THE LATEST LINE: ST. VINCENT MADE HUGE PLAYOFF RUN

High school coaches and players in all sports like to refer to the playoffs as the "second season," which often times means a squad gets a shot at redemption for a regular season that might not have been so great.

St. Vincent's baseball team took that philosophy to the ultimate level this year.

The Indians, playing primarily larger schools the entire season, entered postseason play a couple of weeks ago with a 9-13 record. Most people in the area did not even consider them legitimate district contenders, instead focusing on favored Advance and Oran.

But, seven victories later, St. Vincent stands alone as the best Class 1A squad in the state. The Indians won seven straight postseason games, capped by a dominating performance in Columbia this past week as they captured their first state title.

The Indians, who overall ended the season with 10 straight wins to finish at 16-13, outscored their two final four opponents by a combined 19-0. Pitchers Derek Kutz and Tyler Wengert, who fueled the playoff run, combined to allow just three hits in the two games.

Major congratulations are in order for first-year St. Vincent coach Rick Wibbenmeyer -- who won a 4A state title with Chaminade a few years ago --and everybody associated with the Indians' program.

And the next time a team in any sport ends the regular season with a losing record, it needs to look no further than St. Vincent for inspiration.

* Still on the subject of high school baseball, Crystal City -- like St. Vincent a member of the Jefferson County Conference -- had an even more remarkable state-title story as the Hornets claimed the 2A crown despite finishing with a 13-14 record.

* Jeremy Johnson, who this year completed a record-setting four-year career for Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team, is a virtual lock to be selected in baseball's amateur draft that begins Monday.

The only question is how high the outfielder will go. Projections vary on that, but SEMO coach Mark Hogan -- based on talks with various scouts -- believes Johnson should be taken in the top 15 rounds, which would be quite impressive.

The draft generally includes well over 50 rounds, with the top 20 rounds conducted Monday.

Hogan said that three other SEMO players -- Kevin Meyer, Charlie Marino and Darin Kinsolving -- have an outside chance at being drafted, although their prospects are iffy.

* Best wishes to former SEMO football coach John Mumford, who will leaving Cape Girardeau to become an assistant for Army's Division I program.

Mumford, who stepped down last year after 10 seasons as the Indians' head man, has been working for the Zimmer Radio Group. He'll be joining the Army staff of Todd Berry, who served as a SEMO assistant under Mumford.

* Pitcher Cliff Politte, who played briefly for the Capahas a few years back, has been called up to the Philadelphia Phillies from their Class AAA Scranton team, where he had been 5-3 with a 3.02 ERA.

* I'm sure I wasn't the only person jumping for joy over the recent announcement that ESPN2 will finally soon be offered on the local basic cable television package.

Just about every other town in America -- no matter how small -- has been getting ESPN2 for some time. It's great to see that Cape is finally exiting the stone age when it comes to cable TV.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian