Sports digest 10/26/01

Southeast softball honored for high G.P.A.

The Southeast Missouri State University softball team was recently commended by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association for its academic record during the 2000-01 season.

The Otahkians combined for a 3.501 G.P.A. to rank third among Division I softball programs.

Nine individual players were also named NFCA All-American Scholar Athletes for recording at least a 3.5 G.P.A. for the year. Southeast players honored: Katie Cerneka, Reagan Hamlin, Kristen King, Emma Kisaka, Dawn Piantino, Kemi Rampi, Amy Thompson, Jessica Broyles and Jenny Doehring.

Bucks, Mason agree on $21 million deal

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks signed All-Star forward Anthony Mason to a four-year, $21 million contract Thursday, hoping he'll catapult them to the top of the Eastern Conference.

The sides had been working on a deal since the Bucks cleared cap room Monday by trading forward Scott Williams to Denver.

The 34-year-old Mason gives the jump-shooting Bucks a much-needed inside presence they lacked when they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference final last season by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Coach George Karl was relieved to finally have Mason, who gives the Bucks a fifth offensive threat, joining Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, Sam Cassell and Tim Thomas.

"I think Anthony gives us a true low-post presence that we may have lacked in the past," Karl said.

Mason averaged 16.1 points and 9.6 rebounds last season.

Boggs steps down as hitting coach

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Wade Boggs, one of baseball's best hitters, resigned Thursday after one season as hitting coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Tampa Bay finished last in the American League in runs scored and home runs and next to last in batting average. The Devil Rays' 62-100 record tied Pittsburgh for baseball's worst.

"I'm in a point right now in my life where my family needs me to be around much more that baseball allows me to be," said Boggs, 43. "But I am going to leave the door open to return to the game sometime down the road."

Boggs, a Tampa native, spent 18 years in the major leagues, primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees before finishing his career with the Rays. He ranks 22nd on the all-time hit list with 3,010.

Cubs hire Rothschild as pitching coachCHICAGO -- Former Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild was hired Thursday as the Chicago Cubs new pitching coach.

He replaces Oscar Acosta, who resigned under pressure Oct. 3 over personality conflicts with manager Don Baylor.

Rothschild, a Chicago native, has had his greatest success as a pitching coach, winning a World Series ring with the 1997 Florida Marlins. The Marlins staff had a 3.83 ERA that year and allowed only 131 homers, lowest in the majors.

He became the first manager for the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays the next year. But he was fired April 18 after compiling a 205-294 record in three-plus seasons. He finished the year as a consultant to the Marlins.

Rothschild is respected throughout baseball for his work with pitchers, and he's known as a good communicator. That skill will be invaluable with the Cubs, who had a rift develop between the pitching staff and Baylor over Acosta's departure.

-- From staff, wire reports