improve at the bottom and snag some runs here and there.” – Je'Kel Smith, head coach

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Find more information on the 2026 Grandview program below:

+ Follow them on X: @GHSDogsBaseball
+ Visit Prep Baseball Missouri’s 2026 MSHSAA 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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