But with age, a family, and other things that happen in life comes, hopefully, some perspective. Yeah, it sucks they lost, but so what? Doesn’t change my life, really. The sun’s out, the PNG Jr. is just about to start spring break, he’s got baseball and soccer practice, our family still has a job and our health, etc.

And the Beavers have a big baseball series with Maine coming up, starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday, with nary a rain delay in sight.

So somehow, we’ll persevere.

We had some leftover notes from Thursday’s story on OSU center fielder Adalberto Santos, so they’ve become the lead item in our weekly OSU baseball notebook, which will be online later tonight and in Friday’s print editions.

Here’s a preview:

Adalberto Santos isn’t known as a power hitter. The two-run homer Oregon State’s senior center fielder slugged in a 6-5 victory over Portland last Saturday was his only his fifth in 66 games since joining the program for the 2009 season.

However, it was another indication that Santos, who hit .320 last season, is finding his way out of an early-season funk that lowered his average to .189 entering last weekend’s OSU Spring Tournament at Goss Stadium.
“It is a big confidence builder,” said Santos, who takes a .250 average and a four-game hitting streak into this weekend’s series against the Maine Black Bears at Goss Stadium. “I forgot what it felt like to hit a ball hard.

“It feels good to hit some balls hard, whether they leave the yard or not, to feel, ‘OK, you’re getting back.’ You just have to relax, and play your part,” instead of trying to carry a struggling offense by yourself, as he tried to do early in the season.

Santos has been drafted twice, in the 17th round by Toronto in 2007 and in the 35th round by San Diego after the 2009 season. Assistant coach Pat Bailey said shifting Santos from the infield to center field for his senior year should ensure he’ll be selected again this June.

“Professionally speaking we had to find a position for him,” Bailey said.

Santos said his versatility makes him a more attractive prospect, and that he’ll play wherever asked by whoever drafts him.

“If they want me to go back to the infield, that’s fine, I’ll work at that again,” he said. “If they want me in center, that’s fine too. Wherever the opportunity comes, I’m just glad I know more than one position so I can play anywhere.

“It’s fun to try to learn a lot of new things and try to be good at them, and get those things under your belt so you’re  more versatile.”

In the later part of the notebook, we reference a story on the Black Bear’s guarantee for this series, as reported in a story in the Bangor Daily News. Here’s the story.

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Here’s the story from my hometown newspaper, The Buffalo News, on ex-Beavers DL Dwan Edwards, one of the classier guys we dealt with in our years on the football beat, signing with the Buffalo Bills.

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Former OSU golfer Tim Mickelson (yes, his older brother is you-know-who) is building a strong program at the University of San Diego, according to this GolfWeek story.

That’s all for now.

We’re at OSU baseball tomorrow, with inning-by-inning updates at twitter.com/EAFlash

We’re eager to find out if Maine catcher Myckie Lugbauer, a 2006 graduate of Mahopac (N.Y.) High School, knows my nephew Travis Hatch, a 2007 Mahopac graduate, and another former MHS athlete (soccer).

Small world.

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Related posts:

1. Brooks Hatch: Sunday at Goss Stadium
2. Brooks Hatch: Wednesday update
3. Brooks Hatch: Tuesday update

Adalberto Santos is used to adjusting to new surroundings.

The Oregon State senior baseball star grew up in the Bronx, and began his college baseball career at New Mexico Junior College in remote Hobbs, New Mexico.

Talk about culture shock. But it didn’t effect his performance, as he hit .520 as a sophomore, and earned JC All-American honors.

Two years later he moved on to OSU and Corvallis, a larger, more cosmopolitan community than Hobbs, but still not quite the Big Apple.

No matter. Santos hit .320 and was an honorable-mention Pacific-10 Conference all-star despite a lingering shoulder injury that kept him out of the lineup for several games and hindered his swing for much longer.

Santos’s zip code didn’t change in this offseason, but he’s still is acclimating himself to a new environment. A lifelong infielder, Santos is now starting in center field for the 18th-ranked Beavers, who play host to Maine (7-8) in a four-game series this weekend, starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

“In the beginning, it was hard,” Santos said before Wednesday’s practice at a sunny Goss Stadium, where most of the team — some were missing because of exams — went through the penultimate workout before the Maine series. “But I’ve been working really hard, I’ve gained more confidence as the games rolling.

