Hodges headlines deep, talented Aycorp Squirrel pitching rotation

Veteran manager Michael Minner openly admits that the 2023 summer season for the Aycorp Charleston Fighting Squirrels didn’t end well, as his team lost all four of its games in the Babe Ruth World Series. Having said that, he was positive about his team’s pitching in that critical tournament.

“We went 0-4,” Minner said, “but I thought that our pitching was really good.”

He feels the same way about his rotation as he prepares for the 2024 season, which gets underway today at 6 p.m. with a doubleheader at Hillhouse Park in Charleston against the 2023 Babe Ruth World Series champions, and rival to the Aycorp Squirrels, the Southeast Tropics.

“We bring back the bulk of our pitching from a year ago,” Minner said, “a group that was really successful.”

That talented group includes recent Chaffee High School graduate Levi McKinnie, recent Scott City High School graduate Lawson Graff, 2024 Notre Dame High School graduate Jack Evans, former Charleston pitcher Bennett Logan, former Meadow Heights standout Will Green, and recent Jackson High product Owen Osborne.

“It’s exciting when you know that you are going to have some depth on the mound,” Minner said. “We’re not going to have to overwork guys, and obviously, the guys who are throwing the best will get the opportunity to throw at the end.”

That latter group will certainly include former East Prairie High School star Peyton Hodges, who may be the ace of this summer’s staff.

“He had a really good year at college,” Minner said of Hodges.

That may be an understatement.

Hodges attended NCAA Division III Kenyon College, which is among the best academic institutions in the country, and the Owls are more than solid on the baseball diamond.

Hodges began his freshman season with aspirations of simply making the Owls’ travel squad, and when the spring season culminated, Hodges ranked second on the team in victories (four) and innings pitched (42 1/3 in 16 appearances).

“He started as a reliever (at Kenyon),” Minner said, “and then he did things that Peyton just does. He wanted to make the travel squad, and all of a sudden, he made the travel squad. He started as a reliever, and then he started getting a lot of relief innings. And then he was a starter and he kept (Kenyon) in ball games.”

Kenyon won 22 games this spring and of Hodges’ 16 appearances, only three could be deemed “shaky.”

“He did a really nice job of working his way up as a freshman on a college baseball team,” Minner said. “His arm has gotten a lot stronger. He is a kid with experience, so we are super excited to see what the summer holds for him.”

Following today’s tilt, the Aycorp Squirrels will face Cape Legion for a doubleheader on Tuesday at Cape Central High School at 5:30 p.m.