UT-Tyler assistant named Kilgore TCL coach
BASEBALL
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

The team's name, mascot and logo are still under construction.

But a leader? The new Kilgore based Texas Collegiate League baseball team has that.

On Monday, University of Texas at Tyler pitching coach Stan Phelps was named the first coach for the Kilgore franchise, to begin playing this summer as a part of the TCL, a league made up of some of the best college baseball players in the country. The team will play its games at Driller Park, and will make other announcements - the nickname of the team, season ticket prices and availability, et al - in the near future, general manager Mike Lieberman said Monday morning.

"I am very excited," said Phelps, part of a UT-Tyler pro-

gram that went 37-1 last season. "It's an honor to be named the first head coach for East Texas' new team. ...There are some great opportunities here, and I believe we'll put together a team that will be fun to watch, and will compete."

For his part, Lieberman promised to keep his eyes focused on helping Phelps put together the roster, helping Phelps on any personnel matters - and sticking to the front office.

"He won't have to worry about me asking him why this guy didn't get playing time, or why this guy was still pitching at this point in the game, or anything like that," Lieberman said. "Stan is our head coach, and we're confident he's going to do a good job."

In three years as pitching coach at UT-Tyler, the Patriots have captured two American Southwest Conference East Division titles and finished second once. Last year, UT-Tyler had a season to remember, posting that 37-1 record and the best winning percentage (.974) at any level of college baseball. Their 40-game winning streak dating back to the end of the 2006 season tied an NCAA record. The only barrier to the Patriots capturing a Division III national championship was a rule that locked new programs out of the postseason for their first four years.

Under Phelps' direction, the UT-Tyler pitching staff has not only excelled, they've dominated. In three seasons, Patriots pitchers have gone 95-19 (.833) and posted a combined ERA of 3.48. Last season, the staff ERA of 2.68 was best in the ASC and ranked fourth in the country in Division III. The 2007 Patriots staff surrendered the fewest hits in the conference, allowed the fewest runs, walked the fewest batters, and collected the most strikeouts.

Phelps' pitchers have not gone unrecognized, either. UT-Tyler pitchers have captured nine allconference spots and three allregion honors in three seasons. He has coached an ASC Pitcher of the Year and a conference Freshman of the Year as well.

Phelps is a native of New Boston, where he was an all-area and all-district pitcher at New Boston High School. He went on to pitch at Richland College, where he captured all-conference and all-region honors in 2001, when he was named the team's pitcher of the year and team captain. Phelps threw for Eastern New Mexico University for his junior season. He transferred to UT-Tyler as a senior to pitch for the Patriots in their inaugural season.

Phelps, 28, received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from UT-Tyler. His wife, Kristee, is coach of the Patriots volleyball team.

As far as the name of the team, Lieberman promised to deliver soon.

"We'd like to have everything (the name, the logo) to unveil at one time," he said.

When it was announced that the TCL had garnered local approval to set up a franchise here, Lieberman and his firm, East Texas Sports & Entertainment, set up a name-the-team contest to allow fans here to name the team, and identify with the franchise more.

Nearly 400 people responded with about 225 potential names before the deadline, and ETS&E officials have been going through them, and will announce the final choice soon.

TCL officials had been interested in placing a team in East Texas for some time. Kilgore was a good choice not only because of its central location (the league hopes to attract local fans, as well as fans from nearby cities Tyler, Longview, Nacogdoches and Texarkana), but also because of the historical significance of Driller Park in the state.

The league hopes to give give Kilgore baseball fans affordable, quality baseball during the summer, something that hasn't happened since the Kilgore Drillers played their last game here in 1950.

The TCL features some of the best college prospects in the nation. The players will be housed by host families, and aren't paid. All the players in the league are enrolled in a college program somewhere, and college eligibility is a requirement for playing in the league.

Lieberman said he expects to announce both season ticket pricing and the inaugural season schedule in the next week and a half. Fans can follow all the news and developments by logging on the team's web site, newbaseballteam.com.