Kennedy is 'on a tear' as he leads Squirrels to state title

If the goal of former Dexter High School standout Kaeden Kennedy was to be playing his best baseball as he headed off to Shawnee Community College in Illinois this fall, then his play of late with the Charleston Fighting Squirrels is exhibiting just that.

“Kaeden has been incredible,” veteran Squirrels coach Michael Minner said.

The Fighting Squirrels (20-12) recently won the Senior Babe Ruth State Tournament with four victories spread over several days. Two of the victories were via routs, while the final pair of wins were hard-fought, and Kennedy was a massive reason for that success.

“First of all,” Minner said, “he is a great kid. He’s a quiet kid, who just comes to the park and does everything that he is supposed to.”

In the four victories, Kennedy tallied a combined seven hits, while scoring four runs and driving in seven runs.

“He has worked really hard to put himself in a position to be successful,” Minner said. “I won’t say that he has come a long way, because he has been a good player.”

The Fighting Squirrels opened the tournament by beating the Bottom Seam Aces 16U squad 13-3, followed by a 16-1 victory over the Southeast Tropics 17U team.

Minner’s kids then topped the Southeast Tropics 18U squad 4-2 and 7-6 to claim the championship.

In the title game, the Fighting Squirrels had to run, which was scored by Kennedy, in their final at-bat, to hold off a late five-run rally that the Tropics (17-11-1) put on over the final two innings.

“We have faced our toughest schedule that we have played in the past 10 years,” Minner said.

As the competition has improved, Kennedy, who can play catcher but has mostly been used in center field for the Fighting Squirrels, has “gotten hot,” according to Minner.

“If you ask him,” Minner explained of Kennedy, “he knows every pitch that he has hit. He knows every pitch that he took. He has become a student of the game and doesn’t swing at bad pitches.”

Earlier this month, Kennedy was in the middle of the Fighting Squirrel pack in hitting, but “he has been on a tear,” according to his coach, and is now leading the team with an average north of .400.

“Over the last two or three weeks, you can’t get him out,” Minner said. “It’s been fun to watch. It is exciting to watch a kid when he has an incredible amount of success.

“It’s fun to watch Kaeden play because he deserves this.”

The Fighting Squirrels will visit Columbia this Friday and Saturday to play in the Up and Coming World Series, before returning to Southeast Missouri on Tuesday for a doubleheader with the Missouri Marlins (6 p.m.) at Harmon Field in Chaffee.