The 2026 season did not go as planned for the Emmaus High School baseball team.

The Hornets had a great preseason and started the regular season with wins in four of their first six games. They were 6-4 through 10 games, including wins over two of the stronger teams in the area in Liberty and Allen.

But Emmaus got just one win over it’s final nine games to finish the season 7-12 overall and 7-9 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

“We had a great fall, which included a second place in a tournament with some great high school teams,” said EHS head coach Jeremy Haas. “We had a great winter, preseason, tryouts and first eight games of the season. We beat the eventual EPC champion, Allen. We beat the Northampton Division champion, Liberty. We also beat the North Division champion, Pocono Mountain East. Ultimately, things just didn’t go as planned and that happens in baseball.”

Emmaus will graduate a large senior class that made a ton of contributions for the program, not only this season, but in their high school careers.

The group of 11 includes Robbie Barnes, Jaden Betz, Zach Ehritz, Cole George, Alex Harris, Connor Horwath, Ryan Hummel, Cole Moreau, Drayce Schmidt, Chase Simmons and Leonardo Soto.

Four from that group will be continuing their playing careers in college, including Barnes at Gettysburg, Betz at Marist, Ehritz at Albright and Moreau at Millersville.

“They were a group of good people,” Haas said. “They are going to do great things in life and I can’t wait to see them continue to grow.”

Junior Josh Diaz led the lineup with a .400 batting average, while sophomore Tanner Karwacki finished with a .333 average and Simmons was .308. Diaz also paced the lineup with 22 hits, 16 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Karwacki recorded 20 hits and Simmons had 16.

Even with the loss of a talented senior class, Haas and his staff will still bring back a talented group looking to make a name for themselves in 2027. Freshman Zack Yetter and juniors Cole George and John Kelly are also key returnees that had at least 10 at-bats.

“We will be young, athletic and hungry,” said Haas. “The team will almost be a complete 180 of the team we had this year. There will be lots of young talent that will need to be ready to compete.”