“As we play more games, I’m feeling more comfortable out there. At first it was difficult, but I’ve worked hard it so right now I’m confident at it and it’s been a good change.”

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Former Beavers pitcher Jonah Nickerson, the MVP of the 2006 College World Series, has retired from professional baseball after three seasons in the Tigers’ organization, according to TigsTown.com.

Nickerson was 8-12, 5.33 for double-A Erie in the Eastern League in 2009. He was a 2005 and 2006 Pac-10 all-star, a member of the 2005 Team USA, a second-team USA Today/Sports Weekly 2006 second-team All-American, and he ranks seventh all-time on OSU’s career win list with 26, eighth in innings pitched (292.2/3)  and is first in strikeouts (299).

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Brief mention of ex-Beavers shortstop Darwin Barney in this ESPN.com Cubs blog. Thanks to Friend O’ the Blog Kristy Butler for that one.

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The defending champion Wenatchee AppleSox of the West Coast League have signed OSU outfielder Andy Quiring and pitcher Stuart Fewel for the 2010 season, according to The Wenatchee World newspaper. Here’s the link.

Wenatchee, which defeated the Corvallis Knights 2-0 in last summer’s WCL Championship Series, visit Corvallis on June 29-30 and July 1 this season.

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OSU men’s soccer signee Josh von Allworden of Corona del Sol High in Tempe has been named the  Southeast Valley boys soccer Player of the Year by the Arizona Republic newspaper. Here’s the link.

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OSU freshman volleyball player Kelsey Zimmerman of Bend was named to the 2010 Sports Imports/Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 to Watch in the March/April edition of Volleyball Magazine.

Zimmerman, a 6-1 outside hitter from Summit High School, becomes the first Oregon State player to be named to this list. She joins 13 other players who have committed to Pac-10 schools.

She graduated from Summit High after the first semester of the 2009-10 academic year and then enrolled at OSU for winter term. She was a first-team all-state and first-team all-state tournament player, and the Intermountain Conference co-Player of the Year in 2009

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The OSU softball team has received an oral commitment from pitcher Aryn Feickert of Highland High of Palmdale, Calif., if I read this story from the Santa Clarita Valley Signal newspaper correctly.

And 2011 commit Dani Gilmore of El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills, Calif., hit four homers in a game the other day, according to The Los Angeles Daily News.

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And finally, for you fans of OSU basketball and Paul Simon, enjoy this!

That’s enough for now.

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Related posts:

1. Brooks Hatch: Wednesday baseball bonanza
2. Monday update 8/18
3. Brooks Hatch: Wednesday stuff

But we have a few items to update:

* Baseball practice is hit-and-miss this week because of winter term finals. We hope to have a story on Adalberto Santos’ transition to center field sometime this week as a preview for the Maine series.

As we said yesterday, the pitching rotation isn’t set until midweek. We’ll speculate that Tyler Waldron, Greg Peavey, Tanner Robles and Matt Boyd will be the starters against trhe Black Bears, in a to-be-determined order.

Nothing  official but the feeling we get is that Sam Gaviglio might be another week or so away from starting.

* This weekend’s games with Maine start at 5:30 p.m. Friday, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, and at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Some promotional info, from OSU’s Sports Information Department: At Saturday’s game. members of the GenBeavs can get outfield seating for free and their parents can purchase outfield tickets (seats located beyond the right field fence) for $10 apiece.

On Sunday, fans can get autographs from the team’s freshmen.

* Some baseball alumni news: The Mets assigned pitcher Eddie Kunz (2005-07) to triple-A Buffalo and the Padres assigned catcher Mitch Canham (2004-07) to their minor-league camp.

As we reported several weeks ago, he’s beeing groomed as a utility player and thus has been playing some third and first in camp.

Canham could be placed at triple-A Portland for what probably will be the last season of PCL baseball in our state for many years, if not forever, since Portland can’t find a way to build a stadium to replace the once sold out from under the Beavers for the MLS Portland Timbers.

Mike Tokito of the Oregonian found this item on shortstop Darwin Barney (2005-07) and you can read Mike’s entire OSU-related blog here. It’s good stuff.

Back to work on Wednesday.

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Related posts:

1. Tuesday 4/7 updated 6:15 p.m.
2. Brooks Hatch: Mitch Canham’s at practice
3. Tuesday update 6:07 p.m.

* Lefty starter Tanner Robles pitched an outstanding game but he was one base hit away from being yanked in the fourth, when an error and a single put Pilots at the corner with no outs and the Beavers already losing 2-0.

