photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Zane Shaw comes off the field after making a play in the infield during the Firebirds' state tournament game against Olathe Northwest on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park.

Following a standout junior season, Free State’s Zane Shaw knew he had a chance to have another impressive showing as a senior.

Long before the 2026 season even started, as every Firebird player does, he sat down with then-head coach Mike Hill to go over goals for the next year, and at the top of his list was being named the Kansas Class 6A pitcher of the year.

“I feel like this year I took that meeting with coach (Hill) a lot more seriously,” Shaw said. “I actually focused on (my goals) at the beginning of the year and getting prepared for the season.”

Shaw achieved his biggest goal, receiving the award from the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches, along with being named the Sunflower League pitcher of the year, before even more honors started to roll in.

The right-handed pitcher was named to the ABCA/Rawlings High School Region 5 All-Region team before being honored on Tuesday as a third-team high school All-American. Shaw is the first All-American in Free State history and the second Lawrence product to achieve the accolade after Lawrence High School’s Lee Stevens was named to the first team in 1986.

But, as he admitted, Shaw hasn’t quite been able to fully grasp the significance of the honor.

“Being thought of as one of the better pitchers in the country is awesome, I guess,” he said. “I’ve been trying not to focus on that kind of stuff this past month or so… The fact that it’s all hitting at the same time, I kind of wanted to put it aside and focus on what I’ve got going on right now, but I mean, that was hard to not look into for a little bit.”

Shaw was one of four athletes from Kansas who received All-America honors, joining Mill Valley’s Beau Peterson (second-team), Blue Valley’s Grant Westphal (third-team) and Mulvane’s Grey Sanders (third-team, a KU signee).

Three of the four in-state selections were seniors, with the lone exception being Westphal, a junior committed to Texas. The rest of the 2026 class features multiple Division I commits, and even more impressively, every player in Prep Baseball Report’s Top 10 is committed to a power-conference school.

“This class has been insane,” Shaw said. “There’s so many guys that are going to be great in college, or wherever they end up … The amount of Power Four and D-I guys we’ve had, and how much we’ve all progressed in general… that just goes to show how fun this class has been to get to know and play with throughout the years.”

In 2026, Shaw acquired a 9-0 record on the mound in 10 appearances, leading the team with a 0.96 ERA while striking out 97 batters in 58 1/3 innings of work.

As a junior, Shaw had perhaps an even more impressive campaign with a 0.47 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings of work.

Even though the recognition wasn’t always there, Shaw is grateful for the accolades he is receiving and was ready to back up his junior season as he slowly kept turning the heads of college and professional scouts.

“I’ve worked pretty hard to get where I am, so it’s cool getting honored for it,” Shaw said. “(I) went into this season with a lot of excitement and a lot of lofty goals, and I’d say I achieved those and more.”

The accolades for Shaw aren’t just on the baseball diamond, either. He took second place in the 190-pound weight class at the 6A state wrestling tournament in February.

His wrestling career began at an early age, and by the time he got into high school, it had prepared him both mentally and physically for baseball season.

“It’s just so much hard work and such a grind,” Shaw said. “I’d recommend every kid get into wrestling at some point. It’s just so good for you, obviously physically, but it just makes you such a better person.”

As for what’s next in his baseball journey, that brings some uncertainty. Shaw is currently committed to play collegiately at the University of Nebraska, but throughout his senior season, he received attention from multiple scouts across Major League Baseball.

He admitted it was a surreal experience playing in front of scouts for the first time after watching his idols do the same thing while he was growing up.

“You think of those guys as like superheroes of some kind when you’re younger,” Shaw said, “and it’s just so weird that everything’s hit so much this year because I didn’t feel like any of this was really coming.”

Shaw has leaned on his advisor, former minor league pitcher and Topeka native Jordan Cooper, to help him throughout the process and handle the pressure of playing in front of multiple scouts at a time.

“(He) has been the best to work with,” Shaw said. “I haven’t had to really worry about much at all; he takes care of everything.”

While Shaw did not receive an invitation to MLB’s three-day draft combine beginning on Tuesday, he has had workouts with multiple organizations over the last few weeks in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City. His final workout is set for this weekend in Wisconsin.

The MLB Draft runs July 11-13 in Philadelphia. No matter what decision he ultimately makes, Shaw will be leaning on his support system the entire way and says it’s a blessing to have both college and professional options available.

“Just falling back on people I love and people I trust, and trusting God to help me through this time,” Shaw said. “There isn’t really a right decision; it’s just making the one that’s better for me and better for my family.”