Kentucky baseball commitments
Commitment lists are courtesy of Perfect Game, Prep Baseball Report and independently verified sources.
2025
Maxime Boies
Position: Infielder
Measurables: 6-foot, 174 pounds
School: Ecole Pointe-Levy
Hometown: Levis, Quebec, Canada
Scouting report: Boies stood out on the Canadian team at the West Coast Games in August 2023 and quickly earned an offer from Kentucky. A left-handed hitting middle infielder with a sweet swing, Boies could follow in the footsteps of Canadian greats at Kentucky like Emilien Pitre, Tristan Pompey, and Zach Pop.
Caeden Cloud
Position: Shortstop
Measurables: 6-1, 182 pounds
School: Nixa
Hometown: Nixa, Missouri
Scouting report: Cloud is one of the top players in the Midwest in the 2025 class. He was ranked in the top 100 of Prep Baseball Report when he made his commitment to the Wildcats in early September 2023. Cloud is the No. 1 ranked shortstop in Missouri and chose the Wildcats over TCU. He’s a right-handed hitting infielder who’s an excellent athlete.
Will Coleman
Position: Left-handed pitcher
Measurables: 6-1, 175 pounds
School: Castle
Hometown: Newburgh, Indiana
Scouting report: Coleman is an athletic lefthanded pitcher with a feel for three pitches. His fastball sits 87-90 with a curveball that sits in the mid-to-upper 70s and an advanced changeup. A top 500 recruit by PBR and Perfect Game, Coleman provides another quality lefthanded option for Kentucky in the 2025 class.
Conor Essenburg*
Position: LHP/1B
Measurables: 6-2, 200 pounds
High school: Lincoln Way West
Hometown: Manhattan, Illinois
Scouting report: Essenburg, a former Kansas State commit, flipped to Kentucky just weeks before signing day. A two-way player from Illinios, Essenburg has hit 94 mph with his fastball, according to Perfect Game, and also throws a changeup, slider and curveball. Offensively, Essenburg has an exit velo max of 105 (PBR) and could play first base. He played with USA Baseball over the 2024 summer.
*2025 MLB Draft Combine participant
Josh Flores*
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Measurables: 6-1, 200 pounds
School: Lake Central
Hometown: Crown Point, Indiana
Scouting report: Flores, a former Cincinnati commit, touched 95 mph during his junior summer and mostly sat at 92 mph with a 2400 RPM fastball. He has an athletic build and also mixes in a 12-6 curveball, changeup and slider. Flores is another power arm that can be added into the mix for the 2025 class.
*2025 MLB Draft Combine participant
Ryan Foscolo
Position: Outfielder
Measurables: 6-3, 180 pounds
School: Hagerty
Hometown: Oviedo, Florida
Scouting report: Foscolo hails from a high school program in Oviedo, Florida, that’s produced current big leaguers Ryan Mountcastle, Riley Greene and Vaughn Grissom. He ran a 6.6 60-yard dash at Kentucky’s camp and had exit velocities in the upper 90s during a round of batting practice. The Wildcats hope he’ll be athletic enough to stay in center field.
Michael Gardner
Position: Infielder
Measurables: 6-1, 170 pounds
School: Chaminade
Hometown: Mineola, New York
Scouting report: Kentucky hasn’t dipped into New York often to land talent, but Gardner is an uber-athletic infielder with great speed. Gardner has a quick bat at the plate and has been recorded at 87 mph throwing across the infield. He’s young for his class, which could add to his projection.
Lucas Hail
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Measurables: 5-10, 173 pounds
School: Meade County
Hometown: Brandenburg, Kentucky
Scouting report: Hail joined the class in March 2024. He’s an undersized right-handed pitcher who’s been up to 93 miles per hour. Hail threw just nine innings in 2024 before being shut down with an elbow injury but struck out 17 batters and recorded a 1.56 ERA in that time. He was limited with his innings as a senior and mostly stuck to hitting, but his high school did reach the KHSAA State Tournament.
Owen Jenkins*
Position: Catcher
Measurables: 6-2, 215 pounds
School: Lexington Catholic
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Scouting report: Jenkins committed to the University of Louisville early in his high school career but reopened his recruitment in September. The Wildcats earned an impressive win on the trail by beating out defending national champs Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Jenkins is a powerfully built catcher who projects well at the plate. He’ll need to continue to develop behind the plate defensively — and could potentially wind up in the outfield at the next level — but this is an intriguing pickup for Kentucky who could help out as early as next season if he makes it to campus.
*2025 MLB Draft Combine participant
Jase Mitchell*
Position: Catcher
Measurables: 6-3, 195 pounds
School: Cape Henlopen
Hometown: Lewes, Delaware
Scouting report: Mitchell camped at Kentucky last summer and was later scouted during a tournament setting. He has nice size at 6-3 and nearly 200 pounds and plays above average defense at this point in his career. He’s a left-handed hitter with fluid movements. He’s ranked as the No. 1 player from Delaware by Perfect Game and earned Player of the Year honors by PBR as a senior.
*2025 MLB Draft Combine participant
Toby Peterson
Position: Left-handed pitcher
Measurables: 6-2, 180 pounds
School: Palatine
Hometown: Palatine, Illinois
Scouting report: Peterson is an athletic left-handed pitcher who’s been up to 90 mph this spring with a good feel for a breaking ball. Perfect Game ranks Peterson in the top 500 nationally and considers him one of the best players in the Wildcats’ 2025 class.
Jack Sams
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Measurables: 6-3, 185 pounds
School: Lexington Catholic
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Scouting report: Sams missed his junior season with a knee injury but was solid at Lexington Catholic as a sophomore. He had a 2.46 ERA and struck out 45 batters in 37 innings pitched. He returned as a senior and was dominant for the Knights, posting a 0.75 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched.
Braxton Van Cleave
Position: Outfielder
Measurables: 6-2, 185 pounds
School: Mansfield
Hometown: Mansfield, Texas
Scouting report: Van Cleave has good speed and projects to have a strong all-around game, which helped propel him all the way up to No. 63 nationally in PBR’s rankings this spring. He fits the left-handed hitting, projectable power mold that Kentucky has started adding in recent classes. Also an excellent high school quarterback, throwing for over 3,500 yards in his career. He didn’t get to play as a senior because of Tommy John surgery. Van Cleave has enrolled at UK for the summer.
2026
Rob Czarniecki
Position: Outfielder
Measurables: 6-1, 195 pounds
School: Chesterton
Hometown: Chesterton, Indiana
Scouting report: Czarniecki projects as a center fielder at the next level. He’s been clocked running a 6.62 60-yard dash, throwing 90 miles per hour from the outfield and recorded a 103.5 exit velo at the plate during a PBR workout. He was an All-State selection in Indiana as a sophomore, but he played in just 10 games (according to MaxPreps) during his junior season. He plays on the Indiana Bulls 17 Black summer ball team.
Carson May
Position: Catcher
Measurables: 6-2, 220 pounds
School: Olathe East
Hometown: Olathe, Kansas
Scouting report: A potential catcher or first baseman down the road, May has been considered one of the better power-hitting prospects over the past year out of Kansas. Listed a stout 6-2, 220 pounds, May has recorded a max exit velo of nearly 103 miles per hour per PBR. May is ranked among the top 250 players nationally by both PBR and Perfect Game. He’s from Olathe, the same hometown as former Kentucky basketball All-American Willie Cauley-Stein.
Robert Omidi
Position: Infielder
Measurables: 6-1, 185 pounds
School: St. Martin
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
Scouting report: Considered to have an advanced feel at the plate by some scouts, Omidi could be next in the line of successful Canadiens in the Kentucky baseball program. He’s ranked as the top prospect in Ontario by PBR and projects as a middle infielder at the next level. Omidi has a sweet swing from the left side, topping out at 103.8 mph with his exit velo at a PBR event. He’s spent the 2025 summer playing with Canada’s Junior National Team (U18).
Matt Ponatoski
Position: Infielder/RHP
Measurables: 6-2, 195 pounds
School: Moeller
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Scouting report: One of the highest-ranked prospects to commit to Kentucky in the Internet era, Ponatoski was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio after hitting .462 as a junior with seven doubles, four home runs, 37 RBIs and a .556 on-base percentage. He’s also ranked in the top 100 nationally as a quarterback and is committed to playing both sports for the Wildcats. Baseball America considers Ponatoski as a top 50 draft prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft, so whether or not he gets to campus will be one of the biggest storylines of the recruiting class.
Kaden Powell
Position: 1B/OF
Measurables: 6-4, 250 pounds
School: Beech
Hometown: Henderson, Tennessee
Scouting report: Perhaps no other Kentucky commitment had a better individual season than Powell. He was named First Team TBCA in Class AAAA after hitting .414 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 36 RBIs. According to MaxPreps, Powell’s 13 homers tied for 13th nationally. Also a high school quarterback, Powell has impressive athleticism for his size and has been clocked running a 6.9 60-yard dash.
Nolan Ramoley
Position: Outfield
Measurables: 6-1, 191 pounds
School: Brother Rice
Hometown: Palos Park, Illinois
Scouting report: The Chicago Tribune reported that Ramoley had offseason surgery in 2024, but he made it back in time for Brother Rice’s high school season. Ramoley’s combination of power and speed makes him one of the highest-ranked high school outfielders in the Midwest. He’s one of the more intriguing players in the Wildcats’ 2026 class if he’s able to turn his standout tools into production at the plate.
Aiden Smith
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Measurables: 6-3, 180 pounds
School: Shelbyville
Hometown: Shelbyville, Indiana
Scouting report: A tall, athletic righthander, Smith sits in the low 90s with his fastball for now and also shows a slider and changeup. He went 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 44 innings as a junior at Shelbyville High School. Though he projects as a pitcher at the next level, Smith homered seven times and hit .413 this past season. Smith also plays tennis at Shelbyville High School.
Sammy Swank
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Measurables: 6-4, 185 pounds
School: McCutcheon
Hometown: Lafayette, Indiana
Scouting report: In addition to having a fantastic baseball name, Swank has been on draft radars since beginning his junior season at McCutcheon High School in Lafayette, Indiana. Baseball America ranks him among the top 150 high schoolers to watch in the 2026 MLB Draft, in part because of his projections to sit in the mid-90s with his fastball in the coming years. A long-time Kentucky commitment, Swank is now listed at 6-4, 215 pounds.
Grayson Willoughby
Position: RHP/infielder
Measurables: 6-2, 180 pounds
School: Trinity
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Scouting report: Named the MVP of the KHSAA state tournament, Willoughby helped lead Trinity High School to its second state title in program history in 2025. He hit .500 at the plate in 70 at-bats as a junior and finished 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched. He’s shot up the rankings since committing to Kentucky in 2024, now ranked in the top 100 nationally by PBR and the top player in Kentucky. His fastball has topped out at 95 miles per hour.