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Thursday, May 8 |
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High
school baseball
[MAY 8, 2003]
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At Mount Pulaski
Riverton
000 000 1 - 1-4-2
Mount Pulaski 000 002 x - 2-4-1
Knucky (L, 0-2), Muchow (6) and Deivert; Clements (w, 4-0), Blaum
(7, S) and McClellan.
Hitting stars - Mount Pulaski - Moore (2 hits).
Pitching star - Mount Pulaski - (10 strikeouts, 6 walks).
Records - Riverton 5-15, 0-6 in Tomahawk; Mount Pulaski 15-5, 5-2. |
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High
school softball
[MAY 8, 2003]
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At Clinton
Warrensburg 100 000 0 - 1-4-5
Clinton
000 200 x - 2-3-1
Holly Walden (L) and Askins; Kamren Ferguson (W, 20-2) and Heather
Polen.
Pitching star - Ferguson (2 walks, 14 strikeouts).
Records - Clinton 22-2 overall, 11-10 Okaw Valley Conference. |
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Former Memphis coach, thoroughbred
catcher McDonald selected baseball coach at Murray State
[MAY 8, 2003]
MURRAY
STATE UNIVERSITY announced today that Rob McDonald, a former
associate head coach at Memphis and Thoroughbreds player, will be
Murray State's seventh head baseball coach, effective next school
year.
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“It's
a dream come true,” said McDonald, 42. “I feel like I've prepared
myself since playing for Coach (Johnny) Reagan for this position.
During my senior year in college, I decided that I wanted to coach
college baseball. I consulted with Coach Reagan, and he gave me
advice for that. Over the years, I felt like, in the back of my
head, that Murray State is where I'd like to end up.
“I'm thrilled at this opportunity. I love the
university, I love the baseball program and I love the community. I
told people that, if I won the Publishers Clearing House, that we
would move to Murray, Ky. It's a great place to raise our family,
and this is just a great opportunity.”
McDonald served as the associate head coach at Memphis
from 1993 to 2000, directing the top offense in the nation in 1994,
which averaged 10.24 runs per nine innings. He also developed the
1997 National Defensive Player of the Year, Randy Meadows. The
Tigers won three Conference-USA championships during his tenure at
Memphis. As the associate head coach at UM, McDonald formulated and
introduced all instruction for the position players. Eleven of his
charges have advanced to play Major League Baseball.
He has
also been involved with marketing and fund-raising promotions at
Memphis.
McDonald also served as a graduate assistant coach at Mississippi
State from 1990 to '92, where his responsibilities included
instructing hitters, catchers, infielders and outfielders.
Prior to that, McDonald was the head coach at Lincoln (Ill.) College in his hometown, where he brought the team into national
prominence.
He has
also served as the head coach at Union County High School in
Morganfield, Ky.
Over the last year, he was the director of baseball for Opportunity
Through Baseball, based in Denver, Colo., where he implemented
baseball instruction for 50 athletes selected in conjunction with
Major League Baseball in six major market areas. McDonald selected,
hired and supervised the coaching staff from seven states.
[to top of second column in this article] |
Rob McDonald
McDonald is a nationally recognized baseball clinician,
having been a featured speaker at several presentations, including
the American Baseball Coaches Association National Convention, the
Texas High School Baseball Coaches State Convention, the Ontario
Baseball Association and the Bay Area's Best catching camp in San
Jose, Calif.
He has also published a “Catching Skills and Drills”
instructional video and “Collegiate Baseball's Outline for Coaching
Catchers.”
McDonald earned a bachelor of science degree from Murray State in
1984 and earned a master's degree in education from Mississippi
State in 1992.
While at Murray State, McDonald was a catcher on the
1982-84 Thoroughbreds squads, hitting .319 in his senior season.
“We had an intensely thorough search,” said MSU
director of athletics E.W. Dennison. “We had 101 people apply for
the job, and they came from every level of coaching — Division I,
junior colleges and high school coaches — and we feel that we have
the absolute best person for the job.
“Rob has done it all. He coached at the Division I
level, the junior college level and the high school level. He has
connections at each of those levels as well, which was another plus
for him. He is a quality coach, and for Murray State to be able to
hire someone with his credentials is fantastic.”
