Francis Howell head coach Tony Perkins sits down with Baseball 101 host Darin Cissell as they walk through some of the incredible history behind one of the most successful high school baseball programs in the state of Missouri.

From players you may have never heard of, to names who went on to the MLB, Coach Perkins takes us decade by decade as they put together an All-Decade Team — starting from the 1960s all the way to the present day.

If you’re a Francis Howell Vikings fan, you don’t want to miss this one. And even if you’re
simply a fan of baseball, the history, tradition, and legacy of this program make for acan’t-miss episode.

⚾ Sit back and enjoy the all-time best from Francis Howell Baseball.

👉 Follow Francis Howell Baseball:
Instagram: @fhs_vikings_baseball
X: @FHBaseball

📲 Stay connected with Darin Cissell:
Instagram: @drcissell
X: @dcissell

⚾ Sponsored by Buntmaster
Instagram: @officialbuntmaster
X: @buntmasters


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

oday we take a look at small schools in the Metro area that often get overlooked because of the bigger programs in town. On both sides of the river, there are teams with championship expectations and the talent to make it happen.
Coach Dave Wiggins and Diego Solares join the show to break down these programs, the players leading the way, and why these small-school contenders deserve just as much attention as the traditional power programs. Their combined coaching and scouting insight sheds real light on how good these teams truly are.

Join the YBM Club Today for Legacy Member Pricing: youthbaseballmidwest.com/ybm-club

📣 Guest Socials:
Dave Wiggins (Principia School HC):
X: @CruitsCoachDW
Instagram: @coachdave1338

Diego Solares (Scout Connect, Founder):
Instagram: @diegosolares_
X: @diegosolares_

Scout Connect:
Instagram: @scout_connect
X: @scoutconnect_

⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

With the Winter Workout Tour right around the corner, we wanted to get an early look at the contenders for Class 3 and Class 4.

This is where it gets difficult — two of the most competitive MSHSAA classifications, filled with programs that battle every season for district titles and the opportunity to make a run to the Final Four in Ozark, MO.

Today we jump in with both feet to break down early favorites, potential risers, and the teams that could shape the 2026 high school baseball landscape.


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

Shane Eames is back inside The Hitting Zone for another great at-bat! This time he joins Mitch to talk about one of the most influential — and sometimes misunderstood — roles in youth baseball: the Dad Coach.

Drawing from their personal experiences coaching their own kids, Mitch and Shane dive into:
⚾ The good — passion, commitment, connection, and the unique bond created through coaching your child
⚾ The bad — blurred lines, expectations, parent pressure, and the challenges that come with wearing two hats
⚾ And most importantly — the value dad coaches bring to the game when they do it the right way

They share the lessons they’ve learned, the mistakes they’ve made, and what they believe can elevate coaching at the dad level. With honesty, humor, and decades of combined experience, they pepper the field with their unique takes on what makes dad coaches such a vital part of youth baseball.

📲 Follow Mitch Thomas:
Instagram: @_mtsperformance
X (Twitter): @TheHittingZoneSTL

📲 Follow Shane Eames:
Instagram: premier_hittingdevelopment
X (Twitter): @hittingdevelop


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

Ricky Meinhold is the Pitching Coordinator for the Toronto Blue Jays, and he joins the Keep Klimbing podcast with Brett Graves to discuss his journey and how he keeps klimbing to meet the challenges of pitching at the highest level of baseball. How to be successful as a pitcher takes dedication, hard work, and an understanding of what success is on the mound during a game. Nobody knows the outcome of every pitch but understanding the development process and the tools you need are at the heart of the journey to success. Taking the time to listen to people like pitching coordinator Ricky Meinhold gives us a glimpse into the work necessary to understand what success looks like on the mound. We hope you enjoy the podcast, if you are interested in knowing more about Premier Pitching Performance see the information below.

Ricky Meinhold, Path to his current position:
- Mizzou to Grizzlies
- BA in Kinesiology and Exercise Science
- Coker college- Recruiter/ Ass. AD
- Cardinals minor Scout, later major scout, then pitching development analyst
- Blue Jays Pitching Coordinator 2024 to present

⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

Today on the Baseball 101 podcast with Darin Cissell, Arizona Diamondbacks scout Nate Birtwell joins Coach Cissell to discuss scouting methods. Knowing what goes into scouting can make the difference not only if you want to make it to the MLB, but also play at your next level. Nate Birtwell breaks down the many different facets of scouting that go into projecting players moving to the next level of baseball. So if you want to know about what scouts are looking for? This is the place to be! From high school to college, to doing the right things, the information is here to help you understand the process of scouting from the perspective of an MLB Scout.

SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE

📲 Stay connected with Darin Cissell:
Instagram: @drcissell
X: @dcissell

⚾ Sponsored by Buntmaster
Instagram: @officialbuntmaster
X: @buntmasters



⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

We have the Jackson High School baseball head coach joining the show to talk with us about SEMO baseball and to get an early look at his Indians program.

The Jackson Indians are no secret in Class 6 across the state of Missouri — but what about the small-school success that defines Southeast Missouri? SEMO is full of programs winning districts, making deep postseason pushes, and turning out Final Four contenders year after year.

We take a closer look at conferences, teams, and emerging programs across Southeast Missouri with Coach Roach, and talk through what the process looks like for Jackson Baseball as they prepare for the 2026 season.

📺 Follow Jackson Baseball:
Instagram: @indianhardball
X: @JHS_Indians


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

Willard high school head coach and YBM contributor Scott McGee joins the conversation about how a high school coach must trust the process.
We take a look at the scope of youth baseball development from the perspective of a public high school head coach.

How does a coach know what kind of instruction and development young athletes have gone through before they arrive as freshmen? What do coaches see when players first enter the program, and how can they continue to develop players who have come through various “processes” on their way to becoming effective high school baseball players?
This episode dives into what “trusting the process” really means — and how coaches evaluate, guide, and grow young athletes at the high school level.

⚾ Willard Baseball Socials:
X: @WillardBaseball
Instagram: @willardtigersbaseball


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

Well, we had to pivot today on The Hitting Zone podcast with Mitch Thomas today as we had a last minute cancelation. The producer of YBM Brian French jumped in the show to talk about the secret sauce of the process. We talk about building community and how we develop young athletes within that community. Core values are a huge part of any organizational success and today we talk about these values what they are and the secret sauce that is the strength of any organizations value system. We hope you enjoy the show

📲 Follow Mitch Thomas:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mtsperformance/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/TheHittingZoneSTL


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com

This week on Keep Klimbing, Brett continues building out the pitching arsenal — moving from last week’s cut fastball to one of the most effective weapons in baseball: the sinker.

Brett breaks down what makes the sinker unique, how to understand the movement profile you’re trying to achieve, and why this pitch is built on leverage, intent, and movement quality. From identifying your natural strengths to shaping the right grip, Brett shows how pitchers can create downward action, weak contact, and consistency on the mound.

He also discusses:
• How a sinker plays off your existing arsenal
• Spin direction & the movement profile that creates true arm-side run + drop
• Finding the right grip variations for your hand and release
• The mindset needed to execute the pitch on game day

As always, Brett uses his own experience to help pitchers understand how to keep building, keep refining, and Keep Klimbing.

📲 Connect with Brett Graves & Premier Pitching
Brett Graves → IG: @brettgraves5 | X: @brettagraves
Premier Pitching → IG: @premierpitching | X: @PremierPitching


⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.

🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest


Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com


🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com