Venue change means longer drive for fans

Southeast Missouri State baseball fans will have to travel a longer distance to watch the Redhawks in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament beginning next season.

It was announced last week that the OVC's board of athletic directors and board of presidents approved a plan to move the tournament to Jackson, Tenn., for the next three years.

The 2010 six-team, double-elimination event will be held May 26 to 30 at Pringles Park, home of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, the Class AA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

The past nine OVC baseball tournaments have been played in Paducah, Ky., at historic Brooks Stadium.

Pringles Park, which opened in 1998 and has a seating capacity of 6,000, has luxury suites, a video board and merchandise shop, so it sounds like an impressive facility.

Jackson, Tenn., is approximately 156 miles from Cape Girardeau, with an estimated driving time of 2 1/2 hours. Paducah is approximately 80 miles from Cape and it takes about 90 minutes to get there.

Considering that the Redhawks have qualified for the OVC baseball tournament a record 15 straight seasons -- or every year since coach Mark Hogan took over the program -- Southeast fans probably should be prepared for the longer trip.

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The College World Series that begins Saturday in Omaha, Neb., will have a Southeast flavor.

Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn was a starting pitcher on Southeast's 1976 team that finished third in the NCAA Division II World Series and is among the squads enshrined in the university's athletic hall of fame. Hogan was also a member of that team.

Jorn, a native of O'Fallon, Ill., played two seasons for Southeast under legendary coach Joe Uhls after transferring from Belleville (Ill.) Area College. He still holds Southeast's career ERA record of 2.24.

Jorn was drafted by the Cardinals and wound up reaching the Class AAA level before finishing his playing career in 1981. He then got into coaching.

Jorn was the Arkansas pitching coach from 1983 to 1988 -- he helped the Razorbacks reach the CWS in 1985 and 1987 -- and then went on to become a minor league coach and scout for several professional organizations before beginning his second stint with the Razorbacks in 2002.

Since rejoining the Razorbacks, Jorn has been a part of CWS squads in 2004 and again this year after Arkansas swept a Super Regional from host Florida State over the weekend.

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The Tennessee-Martin basketball programs will have new coaches next season.

Men's coach Bret Campbell resigned last week after an internal audit found he violated school policies by cashing checks for summer basketball camps.

Athletic director Phil Dane said the program that Campbell led to its first OVC title and NIT tournament appearance this past season is in compliance with NCAA rules.

According to news reports, the university audit said Campbell cashed or deposited a total of $21,145 into his personal account, which should have been deposited into university accounts. The audit said he paid for the camp's expenses and officials in cash from the deposited checks.

Dane didn't take long in naming UTM assistant Jason James as Campbell's replacement.

Meanwhile, women's coach Tara Tansil-Gentry recently stepped down after the Skyhawks finished last in the OVC the past two years, including a winless conference record this past season.

UTM officials said Tansil-Gentry -- a former standout UTM player who was 41-104 in five years as the Skyhawks' coach -- will be reassigned to a teaching position within the university.

A search is being conducted for Tansil-Gentry's replacement.

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It doesn't receive nearly the attention as the NFL and NBA drafts, but one of my favorite such events will take place this week as Major League Baseball holds its 50-round draft Tuesday and Wednesday.

Locally, Southeast junior catcher Jim Klocke is thought to be the best draft prospect -- possibly as high as somewhere in the middle rounds -- while St. Louis high school pitcher Jacob Turner and University of Missouri pitcher Kyle Gibson are regarded as likely first-round selections.

The OVC's top pick almost certainly will be Jacksonville State junior pitcher Ben Tootle, whose stock has dropped some from his probable first-round status but still is likely to go in the top several rounds.

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Finally, big-time kudos are in order for the Notre Dame baseball and St. Vincent girls soccer teams for bringing home state titles.

Notre Dame capped a dominant, one-loss season by winning the Class 3 baseball championship.

St. Vincent earned the Class 1 girls soccer crown in the program's first trip to the final four, which is a remarkable accomplishment.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian