COLUMN: 5 local high school baseball players to watch in 2024

Spring is near and with that comes the beginning of baseball season.

Local baseball fans have already gotten a taste of the action with the beginning of the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks season as well as St. Louis Cardinals spring training.

But, next week begins the prep campaign where local schools set their sites on a state title.

With that quest will come countless storylines, wins, records and memories.

To celebrate the return of baseball season, I have compiled my list of five local players to watch this season.

Not necessarily the best, but five players I am excited to see return to the diamond this spring.

__Levi McKinnie, Chaffee__

The right-hander was simply dominant in 2023. He tossed over 100 strikeouts on the mound and was a vital piece in the run the Red Devils made to the final four that resulted in a third-place finish. McKinnie wasn’t only a threat on the mound, he was a key piece of a deep Chaffee lineup. With McKinnie back in the rotation and the lineup, the Red Devils will look to roll back to another final-four appearance.

__Jathan Spain, Cape Central__

In 2023 the freshman burst onto the scene as the ace of the Cape Central Tigers staff. Perhaps his start to open the season last year was a sign of things to come as the right-hander tossed 5 innings allowing just one run in a win over St. Charles.

In a win over Notre Dame last April, Tigers coach Justin Lieser had high praise for his pitcher.

“I tell everybody that he’s different,” Lieser said. “His maturity as far as on the mound and situationally with what we’re trying to do pitch-by-pitch (is impressive). He looks really comfortable every time he’s out there.”

__John-Paul Sauer, Jackson__

Despite suffering an injury during football season, Sauer is expected to be available at some point during the 2024 season for an Indians team looking to get back to the final four. Perhaps the best pitcher in the area, Sauer, a Tulane baseball commit, was named to the Class 6 All-State First Team a season ago for his efforts on the mound. In Sauer’s first four starts of 2023, he notched three no-hitters during that span. Despite losing some talent, Sauer and the Indians are in a good spot to take a shot at another deep postseason run.

__Cooper Rhodes, Jackson__

Rhodes was a member of the 2023 Indians lineup that featured the likes of Caden Bogenpohl, Baden Hackworth and Quinton Borders. Rhodes was perhaps the most underrated hitter in the lineup, batting out of the two-spot and earning Class 6 All-State First Team honors as a sophomore. Now, with an expanded role, I expect Rhodes to continue to produce not only offensively, but defensively as well for the Indians.

__Jack Evans, Notre Dame__

Evans posted a solid season a year ago for the Notre Dame Bulldogs but what makes Evans an intriguing player to watch is the summer had on the mound playing for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels.

Perhaps his best performance of the summer came against the Southeast Tropics back in June when the righty nearly went the distance, tossing 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out four.

Squirrels coach Michael Minner had high praise for Evans’ performance back in June.

“Jack is just competitive,” Minner said. “He doesn’t throw real hard, but he is going to come at you, and he is going to throw strikes.”

If Evans can replicate the successes he had during last year’s prep campaign as well as during the summer, he is sure to be one of the top performers in the area.