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: 6
No. of Returning Pitchers: 10

Top Returners:

• Zak Meador (2026) - P/C/OF, 6', 190 lbs, L/R
  • East Central JC commit
• Kyle Straughan (2026) - P/INF/OF, R/R, 6', 160 lbs, R/R
  • Mineral Area JC commit
• Jaxon Scherffius (2027) - P/INF, 6'1", 190 lbs, R/R
• Will Weible (2027) - P/OF, 6'1, 186 lbs, L/L
• Maddox Basler (2028) - P/1B/OF, 5'11", 182 lbs, L/L
• Kendrick Simon (2028) - P/INF, 6'1", 165 lbs, R/R
• Connor Cline (2028) - P/OF, 5’10”, 175 lbs, R/R

Top Newcomers:

• Noah Aubuchon (2027) - INF/P, 6', 160 lbs, R/R
• Noah Hulsey (2028) - INF, 5'8", 145 lbs R/R
• Kayson Moore (2028) - P/C/INF, 5'9", 180 lbs, R/R
• Jaxson Hahn (2028) - OF, 5’6”, 138 lbs, R/R

Key Players Lost:

• Connor Helms - Mineral Area JC
• Tyler Pipkin 
• Tim Ekstam Jr
• Michael Huff

Coach’s Insight: “Depth and base running will be the strengths of this year's varsity squad. We are returning over 70% of our innings from the 2025 season. We will also have depth in several key positions on the field. On the bases, we will have multiple guys who will be able to swipe bags and take the extra base. One of the biggest question marks for the upcoming season is the ability to produce runs in crucial situations. This was a glaring weakness of the 2025 team. We are also returning just 3 seniors, so the underclassmen will have to step up and fill that void.” – Jake Donze, head coach

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Find more information on the 2026 North County program below:

+ Follow them on X: @NCR_Baseball
+ 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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