EVANSVILLE — Ignore the calendar or the cold weather. This is officially baseball season.
Spring Training games have officially started in Arizona and Florida, earlier than normal due to the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic. The full attention will be on the diamond soon enough. That will include a handful of athletes from the Evansville area still grinding their way to The Show or looking to capitalize on time there already.
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Here’s a preseason check-in of which Southwestern Indiana high school alums in professional baseball at the affiliated level or higher. Where each will be initially assigned with their respective organizations won’t be determined until closer to the start of the season.
Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox
Talk about a positive first impression.
The Southridge High School alum made his MLB debut on July 4 in Colorado last season. He proceeded to slash .239/.311/.529 with 21 home runs (all in the second half of the season) and 55 RBIs in 71 games. To drive home the impact Montgomery immediately had on the South Side, his WAR (wins above average) was 3.3 per Baseball Reference.
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That ranked fourth among rookies in all of MLB. Those above him played 117 games at minimum.
Sep 12, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery (12) fields a ground ball in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Montgomery is officially a cornerstone as the White Sox look to rebuild with a young nucleus following a fifth-place finish in the AL Central Division. The Southridge grad is No. 88 on MLB Network’s Top 100 players for the 2026 season.
“This year the situation is a little bit different,” Montgomery told MLB Network Radio. “When you become more of an established player, your stress with all of that stuff is kind of gone. My mindset is getting myself to feel the best I can to play 162 games or more. I’m going to trust my preparation.”
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Zach Messinger, New York Yankees
The Castle High School alum enters his fifth season with the organization.
Messinger spent most of last year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, finishing with a 4-3 record, a 5.27 earned run average and 65 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings across 28 games (seven starts). The University of Virginia grad finished the season with five appearances at Double-A Somerset.
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Cameron Decker, Los Angeles Dodgers
The North High School alum enters his fourth full season with the organization.
Decker only played in 61 games last year between Great Lakes (A+), Rancho Cucamonga (A) and the Arizona Complex League due to a hamate injury. It affected his ability at the plate with a .160/.279/.291 slash and six home runs with 31 RBIs. Decker anticipates a return back to his second-half 2024 form (12 home runs in 63 games at Ranco Cucamonga) with a healthy spring and summer.
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“It’s been a learning process throughout my first three years,” Decker said. “I’ve had three full years now and dealt with injuries in all three. A full year of getting reps and making up for at-bats that I missed would be huge. Cut down on the swing and miss. Continue to work on power. There’s an adjustment in High-A. Definitely better arms and stuff.”
Auburn Tigers’ Cam Tilly (40) pitches against the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils during the NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., on Friday May 30, 2025.
Cam Tilly, New York Mets
The Castle High School alum enters his first season as a professional baseball player.
Tilly was selected 223rd overall in the seventh round of the 2025 MLB Draft last summer. He went 3-3 with a 5.48 earned average in 18 appearances (six starts) in his sophomore year at Auburn. Tilly had 58 strikeouts to 28 walks and a .202 batting average against in 46 innings. He reportedly received a $397,500 signing bonus in July.
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His mindset now that he is a professional? Continued improvement and consistency.
“My first day in draft camp, we had to choose one word for the upcoming year,” Tilly said. “I chose perspective. Being right where I am and being happy. Think about where I was mentally and physically a year ago. I’ve grown in all that stuff. (The key) is having good perspective coming into this year. At the end of last year, I was twice the pitcher I was coming out of high school.”
Matthew Fisher, Philadelphia Phillies
The Memorial High School alum enters his first season as a professional baseball player.
Fisher was selected 221st overall in the seventh round of the 2025 MLB Draft last summer. He became the ninth in school history to be selected and only the third straight from high school. Fisher was viewed as a Day 1 selection by numerous publications and the fifth-best prep pitcher in the country by ESPN.
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The 6-foot-3-inch right-hander went 6-0 with a 0.76 ERA in his senior season. Fishers registered 61 strikeouts to only 11 walks in 36 2/3 innings. Despite being limited to a pitch count in April and May, he allowed only 16 hits and four earned runs. Fisher was named the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year.
He reportedly received a $1.25 million signing bonus, the highest ever for a seventh-round pick, in July.
“I have a dream,” Fisher said prior to the Draft. “I want to be a big leaguer. I’ll look at it from all sides and figure out what the best step to help me reach that goal is. I’ve spent a large amount of time preparing to put myself in this position.”
Connor Foley, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Jasper High School alum enters his second season with the organization.
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Foley made five appearances with Single-A Visalia before a shoulder strain knocked him out for the year. He had an 0-2 record with a 7.07 earned run average and 20 strikeouts in 14 innings. Foley was activated from the 60-day injured list last November by Visalia.
Elijah Dunham, Los Angeles Angels
The Reitz High School grad is attempting to return to professional baseball. He missed all of last season an Achilles injury but signed a minor league contract with Los Angeles in December and was assigned to Double-A at the time.
Dunham played mostly at that level for the New York Yankees during his last healthy season. He slashed .248/.332/.455 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs at Somerset, in addition to a four-game stint with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Dunham played 31 games in the Puerto Rican Winter League this past offseason.
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Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at kyle.sokeland@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville area pro baseball players in 2026 season