Story by Kalon Fullerton

The Butler Grizzlies kick off the 2023 Baseball season in less than a month and BJ McVay's squad was picked to finish second in the Jayhawk West when the conference announced the preseason polls on Thursday.

Coach McVay enters his thirteenth season at the helm of the Grizzlies as they come off a season in which they finished with the eighth best record in the KJCCC, finishing at 35-24 and 20-12 in conference play. The Grizzlies swept the opening round of the Region VI tournament, winning two games against Coffeyville to earn a ticket to Manhattan, Kansas and the Region VI "Elite Eight". Butler nearly knocked off the top seeded powerhouse Cowley, losing 9-8 in extra innings on a walkoff 2-RBI single. The Grizzlies picked up a win over Colby before their season came to an end at the hands of the Hutchinson Blue Dragons.

The Barton Cougars are picked to win the Jayhawk West, the only team picked ahead of the Grizzlies in the conference. On the Jayhawk East side, last year's national runners-up Cowley are again picked to repeat after winning the region last season.

The Grizzlies kick off the 2023 season on February 8th as they face off with the Northwestern Oklahoma State JV.