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 Starters
No. of Returning Pitchers: 5 of 6 top inning guys

Top Returners:

• Joe Gonzales (2026) - SS, R/R
  • East Central JC signee
  • Top of the order guy. All Conference and All District SS. Makes our offense and team go. 
• Justin Nenninger (2026) - RHP
  • Johnson County CC signee
  • 7-1 last year. Top starter this year. All Conference.
• Jaymeson Brown (2026) - RH
  • 7-2 last year. Mixes pitches well and keeps hitters off balance. All-Conference.
• Ben Barfield (2026) - LHP
  • Evangel University signee
• Brendan Dickherber (2027) - UTL, L/R
  • 2nd Team All Conference. Combination of speed and quickness. Can steal bases and play anywhere on the field.
    

Key Players Lost:

• Jack Cowling - Evansville
• Peyton Briddell - Quincy
• Kevin Mangrum - East Central JC
• Braden Clohessy

Coach’s Insight: “We return 5 of our top 6 inning guys on the mound and return 7 defensive starters from last years team, so on paper pitching and defense should be a team strength. We will also have some team speed that will allow us to do some things offensively that can put pressure on other teams defenses and hopefully result in some runs. We lose our 2, 3 and 4 in the lineup who accounted for almost 25 extra-base hits last year, so replacing that power and production will be key to our success offensively this spring.” – Justin Schmidt, head coach

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Find more information on the 2026 North Point program below:

+ Follow them on X: @NPGrizzBaseball
+ 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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