Semoball

Charleston Fighting Squirrels dominate their way to Senior Babe Ruth state title

The Charleston Fighting Squirrels celebrate their five-inning, 13-3 win over Ultimate Baseball in the Senior Babe Ruth state championship game Saturday in Charleston, Missouri.
Fred Lynch

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- For Charleston Fighting Squirrels baseball coach Michael Minner, the wait is over.

The Squirrels are the Senior Babe Ruth state champions for the first time in three years and are back in the Midwest Plains Regional Tournament after missing out last season for the first time in nine years.

The Squirrels dominated the state tournament, going 5-0 with four mercy-rule wins at Hillhouse Park. They capped it off Saturday night with a 13-3, five-inning win over Ultimate Baseball in the championship game.

"We're back," Minner said. "We're back -- that's kind of our motto recently. We've missed out, and two years ago, we snuck in as the second-place team and didn't get it done at the [regional] level."

Two years ago, the Squirrels advanced to the regional thanks to a second-place finish.

Charleston Fighting Squirrels Cole Nichols, left, celebrates with Palmer Campbell after scoring the first run against Ultimate Baseball during the first inning of the Senior Babe Ruth state championship game Saturday, July 15, 2017 in Charleston, Missouri.
Fred Lynch

Missouri is again sending two teams to the regional this season, but Ultimate Baseball has elected not to go. The Wayne County Lumberjacks, who entered the tournament as the two-time defending state champs, will be the second representative after beating Charleston AAA in the third-place game.

In a semifinal earlier in the day, the Squirrels beat Charleston AAA 10-0 in six innings.

In the final, the Squirrels tallied 16 hits and jumped out to an early 5-0 lead to cruise to the win against the squad from Kennett, Missouri.

Palmer Campbell got the complete-game win on the mound, giving up three runs in five innings on eight hits, two walks and one hit batter. He struck out three.

"He's just always snarling," Minner said. "He's just a competitor. He wants the baseball, and he wants to be good."

After Campbell retired three straight in the top of the first, the Squirrels used a small-ball approach to jump on Ultimate Baseball. Charleston (34-6) tallied seven hits in the inning, including three bunt singles, and took advantage of two errors to push across five runs.

"We play the game as fast as we can," Minner said. "We've got great pitching. We've got great defense. It's a quality group of baseball players."

Charleston Fighting Squirrels pitcher Palmer Campbell delivers to an Ultimate Baseball batter during the first inning of the Senior Babe Ruth state championship game Saturday, July 15, 2017 in Charleston, Missouri.
Fred Lynch

The first four Squirrels and eight of the first nine batters reached base to chase Ultimate Baseball starting pitcher Andy Roberts from the game. Roberts gave up five runs in 1/3 of a inning on seven hits and one walk.

Braden Cox opened the scoring with a bunt single, and Cole Nichols scampered home on an error during the play.

A two-run single by Wyatt Pratt followed, and after a pop fly, four straight singles drove in the fourth and fifth runs.

A pitching change only temporally halted the Squirrels' offense. Ultimate Baseball got on the board in the second with a run, but the Squirrels put the game out of reach with five runs in the bottom of the third.

The Squirrels again tallied seven hits in the frame, including another bunt single. Trey McDaniel, who struck out 13 batters in the semifinal, started the inning with a single. The next five Squirrels reached base, driving in three runs. A sacrifice fly and a groundout then plated the next two runs, giving the Squirrels a 10-1 lead.

From there, the only drama left was whether or not the Squirrels would win via mercy rule. They needed to lead by 10 runs or more in the middle of the fifth or later to bring an early end to the game.

The Squirrels inched closer to a run-rule win with three runs in bottom of the fourth, capped by a two-run triple from Cole Nichols, who was 4-for-4 with a run scored.

Ultimate Baseball scored two runs in the fifth, but that wasn't enough to prevent the mercy-rule defeat.

Along with Nichols, three other Squirrels had multiple hits -- Cox (2-for-3), McDaniel (3-for-3) and Will Pratt (2-for-3). Pratt also had the final putout of the game, making an impressive defensive play at second to secure the state title.

For Minner, the journey doesn't end here. He has aspirations of a World Series championship.

Before the Wayne County Lumberjacks won the state title two years ago, the Squirrels had won the previous four state titles and advanced to the World Series two years in a row.

With the state title once again in the Squirrels' possession, Minner is now eyeing regionals -- and the World Series further down the line.

The Squirrels will open regional play at 8 p.m. Friday in Junction City, Kansas, against the hosts.

That's days away, though. Moments after Saturday's championship win, Minner was simply savoring that title-winning feeling that had been missing the last couple years.

"These kids knew we better not screw this up, and I was really the only one who could screw it up," Minner said. "So I just tried to stay out of the way and let these guys be 18- and 19-year-old kids who know how to play baseball."

Ultimate Baseball01002--383
Fighting Squirrels5053X--13161

WP -- Palmer Campbell. LP -- Andy Roberts. 3B -- Cole Nichols (FS). Multiple hits -- Charleston: Nichols 4-4, Braden Cox 2-3, Trey McDaniel 3-3, Will Pratt 2-3. Ultimate Baseball: Cameron West 2-3, Lathan Brooks 2-3.

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