The Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association has released its 2023 Preseason All-state watch list. Here are all the players from NKY who made the list.
From the Eighth Region, Simon Kenton’s Logan Cones, Chad Atchley and Daniel Uhl all made the list. The Pioneers are coming off a 32nd district championship and a semi-final appearance in the region tournament. Pioneers district foe Walton-Verona was represented by Lance Coleman, who had a fantastic 2022 in which he hit .406 and added four home runs.
In the ninth region, two future collegiate catchers in Ethan Bosley from Dixie Heights and Jonathan Fitz from Covington Catholic were included. Bosley finished 2022 with four home runs and a .366 average. Fitz, a University of San Diego commit, hit .333 in 2022 along with two long balls.
Conner and Ryle were well represented with the Cougars having five players placed on the list and the Raiders with four. Brody Mangold, Ayden Lohr, Oliver Kerns, Jeffrey Vest, and Rex Richter were all included from Conner. The five led a pitching staff in 2022 that had an ERA of 2.33, which led to Conner having a 29-7 record last season. Landon Sawyer, Roman Furuta, T.J. Schira, and Dylan McIntrye were included from Ryle. Sawyer and Furuta are both coming off .300-plus hitting seasons while Schira and McIntrye were critical to a pitching staff that totaled 238 strikeouts in 2022.
Highlands was represented by Jack Hendrix, a fantastic two-way player who hit .368 and also had a 2.17 ERA in 2022. The three-time defending regional champs the Beechwood Tigers will be led by the two players from this list, Ben Meier and Sam Stacy. Stacy, a three-year starting pitcher for the Tigers finished 2022 with a 2.67 ERA. Meier hit .354 and added 26 RBI and a home run as well.
Kicking off the 10th region is future Kentucky Wildcat baseball player Aydan Hamilton from Campbell County. Along with Hamilton, the Camels had four other players named to the list: Jake Gross, Parker Schweitzer, Max Lause, and Evan Clark. Campbell County is coming off another 10th region title and an elite eight finish in the state tournament.
Evan Moore and Colin Combs from Bishop Brossart were also included. Both had phenomenal 2022’s hitting 396 and 378. The two also hit a combined 13 home runs and 85 RBIs. They also were dominant on the mound. Both finished with under three eras. Our final player is Leo Brown from Scott. Brown hit 329 and also stole five bases.
The first pitch of the season is right around the corner. Opening day is Monday.