“He just kept leaving the ball up,” OSU coach Pat Casey said of Robles. “The ump (Mik Hendrickson) had a good zone, he was calling the ball down, and Tanner kept leaving the ball up,” where it’s far more hittable.

“We had Rhoderick, Sitton, Boyd or Nygren ready to go …  He’s mature enough now that we expect him to throw the ball where we want it. I told Tanner, ‘You’re better than that.’ I put some pressure on him, he responded and did much better.”

The Beavers retired the runner at third on a rundown when batter Nick Armenta missed on a safety squeeze. Armenta then struck out, as did Craig Smith, to end the inning with the score still 2-0. OSU then scored six times in the bottom half.

“It was a huge inning,” Casey said. “I think (Robles) got a little confidence from it. We had plenty of pitching in the bullpen. We’ve experienced this before and we’re not going to go down that road again.

“He’s a junior, he needs to com eout and be sharp and be ready to go,” and not give up two runs in the first inning. “There are teams (OSU will play) that you’re not going to be able to afford to give up early runs. There’s no room for not being prepared when you come out for the game.

“Go run a marathon or whatever you have to do to get loose, I don’t know, but you better come out sharp because we’ve got a pretty good bullpen.”

Robles tried to stay in the game after being hit in the left snkle/shin by a hard-hit ball with two outs in the seventh, but by that time Casey had seen enough and Kraig Sitton finished up.

“I’m glad I took him out,” Casey said. “He wanted to stay and I like that, but he was at 92 pitches. That was plenty, and Sitton needed to pitch.”

* Sophomore pitcher/utility Ryan Gorton made his first appearance as a position player in his career and was 1-for-3, with a two-run double that gave OSU a 5-2 lead. Gorton’s other plate appearance this season was a bases-loaded walk so he has three RBIs in three at-bats.

“We have to get more consistency through the lineup because we know we have some guys that offense isn’t their part of the game,” Casey said. “There’s only about one guy in your lineup who can be a guy who doesn’t hit, and we can’t afford to have three of them.

“We’re trying to find the right mix.”

* Stefen Romero’s double to the right-center gap in the fifth was OSU’s first hit, and it set off an avalanche. The Beavers got five more hits in the inning and scored six times.

“He gave us a big lift,” Casey said of Romero. “We talked before the game and I said, ‘I think you’re putting way too much pressure yourself. You’re trying to get big, trying to hit the ball out of the park to get us going. Just have good quality at-bats and let it happen.’ ”

* Freshman Danny Hayes got his first career hit, an opposite-field double on an 0-2 pitch that ignited a three-run rally in the seventh inning.

“We’ve been trying to get him some at-bats because we think he’s going to be an offensive weapon,” Casey said of Hayes, a 6-4, 190-pound corner infielder who was a teammate of catcher Andrew Susac at Jesuit High in Sacramento.

Hayes had knee surgery in the fall and was just recently cleared to play. He also had a key walk as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning against Utah on Saturday and scored the tying run in the dramatic 5-4 victory.

“It’s hard for him to get on the field and run and do some things,” Casey said, because he’s still rounding into shape. “But it was a good lift for us.”

* Robles hadn’t allowed a run in 16 2/3 innings in March in his OSU career before allowing two in the first inning. He has now allowed two earned runs in 23 1/3 innings and his career March ERA went from 0.00 to 0.77. It was his seventh lifetime victory; two have been against the Pilots.

* Sunday’s attendance was 1,762. The Beavers have drawn 11,023 for their six home games, an average of 1,837.

* The Beavers open a four-game series with Maine at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The teams play a Saturday doubleheader, starting at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., and a 1 p.m. Sunday finale.

Maine is 7-8 after losing to Georgetown on Saturday in a tournament at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. The Black Bears have played nine of their 15 games in Florida; their home opener is March 26 against Lehigh.

Tickets are still available at osubeavers.com, by calling 1-800-GOBEAVS, or from 9-5 weekdays at the OSU ticket office at Gill Coliseum.

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Related posts:

1. Brooks Hatch: OSU-Tennessee Sunday update
2. Brooks Hatch: Sunday at Goss Stadium
3. Brooks Hatch: OSU baseball Tuesday

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2:35 p.m. update

Warm (for spring), slightly overcast day at the ballpark. Beavers in their Sunday creme uniforms with black hats; Portland in road gray with purple hats.

