THE LATEST LINE: CAPAHAS SET TO KICK OFF '98 SEASON

The performance of Southeast Missouri State University's Indians this spring no doubt has allowed area fans to catch some baseball fever.

Which should make for a smooth transition later this week when yet another high-flying local baseball team takes to the Capaha Field diamond.

Under a new primary sponsor, the McDowell Capahas will entertain Evansville, Ind., Friday night in a 8 o'clock contest at Capaha.

Among the nation's longest-existing teams, the Capahas have for years and years been providing area baseball fans with top-flight entertainment during the summer months.

Featuring top current and former collegiate standouts, along with a sprinkling of ex-professional players, the Capahas have long been among the premier teams of this kind in the nation.

Veteran manager Jess Bolen enters his 32nd season in charge of the Capahas with a glittering 1,019-344 career record.

Last year's team won its first 19 games and wound up 33-7, capping the season with a 3-2 showing in the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Who knows whether the upcoming season will be as good as the 1997 campaign.

But there are two sure things regarding the Capahas: Bolen always puts a strong product on the field and fans generally enjoy themselves.

It should be another fun season.

* The 1998 success story that is SEMO baseball just keeps getting better and better.

Last weekend it was the Indians' first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship.

And now, thanks to beating Southern twice over the weekend, the Indians have become the first men's sports team at SEMO to qualify for an NCAA Division I tournament.

Big-time congratulations and good luck to head coach Mark Hogan, his assistants and all the players as they prepare for regional competition beginning Thursday at a site to be determined.

* It was also quite a season for the SEMO softball team, which won its fourth consecutive OVC title before losing in the NCAA play-in series.

Congratulations to the Otahkians and special kudos to Kim Palmer, who finished the season with 11 home runs, giving her 20 homers for her SEMO career. Both are school records.

* SEMO basketball center Bud Eley -- despite missing much of the past season with a variety of injuries -- has apparently not fallen out of favor with professional scouts.

Eley has reportedly been invited to participate in the big NBA pre-draft camp held in early June. Most of the nation's top NBA prospects compete during this camp as a prelude to the NBA draft on June 24.

The list of players competing in the pre-draft camp has not yet been officially released by the NBA office, but all reports indicate that Eley will take part.

Word also has it that NBA scouting guru Marty Blake has the 6-foot-10 Eley pegged as a possible second-round pick, although it's likely big Bud will remove himself from the NBA draft in order to complete his final season of eligibility at SEMO next year.

Stay tuned. As soon as the NBA officially releases its list of players for the pre-draft camp, I'll have more on the matter.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian