Episode 18

full
Published on:

28th May 2024

S1E18 - Summer is Here

CB and Gary put a bow on the season and announce season award winners. We look at who is leaving, who is coming in and what future episodes are coming.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Pride of ODU Collective

he Pride of ODU leverages the power of Old Dominion University alumni and fans to equip student-athletes with the tools and resources necessary for them to excel both during and beyond their time in Norfolk. More importantly, we seek to help student-athletes maximize their NIL opportunities the right way, without ever compromising the values of Old Dominion University and the legacy of all those who have donned the Blue and Silver in the past. To learn more, visit https://theprideofodu.com/

Transcript
Speaker:

Hi, I'm Luke Waters and you're

listening to the Hudson Homers Podcast.

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Gary: Hello, Monarch fans and welcome to the Hudson homers podcast.

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I'm Gary joined as always

by my partner in crime CB.

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Uh, unfortunately we saw the Monarch

season come to an end a couple of days

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ago with a loss to finally knock him

out of the Sunbelt tournament, but.

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We start turning our eyes looking

forward, but we want to recap the final

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2 games of the Sunbelt tournament.

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Talk about dollars for

dingers bucks for bags.

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I look forward to what we've got

coming in next year for ODU baseball.

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A lot of fun things on the horizon, but

CB, I know the, uh, the losses were not

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fun, but how was the rest of your weekend?

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CB: Yeah, you know, it, they were not fun.

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I did get to go and see, um, one of

our alumni, Zach Rutherford, his dad,

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Robbie Rutherford, runs a showcase

baseball academy, and I got to take

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some pictures for him on Saturday

and got myself nice and burned up in

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the sun and sweated a bunch, and it

was a pretty wonderful, terrible day.

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The last two games weren't super

fun But if you told me going into

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the week that odu was gonna go

two and two in the tournament

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I've been pretty happy with that.

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I think we we can't really you you go into

it in one game Win or go home and you walk

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away Two and two and you just really just

miss a chance to to go to the semi finals.

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So they got to feel good Um, I

think overall the season maybe not

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as good as it could have been but

that's probably true most seasons

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Gary: Think if you're an ODU fan,

anytime you don't make the postseason

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tournament, you kind of feel like,

man, there was, there was more there.

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I think that's very true for this

team, but you have to give them

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credit for making one hell of a

run in the Sunbelt tournament.

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It gets so hard to get out of those

single elimination games and then

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when your next one, and we have the

toughest road and we had to play

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South Alabama, who's a good team.

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We beat them.

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Uh, then we line up with Louisiana.

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Who's been just a horse all year long,

beating the hell out of everybody.

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And we give them their first loss.

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In the tournament, and we kind

of take over that 1 seat spot.

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So definitely give him

credit for for not quitting.

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I guess 1 thing you can say

is true about this team.

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They didn't quit.

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They fought all the way

down to the very end.

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Definitely a different feel than

when the season into last year.

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I don't think a lot of people had that

same thought process on the mentality, the

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leadership coaching or anything like that.

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But this year.

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You know, you, you can say a

lot of things, but they fought

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like hell down to that very end.

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CB: Yeah, I mean, you can't

be more proud of the guys.

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They, um, all year didn't really

hit as well as they could have.

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The pitching was great.

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At a certain point here, the pitching

just kind of Ran out of gas, uh, which is

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what happens, you know, but so I again We

have to walk away and you got to feel good

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about the way they played the tournament

They they should hopefully they they I

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mean i'm sure nobody was happy about it,

but hopefully the ride home You know,

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they weren't sulking and feeling bad I

hope they they felt good about themselves

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and the way they showed up and performed

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Gary: Absolutely.

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Well, we want to get you caught up on

dollars for dingers and bucks for bags

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because that promotion is going to be

coming out here in the next couple of

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days, uh, we will certainly announce it

on the Monarchist social media accounts.

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ODAF will also have a push.

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I'm sure the team will get

involved with it as well.

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Uh, but on the season we ended up

with 60 home runs for the year, which.

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As you pointed out, uh, earlier this week

and kind of our special episode of CB That

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would be the, uh, fourth best home run

hitting season for ODU, is that right?

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CB: That is it is is crazy fourth best

home running season of all time after

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the last three years, of course hitting

over 100 So for most of us having

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experienced the last three years, it's

felt like wow, we have a real power

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outage You Historically, we'd be like,

man, this team, we are the bud bombers.

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These guys are hitting

the home runs like crazy.

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Uh, so it's just, it's funny how

things kind of readjust your reality.

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Gary: Absolutely.

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It's, it's hard to put that into

perspective after the previous three

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seasons, but still historically a great

home run hitting team for Old Dominion.

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CB: Three guys, double digits, right?

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Kenny LaVarga with 10, Luke Waters

with 11, and Maverick Stallings coming

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out of nowhere for 12 home runs.

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So that, that's just, anytime

you have three guys, double

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digits, it's a big deal.

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And while we're talking about, uh, Dodge

for dingers, Bucks for bags, we have three

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guys, double digits for stolen bases.

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Luke Waters again with 19, Kyle Edwards

had 16, and Stephen Meyer had 28.

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Which is the most any OU players had at

least 20 years, maybe even closer to 30.

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Gary: and if you all remember, he's

28 for 29 and the only time he got

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thrown out on the base pass is when he

intentionally got thrown out in one of

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those runners at the corner situation.

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That was the only time he

got thrown out all season.

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I think he survived a replay

review that overturned an out call.

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Uh, but amazing year, uh, for Stephen

Meyer to lead us with stolen bases.

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So we've got 86 on the

season for stolen bases.

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This is a way for fans to make a

direct impact onto the program.

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If you want to combine them,

where you have 60 bucks there

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for the home runs, plus the 86

for the stolen bases, feel free.

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If you want to do one or the other.

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Any little bit helps.

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And, you know, obviously we're, we're

not naive enough to think that a

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campaign like that is going to build a

new bud or add all these new bells and

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whistles to the bud, but that helps a

lot with equipment helps up travel a lot

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of things in their training programs.

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It's a huge boost.

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It goes directly to the

ODU baseball budget.

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And if you have any inkling about

what's going to happen next year, we're

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probably going to need some help in that

travel cost department because we're

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going to be on the road quite a bit.

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So you want to do the whole

thing, 146 bucks or 60 for

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the dingers, 86 for the bags.

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Either way, you are helping the ODU

baseball program get better because we're

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kind of At the tipping point now where

things are about to drastically change for

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ODU baseball with this new bud coming in.

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CB: Yeah.

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And it's always a big deal for the

fans to help out and then to show that

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appreciation for what the student athletes

do, what they, what they give to this

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program, what they give the school.

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Um, and, you know, again, just showing

off that appreciation for it was.

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In a way, it's a kind of historic season.

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We, we, as fourth most home runs ever

86 still stolen bases As many as they've

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had in the last 10 years So this is a

this is a team that while offensively

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I think they weren't as strong as they

probably could have been There was a

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lot more in the tank Uh, they still did

some some fun cool things this season

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Gary: Yeah.

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And certainly the offense did

a lot of good things there.

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Uh, but you feel free if, if there's

another stat you want to look at, uh,

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on the pitching side and you want to

donate that amount, like if you, you

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know, are feeling real froggy and want

to donate a 522 for every strikeout that

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we had this season, that's fine too.

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Uh, I think they will be happy

with any amount coming in there.

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So a lot of options.

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Want to shout out the pitching

staff for really one of the, the

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better pitching performances we've

had at ODU in quite some time, uh,

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with that team ERA only being 4.

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67, that's a pretty crazy when you

think about it over the course of a long

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season against a really good competition.

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CB: Yeah, and frankly, uh as we kind

of saw there in the tournament, they

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got a little worn down that number was

actually Below four about a month ago.

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Uh, so it did rise up a little bit

and again just tells you how Hard the

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sun belt is uh how long of a season

it is and still at the end of the day

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Four six seven is an outstanding era

and it's better than many many teams

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had the odu was I think a top 15 top

20 Pitching staff in ncla this year.

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Gary: Yeah, great performance

on the pitching side.

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Uh, you know, hitting started to

come together there at the end.

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I think it just was a little

too late in the season, but.

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All right, CB, we, we got to talk about.

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The final two games, I

want to run through them.

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Really want to talk about the

Georgia Southern game, because

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that was a really good ball game.

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Uh, we just kind of fell apart a

little bit there on the back end.

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Couldn't drive in some runners when

we had guys in scoring position, but.

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You know, it started out, uh, started out

pretty strong with us being able to push

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across a run there in the first inning.

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CB: Yeah, I you know Got feeling good.

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Tj aiken leads off the single Kyle

Edwards gets on a field of choice.

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So tj's out Uh, kenny lavarie gets hit

by a pitch was a which was a big thing

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that day There were a ton of hit by

pitches in that hole I think he said there

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were something like 20 hit by pitches

between the four games on thursday Um,

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and then luke waters single scores.

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Kyle Edwards.

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You're feeling good Uh, and then what

really was I think the story of the

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day was dylan brown He looked like

a absolute psychopath on the mound.

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He was as amped as you'll ever see him

Uh, he was just dominant through his

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first three innings He was basically

unhittable Is that kind of like where you

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look at and you say i've kind of said a

few times this year like dylan really?

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He's just take a big step forward

in his development into next year

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going as being a junior And we saw

a huge flash that potential starting

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the game, uh there on thursday

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Gary: He was incredible and

he was a lot of fun to watch.

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I mean, he was pacing around the mouth,

stepping off the back of it after each

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pitch, uh, Just dialed in, locked in.

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Uh, he ended up giving up three

runs on two hits and four innings,

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but no walks in nine strikeouts.

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I mean, he was on fire there for, for a

good bit of those first three innings.

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I think you may have gotten out

of rhythm a little bit when he

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finally had to go to the stretch.

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But, uh, that was very encouraging

to see him piece together three

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good appearances in a row to end

the season, get his confidence back.

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Uh, cause he's a really good pitcher when

he's dialed in, he can do stuff like that.

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CB: Yeah, Maverick hit a double to score

Evan in the top of the fourth and the

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bottom of the fourth is, when, Sam

Blancato hit the homer off of, uh, Dylan.

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Uh, then you're right back in the fifth.

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Kyle Edwards walked, uh, moved

to second and a wild pitch.

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Kenny got hit by another pitch.

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Uh, they were, they were

really throwing him inside.

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Then there was a balk.

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Then Luke Waters hit

a big three run homer.

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they left the bases loaded after that

So they really so we did score three

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runs of the big luke waters home run

in that top of the fifth But then

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I think twice in that game left the

bases loaded Um, and that was that

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was a trend all season fair to you.

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There was just a lot of left on base

There was a lot again We said there was

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a lot more in the tank on offense there

was They're really and not to say it's

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easy to hit with two outs and run from

base loader It's easy to hit with even

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one out base loaded but You You know,

there were just a lot of situations

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throughout the whole season where

there were just runs and Left in play

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Gary: And that Sam Blancato home run,

um, he was great all throughout the

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tournament, but he ended up going

three for four in the game and drove

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in five runs, drove in the first

five runs there for the Eagles.

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Uh, the home run he hit to right.

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Uh, if you watched any of the games,

there's kind of this cutout in right

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field that comes out about 20, 25 feet

from where the rest of the wall is.

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where he hit it to.

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I don pitch at all.

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He was just opposite field and

sneak But that kind of changed bit.

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We did bounce back l Luke

hitting the big home for us.

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But it's kind of

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A couple of runs in the sixth and

the seventh, two more in the eighth.

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Uh, but yeah, 11 runners left on base

for ODU, which like you said, story

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of the season, and it just continued

to be a problem and it was really

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kind of throughout the order where

those runners were left on, but.

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We probably could have scored 10, 12,

13 runs if we just get a couple more

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hits here and there, uh, because it,

it was a close hard fought ball game

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between two good teams and we just

left too many opportunities out there.

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CB: and you know that left on base

kind of combined with the pitching

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just kind of Being a lot of gas, you

know, jay cassidy came and he gave up

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a couple of runs at inning I really

think with jay what happened is he

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was hurt last year chris for newport

Um, I don't know if he pitched at all.

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He did pitch it wasn't much So I think

this year he came back and he was strong

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for us for a while And now we're kind of

getting the point of the year where the

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arm was just kind of done Um, because

you can only pitch, you know So many

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things after pitching what you pitched

last year You can you got to raise up a

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little bit off what you pitched last year.

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If you didn't pitch much it's harder

to pitch more so Uh brandon pond Again,

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he just kind of ran out of gas by

the end of the year and then vincent

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becher and jacob gomez Who we know were

phenomenal all year Uh, you know Probably

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had two of their weaker performances

there at the end of that game.

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Uh again, not they pitched that

poorly Just they didn't pitch

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up to their level of excellence.

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They got it all to expect they

pitched like normal guys um, and

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so that was a case of yeah when you

The you're leaving guys on base and

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your pitching isn't as absolutely

dominant as it had been all year.

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That's going to lead to a loss

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Gary: Bash and Gomez had been pitching

a lot and I mean, just 48 hours

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prior, they had gone, I think four

and a third and four and two thirds

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to win that single elimination game.

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So they were coming back on one day rest

after throwing more than four innings.

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Just before that.

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So, you're hoping to just get an

ending out of them, get a couple of

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out, steal some here, save some arms.

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And plus you're gonna go

to your seniors, right?

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Like they locked it down

in that South Alabama game.

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They helped lead us to that

victory and their trusted arms that

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have been good down the stretch.

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And Gomez has been great all year.

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Um, so certainly see why you would

turn to them to, to try to get some

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of those outs there with the, the

condition you're pitching staffs in.

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But I go back to something that you and

I both pointed out on the episode before

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the Georgia Southern game about John Hobe.

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And not seeing Jon Halibutz in this

game, I think is the, the thing that

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will haunt us for years to come of what

could have been in this tournament.

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CB: yeah the decision to put hollow

beds in for the eighth and ninth in

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a game you were leading seven nothing

You know, I I definitely get the

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perspective of like hey, we need to

win this game if we don't win this game

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It's a big problem for a whole week.

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That's fair I think if you can't bring

in somebody at that point to trust

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to get six outs for me at the end

of the game Not give up seven runs.

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We got some bigger problems.

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It would have been great This has been an

amazing situation to see Holo bets come

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in dylan brown throws the first four gives

up three, uh holo bets I think you could

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have got at least four if not the last all

the last five out of them Uh, so again,

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I don't I don't know what I don't know.

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I don't I don't know if John just

wasn't in a position to pitch.

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Again decision making i'm sure was hey,

we want to get this win On uh wednesday,

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but it really does looking backward which

always it's very easy to look backwards

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and see things but it just didn't seem

like It didn't feel right at the time.

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And I think this just kind of

makes it seem like it also just the

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decision didn't work out, which,

you know, they, they pushed a lot of

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buttons with your Finwood, Marin and

Hadrian and the whole coaching staff.

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They pushed a lot of buttons this year.

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It got a lot of good

results out of things.

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Uh, this is one that just, maybe

they didn't push the right button.

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Gary: It's tough when, you know, Jon

Halibutz is going to get drafted here

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in a couple weeks, seven, eight weeks.

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I don't know exactly where he

is on paper, your best arm.

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He's been solid for you all season.

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You know, he's had a couple bumps in the

road, but for the most part, he's been.

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Our most dominant pitcher.

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He has been our, our ace.

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If we were having starting aces this

year and to only have him get two

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innings in the Sunbelt tournament.

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And those two innings were in a game

that was already seven to nothing.

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That's a, that's a tough

pill for fans to swallow.

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It's a tough pill for

me to swallow because.

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The whole dynamic of that tournament

changes if we beat Georgia Southern,

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because if you notice in the championship

game, the two teams that were there for

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the two teams that came out undefeated

on their side of the bracket, Georgia

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Southern and Southern Miss, like once you

lose in a double elimination tournament,

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especially the way it's set up now.

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You're effectively out, like, it's very,

very difficult to come back because ODU

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went from a situation of if they beat

Southern, they win one game, they just

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need to win one more to win the Sun Belt.

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But instead, they lose that game,

and they need to win three more games

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to win the Sun Belt, including two

in one day after already playing

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in the single elimination round.

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So, it was kind of In my mind, anything

we got beyond that was just going to be

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kind of a bonus, but I knew that we just

really didn't have a legitimate chance to

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work our way back into that championship

game after losing to Georgia Southern.

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CB: Yeah.

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And like we said, coming out of the

week, you know, you go in two and two,

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it's like, Hey, this was all cake.

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We, we went into that.

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Again, probably didn't play as well as we

maybe could have all year left some wins

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on the table Um, you know, but coming in

the single nation anything get past that

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one game is is just nice Uh, but yeah,

we really it looks like just and again,

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you know You don't know probably know how

best to come in and give up nine runs.

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Who knows?

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Uh, I doubt it based on his performance.

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He's given and I also think you

know, your hitters hit differently

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depending the score Your pitchers pitch

differently depending the score Um,

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and it really just feels like yeah, if

if you could have had halibuts in this

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game against georgia southern It would

have turned some things around and it

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does seem much more likely to me They

might have won and had a better shot.

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Um, that's not how it

went and it's unfortunate.

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Uh, but You know, they

still had to play the game.

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So I had to win the games

with whatever they had going,

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Gary: And also we were missing

another arm with Trent Buchanan.

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He was not available.

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He made the trip.

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He was with the team.

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We don't know the exact situation there,

but Trent has been someone that's been

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able to take a lot of innings for us.

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He pitched really well down the stretch.

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Uh, he missed the last two weekends, did

not throw in the conference tournament.

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Uh, so we were kind of shorthanded a

little bit going into this and needing

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to, like, really do some miraculous

things to get to where we got.

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Would have told me halfway through

the season that Trent Buchanan and

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Halibut would combine to throw two

innings in the Sunbelt Tournament, I'd

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be like, okay, did we just get blown

out in a single elimination game?

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I would never have guessed

we would have gone 2 2.

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CB: Yeah.

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I had a thought that, uh, run would

have been over on Tuesday evening, um,

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and you know, that all kind of played

itself out in the final game there on

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Friday, uh, when a, just a litany of

pitchers, uh, combined to lead to a 15

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to five, uh, eight inning mercy rule

finish, um, it just, there weren't a lot

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of guys that really were able to throw

that well, that game, it just, um, It

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you know, and again, some of those guys

have thrown very well during the year I

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mean even kellen davis who was who was

one of our most valuable pitchers Uh,

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he didn't pitch pretty well Um, it just

was a it was a tough day all around.

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Um the jmu game and it's even worse

because he lost jmu It's even more

335

:

upsetting but you know, that's just

they were they were the team was

336

:

pretty gassed at that point Uh,

and that's what you expect playing

337

:

your fourth game in four days

338

:

Gary: Yeah, it stinks that it was

JMU, but honestly, if it would have

339

:

been anyone in that situation, the

outcome probably would have been.

340

:

Um, I was hoping we may be able to dig

deep and find a little something there,

341

:

but you know, you're up against a tough

opponent that they are fighting where

342

:

if they win that game, they're probably

getting into the NCAA tournament,

343

:

which is what they ended up doing.

344

:

They didn't make it to the NCAA

tournament, uh, partially because

345

:

of that, that win against us in

the final game to eliminate us.

346

:

Uh, they also were all

over us on the base pass.

347

:

I mean, they were stealing left and right.

348

:

They were stealing early.

349

:

If they got on with a single, you

might as well rack it as a double.

350

:

Uh, because they were just all over

the place, stealing bases in motion,

351

:

constantly causing all kinds of problems.

352

:

Ended up with nine

stolen bases on the day.

353

:

We had four errors in the game.

354

:

Uh, and a couple of wild pitches just.

355

:

It's a game you expect to see this is

being your fourth game in four days after

356

:

a pretty tough down the stretch portion

to, uh, just, just kind of got ugly.

357

:

We only held them scoreless in one ending.

358

:

And that was the third, uh, guys tried

to put up some runs, did what they could.

359

:

We saw a lot of, uh, you know, pinch

hit opportunities, uh, late in the game.

360

:

And then, uh, you know, Kenny LaVarie,

unfortunately was the last out of

361

:

the game, but I guess if you had

to pick someone to be the final out

362

:

of the game, to get eliminated from

the Kenny LaVarie was making his.

363

:

230th start for ODU in his

career, which is just amazing.

364

:

CB: And kenny had a great tournament.

365

:

Um, I don't have all the

numbers in front of me.

366

:

I know he had a few You Two

hit games, so he had at least

367

:

five hits in the tournament.

368

:

Um, I think, I think he said

they're going to be like five to 15.

369

:

Uh, but he was.

370

:

He was great.

371

:

You can't thank Kenny LaVar enough

for everything he's done for ODU.

372

:

Um, I, I really hope he

gets a chance to play pro.

373

:

Uh, I guess we'll talk a little

bit about stuff like that.

374

:

Um, but congrats to him.

375

:

He, he went out strong.

376

:

He, he wasn't trying to go out,

uh, not winning a championship.

377

:

So good for him.

378

:

Gary: Yeah.

379

:

And then going back to the Georgia

Southern game, you talked about it.

380

:

He did get hit twice in that game.

381

:

Then there was another one that

they threw the ball over his head.

382

:

Um, I think, uh, I got a response

from, uh, mama Lavarie saying

383

:

that mama bears got to go down

there and teach somebody a lesson.

384

:

Uh, I think she was pretty fired

up about that too, but, uh,

385

:

yeah, he had a great tournament.

386

:

I mean, he left it all out there.

387

:

All of these guys did.

388

:

I mean, there was, there was no team

like they, they could have rolled over

389

:

in the seventh, uh, when Jamie was up

10, but they didn't, they scored two

390

:

runs in the seventh to extend it one

more and they were doing everything

391

:

they could to try to extend it again.

392

:

Uh, but.

393

:

Yeah, just, just run out of gas.

394

:

I mean, that is a tall task to ask a

team to try to play that many games in

395

:

that short of timeframe down a couple

of arms, uh, in a team that just hasn't

396

:

consistently hit all season long, either.

397

:

Usually you can hit your way out of

those situations, but yeah, won't take

398

:

anything away from, from their fight

and their heart that they put into it.

399

:

I mean, those guys were battling

down the end when we definitely saw

400

:

some teams that Sunbelt tournament

just absolutely quit, uh, once they

401

:

got down in some of those games.

402

:

CB: Yeah.

403

:

Somehow Coastal Carolina quit, but

they still gonna go to regional,

404

:

so who knows how that works.

405

:

Um, but, uh, you know, this year's

tournament showed the difference

406

:

between the 2024 Old Dominion Monarchs

baseball team and the:

407

:

Uh, last year, you know, there were

some, some clubhouse cancer, there were

408

:

some problems, there were just, and

they really just didn't have, uh, a lot

409

:

of teamwork or a lot of fight in them.

410

:

Um, I think overall, probably

a more talented team.

411

:

Um, I would argue that hunter

fitzgerald was a better hitter

412

:

than anybody on this team.

413

:

Um, and so Uh looking at the team

this year what they had was a lot

414

:

of heart They had a lot of fight.

415

:

They had a lot of grit You know finney

always talks about is like I want the guys

416

:

who drink water out of the out of the hose

I want the the um, the lunchbox guys, you

417

:

know, the guys that are just uh You know

put on the work gloves and go to it team

418

:

And I think he got exactly that this year.

419

:

He got a lot of guys who have that heart

We had that fight who would want to win.

420

:

Um, I uh, evan holman to me is exactly

that kind of guy You want me watching

421

:

him at the plate choking up like an inch

on the bat where no guys don't choke

422

:

up anymore guys Even with two strikes.

423

:

They're just still going for the fence

and evan is willing to do everything

424

:

you possibly can to put a ball in play

um, we this is a to me a very free

425

:

Representative team of what we want and

what we expect at Old Dominion Baseball

426

:

These guys fought and they clawed and

they were not willing to go down and

427

:

doing everything they possibly could

428

:

Gary: Yeah.

429

:

And you were talking a little

bit about the NCAA tournament and

430

:

coastal Carolina getting in, uh,

four teams from the Sunbelt got in

431

:

coastal Carolina, uh, Southern Miss,

uh, JMU in Louisiana all got in.

432

:

None of them are actually hosting though.

433

:

And they got, uh, let's just say

horrific draws for all of them.

434

:

Louisiana has to go down to

college station to play A& M.

435

:

They are in a bracket

that also includes Texas.

436

:

Uh, so that's going to be a whole

lot of fun for the raging Cajuns

437

:

to try to fight their way out of.

438

:

Coastal is a three seed

in the Clemson regional.

439

:

They're there with some

team called Vanderbilt.

440

:

I don't know.

441

:

I've never heard of them.

442

:

They won national titles recently.

443

:

Heard they're, uh, might be pretty good.

444

:

JMU, they're a three seed down in Raleigh

against NC State in North Carolina.

445

:

And then Southern Miss also a two

seed, they get to go to the number

446

:

one overall seed, which is Tennessee.

447

:

They're also in there with

Indiana and Northern Kentucky.

448

:

So pretty tough go of it through the

selection committee for the Sunbelt,

449

:

uh, to not have a team in what's

been the fourth best conference all

450

:

year to host at least one regional,

uh, was a little bit surprising.

