THE LATEST LINE: SE SOFTBALL PROVIDED ITS NCAA WORTH

Otahkians made an impressive showing at regional.

Often times -- in all sports -- teams from lower-level conferences who gain automatic NCAA Tournament berths are quickly eliminated in lopsided fashion, causing some sports fans to wonder what the heck they were doing in the NCAA tourney in the first place.

But that certainly wasn't the case with the Southeast Missouri State University softball squad, which did the school -- and the Ohio Valley Conference -- extremely proud with its showing in the recent NCAA Regional in Tucson, Ariz.

The Otahkians, appearing in the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time ever, opened the regional with a 5-1 loss to Kansas. SEMO then defeated East Carolina 2-1 before again facing Kansas -- and scaring the heck out of the Jayhawks before falling 3-1 in 11 innings.

No, the Otahkians didn't win the regional. They didn't really even come close. But they certainly showed that they belonged in that kind of field, which is why it's great the NCAA expanded its tournament field to eliminate play-in series that some of the smaller leagues had to go through.

SEMO has had many strong teams in the past -- as evidenced by its five straight OVC titles -- only to be denied an NCAA berth because the Otahkians have recently had to face national powerhouse DePaul in the play-in series.

Now that the door is finally open for OVC softball to gain an automatic NCAA bid, look for the Otahkians to continue to make regional noise in the years to come.

Big-time congratulations to coach Lana Richmond, her assistants and all the players for a sensational job.

And special kudos to brilliant senior shortstop Jenny Oermann, who made the all-tournament team at the Tucson regional.

* Speaking of impressive, major congratulations are also in order for SEMO track & field star Lutricia Purham, who is only the second track athlete in the school's history to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships.

* It doesn't happen very often, but the McDowell Capahas opened their season on the road this year.

However, area baseball fans won't have to wait long to see Cape Girardeau's highest level summer team for the first time. The Capahas will kick off their home schedule Friday night against Waterloo, Ill.

* It seems a little strange watching the NBA playoffs minus the magic of Michael Jordan, but his retirement has certainly made the race for the championship wide open.

Unlike years past -- when Jordan ruled -- you really don't know who's going to win it all.

My personal pick to emerge as champion is already out the window, the Jazz having been eliminated by the Trail Blazers.

Now I can't really say which team will emerge, but I'm especially interested in the Knicks-Pacers series to see what kind of trash-talking Reggie Miller and Spike Lee will be doing to each other.

* Former Notre Dame High basketball standout Dirk Dirnberger will be playing next season for Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

Dirnberger spent the past two years hooping it up at Rend Lake (Ill.) Junior College.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian