Picture courtesy of Vinny Jared

The 2026 baseball season is coming at the Cougars fast.

With the season opener set for Monday, Salina South entered the weekend with limited time practicing at full strength. The boys basketball season ended on March 6th, making the runway to get ready for the season shorter than usual.

“It’s a little un-usual for us,” said 18th year head coach Kris Meis. “We’ve got six guys that were on the postseason roster for basketball so they missed that first week… they literally got off the court in Wichita on Friday night and on Saturday morning they were on the baseball field with us.”

A weekend jamboree gave the Cougars a clearer picture of how their lineup is taking shape, particularly in the 5–9 spots in the batting order. South has a strong foundation built around eight returning starters and three pitchers who combined for nearly half of last season’s innings.

Those returning arms include Aidan Speilman, Landon Huffman and Caden Stauffer.

Stauffer led the Cougars with 14 appearances, all in relief, posting a 3.08 ERA over 25 innings. Huffman made six starts in 2025 and recorded a 3.79 ERA, while Speilman added five starts and finished with a 4.20 ERA.

Those three projected starters are also expected to make an impact offensively. Aiden Speilman led the team with a .359 average, while Huffman and Stauffer hit .250 and .232 last season, respectively.

Coach Meis added that Yaden Montanez workload on the mound will increase dramatically this season after throwing just 12.1 innings out of the bullpen last year. Montanez is also expected to bat leadoff after slashing .319 and leading the Cougars in hits with 27.

South’s coaching staff is also excited about the upside of Wyatt Breeden, who could emerge as the team’s fourth starter after throwing just one varsity inning as a sophomore.

Behind those pitchers will be a rock solid defense.

“Defense is going to be our strength,” Coach Meis said. “We look like we can pick it and we’ve got guys that can play multiple positions.”

At the plate, the Cougars may not hit many home runs, in fact they hit none last season, but their ‘small-ball’ approach can get the job done.

“This team’s got some pretty good speed, so we’re going to do a lot of hit-and-run and a lot of base stealing…We’re going to play old school baseball,” Meis added.

A player the Cougars expect to see one of the biggest offensive leaps from is Jaxon Anthony. Anthony hit .328 in 24 games last year but could take another step forward after gaining muscle since last spring.

“That kid has worked his tail off this winter,” Meis said. “He’s put on about 25 pounds since last spring… that ball is jumping off his bat more so than it ever has before.”

Another reason for optimism around South baseball is the return of Kolton Herbel. After earning All-Conference honors at second base, Herbel missed most of his junior season with a knee injury but is expected to hit second in the Cougars’ lineup this spring.

The first pitch of the South baseball regular season gets thrown on Monday at Junction City. The home opener follows on Thursday against Abilene.