The Northern Kentucky Baseball Coaches Association have released their preseason top 10 teams in Northern Kentucky.
The 2026 season is slated to start March 16.
Here is the top 10:
- Beechwood
- Campbell County
- Highlands
- Covington Catholic
- Simon Kenton
- Ryle
- Dixie Heights
- Conner
- Walton-Verona
- Cooper
Beechwood opens the season with the target on their back coming off a 9th Region championship appearance, finishing runner-up to Highlands. They went 25-11 in 2025 and return Region Player of the Year candidate Tyler Fryman, hitting .436 last season and tallying 51 hits. They’ll need to find a replacement for workhorse Chase Flaherty, but they return three of their top rotational arms in Branton Stiles, Caleb Arrasmith and Kingston Conover. Brooks Becker and Arrasmith will help complement Fryman at the plate.
Campbell County returns a plethora of talent after a stunning loss in the semifinals of the 10th Region tournament to Montgomery County. Tyler Schumacher headlines the returnees, hitting .455 at the plate while posting a 1.04 ERA in 47 innings on the bump. Gavin Kramer is another key returnee to watch coming off a season hitting .471 and a 2.97 ERA in 30 innings pitched.
Highlands is the reigning 9th Region champion, losing a lot of pitching, but returns Region Player of the Year candidate Brooks Hendrix, who hit .578 last season. They also have the services of Kai Anderson back, one of the top catchers in the state for the 2027 class.
Covington Catholic will have a new head coach in the dugout for the first time in 48 years after Bill Krumpelbeck retired and John Michels took over. He’ll also have to look at replacing top hitters Jackson Reardon, Marcus Suwinski, Alek Yuskewich and Ben McEvoy. While the hitting has a lot of turnover, they do return top arms Logan Wermuth, Will McEvoy and Cole Krumpelman, the three combining to pitch 101.1 innings last season.
Simon Kenton reached the 8th Region semifinals last season and graduated just five seniors from the team. Key returnees at the plate include Jacob Piper, Caleb Uhl, Brett Bockmon and Logan Judd while Tre Beach, Uhl and Judd highlight the arms on the mound.
Ryle is still a dangerous team in the 9th Region despite the loss of 14 seniors. The Raiders had a disappointing end to the 2025 season with losses in the 33rd District championship and in the first round of the 9th Region tournament. Anthony Coppola is a Region Player of the Year candidate, hitting .462 and stealing 41 bases last season. Xaden Hughes will complement him in the lineup. The Raiders rotation was deep as anyone last season, having 10 guys throw at least 14 innings. Seven of those 10 were seniors, however.
Dixie Heights will once again be a heavy favorite in the 34th District and has made some noise in the past few region tournaments, reaching the championship game in 2024 and upsetting Ryle in the first round in 2025. They graduated six seniors, three of them the top hitters in the lineup. They do return top innings eater Kyle Flynn, posting a 2.04 ERA in 55 innings pitched. The lineup will be highlighted by Will Steczynski and Austin Krohmer.
Conner is another to watch come region tournament time, assuming they get out of a competitive 33rd District with Cooper and Ryle also expected to challenge. The Cougars have recorded a region tournament victory in each of the last three seasons before falling in the semifinals. Brady Bushman will be in the Region Player of the Year mix, coming off a season hitting .382 and posting a 3.53 ERA in 41.2 innings pitched. Max Brunkel had a solid sophomore year, hitting .302. Outside of Bushman on the bump, Everett Hall, Cooper Kelly, Grayson Wagner and Brenden Gill all return with at least 11.2 innings logged last season.
Walton-Verona has Bronson Corpus, meaning they are dangerous any time he is on the bump. They graduated just five seniors coming off a 20-15 campaign in 2025. Miles Lehmkuhl, Kainan Held and Trevor Bauwens headline the key returnees at the plate. William Hurles and Cole Dryden will help complement Corpus on the mound.
Cooper is looking to make the region tournament for the first time since 2018. Key returnees include Brogan Scott, Dax Bolen and Ryker Campbell.