2026 season marks a new era for Jeff City Renegades
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
When the first pitch is thrown out in the 2026 season, it will mark the start of a new era for the Jeff City Renegades. Not only will the team be entering a new league, playing against new teams and sporting some new threads, but it will also be led by a new field manager.
Back in February, the Renegades announced that long-time Blair Oaks assistant coach Justin Buschjost will serve as the field manager for the Renegades, after working as an assistant coach for the team for three seasons.
"It's a great opportunity. You know, just as this process was going all throughout even the fall, the winter, the spring, just piece-by-piece getting everything together," Buschjost said. "I'm really excited for the the chance to continue leading the Renegades."
Buschjost will lead the charge for Jeff City's entry into the inaugural season of the Diamond Baseball League (DBL). In its first season, DBL spans from Nebraska to Kansas and all the way back to Mid-Missouri. The goal is to create a minor-league kind of environment for the college baseball players that hit the field, each summer.
"There's going to be a lot of a lot of new," Buschjost said. "You know, new coach, new league, new team, we got new the new colors I'm getting used to, so just exciting. There'll be a few growing pains here and there, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun to to play the new teams and just have a little bit of a different experience."
The Renegades will look to come together quickly, as they are set to open up the season on Thursday against Sedalia. The Steamers are the only Missouri team that followed Jeff City over from the MINK league, where both squads played for more than a handful of years.
One of the aspects that is so special about summer league baseball in Jefferson City is that the Renegades pull players that fans of Mid-Missouri baseball will recognize. On the 2026 roster, alone, there are standouts from Lincoln University, William Woods and many other colleges, spanning all the way to Texas. Lots of former local high school stars will take the field, as well, including former Battle star Brayden Groseclose, who now plays at William Woods.
"There's going to be a few guys returning and then just being able to meet the new guys and and do the same coaches, you know, and just go out here and have a good time and enjoy the fans because we do dances and whatnot, so it's always just a good time," Groseclose said. "Back then [all the guys from Mid-Missouri] played against each other [in high school] and it was a rivalry and whatnot and you wanted to beat them. Now, we're on the same team, so it's kind of cool to play with them and just have a good time and get to know them even better."
"You start doing the math and you're only together with these guys for like two months. So then, you're with them for 60 days and, yet, the guys connect, they build lifelong friendships and you really feel like family for those like two months. Then, after that, everybody kind of goes their own ways, but you get to see how successful they become," Buschjost said when asked about the past part of being the Renegades each summer.
In the first season under Buschjost, he said he hopes his team will show fans a hard-nose style of baseball.
Jeff City will have their first chance to show fans just that on Thursday, when the Renegades open up the season on the road against Sedalia. Coach Buschjost and company will play two games there, then return home to open up Ernie Vivion Field on Saturday at 7 p.m.
