Squirrels to take on more regional flavor this summer

sports@standard-democrat.com

CHARLESTON -- It's been an unprecedented turn of events in Charleston baseball following their dramatic run through the Class 2 state tournament.

Although the majority of roster spots do not belong to Charleston natives -- one of the first years in their history -- they're hoping Charleston recent success translates onto the Senior Babe Ruth scene as the Charleston Fighting Squirrels gear up for another season.

"It's been an exciting time," Charleston Squirrels manager Michael Minner said. "We won't have a lot of our Bluejays though, but we're pulling a lot of high school kids together and they're all excited to play baseball."

Marshall Stallings, Ethan Browning and Danny McKinney are the only Bluejays on the Squirrels roster as Charleston expanded their roster to unseen communities.

Advance, Cooter and Naylor will be represented this season.

"We're going to have a bunch of kids that I'm not really familiar with so it's going to be a different makeup," Minner said. "We're going to have a good summer and get everybody a lot of playing time."

Ryan Moses from Advance, Jonathan Boone and Seth Childers from Cooter as well as Kory Kovach and Dalton Woodard from Naylor will all add to the Squirrels' depth at pitching and other positions.

Sikeston, East Prairie and Scott County Central High School, as well as others, will be represented as well.

"We've got some kids from all over with some good arms," said Minner. "We've got a lot of good players. On paper, this might be one of our more talented teams. We just have to make sure everyone gets a lot of playing time with an opportunity to grow.

"Hopefully, we can peak at the right time which, we've shown in the past that we can do that."

The Squirrels are coming off of a 23-18 record from last season after two-straight losses gave Charleston an early exit from the Midwest Plains Regional in Wellington, Kan.

They also failed to capture their fourth state title after losing to Jackson.

"Hopefully this year we can get that state championship back," Minner said. "Last year we fell to Jackson so, they're the team that we've got to figure out this year."

The Squirrels will be hosting the Midwest Plains Regional at Hillhouse Park in Charleston which assures them a spot in the regional tournament that features teams from eight different states including North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

The Squirrels will kick off the season on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they play the Missouri Bulls at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau. By Chris Pobst

sports@standard-democrat.com

CHARLESTON -- It's been an unprecedented turn of events in Charleston baseball following their dramatic run through the Class 2 state tournament.

Although the majority of roster spots do not belong to Charleston natives -- one of the first years in their history -- they're hoping Charleston recent success translates onto the Senior Babe Ruth scene as the Charleston Fighting Squirrels gear up for another season.

"It's been an exciting time," Charleston Squirrels manager Michael Minner said. "We won't have a lot of our Bluejays though, but we're pulling a lot of high school kids together and they're all excited to play baseball."

Marshall Stallings, Ethan Browning and Danny McKinney are the only Bluejays on the Squirrels roster as Charleston expanded their roster to unseen communities.

Advance, Cooter and Naylor will be represented this season.

"We're going to have a bunch of kids that I'm not really familiar with so it's going to be a different makeup," Minner said. "We're going to have a good summer and get everybody a lot of playing time."

Ryan Moses from Advance, Jonathan Boone and Seth Childers from Cooter as well as Kory Kovach and Dalton Woodard from Naylor will all add to the Squirrels' depth at pitching and other positions.

Sikeston, East Prairie and Scott County Central High School, as well as others, will be represented as well.

"We've got some kids from all over with some good arms," said Minner. "We've got a lot of good players. On paper, this might be one of our more talented teams. We just have to make sure everyone gets a lot of playing time with an opportunity to grow.

"Hopefully, we can peak at the right time which, we've shown in the past that we can do that."

The Squirrels are coming off of a 23-18 record from last season after two-straight losses gave Charleston an early exit from the Midwest Plains Regional in Wellington, Kan.

They also failed to capture their fourth state title after losing to Jackson.

"Hopefully this year we can get that state championship back," Minner said. "Last year we fell to Jackson so, they're the team that we've got to figure out this year."

The Squirrels will be hosting the Midwest Plains Regional at Hillhouse Park in Charleston which assures them a spot in the regional tournament that features teams from eight different states including North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

The Squirrels will kick off the season on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they play the Missouri Bulls at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau.