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2026 Ohio High School Spring Season Preview

Year one of seven divisions went well in Ohio high school baseball with perennial powers Waynedale, Berlin Hiland and Minster bringing home state championships. Olentangy, Anthony Wayne, Licking Valley and Lake Catholic completed the list of winners in 2025 when there were 28 teams that made it to state, up from 16 in previous years, with games played at Canal Park in Akron and Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.

While the champions were happy, as expected there was a mixed view of the change from the four-division format. Was the tournament watered down? Is there a better way to schedule the event, which was spread out over four days?

Nothing has been made official other than seven divisions will remain as we look ahead to the start of the 2026 season this weekend.

Tim Stried, director of media relations for the Ohio High School Athletic Association, hinted at one tweak that might be made in the coming season following last year’s state tournament.

“Looking ahead to next year, the state tournament dates are June 11-14 and we are looking at a couple options to play more games on Thursday so that we have more flexibility later in the weekend in case of rain,” noted Stried, who sees the sites remaining the same. “We plan to ask the staff at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium to continue serving as a state semifinal host in addition to our longtime host of Canal Park with the Akron RubberDucks.”

The suggestion made by Prep Baseball after last year’s state was to play four semifinal games on Thursday at Canal Park rather than two. Then you would have four semifinals at each on Friday, four finals at Canal on Saturday and two semis at Thurman, with three finals on Sunday at Canal. If the tournament stays on schedule it would mean 15 total games at Canal Park and six at Thurman Munson, rather than 13 and eight. It would also leave two more spaces for semifinal games to be played on Saturday at Thurman Munson if there are weather issues. Whether that becomes a reality we will find out soon.  

So what else will 2026 look like? 

CAN ANY CHAMPS REPEAT?

When the talk of repeating is the subject, it begins with Hiland and Waynedale. Hiland has won three straight titles while Waynedale has captured three titles in the last four years.

Both come into the year ranked first in their respective divisions in the Prep Baseball preseason rankings and one-two in the “Small Schools” Power Rankings for divisions four through seven.

Let’s look ahead at each:

• Hiland became the third team in state history to win three in a row, joining Elder and Newark Catholic. A trio of standouts return for the Hawks from a 31-1 team in Grady Monigold, Mike Miller and Logan Yoder. Monigold, a Malone commit, was the D-VI tournament MVP, while Miller and Yoder were Players of the Game in the D-VI finals, a 5-4 win over Lake Center Christian. The cupboard is never bare for Hiland mentor Chris Dages.
• Waynedale has corner infielders Logan Troyer and Brayden Steiner back at first and third, as well as corner outfielders Cam Miller and Hudson Barkman returning to go along with shortstop Jordan Miller. Three of those are juniors in Miller, Barkman and Troyer, a standout southpaw pitcher who threw a five-hit shutout at Graham in the state finals. The future certainly remains bright for head coach Lucas Daugherty and company.

Here is a quick look at the other five defending champs:

• Olentangy - It was a remarkable run to the first state title in school history in 2025 but most of that team has graduated. Still, with Rocco Bucci back to lead the way, the Braves will be more than formidable in 2026, coming in ranked ninth in the Prep Baseball preseason Division I rankings. Bucci, a Virginia Tech commit who was 8-0 on the mound while batting .378 on the season, was co-MVP in the Division I state tournament last year. Luke Chiliki was 6-1 pitching and is another strong arm that head coach Ryan Lucas can rely on.
• Anthony Wayne - Eli Donawa and Lukas Potkanowicz give the Generals a strong one-two punch at the top of the lineup for head coach Ryan Donley, who has taken AW to state twice in four years at the helm. Bowling Green commit Jackson Urenovitch along with twins Drew and Blake Madalinski, both Findlay recruits, means another strong staff for the Generals with junior Jett Smith providing a great target behind the plate.
• Licking Valley - The big news is the defending D-III champions have dropped to D-IV this year after winning state as the second-smallest school in the classification. From the 2025 team, the top five in the batting order return led by shortstop Brody Rodgers, the D-III state tourney MVP last year. Replacing both pitchers that threw at state is the task at hand for head coach Adam Arcuri.
• Lake Catholic - Third baseman Brayden Mann and first baseman Micah Nytrah are among five returning starters from the 2025 squad for sixth-year head coach Brian LeRoy. Finding pitchers to replace the top of the rotation from last season will be the key.
• Minster - Mike Wiss has led the Wildcats to six state trips and four championships in his 30 years at the helm and year 31 has a lot of promise despite losing a number of standouts to graduation from last season. Reese Beair, who went 5-for-8 at state in 2025, and Andrew Wiss, the head coach’s son, are expected to be leaders for the Midwest Athletic Conference power.   

A QUICK LOOK AT 2026

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  Four of the eight players (D-I had co-winners) that earned Prep Baseball Tournament MVP honors from the state tournament are back, Rocco Bucci (Olentangy), Brody Rodgers (Licking Valley), Grady Monigold (Hiland) and Reese Beair (Minster).
• The top four ranked seniors in Division I are SEC bound - Matt Ponatoski (Moeller) to Kentucky, Shawn Sullivan (Walsh Jesuit) to Tennessee, Deacon Nelson (University School) to Auburn and Chandler Taylor (Badin) to Alabama.
• Not to be outdone, the number one player in the 2027 class, Devlan Daniel of Indian Hill, is a Mississippi State commit.
• Kent State has signed four of the top 20 seniors in the state, #6 Ben Hanley (Mason), #13 Conner Cuozzo (Moeller), #17 Manny Camacho (Hoban) and #20 Drew Oerther (Loveland).
• Ohio State, which has signed five of the top 23 seniors in Landon Thiel (Jackson), Nathan Bryant (Lake Center Christian), Mack Hieber (Patrick Henry), Wilson Wells (Grandville) and Drew Hauenstein (Olentangy Liberty), has commits from the second, third and fourth ranked juniors: Nate Henderson (Watterson), Grady Lantz (Urbana) and Noah Goettke (P27 Baseball Academy).
• Two teams that made it to state last year have changed divisions. D-III state champ Licking Valley is now in Division IV (by one boy) while Fairview (Sherwood), which lost to Hiland 4-2 in the D-VI state semifinals in 2025, has moved up to Division V.
• Regional schools from a year ago that moved up a division are: Toledo St. Francis III to II; Canfield IV to III; Benedictine IV to III; London IV to III (by one boy); Indian Lake IV to III; Cardinal Mooney V to IV (now the smallest D-IV school); and Summit Country Day VI to V.
• Regional schools from a year ago that moved down a division are: Circleville III to IV and Miami Valley Christian Academy V to VI.

CLASSICS A BIG HIT

Let’s be honest. Two is better than one when it comes to watching ballgames. Prep Baseball Spring Classic events enter year number six this season and it seems to just keep getting better. There will be eight Spring Classics this year beginning on April 4 with three games at Wooster High School.

The highlight day of the Classic for the 2026 season is on May 9 at Defiance when there will be five games taking place.

It starts with D-III #6 Wapakoneta meeting #6 D-IV Licking Valley in what was nearly the Division III state finals a year ago. Licking Valley won it all in D-III, while Wapak lost to University School in the state semis.

It will be Cincinnati versus Cleveland in game two when Division I top-ranked Moeller meets seventh-rated Saint Ignatius.

Game three is an interesting matchup between two perennial state powers, Butler and Jonathan Alder. Butler enters the year ranked second in D-III while Alder is fourth in D-IV.

The fourth contest pits Division I #5 Olentangy Orange against D-I #6 Mason in another collision of powerhouses with the Weaver brothers colliding in the nightcap for the second time in three years when D-I #8 Olentangy Berlin, under the direction of Mike Weaver, takes on brother Rick Weaver and the Bulldogs of Defiance, the #5 D-III team in Ohio. Berlin outlasted Defiance 5-3 in a Prep Baseball Spring Classic at DHS in 2024, with the bases left loaded in the last of the seventh.

MORE CAN’T-MISS GAMES

If you are looking for great matchups, you do not have to wait until May. It starts with the first Classic on April 4 at Wooster when #2 D-I Massillon Jackson collides with #3 D-II Walsh Jesuit.

A week later on April 11 at Butler with an Ohio vs. Michigan matchup. Centerville, the 21st-ranked Division I team in the Buckeye State, will meet Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, the second-ranked team in the Prep Baseball Michigan Power Rankings. If that isn’t enough, the day ends with host Butler, the No. 2 team in Division III, playing fifth-ranked Defiance.

On April 18 the Classics will be played at Clay and VA Memorial Stadium with state-ranked teams at each site. Division II No. 4 Clay meets Division I No. 11 St. Edward in the opener with the next two games featuring Division II powers. No. 7 St. Francis meets No. 20 Avon Lake before second-rated Anthony Wayne plays third-ranked Walsh Jesuit in a rematch of last year’s state semifinals, won by the Generals 1-0 with the run coming on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.

On the same day in Chillicothe, a pair of Division I ranked teams will battle lower division squads. D-I #17 Beavercreek takes on D-III #8 Canfield in the opener with D-I #12 Springboro battling D-IV #13 Wheelersburg in the game four nightcap.

A pair of 2025 state champions collide at Defiance on April 25 with Anthony Wayne, last year’s Division II winner, meets Olentangy, which took home the Division I crown. That game comes after a battle of state-ranked Division V teams, No. 13 Ottawa Hills and No. 19 Tinora. The final two games of the day bring together four teams ranked in the top five in their respective divisions. Host Defiance faces Amherst Steele, the top-ranked Division II team in Ohio, in the third game with D-VI #4 Lincolnview going against #3 D-V Sherwood Fairview in the finale.

Lake Center Christian is home to a pair of games on May 2 that match state-ranked squads from four different divisions. Game one finds the hosts, #2 in D-VI and the state runner-up a year ago, meeting defending Division V state champ Waynedale, the top-rated team in Ohio in D-V. D-IV No. 3 University faces D-I No. 11 St. Edward in game two.

A week after the May 9 event at Defiance, the final Spring Classic of 2025 takes place at Dublin Jerome highlighted by a Division IV collision between No. 2 Indian Hill and No. 15 Fenwick. Those two met in a real classic last year in the regional semifinals, with Indian Hill taking a 6-5 win in 10 innings en route to a regional championship.

A day later, on May 10, the tournament draw will take place with the state Final Four in all seven divisions just a month away.

***** CLICK HERE FOR PDF OF THE ALL-STATE TEAMS *****

The History of All-State Teams/Team Rankings:

To view the the History of All-State Teams/Team Rankings, click here.

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