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: Francis Howell
2023 Record (Playoff Finish): 31-11 (State Runner-Up)
Conference: GAC South
Classification: 6A
Head Coach: Tony Perkins

UPPERCLASSMEN TO KNOW 

+ UTL Tytus Cissell (2024; Missouri)
+ RHP Alex Bryan (2024; Maryville)
+ RHP Adam Shipley (2024; SLU)
+ OF Brennon Wibbenmeyer (2024; Missouri S&T)
+ RHP Quinn Redfield (2024; Jefferson JC)
+ RHP Grayson Coleman (2024; John Wood CC)
+ INF Schafer Cradick (2024; Mobertly CC)
+ 1B Owen Larrigan (2024)
+ RHP Eli Skidmore (2025; SLU commit)
+ OF Leo Humbert (2025; Missouri commit)
+ OF Jackson Vaughn (2025; Wichita State commit)
+ RHP Jack Brettschneider (2025)
+ LHP Braden Ray (2025)
+ INF/RHP Collin Lovelady (2025)

UNDERCLASS FOLLOWS 

+ RHP Dylan Curtis (2026)
+ RHP Jake Brettschneider (2026)
+ C Laird Van Sciever (2026)
+ INF Brady Tanner (2026)

OUTLOOK 

The status quo throughout head coach Tony Perkins’ tenure at Francis Howell has been winning, and last year was no different for the Vikings. They accumulated 31 wins, playing a grueling schedule, and made it all the way to the state championship after a ‘Final Four’ appearance the year prior. 

One year later, nothing appears to be different, and Francis Howell should be a title contender yet again in 2024, even with several notable contributors from last year’s club. 

Expect pitching to be the strength again this upcoming spring with a staff as deep and talented as anyone in the state. RHP Alex Bryan (2024; Maryville) logged 47 innings of work, including a start in the state championship, and he was brilliant, pitching to a 2.38 ERA with 37 strikeouts to 12 walks. Another arm with plenty of experience is RHP Adam Shipley (2024; Saint Louis), who also helped quarterback Howell’s state championship football program his junior year. Shipley’s thrown more than 60 innings at the varsity level, including 34 ⅔ last year, with a 3.23 ERA and 34 punchouts. Two more senior arms that deepen this staff even more are RHP Grayson Coleman (2024; John Wood CC) and RHP Quinn Redfield (2024; Jefferson JC). 

Alex Bryan

One name that was exceptionally good for the Vikings last year was RHP Eli Skidmore (2025; Saint Louis) - he pitched to a 0.67 ERA and punched out 17 across 21 innings on the bump. Skidmore’s a mid-to-high-80s arm with one of the better sliders in the state, regardless of class, and should add even more juice to this group. RHP Jack Brettschneider (2025) stands at an ultra-physical 6-foot-5, 225-pounds with loud stuff, and LHP Braden Ray (2025) was one of the biggest winners from our Missouri Fall Games in September, showing a mid-80s fastball with feel for a curveball/changeup mix. 

Eli Skidmore

Howell is also home to two of the state’s top 2026 arms in RHP Dylan Curtis (2026) and RHP Jake Brettschneider (2026), both of which are top-10 names in Missouri as well as national ranks. Curtis can really pitch and the 6-foot-5, 155-pound right-hander fills up the zone as consistently as anyone in Missouri. He owns a polished three-pitch mix, including a mid-80s fastball, sharp breaking ball, and feel for a fading changeup. Brettschneider impressed over his 16 ⅔ innings of work at the varsity level last year, punching out 19, with a 1.68 ERA. His fastball plays in the mid-to-upper-80s and, like several others on this staff, rips off one of the better swing-and-miss sliders in the state. 

Jake Brettschneider

Positionally, Howell’s lineup loses a handful of impact-type bats from last year’s club, but the Vikings’ pipeline is plenty rich with talent. The lifeblood of this group is UTL Tytus Cissell (2024; Mizzou), a true ‘Player of the Year’ candidate who’s been on varsity since his freshman year. Few in the Midwest have generated more draft buzz this winter than Cissell and his ability to impact the game in a multitude of ways has consistently proven throughout his high school career. Last year, Cissell slashed .396/.462/.540 with 15 extra-base hits and 24 stolen bases, and the expectation in his final year is that he’ll be even better than those impressive marks. 

Tytus Cissell

It’ll be hard to find a more talented outfield in the state than Howell, starting with OF Leo Humbert (2025; Mizzou), one of the state’s top junior prospects. Humbert’s another name that’s long been a varsity staple and, like Cissell, is more than capable of positively impacting the game in multiple ways. As a sophomore last year, Humbert slashed .371/.480/.645 with 21 extra-base hits, plating 33 runs, and he swiped 11 bags, too. 

Leo Humbert

Right next to him is OF Jackson Vaughn (2025; Wichita State), another high level offensive asset that’ll be right in the heart of this lineup. Vaughn’s sheer feel to hit is plenty advanced and his left-handed barrel started to show more thump down the stretch of last season. He rarely strikes out, just 18 to 13 walks, while bringing back a .388/.500/.552 triple-slash from his sophomore spring. 

Jackson Vaughn

Concluding this trio is left-handed hitting OF Brennon Wibbenmeyer (2024; Missouri S&T). Plenty physical at 6-foot-2, 195-pounds with tools across the board, Wibbenmeyer was a productive piece last season. He hit .314 and reached base at a .464 clip, drawing more walks (18) than strikeouts (13). 

Brennon Wibbenmeyer

On the infield, 1B Owen Larrigan (2024) saw brief time on varsity last season and should slide into an expanded role this year, and another senior to know is INF Schafer Cradick (2024; Moberly CC). Look for a handful of young faces to impact this team on the dirt, like C Laird Van Sciver (2026), INF Brady Tanner (2026) and INF Collin Lovelady (2025). All three will be new to the varsity level this season, though their talent should certainly show early on. 

BOTTOM LINE 

Francis Howell has one of the richest histories in Missouri and the Vikings have a roster capable of adding to that this upcoming season. They’ll be without several names that have left their mark over the past few seasons, but this team always reloads, and you can certainly expect Francis Howell to be a Class 6 contender in 2024. 

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