General

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.