Kelly kids learned, succeeded through rigorous challenges set by Hopkins in Year One

Josh Hopkins has been in these parts and seen enough high school baseball to have grasped what he was getting into when he accepted the head coaching position with Kelly High School baseball a year ago.

“Kelly baseball has been strong in Southeast Missouri for a long time,” Hopkins said recently. “Growing up in the area, and playing ball in the area, we all knew about Kelly.”

If the current generation didn’t before the past few seasons, the young players in this region certainly do now.

The Hawks won 19 games (with only nine defeats) before falling in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 2 semifinal to East Prairie. It was just the third time in the past 14 (and maybe even longer) years in which the Hawks won that many games.

“Every time that you face Kelly,” Hopkins said of his program, “it’s going to be a tough game. They are hard-nosed kids on the field that are going to challenge you.

“We are going to make you have to work to beat us.”

The Hawks closed the 2023 season with four defeats in their final 13 games. However, those losses need to be put into perspective.

Kelly fell to East Prairie, which finished its season with 18 victories, Jackson, which just advanced to the MSHSAA Class 6 Final Four, Oran, which was ranked No. 3 in Class 1, and Portageville, which just advanced to its second consecutive Final Four, this season in Class 3 after finishing as the state runner-up in Class 2 a year ago.

“We didn’t back down to anybody,” Hopkins said. “We wanted to play everybody.”

He’s not lying.

A glance at the Hawks’ schedule included an endless list of tough teams, including Kennett (22 wins), East Prairie (twice, 18 wins), Chaffee (another Final Four participant, who Kelly beat 4-2), Saxony Lutheran (16 wins), Woodland (14 wins), Cooter (another Final Four participant with 24 wins), Scott City (20 wins), Valle Catholic (29 wins and tied with Portageville as the C3 top-ranked team), along with Portageville, Oran, and Jackson.

Perhaps, the Cardinals weren’t available.

“Whoever wants to come and play us,” Hopkins continued, “we’re going to play you. Our kids are not scared to play anybody and that is going to pay dividends as they mature.”

Kelly did have seven seniors on the roster this spring, but the program also included six juniors, six sophomores, and five freshmen.

“As they get older,” Hopkins said of his players, “and face adversity, they’ll learn from it, win or lose. Just learn from adversity and take those life lessons out of the game of baseball.”