Emma Farroll

Junior Jacob Hurst warms up on the mound in a game last season. Now a senior, Hurst will be one of the leaders of the Patriots this season.

Following the incredible success last season, many Patriots are wondering how the 2026 season will look for South’s varsity baseball team. 

Last season, the Patriots finished third in the state for Class 6. Blue Springs South beat the Patriots 7-4 to knock the team out of championship contention. Their final record was 23-11. One year later, this success has set the tone for the upcoming season. Senior Jacob Hurst thinks that the excitement from last year’s season will help them in their games this year.

“I think since we know what we were capable of; it’ll give us more motivation. We have a lot of the same people, so honestly, I think we can do even better than last year,” Hurst said. 

Hurst was one of the Patriots’ stronger offensive players last season, finishing second in average with .396. 

This season, the team has a mix of strong returning players and new players after losing nine seniors last year. Junior Andrew Heskett believes that even without these graduated teammates, the team can still be successful.

“We lost a few really good seniors last year, so replacing them will be tough, but our pitching staff this year is looking really strong. We have lots of good arms, like Corwin Plank, who is one of the greatest pitchers. Also, Jordan Schneider has one of the best bats I’ve ever seen,” Heskett said. 

Schneider led the Patriots in batting last year, finishing the season with an average of .425. Plank showed his strengths in pitching, going 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA. 

Although the team has a hopeful outlook and is expecting an impressive season, there are always challenges to overcome. South’s schedule features some upcoming opponents that could be really tough teams to beat, according to Coach Matt Brown. 

“We’re playing a very hard schedule, so we have a lot of tough games, not specifically just one,” Brown said. 

According to Hurst, South’s schedule has some powerful teams, including Edwardsville, Lafayette, and Eureka. The Patriots were able to beat Eureka last season, but fell short in their game against Lafayette. 

Even with their difficult schedule, Brown says that this is a team mainly made up of upperclassmen who have been playing together for years, which helps them to work together as a unit. 

“They care about each other a lot. It’s an older group whose strength is defense, but we also have the ability to hit at a high level,” Brown said.

Hurst agrees, saying that this group’s strongsuit is their teamwork. 

“We have a lot of good contributors. We all build off each other,” Hurst said.

Another challenge the team will face this season is replacing the leadership from last year’s senior class. According to Brown, someone still needs to take on that role.

“Last year, we had August Johansen, who was our leader. This season, we need someone to step up and lead the team through the entire season,” Brown said.

Along with leading the team motivationally, Johansen led the Patriots in home runs as well, with 5. The team also lost their top pitcher, Luke Sullivan. Sullivan went 1-0 and had a 2.00 ERA. 

Players are also looking forward to several matchups this season. Hurst is especially excited to play Eureka, while Heskett is looking forward to the first game. The Patriots open the season with a home game against Liberty in the St. Charles West Tournament.

“The first game is always exciting. We’re playing Liberty, so getting that first game out of the way and starting the season will be really fun,” Heskett said. 

As the season begins, the Patriots are trying to build off last year’s success. Heskett is hopeful that the team will reach its goal of going even further this season. 

“I’m expecting this season to go really well. We want to win more than we did last year and win state,” Heskett said.