Another hall of fame opens its doors to Bolen

Chalk up another major and well-deserved honor for longtime Plaza Tire Capahas manager Jess Bolen.

Bolen recently was selected for induction into the 2013 class of the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. The ceremony, featuring 18 new inductees, will be held April 18 in St. Louis.

Bolen told me he wondered why he was picked for his latest hall-of- fame honor since he is not from St. Louis and never lived there.

But St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame spokesman Larry Donovan said other non-St. Louisans are in the hall. He added that Bolen certainly deserved to be elected based on his many years of contributions to the sport.

The Capahas annually play quite a few games in the St. Louis area, and some of their early National Baseball Congress state championships were won in the city.

Bolen was nominated by another longtime amateur baseball coach in the St. Louis area whose teams have squared off against the Capahas for years.

Bolen rates his biggest honor as being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He is also in the NBC Hall of Fame and the Southeast Missouri Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

All fitting rewards for a man who has led the Capahas to a 1,433-388 record in his 46 seasons managing one of the nation's oldest amateur baseball teams. The Capahas have made 31 consecutive appearances at the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan.

Bolen told me he shares his latest honor with all the young men who have played for him -- and above all else, his wife Mary, who has been as big a part of the Capahas as he has.

Congratulations to Jess, who is not only a terrific baseball man but also a great guy. I'm fortunate to consider him a good friend.

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More congratulations are in order for two longtime area high school coaches who have been singled out for special accolades.

Notre Dame's Bill Davis will be inducted into the Missouri Track & Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame during the organization's annual clinic this weekend in Columbia, Mo.

Davis has more than 30 years of track and cross country coaching experience. He also has coached at Kelly and Doniphan, in addition to his current duties at Notre Dame.

Chaffee's Terry Glenzy, who has also been the school's longtime athletic director, received the Sam Giambelluca Lifetime Achievement Award during Wednesday's 67th Annual Poplar Bluff Letter Club Gridiron Banquet that recognizes the top football players in the SEMO Conference.

Glenzy has devoted much of his life to coaching and teaching at Chaffee. He's been a tremendous mentor over the years to the young people in his hometown.

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The Southeast Missouri State men's and women's basketball teams have been road warriors through the early part of the season.

Southeast's women just completed a stretch of six consecutive games away from Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks had just their second home date Saturday, beating Illinois-Chicago.

Southeast's men will finish a stretch that has them playing seven of eight games away from home when they play 15th-ranked Missouri on Tuesday. The Redhawks have had only three home contests.

Coach Dickey Nutt's men have been racking up the bus miles so far.

The Redhawks will have logged a total of 3,795 bus miles by the time they return from Columbia, Mo., in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

That total also includes trips to Lawrence, Kan., Chattanooga, Tenn., Chicago, New Orleans and Hammond, La.

Now that is some serious traveling.

Both Southeast squads, to their credit, have been able to keep their heads above water despite their schedules. The men are 6-4, with a current three-game winning streak, while the women are 4-4.

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Former Southeast basketball standout Dwayne Rutherford will host a free two-hour clinic for youngsters in kindergarten through eighth grade Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon at the Susanna Wesley Family Life Center in Charleston, Mo.

The clinic will consist of sports fundamentals, activities and nutritional basics. It's part of the "Play for Success" Fitness Challenge dedicated to fighting childhood obesity and improving the overall health of youth.

Rutherford, Southeast's career leader in assists as a point guard from 1986 through 1990, currently is a youth coach and teacher in his native, Memphis, Tenn.

Rutherford told me he and some of his former Southeast teammates plan to attend Saturday's home doubleheader -- Southeast's women play Western Illinois at 3 p.m. and the men face Central Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. -- that is part of 80s night at the Show Me Center.

Rutherford said he wanted to do something special for area youngsters while in town, so he's putting on the clinic. Sounds like a great idea.

For more information, contact Rutherford at (901) 647-8055 or tavisdrutherford@gmail.com

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A solid fall sports season has Southeast in third place among 12 schools in the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Cup standings, compiled annually to recognize the league's most successful all-around athletic programs.

Southeast accumulated 44 points through the end of the fall sports season. That total trails only Eastern Kentucky (48) and Eastern Illinois (45.5).

This fall, Southeast volleyball was second in the OVC and won the West Division; cross country was third and fifth in the men's and women's conference meet, respectively; soccer placed fourth; and football finished seventh.

Southeast has improved its place in the Commissioner's Cup standings three straight years, going from eighth in 2009-10 to sixth in 2010-11 to fifth last year.

Eastern Kentucky won last year's Commissioner's Cup.

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The OVC will have at least one new football coach next year after Friday's surprising news that Jacksonville State fired Jack Crowe.

Crowe's 13-year run in charge of JSU's program ended with two years left on his $160,000-a-year contract and an 87-57 record, including 10 straight winning seasons and three OVC championships (2003, 2004, 2011).

JSU went to the playoffs three times (2003, 2004, 2010) under Crowe but never won a postseason game.

At many programs, Southeast included, what Crowe accomplished would be cause for celebration. But at JSU, which devotes unbelievable resources to football -- and where the sport rules -- it wasn't good enough.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.