Moberly Area’s inaugural season as a program came in 2023 and this upcoming season will just be the fourth in school history. Last year, the Greyhounds had the most success in their young existence, finishing 25-24 and picking up a few wins in the Region 16 tournament. 

 

This upcoming season will be about growth for Moberly and head coach Chris Fletcher, as their group returns a multitude of starters from 2025 capable of pushing deep once postseason play rolls around. 

 

POSITION PLAYERS 

One of Moberly’s biggest strengths is the amount of at-bats and experience they return from last year’s group, including multiple key pieces that were excellent at the plate throughout their freshman campaign. 

 

Sophomore INF Jake Stedman was the main driver behind the Greyhounds’ offense, showing the ability to impact the game in every bit way possible. Committed to powerhouse Southeastern in Florida, Stedman hit .385 in 169 at-bats and reached base at a .469 clip, walking 22 times compared to just nine punchouts. He also hit nine home runs, doubled 21 times, drove in 43 runs, and swiped 14 bags. Having his bat back is a huge plus, but Stedman is also expected to see regular playing time at shortstop, though he’s able to bounce around the diamond defensively as well. He’s also likely to grow into more of a workload on the mound, where he pitched to a 3.75 ERA in 12 appearances last spring. There’s no doubt that as Moberly continues to build upward as a program, Stedman is going to play a huge role and he’ll look to put the finishing touches on an excellent Greyhounds’ career this upcoming spring. 

 

Jake Stedman

 

Another mainstay from last year’s offense that’s back is sophomore OF/CIF AJ Lucas, a physical, muscled-up right-handed hitter who’s still uncommitted. Lucas had the second most at-bats on the team last spring (159) and made the most of them, providing plenty of juice in the middle of this lineup. He hit .365 with a 1.082 OPS, homering 7 times, doubling 15, adding in three triples, and driving in a team-high 55 runs. Lucas’ raw bat strength and ability were on full display at our Moberly Scout Day, as he left the yard several times in BP to the pull-side and put up some of the louder raw batted ball numbers we saw across our fall circuit. At peak, Lucas blasted his hardest ball at 108.4 mph, and his furthest traveled 412 feet, while also showing notable average bat speed (79) and average hand speed (23.5 mph) metrics too. Another productive spring is likely en route for Lucas, who is a name-to-know JUCO sophomore in Missouri that’s still on the market. 

 

AJ Lucas

 

Two sophomore corner infielders that are both committed to Columbia College and are back in 2026 are 1B Owen Larrigan and 3B Grant Sumral. Larrigan’s track record of performance dates back to his high school days, where he was a leader and winner on a few highly accomplished Francis Howell clubs. Collegiately, Larrigan hit .331 and posted a .958 OPS in 118 at-bats, walking (23) as much as he struck out (23) and homering five times. Sumrall was plenty productive in his own right, slashing .315/.391/.449 in 127 at-bats, including 12 extra-base hits and 30 RBI. 

 

Owen Larrigan

 

Two physical right-handed hitting sophomore outfielders to mention are Ryker Zimmerman and Gavin Poindexter:

 

+ Zimmerman, who’s still uncommitted, got off several aggressive hacks throughout both of his BP rounds at our Moberly Scout Day this past September. It’s a long, level barrel path through the zone, working with leverage out front and elevating off it to the pull-side on repeat. There’s bat speed (73.8 mph) and impact to match, as he averaged 93.4 mph per batted ball, peaking at 98.9 mph, and sending his furthest ball 349 feet, per TrackMan. A 6.77 runner, Zimmerman flashed in his opportunities as a freshman, hitting .270 with 11 extra-base hits in 126 at-bats this past season. 

 

Ryker Zimmerman

 

+ Poindexter, a Cameron University commit, is one of the more physical right-handed bats in Missouri’s JUCO scene, stepping up to the plate at 6-foot-4, 205-pounds. There’s plenty of bat strength to match his physical stature, as Poindexter’s max exit velocity (105 mph) and peak batted distance (405 ft.) were amongst the highest numbers we saw this fall across our events, as was his average bat speed (76.2 mph). If he can find consistency, Poindexter has the raw power to be a real impact bat for Moberly in 2026. 

 

Gavin Poindexter

 

Their outfield group may be where the Greyhounds find themselves with the most depth in their sophomore class. Max Guenther hit .307 in 88 at-bats as a freshman and ran a 6.59 60-yard dash at our scout day. Another speedster is Lucas Eddleman, a 6.64 runner that sprayed line drives middle-pull in BP from a short, simple right-handed swing. Blake Henry (William Woods), Jack Thomas (William Woods), and Gage Scott are three other sophomore names to know that showed well at our event this fall. 

