Amateur baseball draft should feature local flavor

Southeast Missouri State should be represented well during baseball's amateur draft that begins today with the first round, followed by rounds two through 15 on Tuesday and rounds 16 through 40 on Wednesday.

Junior pitcher Shae Simmons is a virtual lock to be selected. Baseball America has the Scott City High School graduate ranked as the 446th best draft prospect, which could place him in the top 15 rounds or so.

Simmons is one of just three Ohio Valley Conference players ranked among the top 500 draft prospects by Baseball America. Jacksonville State first baseman Ben Waldrip is No. 368, and Eastern Kentucky pitcher Anthony Bazzani is No. 467.

I will be shocked if All-American senior third baseman Trenton Moses, an Advance High School graduate, isn't drafted.

And I will be surprised if a third Southeast player, senior shortstop Kenton Parmley, isn't selected.

Neither Moses nor Parmley is ranked among Baseball America's top 500 draft prospects, but they are rated 21st and 22nd, respectively, among Missouri draft prospects. Simmons is ninth on that list.

I really enjoy following the draft every year because I find it interesting to see where all the players come from. If a player has talent, the scouts will find him no matter the size of the college, junior college, high school or hometown.

Following this week's draft should be even more fun because of the local angle.

By the way, one major change to this year's draft is that it has been trimmed to 40 rounds after being at 50 rounds for quite a few years.

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Last week's news that talented sophomore forward Nino Johnson apparently has decided not to bolt the Southeast men's basketball program was a big shot in the arm for the Redhawks.

Johnson signed a letter of intent with Northeast Mississippi Community College during a ceremony May 15 on the Northeast campus in Booneville, Miss.

But junior college letters of intent are nonbinding, and Johnson apparently had a change of heart about leaving Southeast.

Johnson still could change his mind again and decide to play for the junior college he recently signed with, but Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said he doesn't anticipate that happening.

Johnson virtually is assured of playing major minutes as part of a front-line rotation that includes all-conference junior Tyler Stone and junior Michael Porter even if he doesn't start next season.

The absence of Johnson would have hampered severely the Redhawks' front-line depth for next season.

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While it doesn't look like Johnson is leaving the Redhawks, it appears that Southeast will lose sophomore guard Telvin Wilkerson.

A recent post on an Internet message board said Wilkerson is transferring to Northwest Florida Community College. While nothing official has been announced by Southeast, sources tell me that Wilkerson definitely won't return to the Redhawks because he seeks more playing time.

The departure doesn't really hurt Southeast for next season because Wilkerson, who saw limited action as a true freshman in 2011-12, would have found minutes hard to come by in 2012-13. He is stuck behind seniors Marland Smith, Nick Niemczyk and Corey Wilford at the loaded shooting guard spot.

But Wilkerson could have been in line for major playing time in 2013-14 after the aforementioned trio is out of eligibility.

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I wrote several weeks ago that there is a good chance one of the "money" games for Southeast men's basketball next season will be at Kansas.

Nutt said the other day that the Redhawks might open the season at Kansas on national television, although that has not yet been finalized, so stay tuned.

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OVC regular-season and tournament baseball champion Austin Peay had a strong showing at the Eugene Regional over the weekend. It went 2-2 to finish second.

The Governors suffered a tough 6-5 opening-round loss to No. 5 national seed and host Oregon, which scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Austin Peay bounced back to beat Indiana State 1-0 and Cal State Fullerton 3-0 before being eliminated by Oregon 8-1.

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Dane Church got his first coaching job last season directing the Saxony Lutheran High School boys basketball program.

Church now is moving back closer to where he grew up as he starts his first full-time teaching job.

Church, who was raised in Charleston, Ill., where his father, Mike, was a longtime assistant men's basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University, recently landed the boys basketball coaching gig at Williamsville (Ill.) High School. He also will teach physical education.

Church, a 2006 Charleston (Ill.) High School graduate, played at SIU Edwardsville then served as a graduate assistant at Southeast during the 2010-11 season. Church coached at Saxony Lutheran while completing his master's degree at Southeast.

Church comes from quite a coaching family. His brother Drew has led Central to consecutive Class 5 District 1 titles, and their father assists Drew with the Tigers.

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Tyler Qualls, a 2010 Jackson High School graduate, recently completed an impressive sophomore season as a catcher with the Louisiana Tech baseball team.

Qualls batted .336 with a home run and 20 RBIs while starting 34 of the Bulldogs' 55 games. Tech went 27-28, including 7-11 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Marty Mishow is a sports reporter for the Southeast Missourian.