The 2011 NAIA Coaches' pre-season top 25:

First place votes: Cumberland 16, Cal Baptist 2, Lee 1, Lewis-Clark State 1

This poll represents an annual mistake by the NAIA; they take this poll much too early. With many of the top NAIA teams heavily dependent on transfers, is isn't reasonable to expect accurate predictions when the coaches don't know who they are going to have in school for the spring semester. However, this poll is out there, and is open for comments.

The 2011 NAIA Baseball Preseason All-America team, as selected by the NAIA All-America Selection Committee:

Cal Baptist has three players on the list.

Two players for the San Francisco Giants had stellar careers at NAIA schools.

Giants starting LHP Jonathan Sánchez was drafted out of Ohio Dominican (now in Division II) in 2004. His major league career started with the Giants in 2006. He started 33 games in 2010, has a record of 13-9, 3.07 ERA, 205 strikeouts. He has had three post-season starts so far, with a loss and two no-decisions.

He played four seasons, 2001-2004, at Ohio Dominican. He pitched four no-hitters for the Panthers, and holds several school records, including most strikeouts in a game (16), career strikeouts (311), and career shutouts (10). He made three trips with the Panthers to the NAIA Baseball National Championship. He took a loss in the 2002 tournament. In 2003, he got a win against Olivet Nazarene, went 8 1/3 innings, allowed two earned runs, struck out nine.

Freddy Sánchez is the starting 2B for the Giants. He was drafted in 2000 out of Oklahoma City by the Red Sox, played for the Red Sox in 2002 and 2003, the Pirates 2004 through part of 2009, and the Giants 2009-present. He batted .292 in 2010, including 22 doubles, and is batting .268 so far in the post-season. He won the NL batting championship in 2006, with a .344 average.

Sanchez was an NAIA All-American at shortstop for the Stars in 2000; he hit .434 that year. He was the first player coached by Denny Crabaugh to make it to the Major Leagues. OCU Assistant Coach Keith Lytle taught him how to hit to the opposite field.

Strike IX, by Paul Lonardo, InfinityPublishing.com, 2009

This book tells the story of the Providence Friars' final season of baseball in 1999; the program was discontinued primarily because of Title IX.

If you have some sort of connection to Providence College, your reaction to this book will probably be, “this would have been a really great book if the words 'historic season' appeared just one more time.” (The author, Paul Lonardo, went to U. Of Rhode Island.)

During this final season, the Friars had a regular-season record of 43-13, and had a 15-game winning streak. They won the Big East tournament, and made it to the final of the NCAA regional tournament. Five players from this team were drafted. One of them, RF Keith Reed, made it to the major leagues with the Orioles. Three others, SS Jaime Athas, C Dan Conway, and 1B Mike O'Keefe, made it as high as AAA.

Duane Monlux, Head Coach at Dickinson State for the past nine season, is the new Head Coach at Bellevue.

Monlux had a record of 232-167-2 at Dickinson State, and the Blue Hawks won three regular season and three tournament championships in the Dakota Athletic Conference. They finished 30-19 in 2010.

Monlux earned a BS at Dickinson State, and played football, baseball, and basketball there. He was a two-time All-American in football; in 1995, he led the nation in kickoff return average (33.7 yards per return). He ranks second in Dickinson State football history for touchdowns scored in a career (43) and points scored in a career (262). After graduation, he played indoor football for four seasons. He was also an assistant football coach at Dickinson State.

Here is how the NAIA players taken in the 2010 MLB draft did this summer.

Joseph Staley - C, Lubbock Christian, 8^th round, Giants - Played 33 games for the AZL Giants, batted .250, five home runs, 25 RBI. He will be spending the Fall in the Instructional League in Scottsdale, AZ.

Kawicka Emsley-Pai - C, Lewis-Clark State, 10^th round, Diamondbacks - Played 42 games with the Yakima Bears of the short-season Class A Northwest League, batted .167.

Tyler Knigge - RHP, Lewis-Clark State, 12^th round, Phillies - Pitched 30 1/3 innings for the GCL Phillies (ten appearances, four starts), had a record of 0-3, 5.04 ERA, 27 strikeouts. One of his teammates with the Phillies was Pat Murray (1B, Lewis-Clark State, 34^th round, Phillies). Murray played 52 games, batted .313, with two home runs, 26 RBI.

The NAIA is following the NCAA's lead in requiring that only bats conforming to the "Coefficient of Restitution” standard will be legal for use, starting with the 2011 season.

Coefficient of Restitution bats are less lively than existing aluminum bats, and are intended to produce the same batted-ball speed as a wooden bat.

Now, what does this mean?

First, any aluminum bats you now have in your closet are illegal. You may as well ship them off to a baseball-playing Third World country such as Cuba, Nicaragua, or Guatemala.

Cumberland University, in Lebanon, TN, won the 54th NAIA National Championship.

Results from day five of the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID:

Cumberland 13, Point Loma Nazarene 7
Lee 10, Embry-Riddle 7
Cumberland 4, Lee 3

Cumberland 13, Point Loma Nazarene 7 (Point Loma Nazarene eliminated)

The Bulldogs hit four home runs, including a grand slam by 3B Matt Greener, to move to the championship game of this tournament.

The Bulldogs will play Lee for the championship.

Greener and RF Kris Miller entered this game with 26 home runs apiece, tied with Richard Bohlken of Lubbock Christian for the NAIA lead. Greener and Miller are now tied for the lead with 27 home runs.

Results from day three of the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID:

Embry-Riddle 8, Belhaven 4
Point Loma Nazarene 7, Cal Baptist 6
Cumberland 8, Oklahoma City 1
Lee 8, Lewis-Clark State 0

Embry-Riddle 8, Belhaven 4 (Belhaven eliminated)

The Blazers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when CF Jimmy Gilford hit an RBI triple, then scored on a ground out. They chased Embry-Riddle ace Jonathan Kountis in the third inning when 2B Lake Eiland scored on a passed ball, and DH Brandon Benton hit an RBI single. The game was tied 4-4 at that point. Kountis was replaced by Cory Bevis, and the Blazers got only two hits the rest of the way. Bevis went 6 1/3 innings, held the Blazers scoreless, struck out five, and walked only one. The Blazers didn’t have a baserunner beyond second base.

Nathan Blackwood is going into his seventh season as Head Coach of the defending NAIA Champion Lubbock Christian Chaparrals. His career record is 281-89. He played for the Chaparrals as an undergraduate, and also coached at Harding University.

Bob Broughton, The College Baseball Blog: The defending NAIA champion is someone other than Lewis-Clark State this year. Has this idea caught on in Lubbock yet?

Nathan Blackwood, Lubbock Christian: I think so. The Lubbock community has always been extremely supportive of LCU Baseball and has really done a good job of welcoming and recognizing these student athletes. This is a baseball town and has been for a long time. The people here can really appreciate an accomplishment like this.

CBB: You sent three players to pro ball this year, Rene Garcia (White Sox), Will Stramp (Reds), and Jakob Cunningham (independent league Shreveport-Bossier Captains). How are they doing?

NB: All three are doing really well. Will and Rene got off to slow starts, but came around better towards the end. Jakob started and finished well and was selected to the league all-star game. He is currently back in Lubbock finishing up his degree, but will return towards the end of next spring.