(6-14-26) Many states have completed their 2026 State Baseball Championships…two states, Ohio and Michigan, the results have brought up some discussions on social media about public vs. private schools.

Ohio has seven divisions… the result in 2026 was four private schools were crowned with state titles, the other three finals had a private school as the state runner-up. The DI (big school division) and the DIII title games featured two private schools.Those numbers are enough to have triggered concerns.

In Ohio

  • Division I: Cincinnati St. Xavier 4 Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller 2
  • Division II: New Albany 4 Walsh Jesuit 1
  • Division III: Hamilton Badin 7 Columbus Bishop Watterson 2
  • Division IV: Sandusky Perkins 5 Franklin Bishop Fenwick 1
  • Division V: Apple Creek Waynedale 9 Gahanna Columbus Academy 5
  • Division VI: Hartville Lake Center Christian 2 Berlin Hiland 1
  • Division VII: Delphos St. John’s 10, Leipsic 0 (6 inn.)

In other states around Ohio.

Michigan, which has four divisions,…they were all won by private schools. According to a ‘X’ posting by Matt Seidl the past three years have shown the success of private schools in baseball completion in the state tournament.

In Michigan

In Indiana

Friday, June 19

Class 3A State Championship
4:30 pm ET | Guerin Catholic (27-3-1) vs. Andrean (30-3)

Class 1A State Championship
8 pm ET | Northeast Dubois (23-5) vs. Kouts (31-1)  

Saturday, June 20

Class 2A State Championship
4:30 pm ET | Evansville Mater Dei (29-3) vs. Bluffton (19-10)

Class 4A State Championship
8 pm ET | Bloomington South (25-6) vs. Lake Central (27-8) 

In Illinois

2026 IHSA Baseball State Championship Results (as of June 13-14, 2026; finals recently completed).

Class 1A (at Illinois Field, Champaign)

• Semifinals:

• Tremont 10, Jacksonville (Routt) 3

• Granville (Putnam County) 4, Louisville (North Clay) [Coop] 3 (8 innings)

• 3rd Place: North Clay 10, Routt 0 (5 innings)

• Championship: Tremont 10, Putnam County 0 (5 innings) — Tremont wins its first state title.

Class 2A (at Illinois Field, Champaign)

• Semifinals:

• Elgin (Harvest-Westminster) 7, Freeburg 5

• St. Joseph-Ogden 6, Ottawa (Marquette) 1

• 3rd Place: Ottawa (Marquette) 4, Freeburg 1

• Championship: St. Joseph-Ogden 15, Elgin (Harvest-Westminster) 1 (5 innings) — First state title for St. Joseph-Ogden.

Class 3A (at Slammers Stadium, Joliet)

• Semifinals:

• Chicago (St. Rita) 2, East Peoria 1

• Troy (Triad) 2, Crystal Lake (South) 0

• 3rd Place: East Peoria 7, Crystal Lake (South) 6

• Championship: Chicago (St. Rita) 12, Troy (Triad) 11 (8 innings) — First state title for St. Rita.

Class 4A (at Slammers Stadium, Joliet)

• Semifinals:

• Park Ridge (Maine South) 9, Naperville (Central) 1

• Libertyville 3, Chicago (Mt. Carmel) 1

• 3rd Place: Naperville Central vs. Mt. Carmel (ongoing/in progress in some reports)

• Championship: Libertyville 7, Park Ridge (Maine South) 6 (8 innings) — Libertyville repeats as champions (defending 2025 title).

In Pennsylvania

…there is currently a push to have a separate division for private schools.

Championship Game Results

  • Class 6A: Neshaminy 7, Butler 3
  • Class 5A: Greencastle-Antrim 6, DuBois 5 (in 14 innings, the longest game in PIAA championship history)
  • Class 4A: Indiana 6, Holy Ghost Prep 5 (Back-to-back state titles for Indiana)
  • Class 3A: Bermudian Springs 1, South Park 0
  • Class 2A: Southern Columbia 9, Mercyhurst Prep 2
  • Class 1A: Dock Mennonite 5, Eden Christian Academy 3

In Kentucky

Kentucky high school baseball has just one division (one class).

All schools, regardless of enrollment size, compete in the same postseason structure. The state tournament features 16 regional champions playing for a single state championship.  

  • Number of divisions/classes: 1
  • Regions: 16
  • State champions crowned each year: 1

Kentucky is one of the few states that uses a single-class format for baseball, similar to basketball. Football, by contrast, is divided into six classes.  

The 2026 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) baseball state champion is:

Trinity High School (Louisville)

  • Championship Game (June 13, 2026)
    • Trinity (Louisville) defeated Boyd County
  • Semifinal Results
    • Boyd County 6, McCracken County 2
    • Trinity (Louisville) 6, Apollo 4  

This title gives Trinity consecutive state championships, making the Shamrocks the first Kentucky program to repeat as baseball state champions since Harrison County High School won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998. 

What will the future hold? This might be a disuccion for states in the future.