Redhawks seek tournament title this week

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team, one of the most consistently successful programs at the university, wrapped up another strong regular season over the weekend.

The Redhawks (32-20) now turn their attention to the all-important Ohio Valley Conference tournament that begins Wednesday in Jackson, Tenn. The winner of the six-team event earns the league's automatic NCAA regional berth.

Southeast enters the OVC tournament as the No. 2 seed after it finished second in the nine-team conference. The Redhawks received one of the two opening-round byes for the double-elimination event for the first time since the current format began in 2005.

The Redhawks are among three OVC squads to have won at least 30 games. That's something of a benchmark for college baseball, similar to 20-win seasons in college basketball.

This marks two straight 30-victory campaigns for the Redhawks and nine in school history, all under coach Mark Hogan, who notched his 500th career win at Southeast over the weekend.

The Redhawks are in the OVC tournament for a league-record 17th straight time -- every season Hogan has coached his alma mater. Southeast has won OVC regular-season championship in 2002 and OVC tournament titles in 1998 and 2002.

The Redhawks play their opening tournament game at 3 p.m. Thursday.

The past two tournaments have not been kind to the Redhawks, who lost their first two games both times, including a pair of 10-inning defeats last year.

Southeast has the talent to reverse the recent trend and one less victory will be required to claim the title. The Redhawks also finished the regular season strong, unlike the previous two years.

We'll find out soon if the Redhawks can pull it off during what should be another exciting tournament.

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John Hogan is having a fine year for the Austin Peay baseball team, helping the Governors win the OVC regular-season title. The sophomore first baseman leads the conference in RBIs with 58 and ranks second in home runs with 12.

But I'll be surprised if Southeast junior third baseman Trenton Moses doesn't win the league's player of the year award, which will be announced Tuesday.

Moses, an Advance High School graduate, is having an incredible season. He is second in the OVC in batting at .405 -- compared to Hogan's .319 mark -- second in RBIs (51) and tied for third in homers (11).

Moses also is second in slugging percentage (.693) and second in on-base percentage (.502). Hogan is ninth in slugging percentage and not among the top 10 in on-base percentage. In addition, Moses is arguably the league's best-fielding third baseman.

Hogan and Moses are considered the top two candidates for the honor, voted on by the conference's coaches and sports information directors.

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Sikeston High School senior Corey Porter recently signed to play football at Southeast.

Porter, the Bulldogs' standout two-way lineman, had been rumored to be heading to Southeast. He told the Sikeston Standard-Democrat that Southeast plans to use him at center.

Porter's signing is another nice addition for the Redhawks. He joins Sikeston teammate Trey Lewis, a quarterback who also figures to see some time at receiver during his freshman year.

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Southeast's Evan Conrad and Tylor Brock have been named among the nation's top 10 FCS football players at their positions for 2011 by the Sports Network.

Conrad, a junior tackle, was among four Southeast offensive linemen to earn all-OVC first-team honors last season. He was the only non-senior among the group.

Brock, a junior safety who earned all-OVC and All-American honors, tied the single-season school record with six interceptions. He also broke up three passes and recorded 56 tackles.

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Kudos to Cape Girardeau native and Central graduate Michael Minner for leading the Charleston baseball team to its first district title.

Minner, through his enthusiasm and tireless work, has done an incredible job as he helped elevate baseball in Charleston.

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Former Central football coach Rich Payne, who directed the Tigers' record-setting 2010 season, will be an assistant at Chaffee in 2011.

Payne joins an experienced coaching staff that includes top-man Charlie Vickery and assistant Jerry Dement, a former head coach at several schools.

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What figures to be another exciting American Legion baseball season gets going this weekend.

Jackson has been solid in recent years and Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons Post 63 has experienced a rejuvenation the past two summers under a revamped coaching staff that features former Southeast All-Americans and minor league players Todd Pennington and Steve Williams.

Cape's tradition-rich program, which includes five state championships, had dipped badly in recent years. The squad has rebounded with a combined 70-30 record the last two years and has won consecutive district titles.

Post 63, which will host the zone tournament in late July for the second straight year, will look to keep that success going this summer.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.