The Oklahoma high school baseball season kicks off on Feb. 23 for classes A and B and Mar. 1 for classes 2A-6A, opening day for regular season action under OSSAA regulations. Leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2025 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down to the official Prep Baseball Oklahoma 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.

High School: Claremore
Head Coach: Jonathan Gelnar (3 years)
Classification: 5A
2025 Record (Finish): 31-10

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2026 SEASON OUTLOOK

No. of Returning Position Players: 4 Starters
No. of Returning Pitchers: 3 Starters

Top Returners:

• Kellen Gaede (2027) OF/LHP, 5'11 190 R/L.
• Tyler Osgood (2026) C/3B 2026 5'11 190 R/R. Eastern Oklahoma State JC commit.
• Saxton Pickup (2026) P/1B 6'3 180 R/R. USAO commit.
• Jax Van Valkenburg (2027) C/3b 6' 215 S/R/. Arizona State commit.

Top Newcomers:

• Brayden Floyd SS, 2027, 5'11 190, R/R.
• Jaden Franco OF/P, 2027, 5'11 180, R/R.
• John Tedesco OF/LHP, 2029, 6' 165, L/L.

Key Players Lost:

• Brad Hoisington (NEO)
• Marcos Sallee (Little Rock)
• Curtis Waters (Eastern Oklahoma State JC)
• Connor Rowe (Eastern Oklahoma State JC)
• Zach Hale (Arkansas-Rich Mountain)

Coach’s Insight: “We graduated five players who went on to play college baseball, but we feel good about the group we have returning. Several players are working hard to take on expanded roles. This team works hard in practice, competes daily, and brings a positive mindset to the field. They enjoy being around each other and have done a good job building chemistry early, which is a credit to our player leadership. Inexperience will be our biggest challenge early. We lost a lot of innings from last year’s team, and this group is still learning how to handle adversity together. Continued growth, especially in game situations, will be important as the season moves along.” – Jonathan Gelnar, head coach

Outlook: Despite losing a talented group of seniors a season ago, Claremore has the makings of a talented team that will play their best baseball down the stretch. A roster that will continue to gain valuable experience throughout the season, they have a good mix of youth and returners that contributed at the varsity level a year ago. Depth on the mound will be a question mark early, but Coach Gelnar and his staff assuredly will have the Zebras playing fundamental defense giving them an opportunity to beat anyone in the state. Coming off a 31 win season a year ago, Claremore will be a team to watch as we anticipate they will play their best baseball in May and have a chance to make a 5A state tourney run.

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Find more information on the 2026 Claremore High School program below:

+ Follow them on X: @ZebsBaseball
+ Visit Prep Baseball Oklahoma’s 2026 OSSAA 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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