McDonald, 42, and his wife, the former Fawn Wells, a
1985 Murray State graduate, have three children: Amanda, 9; Grant,
7; and Rachel, 6.
[David
B. Snow,
associate sports information director,
Murray State University] |
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Lowery joins Illini
basketball staff
[MAY 8, 2003]
CHAMPAIGN
-- Illinois head coach Bruce Weber announced on Wednesday the hiring
of Chris Lowery as an assistant coach on the Fighting Illini
basketball staff. Lowery arrives at Illinois after serving as an
assistant under Weber at Southern Illinois the past two seasons.
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As an assistant coach, Lowery helped
the Salukis to a 52-15 (.776) record and two trips to the NCAA
Tournament, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2002 and
back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference championships.
As a four-year letter winner and
three-year starting guard at Southern Illinois, he helped lead the
team to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, in 1993 and '94,
after consecutive NIT berths in 1991 and '92. He was a second-team
all-Missouri Valley selection in 1992. Lowery scored 1,225 career
points and dished out 391 assists, ranking third in school history
on the career assists chart. SIU went 86-37 (.699) during his four
years.
Lowery began his coaching career as an
assistant coach at Rend Lake Community College in Ina for two
seasons. He then coached at Missouri Southern State College for
three years, helping the Lions to a 30-3 record and an NCAA Division
II Final Four appearance in 2000. Prior to his coaching tenure at
Southern Illinois, Lowery spent one season as an assistant at
Southeast Missouri State under Gary Garner.
"Chris worked very hard the past two
years as an assistant at Southern Illinois," Weber said. "He does a
great job with recruiting and has a good relationship with the
players. He has plenty of experience, having played four years at
SIU and then working his way up in the coaching profession the past
eight years. I'm thrilled to have Chris join the staff here at
Illinois."
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Lowery, 30, is a native of Evansville,
Ind. He graduated from Southern Illinois in 1996 with a bachelor's
degree in physical education. He and his wife, Erika, have three
children: Lexis, C.J. and Kahari.
The Chris
Lowery file
Born: July 7, 1972
Hometown: Evansville, Ind.
High school: Harrison,
Evansville, Ind.
College: Southern Illinois
University; bachelor's degree in physical education, 1996
Family: wife, Erika; daughter,
Lexis, 8; sons, C.J., 3, and Kahari, 1
Coaching experience:
1996-97, Rend Lake Community College,
assistant coach
1998-2000, Missouri Southern State
College, assistant coach
2001, Southeast Missouri State
University, assistant coach
2002-03, Southern Illinois University,
assistant coach
[Kent Brown, assistant
athletics director
and sports information director,
University of Illinois] |
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Articles from the past week |
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Wednesday:
Tuesday:
Monday:
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Mayfield's
Mutterings...:
How 'bout those Cardinals
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High school
baseball
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High school
softball
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High school
track and field
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Redbird baseball wins first game of doubleheader
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Double forfeit ruled in baseball brawl
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Redbird
baseball drops Sunday game to
Indiana State
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'An Evening With the Redbirds' moves to spring
date
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Saturday:
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High school
baseball
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High school
softball
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High school
track and field
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Lincoln College
softball
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Redbirds win first Friday Valley game, 8-5,
over Indiana State
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Lightning strike cancels WJBC webcasts
for weekend games
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Larson steps down as coach of Redbird
gymnastics
Friday:
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High school
softball
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High school
baseball
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Johnson inks new
deal
Thursday:
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High school
baseball
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Lincoln College softball vs. Lewis & Clark
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Guest speaker Dick Vitale inspires Redbird student-athletes and coaches
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Bruce
Weber named UI basketball coach
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How 'bout those Cardinals
By Jeff Mayfield
[MAY 5, 2003]
I
think they're up to something like seven in a row? With all the
injuries that they've had, can you believe it? They have really been
playing some good ball of late. Lots of people want to talk about
their hitting. Others want to talk about their defense. I think I
will start with what seems to be getting the job done: their
starting pitching.
