THE LATEST LINE: SE BASEBALL FINALLY HITS OVC JACKPOT

If you're a sports fan looking for a really inspiring feel-good story, look no further than what Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team accomplished over the past three days.

The 1998 Indians, coming off a 24-33 season, were picked in a preseason poll to finish just sixth in the nine-team Ohio Valley Conference.

But the Indians played well enough during the regular season to place second -- and Saturday they capped their impressive turnaround by winning the OVC Tournament championship.

That the school's first-ever OVC baseball title was won in Cape Girardeau only served to make things that much sweeter.

And it especially had to be sweet for SEMO coach Mark Hogan, who has certainly proven that you can come home again.

Hogan grew up in Cape Girardeau, attended Central High and then played baseball for SEMO.

He has spent most of his coaching career in Alabama, but he came back to Cape in 1995 to take over a SEMO baseball program that had not compiled a winning record in three previous Division I seasons.

And now, after an impressive run of three winning records in four seasons, Hogan's Indians finally have that elusive OVC championship.

I particularly am happy for Hogan because, even though he has never publicly acknowledged it, last season was a rough one for him -- and it goes a lot deeper than the record of nine games under .500.

Hogan took some unwarranted criticism last year from a small group of critics who, for one reason or another, apparently didn't much like the coach.

But he shook off the ordeal with the same type of class that he has exuded since becoming SEMO's coach. And this year he has the Indians at the top of the OVC class.

Hogan, good-natured and enthusiastic yet fiercely competitive, is the kind of coach I personally like to root for, as are most if not all of the other SEMO coaches in all sports.

And he has the good fortune this year to be surrounded by players who, according to Hogan, are extremely hard-working and team-oriented in addition to their obvious talents.

Here's a tip of the cap to Hogan, his assistant coaches and all the players on a job well done.

* Here's a quick response to the recent letter to the editor that criticized me for not publicly defending former SEMO basketball coach Ron Shumate even after the NCAA ruled that Shumate had been a part of some major infractions committed by the program under his tenure.

I'll basically let what I have written in the past speak for itself. I don't think anybody would dispute that I was a pretty ardent Shumate backer who constantly sang his praises along with all that he did to make SEMO's basketball program a Division II powerhouse.

But, until anybody proves otherwise, I simply cannot ignore the NCAA's final report.

I just find it too hard to believe -- as others have suggested to me -- it's all just one big conspiracy and that everybody connected with the case (except Shumate) is lying and the NCAA bought the entire package.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian