​The roots of competitive and high-quality baseball run deep in Scioto County.And if the Southern Ohio Redhawks’ organization is any indication, there are quite a few sluggers and players from that group who will continue to make Scioto County a baseball haven for years to come.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith a 34-8 overall record during the spring and a roster full of players dotted from different communities across Scioto County as well as Ironton, the future of baseball looks bright on Ohio’s southern tip, and not just by the way teams at the Little League or county level have performed, either.The Redhawks proved that on Sunday afternoon, as the Anthony Knittel-coached 10U squad won the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Appalachian World Series Championship in the Open Blue Division in a tournament that was held in Hurricane, W. Va. over the weekend.With wins in over 80 percent of the contests that it played in during the 2025-26 season against competition from all across the Central and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the United States as well as national competition, the roster is full of stacked talent well within a half-hour’s drive, if not much shorter, from one another.That makes winning the season-ending Appalachian World Series all the more impressive for Knittel — and while the former Minford High School head baseball coach has had a well-known and highly thought of track record coaching the sport at the high school level, he’s quick to credit the 10U squad’s receptive attitudes and skillsets.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”It’s been a blessing to be able to coach these kids,” Knittel said. “The way I teach the game to 10-year olds may be different than how I would teach the game to high school kids, but the concepts — teaching them life lessons, teaching them how to have the right attitude, effort and intensity on and off of the field, every day, and just being consistent — are the same. We just want to help these kids mature and teach them to grow, and when we do that, that’s fulfilling. Beyond that, they’re just great baseball players. They’re really fun to watch and they’re an exciting group. It’s just really fun to showcase a group like this in the southern part of Ohio, and being able to help coach kids and try to teach them the right ways of how to play the game of baseball.”The squad itself certainly doesn’t lack in finding different ways to win.In 20 out of the 42 contests that it played in this season, the Redhawks scored double-digit runs, and in 23 different affairs, the Minford-based outfit won a game by at least five or more runs.However, the Southern Ohio Redhawks also won six games by one run and three additional contests by three runs or less.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”These kids are resilient,” Knittel said. “That’s part of teaching them how to mature. When things don’t go their way, the first reaction, for any kid, is to pout or give up or get discouraged. Our coaches