On Wednesday, November 8th, thousands of high school baseball players across the country signed their National Letters of Intent to successfully fulfill their dedication to playing baseball at the collegiate level, with hundreds of players in Missouri alone going through this process. 

Over the next few weeks, our staff will spend some time highlighting those names that signed their NLI to play baseball at the Division I level. We’ll do so by breaking these names up by conference, starting with the SEC last week, which you can find HERE, followed by the Big 12 story, which we published HERE, and then the Big 10 story HERE. Most recently, our staff looked at the in-state prospects headed to the Missouri Valley in 2024, and you can find that story HERE.

We'll wrap up our individual conference breakdown today with the Ohio Valley, as 11 in-state players are headed that way next fall, which you'll learn more about below.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

A perennial OVC contender, with a tournament title as recently as 2022, the Redhawks 2024 recruiting class features two players from the ‘Show Me’ state in C Tank Sims (West Plains) and RHP Kayden Kohlberg (Seckman): 

+ Sims represented Team Select at the PBR Future Games two summers ago. He’s one of the top prospects in the class, currently slotted within the top-20 on our 2024 rankings, and the 6-foot-1, 175-pound backstop is far from reaching his potential ceiling. Sims has gap-to-gap polish from a fast, leveraged left-handed swing that’s starting to impact the baseball more authoritatively, posting personal bests in peak exit velocity (97 mph) and batted ball distance (357 ft.) at the Midwest Mavericks Scout Day this past June. His athleticism behind the plate is worth noting too, as Sims moves around comfortably back there with flexible hips and quick feet, all while showing accurate catch-and-throw to the bag (T79 mph). 

Tank Sims

+ Kohlberg ticked up a bit at Creekside this summer, giving our staff a louder look at the Midwest Premier Super 17 than we’d seen from him in the past. The 6-foot, 180-pound right-hander pitched in the upper-80s with his fastball, touching 90 mph, and it played with late life up in the zone, from a long/loose arm draw. His fastball has true swing-and-miss potential, especially up in the zone, and Kohlberg could have a strong two-pitch mix as he continues to harness the upper-70s slider he showed in this look. 

Kayden Kohlberg

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - EDWARDSVILLE 

Three players from Missouri are crossing over the river onto the Illinois side to play for head coach Sean Lyons and the Cougars’ staff in this recruiting group, including a pair of PBR Missouri Future Gamers on the bump and a powerful right-handed hitter from the state’s southwestern region. 

+ RHP Tim Teixeira (Liberty) is as dependable as an arm as you’ll find in this class, turning in quality start after quality start each time we see him. Teixeira pounds the zone with three pitches, starting with an upper-80s fastball that we’ve seen up to 90 mph from a ¾ arm angle. His bread-and-butter is his ability to spin the baseball, as Teixeira rips off a tight, bullet-like slider that’s eclipsed the 3000 RPM mark in-game, averaging 2700-to-2800 RPM with consistency. He’ll also show a mid-to-high-70s changeup that plays down in the zone and matches his fastball’s plane, giving him an effective third offering to compliment the aforementioned duo. 

Tim Teixeira

+ 1B Trace Harrington (Republic) has no shortage of raw power nestled within a 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame. Harrington posted triple digit exit velocities at peak at two different events this winter, parlaying that positive momentum behind him into an impressive spring for the Republic Tigers. In the summer, Harrington hammered a few balls at the Midwest Premier Super 17 in Kansas City, displaying the easy gap-to-gap strength he showed our staff in the winter. 

Trace Harrington

+ LHP Dalton Hosack (Holt) rounds out this group, and the 6-foot-2, 195-pound southpaw owns some of the highest pitchability in the St. Louis’ area. He anchored the Indians’ pitching staff yet again this spring, pitching to a 2.85 ERA with 75 punchouts over 51 ⅓ innings of work. Hosack lives in the zone with his mid-80s fastball, and he’s able to throw both his curveball, changeup, and slider for strikes in any count, too. 

Dalton Hosack

LINDENWOOD

This upcoming spring will be the Lions’ second at the Division I level, though it’ll be the first under head coach PJ Finigan, who takes control of the programs’ reins after long-time head coach Doug Bletcher’s retirement. Finigan’s first recruiting class is the biggest of this bunch, as six in-state players signed with the Lions on November 8th. 

Two PBR Future Games are a part of this recruiting class in OF Bret Yarger (Rolla) and C/1B Brodie Short (Lutheran St. Charles):

+ Yarger has a potent power and speed profile to go along with a strong, athletic 6-foot-1, 190-pound frame. He’s got juice and bat speed from the right side, bashing near double-digit home runs this spring while also posting triple-digit exit velocities at our events in the past. Aside from his bat strength, Yarger is also a 6.75 runner with quick twitch that shows at the plate and in the field. 

Bret Yarger

+ Short is another highly physical offensive presence, stepping into the left-handed batter’s box at 6-foot-1, 212-pounds. He’s a natural at lifting the baseball, routinely back spinning baseballs gap-to-gap in BP and during our live game looks from an uphill swing. Short has a strong arm behind the plate (T79 mph) that plays with carry through the second base bag, popping as quick as a 1.90 at previous events. 

Brodie Short

This class features a pair of St. Louis’ area arms in RHP Eli Tritinger (Parkway North) and RHP Eli Woodall (Lindbergh): 

+ Toeing the rubber at 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, Tritinger offers a blend of present stuff and projectability. It’s a loose, quick arm with arm speed out front to go along with an intentful delivery that should add a handful more ticks of velocity as he continues to add strength. We’ve seen his fastball play in the upper-80s already, topping at 89 mph at the St. Louis Top Prospect Games this June. Tritinger’s able to land a 75-78 mph slider with depth for strikes and he’s also flashed comfort with a natural running changeup at 76-79 mph in the past. 

Eli Tritinger

+ Woodall’s ceiling is unquestioned, and there’s plenty to dream on with the 6-foot-2, 155-pound right-hander. He’s a raw athlete with long and loose levers that get down the mound with controlled aggression. We saw Woodall at the Recruits Scout Day this fall, where he pumped his fastball at 87-88 mph with jump and life up in the zone. Given his frame, athleticism, and arm speed, there’s plenty to suggest that Woodall is going to light up the radar gun for a large majority of his collegiate career. As for his secondaries, Woodall offers a top-to-bottom breaking ball with big depth that he’s able to land for strikes and he also throws a changeup at arm speed at 76-78 mph. 

Rounding out this recruiting class for Lindenwood are INF Charlie Isom-McCall (SLUH) and CIF Tyler Ellis (CBC), both of whom are top-100 prospects in the state’s senior class: 

+ Isom-McCall brings plenty of value on the infield dirt as a true up-the-middle asset at the next level. He can really pick it, covering ground comfortably and confidently with soft, sure-handed glovework to pair. Offensively, Isom-McCall is athletic at the plate with a short and simple right-handed swing that covers all quadrants, spraying line drives to all fields. 

Charlie Isom-McCall

+ Like his future Lion teammates, Ellis has no shortage of physicality, filling out the uniform at an ultra strong 6-foot-2, 205-pounds. He logged over 100 plate appearances last spring in one of the state’s fiercest lineups, slashing .306/.387/.459 with six doubles and three home runs. We saw Ellis twice this fall, at the Missouri Fall Games as well as the A’s Scout Day, and he was on the barrel with authority to the middle of the field in both looks. 

Tyler Ellis

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