Might see that purple again on Tuesday; rumors are UP-OSU at Gill in the first round of the CBI men’s basketball tournament. But then again, those are just rumors.

They should know for sure later tonight.

Today’s starters are junior lefties Scott Burris (0-0, 6.00) for UP and Tanner Robles (2-1, 2.16) for the Beavers. Robles has pitched 16 2/3 career innings in March and hasn’t given up a run. He pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings against Utah Valley last Sunday in his most recent start.

Here’s OSU’s lineup: Folsom, LF; Gorton, RF; Santos, CF; Romero, 1B; Berberet, DH; Bell, 3B; Susac, C; Smith, 2B; Jennette, SS.

Utah defeated Portland 6-1 in Sunday’s first game to finish the tournament 1-2. Rick Anton pitched a 2-hitter over 8 innings for the Utes and Brock Duke finished up. 

Beavers return to action with a four-game series against the Maine Black Bears next Friday, Saturday (2) and Sunday at Goss Stadium.

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1. Brooks Hatch: Saturday update from Goss Stadium
2. Beavers defeat California 8-4 at Goss Stadium
3. Pro Scout Day at Goss Stadium updated 10 p.m.

The Beavers hit into two double plays, had another runner picked off and could not score Stefen Romero from third with no outs after his triple drove in Adalberto Santos with the first run of the game in the fourth.

* In the first, Santos popped up a bunt with runners on first and second and no outs. Romero then flew out to center and Rob Folsom was easily thrown out at third trying to advance.

* In the second, Travis Anderson singled and then was doubled off after third base umpire Tim Vessey ruled Utah left fielder Zach Jones caught Parker Berberet’s liner over his head after it had bounced off his glove on the warning track.

The instant replay clearly showed that the ball hit Jones’ glove, then bounced off the fence before being caught, and should have been a hit and an RBI. Instead it was incorrectly called a catch, and that led to an easy double play.

*  In the fifth, Tyler Smith walked but then was picked off.

So, instead of a 3-0 or 4-0 lead, the Beavers had just one run to show for it.

“We need to take advantage of stuff we did early,” OSU assistant coach Marty Lees said. “We got people on base in the first coupe innings,” but didn’t capitalize.

‘If we just execute what is given to us, we don’t put ourselves in those situations,” where a they need a late-inning rally to prevail. “The way we came out in the last inning, that’s the energy we need to play with one through nine, not just nine.

“There’s no reason to wait around, Let’s play hard the whole time, instead of waiting.”

Portland won the opener 4-1 over Utah. Zach Varce pitched a 5-hitter over 8 and Chris Dennis got the save. Craig Smith and C.J. Cullen had two hits each for the Pilots (10-2); Devin Walker had two hit for the Utes (6-6).

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Related posts:

1. Brooks Hatch: Sunday at Goss Stadium
2. Beavers defeat California 8-4 at Goss Stadium
3. Pro Scout Day at Goss Stadium updated 10 p.m.

The Beavers have played (or tried to play) at home two weekends this season. So of course it was terrible on the Friday of the first weekend for the opener against Tennessee, and again on the Friday of the second weekend series, for today’s game against Utah, which was canceled.

Gotta love an Oregon spring (yes, I know it’s still winter technically).

Here are some updates:

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The Oregon State baseball team’s Friday night game with Utah at the OSU Spring Tournament was canceled by inclement weather and will not be rescheduled.

The Friday afternoon game between Utah and Portland was rescheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The rest of the tournament will be played as scheduled, weather permitting. OSU plays Utah at 2 p.m. and plays Portland at 6 p.m. Saturday. Sunday’s games match Utah and Portland at 11 a.m. and OSU and Portland at 3 p.m.

Tickets from Friday night’s canceled game will be good should OSU schedules another game at Goss Stadium this season. For any further questions, contact the OSU ticket office at 1-800-GOBEAVS from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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Speaking of Utah/MWC baseball, here’s a good blog on that subject by reporter John Coon of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

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OSU baseball coach Pat Casey and shortstop Darwin Barney (2005-07) have been nominated for the College World Series Legends Team, which will commemorate the event’s final season at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omama.

Casey is one of eight coaches nominated. He coached OSU to two CWS championships, and his .733 winning percentage in his 15 games (111-4) in Omaha is the third-highest amongst coaches who have appeared in 10 or more games.