 

Lucas Eddleman

 

A pair of uncommitted sophomore infielders that deepen this group are INF Schafer Cradick and INF Carter Bremer. Cradick has a short, direct right-handed swing that can use the whole field and is able to move around the infield defensively as well. In our BP look this fall, Bremer elevated consistently to the pull-side, working on a compact, uphill plane and flashing bat strength at peak (96.4 mph EV). 

 

Schafer Cradick

 

Sophomore C Brandt Diel figures to see a bulk of the workload behind the plate. Diel was around the bag in his defensive workout at our scout day, showing 76 mph arm strength at peak with a top pop time of 1.95 seconds. Offensively, Diel has a long, rotational right-handed swing that kept his barrel level through the hitting zone and flashed bat strength; 93.5 mph max EV, 360 ft. peak distance. Another sophomore backstop to know is Cal Turin, a physical 6-foot, 200-pound right-handed hitter with 75 mph arm strength from the chute. 

 

Though it’s an older, experienced group of position players, Moberly is expected to have a few freshmen step in and contribute from the get-go: 

 

+ INF Mason Bogard may have been the biggest takeaway from our scout day, showing well in all aspects of his game. The definition of a “winning” baseball player, dating back to his high school days at Francis Howell, Bogard was on the barrel from both sides of the plate. It’s a short, compact right-handed and left-handed swing that stayed through the middle of the field consistently while spraying line drives off the barrel. 

 

Mason Bogard

 

+ INF/RHP Jackson Engel put together a strong high school career at in-town Moberly High School and the talented two-way local product has the potential to be a producer right away for the Greyhounds. At 6-foot, 200-pounds with strength throughout his frame, Engel showed advanced bat speed (75.2 mph) in both of his BP rounds at our event this fall and was on the barrel with easy pull-side strength; 90.6 mph average exit velocity, 98.2 mph max, 380 ft. peak batted distance. He also ran a 7.06 60-yard dash and showed sure-handed, fundamental actions on the infield with the ability to slow the game down on the move. There’s a chance Engel sees time on the mound as well, pitching in the low-80s with his fastball at our event and spinning two different breaking balls for strikes; a low-70s sweeper (-0.9 VB, -12.8 HB) and a shorter, tighter slider at 74-76 mph (4.4 VB, -5.8 HB). 

 

Jackson Engel

 

+ C Paxton Stracke is a candidate to see time behind the plate early into his collegiate career. He’s a physical right-handed hitter that flashed advanced bat strength for his age in BP this fall, sending his furthest ball 362 feet on TrackMan while also posting a 98.7 mph max exit velocity. Consistency will be key for Stracke, but his impact potential at the plate boosts his prospect value, and he showed well in the catch-and-throw area of his workout, too.

 

PITCHERS

For as deep and experienced as their offense is, the Greyhounds are likely to be fairly new on the mound. They lost a large majority of their innings from last year’s group to graduation and replacing that could be paramount to the success of their season. 

 

One gigantic boost is the return of R-Soph LHP Jacob Janisko, a power left-hander with the potential to be one of the top JUCO arms that Missouri has to offer. Committed to Mizzou, Janisko pitched in the low-90s, touching 92.5 mph, at our scout day and we heard multiple different reports that he was firmer than that throughout the fall. From a secondary standpoint, Janisko rips off a hard slider in the low-80s with sharp, late break and also throws somewhat of a turbo changeup at 86-88 mph that averages nearly -20 inches of horizontal movement. The stuff to be a frontline arm is all there and we’re comfortable expecting a huge spring for Moberly’s left-hander if he has any sort of consistency with the strike zone. 

 

Jacob Janisko

 

Two freshman arms to keep an eye on as potential rotation candidates are RHP Tate Alexander and LHP Cooper Harvey. Alexander is a mid-to-upper-80s arm from the Kansas City area with a carry fastball and short mid-70s slider. A lean, athletic southpaw with a clean arm, Harvey throws five different pitches for strikes and can really pitch despite not having overpowering velocity. The success of these two youngsters will be paramount to what Moberly is trying to accomplish on the mound this upcoming season. 

 

Cooper Harvey

 

There is more depth within this Moberly freshman class. RHP Isaac DeMuth has a cut/carry heater (21.3 VB, 7.7 HB) at 85-86 mph that can be a weapon up in the zone and he spins a hammer top-to-bottom curveball off it. There’s plenty to project on with RHP Cash Arnold, who played catch with his fastball from a super easy, low-effort arm stroke at 83-85, touching 86 mph, and he spun a low-70s curveball at upwards of 2500+ RPM. RHP Gavin Moffitt is another mid-80s arm with spin feel, and RHP Jack Brettschneider is a physical arm that has been up into the upper-80s when he’s healthy. RHP Jonah Wall is an uncommitted sophomore arm that pitched at 84-85, touching 86 mph, at our scout day and showed strike feel for a 74-75 mph curveball.