451

:

Uh, I will also say I was a little

surprised to see that Troy was

452

:

completely left out of the field, um,

can also probably make a pretty good

453

:

case for Georgia Southern to get in.

454

:

Southern was 54th in RPI.

455

:

Troy was 57, Georgia

733 wins Troy with 37.

456

:

They were pretty good.

457

:

And then, um, not too far

down the RPI list there.

458

:

69 through 71 is South

Alabama app state and ODU.

459

:

So some tough sledding on the, uh,

selection committee there for the

460

:

Sunbelt only getting four teams.

461

:

And I think that's one of the biggest

surprises conference wide for me.

462

:

I

463

:

CB: I think You want to see your

your teams in your conference

464

:

get in and do well I think it's

ridiculous that Coastal got in.

465

:

I mean, I think anybody if you saw the

Post game press conference when they got

466

:

eliminated for their coach their head

coach didn't believe they were getting

467

:

in Uh, I think he didn't believe they

deserved to get in Uh with if odu had

468

:

that record that rpi odu would not have

gotten in That's purely based on the

469

:

fact they won a championship back in uh,

what:

470

:

they really do not deserve to be in the

tournament and frankly based on what the

471

:

head coach is saying They're not going to

put up a fight and I wouldn't be surprised

472

:

to see him go in two Um, so it's, I

hate to down talk a team in our league.

473

:

You know, I'm trusting I'd be

rooting hard for all of them,

474

:

including Coastal to do well.

475

:

It looks better for the

conference, but that's the case.

476

:

So yeah, why isn't Troy?

477

:

Troy that actually wants to play

hard and wants to do well should have

478

:

been in there instead of Coastal.

479

:

Gary: mean, Troy went 18

and 12 in the Sunbelt.

480

:

Coastal went 16 and 14.

481

:

Um, I would have put Troy in over coastal

every day of the week, but who knows?

482

:

Maybe it came down to the

geography based decision.

483

:

Something like that.

484

:

But, uh, Troy getting left out, I think

if you're gonna put coastal and you

485

:

got to put Troy in, you probably got

to put app state in maybe even Georgia

486

:

Southern, but coastal, I mean, they

finished seventh and Lee, they were

487

:

a game ahead of us in the standings

and they're, uh, you know, innocent at

488

:

large and we weren't even sniffing one.

489

:

So interesting the way that all plays out.

490

:

We've definitely been on the

wrong side of the committee.

491

:

Uh, a few times probably have cost

us at least a couple good teams going

492

:

to regionals, but, um, yeah, we'll,

we'll root for three of the four

493

:

teams to do well in their regional.

494

:

So go everyone, but Jamie.

495

:

CB: I'll reach for all four.

496

:

I want Coast to do well.

497

:

Maybe they'll win a

championship this year.

498

:

They'll prove me wrong,

but I, I just don't, yeah.

499

:

It's, uh, whatever.

500

:

Don't even get me started on the NCAA.

501

:

It's all about a name.

502

:

That's, that's the reason Coastal Carolina

is there and not Troy, is because Who

503

:

knows where Troy is, but Coastal won a

504

:

championship.

505

:

Gary: Yeah, I'm going to find out what

my new betting limits are on these apps

506

:

in other states when Jamie takes on

South Carolina in the first round of

507

:

their regional down there in Raleigh.

508

:

CB: Oof.

509

:

That's a rough one.

510

:

Gary: All right, well, we're going

to move on and talk a little bit

511

:

about some postseason awards,

and we're giving these out.

512

:

We are not paid professionals.

513

:

We've just Two people that have

followed this team very, very closely

514

:

this year and got to see a lot of them

play, got to talk to them, and see

515

:

them throughout the entire season.

516

:

So, CB, I'll let you, uh, you kick

it off with, uh, the most valuable

517

:

position player for the team this year.

518

:

CB: Yeah.

519

:

Most valuable position player.

520

:

Uh, this is interesting 'cause it

feels, it feels hard to not, you

521

:

know, give it to guys like a, like a

Kyle Edwards when you consider what

522

:

he does on defense and, you know, he

was, uh, one of our better hitters.

523

:

Uh, but I think, you know, you

gotta give to the guy that was

524

:

there all year, every single day.

525

:

Pretty consistent.

526

:

I think his batting average dropped to

maybe slightly below 300 went up to as

527

:

high as 341 point Uh, but luke waters,

you know, luke waters finished it in

528

:

312 394 on base 518 slugging 912 ops 10

doubles 11 homers 44 rbis 19 steals So

529

:

that's just all around great numbers Let

the team in average hits total bases on

530

:

base percentage and was second in homers

and rbis again He was just a guy that he

531

:

he played Exactly how he is as a person,

you know, Luke is he's a very quiet guy.

532

:

He's a very steady guy Um, he

just showed up every single day.

533

:

He was exactly who he's supposed to

be Um goes out and plays a solid right

534

:

field despite not having played it

before last season Uh, and and luke

535

:

waters is he's my position mvp Uh,

because just he just he is luke waters

536

:

Gary: And I agree with

you on that one too.

537

:

You talked about the consistency

and I think that's what

538

:

we saw from Luke all year.

539

:

Like he was the one that you kind of

had a pretty good idea what he was

540

:

going to do, uh, game in and game out.

541

:

So definitely back you up

there on, uh, Position MVP,

542

:

uh, for most valuable pitcher.

543

:

Uh, this one was a little bit

tougher cause we had a lot of

544

:

great arms this year, uh, but we've

got to give it to Jacob Gomez.

545

:

Now it goes two and two this

year with seven saves, 2.

546

:

88 ERA, 1.

547

:

05 whip.

548

:

And he pitched the second most innings

on the team with 56 and a third, uh,

549

:

led the team with 64 strikeouts at 10.

550

:

23 strikeouts per nine, uh, his

strikeout to walk ratio was 4.

551

:

9, just great numbers across the board.

552

:

I, he was that person that if you were

leading in the fifth, sixth, seventh

553

:

inning of a weekend series game, and

Jacob Gomez was available, he was

554

:

going to come in and slam the door and

make sure that we got the, that win.

555

:

Uh, he would definitely stay in the game.

556

:

I can't remember what series it was, but.

557

:

Finney didn't have anybody up.

558

:

I think Gomez had given up maybe

like a hit, maybe given up one run.

559

:

And you look over in

the bullpen, it's empty.

560

:

And Finney's looking at

Gomez saying, this is yours.

561

:

You got it.

562

:

And he went out there and got it.

563

:

Uh, just consistent, reliable, great

effort from a senior in his final year.