Barney is one of 10 shortstops to be nominated. His 52 assists ranks second. He was selected to the 2007 All-CWS team after batting .350 with a double, home run and five RBI while posting a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Barney started all 15 games and hit .298 (17-for-57) with two doubles, a home run and eight RBIs in his three CWS appearances, and has a .963 fielding percentage.

Each person selected to the team will be invited to the 2010 College World Series and will be honored during the June 18 opening ceremonies.  Fans can vote for the all-time players at each position; results will be combined with votes from representatives from the National Baseball Writers Association and all NCAA Division I head baseball coaches.

To vote, go here.  Voting ends April 16.

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The Oregon State men’s soccer team has signed seven players to letters of intent for the 2010 season.

They are Jonathan Chavez-Salceda of Leland High in San Jose; midfielder/defender Austin Crook of Bend High in Bend; forward/midfielder Brandon Hansen of Mountain Point High in Phoenix, Ariz.; goalkeeper Clint Long of Arcata High in Vancouver, Wash.; midfielder/defender Miguel Murillo of St. Mary’s High in Stockton, Calif.;  midfielder/defender Chase Raskowsky of Marin Catholic in Kentfield, Calif., and defender Josh von Allworden of Corona Del Sol High in Mesa, Ariz..

For complete bios and coach Steve Simmons’ comments on the class, go here.

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Tough day for some college basketball coaches with area ties.

Boise State fired head coach Greg Graham; ex-Beavers player/coach Andy McClouskey, a true Friend O’ the Blog from way back, was on his staff.

And ex-Beavers assistant coach Brian Loyd was coaching at Toledo, where coach Gene Cross resigned.

There is some good news, though. Ex-Beavers player Joe Harge and his New Mexico Highlands team is in the NCAA Division II tournament. The Cowboys are playing at a regional in beautiful Mankato, Minn., this weekend and face Augustana College of South Dakota at 10 on Saturday morning.

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Ex-Beavers baseball star/2006 Pac-10 Player of the Year Cole Gillespie signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

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Former OSU women’s basketball player Judie Lomax (2007), now at Columbia, was named the Ivy League Player of the Year on Thursday.

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1. Brooks Hatch: Friday soccer update
2. Friday, Friday, Friday is my favorite day
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In the meantime, here’s a preview of a feature on new shortstop Keith Jennette that appears online tonight and in Thursday’s paper.

As long as there are more ‘E’s’ in Keith Jennette’s name than there are in his glove, he’ll continue to play a key role on the Oregon State baseball team.

The junior transfer from Sierra (Calif.) Junior College has been a surprise revelation at shortstop for the No. 21 Beavers (7-3), who begin a 12-game homestand at 6 p.m. Friday against Utah at the OSU Spring Tournament at Goss Stadium.

The Beavers play Utah (6-5) at 6 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and face Portland (9-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday on a busy weekend at Goss. The Utes and Pilots meet at 2 p.m. Friday and at 11 a.m. Sunday.

The 5-foot-7, 170-pounder from Del Campo High in Fair Oaks, Calif., hasn’t hit much yet — .182 with no homers and five RBIs in 22 at-bats.

But his defense has been absolutely sterling since he cracked the starting lineup seven games ago and his glovework was instrumental in shutout victories over Hawaii on Feb. 22 and over Tennessee on Feb. 28.

“He’s done everything that anyone has asked of him,” said assistant coach Marty Lees, who coaches the infielders. “He makes the routine plays, and plays that aren’t so routine,” and impact games.

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Speaking of OSU baseball, 2010-11 signees Drew Vettleson, Adam Duke and Tom Zarosinski were named to the 2010 Louisville Slugger Pre-Season High School All-American team. Vettleson, who pitches and plays outfield, was named as a multi-position player; Duke and Zarosinski are pitchers.

Vettleson was selected to Baseball America’s preseason All-America second team. Vettleson is ranked as the 19th-best high school player in the country by Baseball America; Duke is rated 87th.

Vettleson plays for Central Kitsap High in Silverdale, Wash. Duke plays at Spanish Fork High in Spanish Fork, Utah, and Zarosinski plays for Lake Oswego High.

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Crescent Valley graduate/former Oregon State golfer Brandon Taylor is making waves at Cal State Stanislaus. He won the Cal State East Bay Pioneer Shoot out on Tuesday; here are the details.

His father, Dana Taylor, is the men’s soccer coach at CSUS. He formerly coached at OSU.

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And finally, Eric Marchildon will be the OSU volleyball team’s volunteer assistant coach this season, coach Terry Liskevych announced Wednesday.

Marchildon has coached club volleyball in Canada since 1999. He was an assistant coach at the 2009 Saskatchewan Volleyball Association 20U Women Canada Games and worked with many athletes who have been identified by the Canadian National Youth team, or gone on to play college volleyball.

Current volunteer assistant Nestor Iparraguirre will stay on staff as a special consultant.

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Related posts:

1. Brooks Hatch: Wednesday update
2. Brooks Hatch: Sunday at Goss Stadium
3. Brooks Hatch: Wednesday update

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First, heartfelt best wishes to the quick recovery of Friend O’ the Blog and former OSU standout offensive lineman (1962-64) and assistant football coach  Rich Koeper. He suffered a heart attack at his Corvallis home on Monday and is at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

Get better, big guy.

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Was over at a windy and cold Goss Stadium before today’s practice,  conducting some interviews for an upcoming Thursday story on new shortstop Keith Jennette. Hopefully it won’t be that cold or that breezy for this weekend’s OSU Spring Tournament with Portland and Utah, which starts Friday.

Here’s an early forecast; take it for what it’s worth, which is generally nothing. Oregon weathermen make Pac-10 football officials look good by comparison.

Anyhow, Jennette – a transfer from Sierra, Calif.,  College and one of 14 new faces on the club this season – said it took some time for the Beavers to gel, but they have and have transformed themselves into a fairly close team.

“In the fall it kind of felt like (the team) was separated a little bit, but that’s normal because you have new guys coming in,” he said. “Since we started spring practices, it’s been great.

“Everyone has accepted everybody, everyone gets along and hangs out and we have fun together on the road.”

And he acknowledged that new players get accepted faster when they make plays, as Jennette has.

“Coming into the dugout you get a lot more high-fives,” he confirmed.

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The Beavers are ranked 12th in this week’s Collegiate Baseball poll, down one spot from last week, and are 21st in Baseball America’s rankings, up one spot from last week.

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The Beavers announced Tuesday that their Sunday baseball game with Portland at Goss Stadium in the OSU Spring Tournament has been moved to 3 p.m.

Sunday’s first game, between Utah and Portland, has been moved to 11 a.m. to help the Utes maintain their travel schedule. Should that game last longer than three hours, the OSU-Portland game will start approximately 45 minutes after the completion of the Utah-Portland game.

Friday and Saturday’s schedules are unchanged. On Friday, Utah and Portland play at 2 p.m. and OSU and Utah play at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Beavers play Utah at 2 p.m. and Portland at 6 p.m.

Admission for the Utah-Portland games is free. Fans must have tickets for any OSU games. Those who attend the Portland-Utah games may stay in the stadium after that game’s completion, but should have their tickets ready to be checked between games.

Also, separate tickets will be needed for Saturday’s doubleheader. For fans who have tickets to both, a wristband will be issued at the gate at Goss Stadium. Only wristbands need to be presented when tickets are checked in between games.

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There’s also been one late baseball roster move that wasn’t officially announced until this past weekend.

Freshman pitcher Stuart Fewel of Wilson has replaced junior outfielder Chris Viegas, who apparently was injured just before the start of the season.

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Speaking of OSU baseball, former Beavers’ CF Jacoby Ellsbury signed a one-year deal with Boston on Monday for $447,000.

Now that’s a nice chunk of change, but he’ll really hit the jackpot next year, when he becomes eligible for arbitration, and probably sign for somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 times that amount.

Nice work if you can find it.

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Righthanded pitcher Nick Hoover of UC Irvine will return for his second season with the Corvallis Knights of the West Coast League, coach Brooke Knight announced. Hoover was 0-1, 4.00 in 18 innings over eight appearances for the Knights in 2009.

Hoover is 0-0, 3.38 in 2 2/3 innings spread over four apearances with the Anteaters this spring. He is a 6-foot-1, 204-pound redshirt sophomore from Alta Loma, Calif., who transfered from UCI from Riverside Community College.

The Knights open their fourth season in Corvallis on June 4 at Kitsap. Their home opener is June 15 against Bend.

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Former OSU athletic department administrator Kevin Anderson, now the AD at Army, gets a mention in this Arizona Daily Star story about the AD search at Arizona.