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You knew going into
the thing that probably Matt Morris and Woody Williams were going to
shine. But did you count on much from Brett Tomko, Jason Simontacci
or even Garrett Stevenson? How 'bout the outing Simontacci delivered
in Busch Stadium Friday night to 41,000-plus delirious redbird
backers sporting their FREE new T-shirts? He completely dominated
Montreal almost from start to finish. And to get an outing from him
like that now, when the Cards' bullpen is completely dismantled,
couldn't be bigger. Then follow that up with a huge performance by
Stevenson and then another rock steady show by Morris, and the Birds
are covering up a multitude of deficiencies.
How can I say that?
Look at what the pen has provided over the last couple of weeks… or
should I say, what they HAVEN'T provided? Two or three times over
that span they have blown huge leads in the ninth! Great or even
good teams canNOT survive on a steady diet of that. I guess you
could say that the good news is that somehow St. Louis has weathered
most of those storms. But as the old adage goes, where there's smoke
there is fire; and our hurlers have spent more time tossing gas on
the flames than getting the fires out! Hopefully, as injuries begin
to heal up, so will the bullpen's woes. If not, the Birds may just
tease their fans along all year.
You do have to be
happy with the everyday lineup, as I really wasn't trying to
downplay it all that much. Fernando Vina has been on a holy tear
since shaving off his Fu Manchu! He's even hit his first two homers
in something like his last thousand at-bats. He's also made a few
spectacular plays in the field. Tino Martinez has delivered a few
times as well, after a woeful start last season. Scott Rolen
continues to show why he was one of the best pickups in baseball
over the last few years, and he plays a very stingy third base as
well. And what can you say about Edgar Renteria? He may be the
Cards' MVP over the long haul, when you consider how consistent he
has been with both the bat and glove; he is nothing short of
amazing.
As you roam the
Cardinals' outfield you are not stunned by the names save one:
Albert Pujols. Pujols is simply and easily one of the five best
players in the game right now. And to think just a couple of hundred
games ago he was playing Class A baseball. Is baseball a funny game
or what? Who knows what will happen with J.D. Drew? Labeled as a
can't-miss superstar, injuries have slowed him almost continually.
Now he is making solid contact but hitting the ball right at people.
He can't seem to buy a break. Don't know if the Cards will wait him
out to see what he can do when and if he ever gets healthy, or if
they will continue to shop him and maybe continue to shore up the
pitching corps. You'd have to say that Eduardo Perez, Eli Marrero
and Orlando Palmiero have done an excellent job for St. Louis.
Without that trio and some of the work by Kerry Robinson, the Birds
could have been in a hole by now that they may never have been able
to climb out of.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
 Despite their stellar
play so far, one concern remains. This is NOT the speediest outfield
that you will ever lay eyes on! From a defensive standpoint this
concerns me greatly, when you consider how much long relief and
stoppers have struggled up to this point in the proceedings.Mike
Matheny continues to cover a multitude of sins for the Cardinals.
Obviously one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball,
he's gotten some big hits along the way too. And the way he works
with pitchers has really helped guide St. Louis to a share of first
place as of today. That is a huge factor in the Cards' meteoric rise
over the last two weeks. It is also a critical component of how far
they can go and whether they can withstand the rash of injuries that
have beset them in the early going.
It is still way too
early to predict how these redbirds will fare. Though Card fans
throughout the region are hoping for a return to the glory of the
1982 season!
Cardinal fastballs
--Former pitching great
Danny Cox will be managing in the independent league.
--Another former
redbird hurler, Ricky Horton is now serving as the director of the
St. Louis area Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
--The secret weapon,
Jose Oquendo, is getting so aggressive as the Birds' third base
coach, he's beginning to remind longtime fans of Hal Lanier.
Remember the awesome job Lanier used to do for the Cards?
--The Cards outscored
the Expos and the Mets 48-16 during the homestand.
--The last time the
redbirds swept a homestand of six or more games was Aug. 13-19,
2001, when they swept Cincinnati and Philadelphia for seven games.
--The last time they
swept Montreal was Sept. 28-30, 1992.
--St. Louis will play
only NL Central opponents for the next month.
--The Cardinals will get their first look
at the Reds' new
Great American Ball Park starting tonight in Cincinnati.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
Editorial note: The LDN sports staff plans to
bring you some other baseball updates on the Chicago Cubs, White Sox
and others over the next few months…
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