Our Story
Why Squirrels?
The Aycorp Charleston Fighting Squirrels are a regional summer baseball program geared towards preparing kids to play college baseball. The Squirrels play in the Babe Ruth Baseball league, a national not-for-profit educational organization that creates development opportunities for young men through baseball.
In their 19 years of competition the Squirrels have some great achievements:
- 11 Missouri State Championships
- 6 Regional Championships
- 8 World Series appearances
- 2018 National Championship in Jamestown, New York
- 2020 Southern Invitational Championship in Mobile, Alabama in 2020. (The Southern Invitational took the place of the World Series due to the Covid-19 pandemic.)
The Squirrels currently have six teams in the organization: 19u, 18u, 16u, 14u, 11u, and 10u teams that all play 35+ game schedules. Michael Minner, Director and Head Coach of the Squirrels, is dedicated to “doing things the right way.” Minner puts this into action by coaching baseball on the field, and mentoring young men off it. Their guiding philosophy is that creating good men is as important as winning. For the Squirrels, the two go hand in hand. The organization has seen 113 players move on to play college baseball.
Hillhouse Park
The Squirrels play their home games at Hillhouse Park in Charleston, Missouri, a spacious summer baseball field that is also home to the Charleston High School Bluejays. The 15 acres of land for the park was donated by Nelsene and Ray Hillhouse in honor of their son Benny. The Park has played host to the Babe Ruth 16-18 Midwest Plains Regional six times. The park has also been the site of ten Missouri Class 2 and 3 District Tournaments. There is no better atmosphere in the Midwest.
We Love Our Community
Picturesque Charleston, Missouri is home to the Fighting Squirrels. Charleston sits at the top of the Missouri Bootheel, and is a town rich with history and full of charming old homes. In the springtime, the annual Dogwood Azalea Festival fills the town with visitors to see the city in bloom. Charleston also loves its sports. The BlueJays have a storied history in high school athletics, and the town turns out to support its teams. The Fighting Squirrels loves this support, and in turn team members engage in local events and projects. They believe it’s important to invest their time and energy into their community – after all, for some people there is life outside of baseball!