CENTRAL ROLE: SOUTHEAST BASEBALL ROSTER PROVES HAVEN OF CHOICE FOR FORMER CAPE CENTRAL TIGERS

With seven players from Cape Girardeau high schools, Southeast Missouri State University's 1996 baseball Indians certainly have an extremely local flavor.

Six former Central High standouts and one ex-Notre Dame High star dot the Southeast roster. Most of them have been key performers for the Indians, who take on Morehead State at 10 a.m. Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn., in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

"The local players have done very well for us this year," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, himself a Central High graduate and also a Southeast Missouri State graduate. "It says a lot for the caliber of high school baseball in Southeast Missouri."

Two of the Indians' top four hitters, along with two of their top four pitchers, are Central High products.

Steve Goodman, in his first season with the Indians after transferring from Shawnee (Ill.) Community College, is batting .304 while Scott Hopper is hitting .302.

Goodman, the Indians' second baseman, is the elder statesmen of the Tribe. He graduated from Central in 1988 and later served in the Marine Corps. He ultimately wound up at Shawnee CC and last season had the second-highest batting average in the nation among junior-college players when he hit .475.

Hopper, like Goodman a junior, batted .250 as a freshman and .253 as a sophomore for the Indians. Last year, he was the team's full-time starting shortstop.

This season, the 1993 Central graduate got off to a slow start and was primarily used as a relief pitcher for the middle part of the campaign. But he was inserted back into the lineup as an outfielder several weeks ago and has caught fire, raising his average nearly 200 points.

Lance Craft, a 1995 Central graduate, is the third full-time starter among the former Tigers. The freshman outfielder is batting .269. He leads the team in stolen bases (16 out of 19) and is second in runs scored (41).

Shawn Pemberton, a 1994 Central graduate, has been a spot player as a redshirt freshman. The catcher is batting .196.

In the pitching department, 1994 Central graduate David Michel is slowly but surely rounding into former during his sophomore season.

Last year's OVC Pitcher of the Year as a freshman, Michel has struggled for much of the season but he's had several recent strong outings. He's 3-5 with a 5.46 earned-run average and is scheduled to start Saturday's OVC tourney opener.

Talley Haines, a 1995 Central graduate, has been one of the real pleasant surprises of the Southeast mound staff. The freshman is 6-1 with a 5.09 ERA. He leads the OVC in strikeouts per nine innings with an 8.8 average.

Michel, Craft, Pemberton and Haines were all members of 1994 Central High and Cape Ford & Sons American Legion state championship teams.

Also in the pitching department, 1992 Notre Dame graduate Keith Heuring has been a valuable relief pitcher in his first season with the Indians. Heuring is 0-1 with a 4.11 ERA, but in several instances he entered games during the middle innings and hurled solidly.

Adding even more local flavor to the squad has former Anna-Jonesboro (Ill.) High standout Brad Hoehner.

A redshirt freshman catcher, Hoehner is batting .200 in spot duty.

"Goodman, Hopper, Craft, Michel and Haines have all been mainstays of our team this year," Hogan said. "And the other guys have also been very good role players for us."

And for even more of a local touch: assistant coach Cory Crosnoe also graduated from Central, as did his brother, student assistant coach Rex Crosnoe, last year's OVC Player of the Year while a senior at Southeast.

Another student assistant coach, Brian Schaefer, hails from Advance.