The Missouri high school baseball season is set to kick off shortly, with ‘Opening Day’ set for today, March 17th. Over the next two weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2023 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2023 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Staley
2022 Record: 22-14
Conference: Suburban Kansas City - Silver
Classification: 6A
Head Coach: David Wilson

X-FACTOR

Jackson Glueck, 1B, 2024: Glueck missed most of last season due to an injury, and his departure from this lineup over that time did hurt the Falcons’ offense. Having Glueck healthy and right in the middle of their order surely helps, as he swings one of the more physical left-handed bats in the state’s junior class. A member of Team Missouri at the PBR Future Games, Glueck proved he could hit against high-end competition, swatting a few deep barrels throughout the event, including a no-doubt home run. Having him healthy throughout the course of a full season will certainly help the Falcons reach their goals of playing deep into the MSHSAA playoffs.

Jackson Glueck

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

Brody Irlbeck, LHP, 2025, Iowa commit: Over the past year or so, Irlbeck has made massive strides, jumping up our rankings after a polished look at the Missouri Fall Underclass Games and expected to rise even more in our next update. Lean and lanky at 6-foot, 165-pounds, Irlbeck put together his most impressive look to date at the Prodigy Scout Day in late February, running his fastball up to 91 mph with plenty to like offensively, too. Verbally committed to the Hawkeyes, Irlbeck adds another talented arm to a Staley roster full of them, and should make an impact nearly right away for the Falcons in his sophomore year.

From 2/25/23: “...came away from this event with plenty of momentum headed into the high school season. Built at a lean and lanky 6-foot, 165-pounds with plenty of physical projection left, Irlbeck’s fastball saw five mph uptick since we saw him in the fall, topping at 91 mph, while holding 87-90 mph throughout his ‘pen. Irlbeck produced that premium velocity with little-to-no effort, and there’s reason to believe that he could add even more heat down the road. Irlbeck showed his patented swing-and-miss changeup, a pitch that he kills spin on and consistently spots to the arm-side at 76-78 mph, and he also spun a tight breaking ball in the low-70s, topping at 2324 RPM. Irlbeck flashed intrigue as a position player too, repeating hard contact (86.2 mph) off his wiry left-handed barrel, peaking at 94.7 mph, and also reaching a 91 mph high from the outfield. Already one of the top prospects in Missouri’s 2025 class, Irlbeck is set to rise on our next rankings update, and his bump in stuff adds even more depth to a Staley program that’s poised for a promising year.”

Brody Irlbeck

STAT RAT

7 - The number of players returning for Staley that received all-conference honors in 2022, whether as first team, second team, or honorable mention.

OUTLOOK

Staley finished 22-14 last year, playing a gauntlet of a schedule against quality opponents from top to bottom. They fell in the opening round of district play to Park Hill, but return essentially their entire roster from last season, albeit missing two key pieces in MIF Dylan Grego (2022; Ball State) and C Gavin Siegfried (2022; Crowder JC).

Positionally, the Falcons are deep in the upperclass, led by a strong group in their senior class. Roaming the outfield, OF Jonathan Ludwig (2023; Seminole State JC) and OF John Randle IV (2023; Missouri - St. Louis) are two speedsters that can create havoc with their legs, providing offense as a result. Ludwig, in particular, has shown our staff raw power in the past, and his left-handed stroke should profile nicely towards the top of this lineup. C Tyler Leonard (2023; Neosho County CC) swings a strong right-handed bat with arm strength from the chute, captaining this staff behind the plate, and INF Joe Smith (2023; Missouri Valley College) returns after an all-conference second team season as a junior.

Two key juniors on this team that represented Team Missouri at the PBR Future Games are OF Kenton Unruh (2024; Bradley) and INF Lukas Wilson (2024). Unruh is a physical presence at the plate with athleticism, swinging a strong right-handed barrel with bat speed and juice to pair. Wilson is a scrappy, competitive, do-it-all type of player that’s capable of helping this team win in multiple ways, doing so last year as a first team all-conference honoree. He’s a switch hitter with presence and rhythm from both sides, can really defend up the middle, and also runs on the bases, serving as a true top-of-the-order producer for Staley. Both are assets for this team, and continued production from this pairing throughout the season will prove pivotal for this Falcons’ squad.

Lukas Wilson

Turning to the mound, the Falcons’ return two more all-conference juniors in RHP Jacob Allinder (2024) and LHP Hunter Hampshire (2024). At 6-foot-2, 175-pounds, Allinder’s fastball plays in the low-to-mid-80s, and he rips off a low-70s curveball with high raw spin, approaching the 2900 RPM mark at one of our events this winter. Hampshire stands at 6-foot-2, 170-pounds and works from an unorthodox arm slot, making for a difficult at-bat with a low-to-mid-80s fastball and sweep on a low-70s slider, too. Both are proven producers at the varsity level, and pairing them in a rotation with Irlbeck will give Staley plenty of opportunities to compete on a game-to-game basis.

Jacob Allinder

There’s a few more arms to note that deepen this staff. RHP Aidan Bahn (2024) is an upside 6-foot-4, 180-pound mid-80s arm with aptitude to spin both his fastball and breaking ball that impressed us this winter. Another strong-armed underclassman on this roster is RHP Jacob Garcia (2025), who ran his fastball up to 87 this winter, sitting at 85-86 mph, and RHP Ty Hill (2023; Benedictine - KS) and RHP/1B Chase Maddox (2023; Central Methodist) are two seniors that add even more options to this rotation. Head coach David Wilson will have plenty of quality arms to choose from on a game-to-game basis throughout the 2023 season.

BOTTOM LINE

Staley enters the season as one of the state’s top 6A programs. They’re deep in multiple spots and return several players that produced for them in 2022, now one year older and more experienced. The Falcons play a tough regular season schedule and are in arguably the state’s toughest district, but this team has their eyes set on a deep playoff run come the postseason.

Follow along @PBRMissouri for complete coverage of the 2023 high school season.

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