And speaking of West Point, we just finished re-reading noted author Rick Atkinson’s outstanding book about the USMA’s Class of 1966, The Long Gray Line. It’s a great read, and one we highly recommend.

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And here’s a story from the North County (Calif.) Times on former OSU softball standout Mia Longfellow, who is now coaching at San Diego State.

The current Beavers, BTW, open their home season at 1 p.m. Friday against Boise State and at 3 p.m. Friday against North Dakota at the OSU Softball complex.

They also play the Fighting Sioux – how much longer will we be able to say that nickname? – at 10 a.m. Saturday. There are actually more Oregonians  (Cami Bennett and Lindy Sippola from Grants Pass and Emma Gronseth from Forest Grove) on the UND team than there are North Dakotans (0).

UND coach Sammi Strinz is also an Oregonian, from Keizer.

Hopefully they’ll each bring grinders for all to share from the Red Pepper in Grand Forks. That’s good eatin.’

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1. Brooks Hatch: Sunday at Goss Stadium
2. Brooks Hatch: Wednesday update
3. Brooks Hatch: OSU baseball Tuesday

Few, if any, are as succinct and complete as this entry by longtime Pac-10 Pac-10 beat reporter Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News. In an era of blathering idiots filling the airwaves and the Internet (the PNG included, on some days), it’s outstanding analysis and commentary, and comes with the Blog’s highest stamp of approval.

As he says, it’s all about the Benjamins. And if the Pac-10 can get a real, significant bump on its next TV contract without expansion, that’s the path of least resistance, and the path (I believe) that will be taken.

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Speaking of money, the annual story of  financial losses by the OSU and Oregon athletic departments surfaced Wednesday in The Oregonian.

No surprise here. The State Board of Higher Education has tried to address this “problem” for decades, with little success.

Very, very few intercollegiate athletic departments are self-sustaining. Fewer still turn a “profit” without cooking the books in some fashion, be it through tuition waivers; by paying for maintenance, administrative, academic and compliance expenses from general appropriation revenue, or through some other form of institutional support.

(The fact that Oregon lost money, even with the most generous benefactor in intercollegiate athletics and a sold-out football stadium, should tell you something.)

To me, the bottom line has always been been crystal clear, and non-negotiable.

There’s an immeasurable value, but a very measurable cost, associated with Pacific-10 Conference membership. If you wish to continue a decades-old association with an outstanding academic and athletic peer group – the finest eight public and finest two private universities on the West Coast  – you pay the freight.

No ifs, ands, or buts.

That doesn’t mean spending foolishly, or mismanaging money.

But it does mean:

* Paying market-driven, competitive salaries.

* Building and maintaining comparable, competitive  facilities.

* Funding teams at a competitive level. You can’t ask teams of walkons to compete against scholarship athletes.

* Sponsoring a wide array of sports to fulfill Title IX regulations, and to provide ample athletic opportunities for the men and women of our state.

* And – heaven forbid – perhaps it involves someone at the OUS, or in the state legislature, or in the governor’s office, to finally admit that big-time intercollegiate athletics aren’t inherently evil, and develop a plan to help pay for them.

(Lord knows many of those same people come a-runnin’ and hop on the bandwagon with both feet when OSU goes to the College World Series, or when Oregon goes to the Rose Bowl.)

How about tuition waivers, as are given in Arizona and Washington? How about dedicating a small percentage of tax receipts from an existing revenue stream to intercollegiate athletics?

Certainly there’s somebody with enough brains in their head to figure out a way to divert about $10 million in existing state revenue to our seven public universities to help pay for an undertaking that hundreds of thousands of Oregonians enjoy every year, and that gives hundreds of Oregonians an opportunity to compete athletically beyond high school .

As we said, there’s a cost associated with Pac-10 membership. And unless you want to completely commercialize intercollegiate athletics, sometimes  that means spending institutional funds to fill the deficit when tickets sales, donations, TV revenue, etc., fall short.

When that happens, you bite the bullet. You say that OSU certainly received  $5.9 million worth of favorable national and regional exposure, or that Oregon received $700,000 worth of favorable national and regional exposure, and that both schools generated more than enough good will and ancillary donations from alumni and the general public, to pay that bill.

Otherwise, you join the Mountain West Conference, the Western Athletic Conference, the Big Sky Conference, or you withdraw from Division I altogether.

It really is that simple.

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