With the high school baseball season on hold until April 13, we took a Twitter poll on whether our followers wanted us to release our Preseason Power 25 now, or wait until a few days before the season. The decision was overwhelmingly in favor of releasing it now.

Over the course of the next few days, we will release five teams at a time and highlight some key players from each squad. This will lead up to revealing our Preseason No. 1.

Today we take a look at the teams ranked No. 1-5.

CLICK HERE to view the teams ranked No. 6-10

CLICK HERE to view the teams ranked No. 11-15

CLICK HERE to view the teams ranked No. 16-20

CLICK HERE to view the teams ranked No. 21-25

1 Trinity

Key Losses: Grant Brunstetter, Jared Bryant, Grant Perry, Ricardo Martinez

Key Returners: Daylen Lile, Braden Barry, Nick Thompson, Kaelan Racculia, Josh Castleman, Korbyn Dickerson, Davis Crane, Ethan Hodge, Jackson Case, Bryce Dreher, Trent Youngblood, Lucas Murphy

Simply put, the Rocks are loaded coming off a 35-6 campaign that saw them win the 7^th region championship and advance to the state semifinals before a tough 6-5 loss to McCracken County. They lose only two starters from that squad and bring back a plethora of D1 commits. The offense will score plenty of runs led by one of the top juniors in the country in Daylen Lile, a Louisville commit. Lile hit .518 with 17 doubles, 5 triples, and 3 HR while striking out just 5 times in 142 plate appearances last spring. Seniors Braden Barry (West Virginia), Davis Crane (Bellarmine), Jackson Case (Bellarmine), junior Josh Castleman, and sophomore Korbyn Dickerson (Louisville) will all contribute heavily to the loaded offense. Look for Nick Thompson, Kaelan Racculia (Saint Leo), Castleman, and Lucas Murphy (Transy) to headline the Rocks pitching staff. Keep an eye on sophomore LHP Garrett Brunstetter who impressed at the Preseason All-State Showcase.

2 St. Xavier

Key Losses: Alex Adams, Ryan Nicholson, Cameron Scheler, Brandon Tucker, Aric Lyons, Noah Nelson, Leighton Keller

Key Returners: Max Bergmann, Beau Coffman, Nathan Waldridge, Kyle Bansbach, Justin Lauersdorf, Trent Pahl, Stone Shiflet, Reece Spalding, Sam Thompson

The Tigers lost a lot of offense to graduation including six starters who moved on to play college baseball, four at the D1 level.  Seniors Trent Pahl, Kyle Bansbach and Stone Shiflet should see the opportunity for more playing time along with juniors Reece Spalding and Justin Lauersdorf. St. Xavier’s strength will lie with the pitching staff led by senior Max Bergmann (Cincinnati) who posted a 1.69 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 45.2 innings last spring. Senior lefty Nathan Waldridge (John A Logan) and senior RHP Beau Coffman (Wabash Valley JC) give the Tigers as good a top of the rotation as there is in the state.

3 McCracken County

Key Losses: Jacob Ehling, Dylan Schneider, CJ Spillane, Logan Verble, Kiael Waldon, Garrett Crabtree

Key Returners: Grant Godwin, Grant Davis, Ben Higdon, Brandon Dodd, Reese Hutchins, Elijah Wheat, Braden Vinyard, Josh Tucker

The 2019 McCracken County squad posted a 33-8 record in winning the 1^st Region championship and advancing all the way to the state finals before losing to Tates Creek 4-2 in the championship game. Murray State recruit Grant Davis returns to lead a loaded offense after hitting .363 with 13 doubles, 3 triples, and a bomb last spring. Other top offensive returners include juniors Ben Higdon, Grant Godwin, and Brandon Dodd, and seniors Reese Hutchins and Elijah Wheat. Look for Higdon, Godwin, Hutchins, and junior Josh Tucker to lead a pitching staff that lost a lot of innings from last year’s squad.

4 Oldham County

Key Losses: Matthew Teague, Gabe Bratetic, Derek Webb, Nick Spencer

Key Returners: Austin Reed, Trevor Amburgey, Deaton Oak, Gavin McLarty, Tyler Barnes, Jack Harris, Nicholas Willey, Elijah Skaggs

Coming off a 25-12 season and disappointing post season (didn’t make regional tournament), we think this if the year this talented squad puts it together. The pitching staff includes 3 D1 commits and a D2 commit and will undoubtedly be the strength for the Colonels. West Virginia commit Deaton Oak looks to lead the staff again after posting a 1.42 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 49.1 IP last spring. Louisville recruit and senior LHP Trevor Amburgey racked up 57 strikeouts in 35.2 IP, and senior RHP Gavin McLarty (USI) had 45 strikeouts in 38.2 IP last season. Add Mississippi State recruit Austin Reed who was used sparingly on the mound last year, and you have a very formidable rotation who will stack up with anyone. Reed will lead the offense after posting video game-like numbers when he hit .520 with 13 doubles, 8 triples, and 5 HR. Senior Tyler Barnes brings back his power bat after hitting 9 HR’s last season.

5 Paducah Tilghman

Key Losses: Eric Riffe, Will Thompson, Brady Betts, Colbe Crim, Mitchell Crouch

Key Returners: Jackson Fristoe, Justin West, John Kiebler, Devin Kiebler, Jack Hutcheson,

The big question mark with the Blue Tornado this season will be where will the offense come from? It’s a young squad with holes to fill in the lineup, but when you can run two Power 5 arms out to the mound that include Jackson Fristoe (Mississippi State), the top-ranked player in the 2020 class, and Justin West (Louisville), the No. 2 ranked player in the 2022 class, how many runs will you need to score? Fristoe’s stuff is electric with a fastball that touches the mid-90’s and a wicked low 80’s slider, and West shows advanced pitchability, and he proved that last spring as a freshman, posting an 8-2 record with a 1.31 ERA, 69 strikeouts and just 7 walks in 48 innings. Add junior RHP John Kiebler to the rotation, and Tilghman is primed to win games with pitching.