Fighting Squirrels to take first step to World Series vs. rival

The goal each and every summer for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels is to advance to the Babe Ruth World Series at the end of the season, and that goal hasn’t changed this year, though, there is no anticipation involved for a change.

The Fighting Squirrels are serving as the host club for the 2023 Babe Ruth World Series for 16-18-year-olds from August 14 to 19 in Cape Girardeau, so they receive an automatic bid. However, that doesn’t diminish the importance of the 35(ish) games scheduled over the next two months.

“We’ve put together a fun team,” veteran Fighting Squirrel coach Michael Minner said of the 2023 team, “that we hope by the end of the year, will compete for a World Series championship.”

The Fighting Squirrels will open the 2023 season against region rival Southeast Tropics today at Hillhouse Park in Charleston at 6 p.m., and Minner is expecting to field an athletic, fast team that he “enjoys coaching.”

“We’re smaller,” Minner said. “We don’t have a bunch of big guys. We are undersized, and we’re going to compete.”

Minner expects to call for bunts and baserunning this summer.

“We’re going to run well,” Minner said. “We’re not going to sit and wait for a home run or balls in the gaps. We’re going to try and play fast.

“We’re going to have guys, who work counts and get on base. And I think that we are going to be really, really good defensively.”

The 19-under Squirrel roster includes a ton of local talent, including Peyton Hodges (East Prairie), Thomas Frakes (Portageville), Nic Massey (Oran), Jack Evans (Notre Dame), Lawson Graff (Scott City), Jack Wyatt (Jackson), Noah Pruitt (Sikeston), Levi McKinnie (Chaffee), and Cole Lemons (Notre Dame), among others.

“One of the things that we knew,” Minner said, “when we were having tryouts, what was going to happen (with the World Series). The kids didn’t know yet, but (the coaches knew), and we wanted to put a fun team together.”

Minner said that he really likes the arms that he has accumulated for this summer, which includes Hodges, who ended Minner’s high school season (at Charleston), as well as Frakes, who just pitched for Portageville in the MSHSAA Class 3 Final Four, and McKinnie, who pitched for Chaffee in the Class 2 Final Four.

“We have a lot of the top pitchers in the area,” Minner said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are competitive. We’re really excited about this crew.

“We’re going to be really solid on the mound. We have a lot of guys who are going to challenge hitters. We want to throw a ton of strikes, and we want to be able to mix things up and play defense to our capabilities.”

There will be no slow adjustment period for the Squirrel players. Following tonight’s season-opening game, the Fighting Squirrels will venture to Mayfield (Ky.) High School on Thursday and Friday to play Lyon County and Evansville (Ind.), respectively, followed by a Saturday game with Tupelo (Miss.) at Murray State.

The finale of the Mayfield Legion Tournament will be played on Sunday, which will cap a hectic opening week for the Squirrels.

The Fighting Squirrels will return to the area on June 13 at the Three Rivers Showcase in Poplar Bluff, followed by the SEMO Showcase at Capaha Field on June 15-18.