THE LATEST LINE: WOOD BATS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

I always have had the utmost respect for major-league hitters who routinely crush baseballs out of the park.

For years, I've watched SportsCenter and marveled when one slugger after another mashed 400-plus-foot home runs -- and often a lot longer than that -- out of spacious (or, these days, sometimes not-so-spacious) stadiums.

But after watching what went on last weekend during the final round of the National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional in Cape Girardeau, I now have even more respect for those big-league bashers.

The two teams who met for the Mid-South Regional title, the host McDowell Capahas and St. Louis O.B. Clark, are loaded with good hitters. I know that. I've watched many of them spray line drives to the fences and hammer balls out of Capaha Field for the last few years.

But I've seen them do that with aluminum. With wood last weekend, it was a different story. Big, strong, powerful sluggers did all they could to get the ball into the outfield. Most of them had little success. Nary a home run was hit.

Now, I know part of it was probably because a lot of those guys probably weren't used to hitting with wood, although the Capahas have done it for most of the season.

And part of it also was probably because both teams featured impressive pitchers. But the hurlers weren't that good, certainly not good enough to explain why there were so few hard-hit balls in the three games between the squads, and certainly not good enough to explain why so few balls were hit even 200 feet.

What I saw at Capaha last weekend also points out -- and people have been talking about this for years -- just how difficult it is for professional scouts to judge high school and college hitters these days.

The minors are filled with horror stories of prep and collegiate stars who put up all kinds of super power numbers with aluminum bats -- yet simply can't get the ball out of the park with wood.

Next time you watch SportsCenter, appreciate even more what the major-league sluggers are doing, even if the balls might be a little juiced, as many people suggest.

Big-leaguers might make it look that way, but hitting a baseball a long way just isn't easy.

* It's great that former SEMO baseball standouts Darin Kinsolving, Kevin Meyer and Phil Warren -- who have all been playing for the Capahas this summer -- will get an opportunity to play professional baseball.

But the trio, who all will soon be competing in the Independent Frontier League, will have an even longer road than most if they hope to climb the pro ladder.

Teams in the Frontier League are not affiliated with any major-league organization, so players in that Class A-type league don't get the opportunity to advance any higher unless they are eventually signed by a big-league squad.

In any event, good luck to the three.

* Kudos to all the folks associated with the Charleston American Legion baseball program for the wonderful job they did hosting the District 14 Tournament for the first time this past week.

* The Capahas will open play in the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan., Saturday night against the Wichita Twins. The exact game time has yet to be determined.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian