The 2024 Missouri high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Missouri. 

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Ozark come early June, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Missouri. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason team rankings that’ll carry us into the opening week of action.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state, and we’ll be releasing daily content to ensure our top-tier coverage of the ‘Show Me’ state. 

Our 2024 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Lee’s Summit
2023 Record (Playoff Finish): 19-18 (Lost in District Semi-finals)
Conference: Suburban Silver
Classification: 6A
Head Coach: Jim Mellody 

UPPERCLASSMEN TO KNOW 

• P John Howayek (2025)
• 3B/C Connor Kepner (2024; St. Charles CC)
• RHP John-Michael Howayek (2025)
• 2B Will Godfrey (2025)
• P Cooper Hart (2024)
• CIF Conner Anderson (2024)
  
• OF Reign Williams (2025; Central Arkansas)

UNDERCLASS FOLLOWS 

• P Bryce Williams (2026)
• OF Micah Patterson (2026)
• INF Dominic Thompson (2026)

TEAM OUTLOOK

With most of last year’s senior group departed, particularly on the mound, Lee’s Summit will look to build from within for another strong season. In 2023, the Tigers won 19 games and made it to their District semi-final before falling to eventual champion Rockhurst. 

Lee's Summit has one of the more talented juniors in the state on their squad with left-handed hitting OF Reign Williams (2025; Central Arkansas commit). A member of Team Select at the Future Games last year, Williams has the potential to be a real impact threat right in the middle of this Tigers' lineup and should be one of the top offensive performers for this year's club.

The strength of this group figures to be their lineup, where a handful of key contributors from their offense last season will blend with talented up-and-comers. 3B Grant Sumrall (2024) and CIF Conner Anderson (2024) are two middle-of-the-order bats to know. The former batted .324 with a .438 on-base percentage, doubling nine times and driving in 20 total runs. Anderson returns a .324/.457/.500 triple-slash, totaling 17 doubles with seven triples. 3B/C Connor Kepner (2024; St. Charles CC), OF Adam Neimeyer (2024) and INF Matt Asher (2024) deepen this group more so with the expectation that they’ll contribute in bigger roles. 

Expect left-handed hitting INF Will Godfrey (2025) to grow upon the success he saw in his sophomore year, where he posted a .294 batting average. Over our summer circuit, Godfrey proved he’s capable of being an asset offensively with a clean, polished, and productive offensive skill-set.

Will Godfrey

Two more talented youngsters of note are OF Micah Patterson (2026) and OF Dominick Thompson (2026). Patterson has the potential to be a high level talent in the state, currently sitting within the top-20 on our class rankings. He’s an advanced athlete for his age with a fast, accurate left-handed swing that profiles as a true top-of-the-order type impact. Thompon’s plenty projectable at 6-foot-3, 140-pounds with a twitchy left-handed swing that should continue to grow into middle-of-the-order type power. 

Micah Patterson

A handful of senior arms will look to lead this team on the mound: RHP Jonas McNutt (2024), RHP Cooper Hart (2024) and the aforementioned Asher. Other names that should contribute are RHP John Howayek (2025) and RHP Bryce Williams (2026). 

BOTTOM LINE 

The Tigers will look to build upon last year’s run that saw them playing in their District semi-final. They return a few key bats, supplementing them with a talented group of up-and-comers, and should have several senior arms toeing the rubber on a game-to-game basis. 

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