Quick tourney exit ruins promising year for Redhawks

Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan had conflicting emotions in the aftermath of his 16th season leading his alma mater.

On one hand, Hogan was proud of an injury-plagued campaign that exceeded expectations by those outside the program.

On the other hand, Hogan was disappointed by a second consecutive late-season slide that culminated with a second straight 0-2 showing at the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

The Redhawks lost 10 of their last 14 games, including a pair of 10-inning defeats at last week's OVC tournament in Jackson, Tenn.

Southeast dropped nine of its final 10 contests in 2009 and went 0-2 in the conference tournament for the first time since 2005.

Southeast has qualified for the OVC tournament a league-record 16 times, never missing the postseason event under Hogan.

The Redhawks have lost their first two OVC tournament games just five times but now twice consecutively.

"The last third of the season we hit a swoon and we didn't finish out very well in the league, then the performance in the tournament ... I was interested in a better show," Hogan said. "That's happened two years in a row now and it's very disappointing."

But Hogan said that can't wipe out a successful season that potentially could have been a disaster.

Southeast was picked to finish seventh in the nine-team OVC after graduating many of its top players from last year. That means the conference's coaches and sports information directors expected the Redhawks to miss the six-team league tournament.

Southeast then suffered early season-ending injuries to several key players.

But the Redhawks, featuring 19 newcomers, overcame all of that to finish fourth in the OVC and go 30-25 for the program's eighth season with at least 30 wins, all under Hogan.

"The thing I'll remember about the 2010 season is the great effort they gave after we lost four key guys right off the bat," Hogan said. "Thirty wins is nothing to sneeze at. I'm very proud of that."

Southeast recorded one of the top offensive seasons in school history.

The Redhawks set a program record with 452 runs scored and their OVC-best .346 batting average is second all-time at the university, although the offense cooled off considerably in the final few weeks.

Southeast players also reached several individual school records, led by All-American senior catcher Jim Klocke breaking the career runs batted in mark.

Junior left fielder Michael Adamson set the single-season hits record, and sophomore shortstop Kenton Parmley set the single-season runs scored mark.

Several other players finished high on other school single-season lists.

Every player that finished the season as a starter hit at least .300.

Junior third baseman Casey Jones led the way at .398. Not far behind were Adamson (.388), Parmley (.380) and Klocke (.370).

They were followed by junior second baseman Tim Rupp (.344), junior right fielder Louie Haseltine (.325), junior first baseman Brett Russell (.323), junior center fielder Blake Slattery (.311) and sophomore DH/catcher Jesse Tierney (.308 in 65 at-bats). Slattery, a Central High School product, led Southeast in stolen bases with 13.

Just below the .300 mark were sophomore first baseman Kody Campbell (.295) and junior first baseman/catcher Ky Burgess (.295). Both saw significant starting action. Campbell, from Oran, had Southeast's top on-base average (.480) among players with at least 20 at-bats.

Haseltine led in home runs with 17, tied for sixth on the school single-season list.

Klocke and Jones both had 66 RBIs, the second most in program history. Adamson's 23 doubles rank second in school annals, with Klocke's 22 doubles tied for third.

Jones, Rupp and Slattery didn't even begin the year as starters before taking over following injuries. Adamson was battling for a job before an injury paved the way for him in left field full-time.

"They all stepped up," Hogan said.

Klocke and Jones earned first-team all-OVC honors, with Adamson, Haseltine and Parmley making the second team.

Southeast's pitching was up and down for the second straight year, although the Redhawks' 6.27 ERA -- second highest in school history -- was good enough to rank second in the hitting-dominated OVC.

Junior Jordan Underwood went 6-5 with a 4.11 ERA that led Southeast starters and ranked among the conference leaders.

All-OVC second-team senior Kyle Gumieny (8-1, 5.50) ranked second in the league in wins, while juniors Nick Thomas (6-3, 6.46) and Logan Mahon (2-3, 6.45) both had their share of strong performances.

The bullpen was led by Shae Simmons, the league's freshman of the year and the all-OVC first-team reliever. The Scott City product went 3-3 with five saves and a team-leading 3.20 ERA that barely was above 1.00 for much of the year.

Southeast on paper should be set up for a strong season next year since it loses just three seniors, with only two seeing considerable action.

Klocke, a four-year starter who ranks high on many of the program's career and single-season lists, leaves as one of the Redhawks' all-time greats. Gumieny also is a significant departure.

"Klocke is arguably the finest player in school history," Hogan said.

Despite returning so many players who had strong seasons, Hogan expects competition for jobs to be fierce in 2011 because he anticipates the injured players returning healthy meaning Southeast should have more depth.

Center fielder Nick Harris, third baseman Trenton Moses and second baseman Taylor Heon all began this year as starters while Brennan Malham was battling with Adamson for the left field job. Heon was off to a hot start, batting .368 in six games.

"Getting those guys back will be big. We were so hamstrung," Hogan said. "After I made my lineup out, I had three guys I could make moves with. That'll change next year. There will be a lot of competition for jobs. I'm excited about that."

Hogan also hopes to strengthen next year's roster through recruiting.

"On paper, we've got a lot of talented guys coming back," Hogan said. "But I'm looking for more good players."

Adamson, among numerous junior college transfers who just completed their first year in the program, hopes the way Southeast ended its season is used as motivation for 2011.

" I think it [two tournament losses] will be motivation for me and hopefully for some others," Adamson said.