564

:

Uh, you want to talk about a guy

that should be on your draft boards.

565

:

It's Jacob Gomez.

566

:

I think he's very much flying

under the radar right now.

567

:

But he would make a lot of teams

very happy coming out of their

568

:

bullpen, here in, in AA and AAA

over the next couple of years.

569

:

So Jacob Gomez, most valuable pitcher.

570

:

CB: Yeah, and it's not just, as

you pointed out, it's not just the

571

:

outstanding stats which were phenomenal.

572

:

Um, it's the fact that he was

just the heartbeat of things.

573

:

He was the motor.

574

:

He was the engine.

575

:

I mean, he, you know, you, the guy

was an absolute monster out there.

576

:

You knew he was fighting for you.

577

:

Um, he, even though they made him tone

down and he couldn't talk his, uh,

578

:

his stuff as much as he wanted to.

579

:

Um, but the guy was just everything

you want out of a pitcher.

580

:

Uh, so yeah, Jacob Gomez

and me again, you're right.

581

:

I mean, having guys like

the share a hollow beds.

582

:

There are certainly other good choices,

but Jacob was just a little bit better.

583

:

Uh, so how about our defensive MVP?

584

:

This one?

585

:

I don't think it's a surprise.

586

:

I think I probably said this every

other podcast the whole season.

587

:

Um, Evan had a nine 91 fielding

percentage, which I know as

588

:

a catcher, you get a little

more chances than most people.

589

:

Uh, the, uh, he had, he caught

16 of 37 runners, which is 43%.

590

:

Anytime you get those above 30

for a catcher, you're doing great.

591

:

And he was just, um, absolute

monster behind the dish.

592

:

You know, he, he was always

putting his body out there.

593

:

He played a ton.

594

:

I know he was beat up and, and, and,

And also on top of everything, you

595

:

know, he really I mean he ended up

hitting I think above 260 So it was

596

:

better than I thought he was gonna

end up hitting Uh showed a lot.

597

:

Like I said a few minutes ago He was

always willing to just do whatever

598

:

he had to do to get a hit or get on

599

:

base

600

:

Gary: He also seemed to be the

guy that would come through with

601

:

a clutch hit when we needed it.

602

:

Like, I wouldn't be surprised if he hit

better with runners in scoring position

603

:

than he did with the bases empty.

604

:

Um, but yeah, no, no argument

on me on defensive MVP.

605

:

It's been Evan Holman all year, and I

don't think anyone really came close.

606

:

We had some guys have some web gym type

plays, but Consistency, you factor in

607

:

how much you got beaten up this year.

608

:

Easy pick there for Evan.

609

:

CB: Yeah, no offense to kane

lavare and uh, kyle edwards.

610

:

They were absolutely phenomenal but uh,

having What evan does having that behind

611

:

the plate and then and then it feeds

into having such a good pitching season

612

:

It's pretty impossible not to choose him

613

:

Gary: And then for freshmen of

the year, we didn't have a lot of

614

:

freshmen play a whole lot this year.

615

:

But TJ Aiken, definitely

stepped up in a big way.

616

:

He became that everyday

starter in left field for us.

617

:

Uh, there were some games where

he was the DH didn't want to

618

:

take his bad out of the lineup.

619

:

We got Bryce Jones or somebody else

up there and left but ended up hitting

620

:

263, uh, 346 on base percentage.

621

:

Uh, 710 OPS, four doubles,

triple, two home runs, drove

622

:

in 14 runs and had 29 starts.

623

:

So much to like about TJ and where his

growth can go from here getting a better

624

:

feel for a left field Having better at

bats his average fell off a decent amount

625

:

over the last couple weeks of the season

kind of got into a slump Was constantly

626

:

facing a shift over the right side.

627

:

So you finish it 263, but for a while

there He was clipping right around 300

628

:

and doing a lot of good things for us

at the top of that lineup So excited

629

:

to see him develop This off season and

into fall ball and in the next season,

630

:

there is so much talent there that if

they're able to harness that and sharpen

631

:

it a little bit, I mean, he has got

everything he wants right in front of him.

632

:

Uh, he's going to be a big impact

player for ODU and was definitely the

633

:

best freshman on the team this year.

634

:

CB: Yeah, TJ had a heck of a year.

635

:

Um, he, he was very exciting to watch.

636

:

Uh, you really can see, I mean,

he, he's got a lot of room

637

:

to fill out, get stronger.

638

:

Um, he's got, you know, a lot of more

baseball he can learn and get better at.

639

:

Uh, but that, that is definitely a kid

that you look at and you see, okay,

640

:

there's a lot of talent potential here.

641

:

And we saw that in a lot of our freshmen,

you know, on the pitching side, Nick

642

:

Salpizio and Hudson Trobaugh, uh, they had

some, and Marco Lovario, all of them had,

643

:

you know, not a ton of innings, but they

had enough to show what they could do,

644

:

had enough to show they got room to grow.

645

:

Uh, we saw Carter Van Sunderman played

a lot the first half of the season as an

646

:

infielder, um, very, very good infielder.

647

:

He showed some, some of the,

at the plate, even though that

648

:

kind of fell off a little bit.

649

:

Uh, and Rowan Massey, even

though he didn't get a ton of

650

:

chances, I liked him a lot.

651

:

I think, you know, he really showed a lot

of ability to put the ball in play, which

652

:

I think is as important as anything is

just God played and not striking out being

653

:

able to go out and put the ball in place.

654

:

So there's, even though we didn't

see a ton of freshmen play this year.

655

:

Uh, really it was, um, TJ and

Sunderman got most of the at bats

656

:

and then so Pizzo and Trobach and

most of the innings, there, there's

657

:

some talent with our freshmen.

658

:

So there, there's a good shot for

some of these guys that have some

659

:

impact, uh, next year, sophomores.

660

:

So our newcomer of the year, uh,

which I think maybe I just made up

661

:

last year, we'll keep going with it.

662

:

Cause it's always, uh, there's

always a good one for that.

663

:

A newcomer of the year

was Maverick Stallings.

664

:

Uh, Maverick, uh, we all know at

the, around the end of the year,

665

:

he just got hot, he had eight

666

:

home runs in May.

667

:

Uh,

668

:

he pulled his average all the way

669

:

up from around the 230s

670

:

Uh maverick ended up finishing at 287

671

:

Had a 364 on base a 530

672

:

slugging 895 Ops Four

673

:

doubles had finished with

12 home runs to leave

674

:

the team 37 rbis And do

all that he only had 44

675

:

starts again He was kind of splitting

time with carter sunderman there

676

:

the first part of the season.

677

:

So Uh maverick definitely came

678

:

in as an excellent

679

:

newcomer this year.

680

:

I know guy he was a

681

:

junior college

682

:

transfer And so we really can I think

683

:

expect him to do

684

:

some big big things his senior year for us

685

:

Gary: Yeah.

686

:

Maverick was fantastic down the stretch.

687

:

Um, I think you touched on this, but eight

home runs in the month of May is Pretty

688

:

wild stat you talk about coming on late

and hitting 80 or 12 bombs in the final

689

:

month of the season and some serious

crunch time Loved the way that he just

690

:

sees second base like that was a rotation

for a little while He stepped in there

691

:

and took it His power from the second

base position is something that will

692

:

help us a lot going forward as you

start looking to replace Some other

693

:

typical power positions, especially the

corner infield going into next year.

694

:

Uh, just a lot to be

695

:

excited about with, with Maverick.

696

:

CB: And not only, uh, the power

697

:

from second base, he just became a better

second baseman as the year went on.

698

:

And that's the thing that

I know, Finwood has, uh,

699

:

a long history, And a proven record

of making guys better fielders.

700

:

He was a very good

shortstop when he played,

701

:

Um, and

702

:

he's really

703

:

done a good job of making

guys better fielders.

704

:

You know, guys like, uh, Jared

Young, um, who was a pretty awful

705

:

fielder when he showed up at ODU.

706

:

By the time he

707

:

left, even though he was only here one

708

:

year, he was, he was a pretty

709

:

solid

710

:

fielder and he's played all around

the infield in the bigger leagues now.

711

:

Um, so yeah, Maverick really

He put that work in on defense

712

:

in addition to his offense

713

:

and just had an all

around great year for us.

714

:

Gary: And the next group we want to

go over are what we're calling the

715

:

pick to click in 2025.

716

:

so guys that we

717

:

think that are going to step up in

a really big way in:

718

:

shape, or form.

719

:

We've got three of them

we want to go through.

720

:

It's

721

:

two pitchers, one position player.

722

:

Um, CB, you want to start with the first

723

:

one?

724

:

CB: Uh this is my pick.

725

:

We kind of had some similarity but

I I really think uh Ben Moore is

726

:

the guy you can look at and say I

think he's gonna bust out in uh in

727

:

2025 He's gonna be his junior year.

728

:

Um in 65 career innings.

729

:

He's got a 233 era Uh 39 strikeouts

and 37 innings this year Uh, nine

730

:

and a half strikeouts per nine and 3.

731

:

6 strikeouts per walk this year.

732

:

This is a guy who he's been, I mean,

he was a freshman all american last

733

:

year, uh, had a very successful

year this year, pitched great

734

:

there around the end of the season.

735

:

Um, this kind of question probably

for anybody on the team, you

736

:

know, can he stretch out, be maybe

737

:

more of that typical five, six, seven

738

:

inning starter, and

really just be dominant?

739

:

I mean, he's a, he's a big lefty.

740

:

He's got kind of an odd

741

:

delivery.

742

:

Um, he's got his stuff just cuts.

743

:

I mean, I swear I heard

744

:

a few of the guys I think it was app

745

:

state we were playing and

they were coming back to the

746

:

dugout Just like this guy's disgusting.

747

:

Like

748

:

I heard that three or four times Um, he

749

:

is

750

:

a very good pitcher who's pitched

very well And if he just repeated

751

:

what he's done the first two years the

752

:

next two years,

753

:

it'd be great But I think

he's got more in his

754

:

tank and he's got uh, he's got

755

:

more he can give so if we can see ben

756

:

more

757

:

Do even better

758

:

man, that would be huge

for you going forward

759

:

Gary: Another one that falls into

the bucket of can you stretch

760

:

out and become kind of that

dominant starter is Dylan Brown?

761

:

No secret.

762

:

I think he would tell you the same thing.

763

:

He did not have the season.

764

:

He was expecting this year

struggled really early Definitely

765

:

struggled to the middle but came on

766

:

late And really

767

:

showed us what he's got because those

last 3 starts or last 3 appearances that

768

:

he had, you know, close out app state

to beat Georgia State and then to, uh,

769

:

come in and really do a great job against

Georgia Southern early in that game.

770

:

Uh, he's 1 that I would love to see step

771

:

up in 2025 and.

772

:

Become someone that competes with

Blake Morgan for that ace position.

773

:

If we have an ace position, I

don't know if we will or not.

774

:

Um, but 12 strikeouts per nine, uh, 3.

775

:

33 strikeouts per walk in a year.

776

:

That was not his best.

777

:

We're all just great numbers.

778

:

Um, he showed us what he can be in

that Sunbelt tournament with that guy

779

:

who is super dialed in, plays with

some emotion, like a Jacob Gomez.

780

:

I would love to see him step

up and become one of our clear

781

:

starters, potential ACE in 2025.

782

:

CB: Yeah, dylan is a guy

783

:

who just every time you

pitch it you're like there

784

:

is more here there this he's got such

great stuff But then sometimes he

785

:

doesn't And sometimes he gives up runs

786

:

and walks and just does stuff

And it's like every time

787

:

it's like man This kid is so much

788

:

better than the way he's pitching even

though he said that 12 strikeouts per

789

:

nine over

790

:

three strikeouts per walk the stuff

is there and Very clearly he can

791

:

take a step forward and hopefully

we're seeing the starts of that So

792

:

I mean between dylan brown and ben

793

:

moore

794

:

if the two of them Can pitch, Uh, at

an even higher level than they were

795

:

this year, man You've

really got the start of

796

:

something going going good next year

797

:

Gary: Yeah, absolutely.

798

:

And I'll take the position player

here and talk about Stephen Meyer.

799

:

Uh, he really had a pretty

good year this year.

800

:

I think he's a plus defender plus speed,

you know, pretty good on base percentage.

801

:

Uh, but really where he lacked a

little bit for us is, is in the

802

:

average department only hit two

803

:

46, had a three 74 on base percentage.

804

:

We want to just see

805

:

that get higher because

you think about how

806

:

many bases he stole.

807

:

If he was getting on a

808

:

base a few more times,

he'd have 40 plus steals.

809

:

uh he was clutch for us.

810

:

He had two walk off home runs this season.

811

:

I think that he has so much

potential to be a pro center fielder.

812

:

If he's able to just improve

his bat a little bit, you

813

:

got to remember he's young.

814

:

It's his first year here at ODU.

815

:

He's going to get this full off

season, uh, to work with the team

816

:

and go through their program.

817

:

So I think.

818

:

It's logical that he's going to take

another big step forward, but he is

819

:

someone that, man, you can put in

the lineup anywhere that he becomes a

820

:

problem and he gets on base and becomes

a bigger problem for other teams.

821

:

And, uh, he is my position

player pick to click in:

822

:

CB: Yeah, you know Steven i'm with you.

823

:

I think he bet they can click in 2025 I

actually had kind of put him in a group

824

:

of guys where i'm like, I think he needs

of bounce back or step up in:

825

:

Um, 28 steals most we've had in 20

years here and like you said how many

826

:

more could he have had if he was able

to get on base more 374 on base if

827

:

nothing sees that but He's got this.

828

:

I mean for a guy who got hit 26

829

:

times or whatever he got hit Um, you

830

:

know that that 246 average just kind

of kills you I mean, that's always

831

:

you talk about like billy hamilton

It was a guy in the big leagues

832

:

who you know So you can't steal

833

:

first.

834

:

It doesn't really matter how fast you

are if you're not getting on base.

835

:

Um, so Meyer is an extremely

talented ballplayer.

836

:

He's an extremely competitive kid.

837

:

He's one of those guys,

838

:

he steps up in the moments that matter,

which is a trait you just can't teach.

839

:

So there again same thing

kind of like with dylan brown.

840

:

There's a lot more in the tank

here Um, there's a lot of talent

841

:

and if steven can can unlock

those things man, he could have

842

:

a monster 2025 season He could

843

:

absolutely be challenging

kevin gibbs for the

844

:

stolen base record for a season

845

:

Gary: And he's a monster

defensively in centerfield.

846

:

I don't think that defensive run save

847

:

gets tracked at the college level.

848

:

Uh, but I imagine he would be probably

849

:

up there in the top 25 in the country

and defensive run saves just with

850

:

the catches that he's made.

851

:

I've got a couple of outfield

852

:

assists as well.

853

:

Uh, you know, he can avoid

some of those collisions

854

:

with his, uh, corner outfielders, I

think he'd be in even better shape.

855

:

But even in both of those

instances, he made the catch.

856

:

Um, yeah, just all the makings of

a five tool athlete right there.

857

:

Uh, and I'd love to just see it

take that step forward next year.

858

:

CB: Uh, and while we're talking

about a couple guys that kind of

859

:

need to bounce back in 2025 Uh, one

of them wasn't really his fault.

860

:

Uh, Bailey, Mattel, I

had a shoulder injury.

861

:

He missed about a month and it was

pretty obvious when he came back.

862

:

It still wasn't quite right.

863

:

He would get about a batter

or two and pitch very well.

864

:

And then anything past that, it seemed

like he just lost it all of a sudden.

865

:

Uh, so hopefully he can just.

866

:

Rest and strengthen and get himself back.

867

:

You know, he only had 17 innings

this year Uh still led the team

868

:

in strikeouts per nine with 13.

869

:

8.

870

:

So the stuff was there Um, but it just

he he just unfortunately got hurt.

871

:

Uh, so that's not his fault Hopefully he

just has a healthy year because bailey

872

:

Was a huge weapon the first part of

the year when he was healthy and really

873

:

can be so he could be he could be Right

there with ben moore and dylan brown.

874

:

That's three lefties It would all

be juniors who really can have huge

875

:

seasons coming up Uh, but the guy

to me Who I think really needs to

876

:

bounce back and have a big year

after this season is alex boucher His

877

:

numbers took a pretty sizable dip.

878

:

He went from hitting two 90 nines,

a freshman hitting 2 41, had

879

:

a 9 47 on base down to a 7 45.

880

:

He struck Out in 38% of

it is at bats in:

881

:

That was up in 33%, which

is still a little high.

882

:

His isolated slugging, which that's

one of those newfangled fancy stats,

883

:

but basically saying his, his power,

uh, his power went from it was 2 28.

884

:

In uh, 2023 dropped all the

in:

885

:

So it went from excellent to end So

it's just a case of he needs to come

886

:

out and have more contact and harder

887

:

contact And now obviously he had a

888

:

tough end of the year.

889

:

he hurt his hamstring at

one point And then took a

890

:

ball to face broke his nose played

891

:

in the tournament

892

:

the

893

:

whole last week with a big face

mask Uh, so you can't question the

894

:

kid's

895

:

toughness.

896

:

I mean, he got a double

897

:

there right in his last

at batted season Uh, just

898

:

absolute tough guy Um, but you know alex,

899

:

he's an extremely talented ball player

Um, I'm wondering if maybe it's a

900

:

chance to bounce back over to third base

901

:

and maybe a little more

comfortable playing

902

:

in the infield I

903

:

think learning first base maybe that was

904

:

something that might have affected

them, too Uh, but again another guy who

905

:

there's a lot in the

906

:

tank that we didn't quite

907

:

see.

908

:

Gary: I felt like Alex Boucher when he

played in the Sunbelt tournament was

909

:

like the embodiment of our program,

black eyes, broken nose, wearing this

910

:

weird, clear visor and just fighting

like hell trying to put the ball in

911

:

play.

912

:

He probably hit three

foul ball home runs in the

913

:

tournament, like just absolutely destroyed

some, uh, down the left field line.

914

:

Uh, so he's definitely tough.

915

:

Obviously, the potentials there he's

he's done in the previous season,

916

:

just, um, you know, maybe settle

things down, let him reset, avoid

917

:

any, you know, fastballs to the nose

while he's batting would be be great.

918

:

Um, yeah, I, I would love to see him

bounce back because, I mean, that

919

:

was, that's someone that we were

probably relying on for more power

920

:

numbers and have those kind of.

921

:

Important hits to drive runners in

this season that just wasn't there

922

:

consistently for us, but there

is a clear pathway for him to get

923

:

back to that production in 2025.

924

:

CB: You know, and we were just talking

about a bunch of sophomores, right?

925

:

I'm talking about alex boucher Dylan

brown ben bohr bailey mattella That's

926

:

a, that's a great group of guys that are

going to be juniors come up next year.

927

:

I I always I thought about this the other

day and I always like to kind of look

928

:

back at it We we kind of forget that

group should be even better we had a a

929

:

commit seth keller from hanover He got

picked in the seventh round by the braves,

930

:

uh, which he was going to come here as a

shortstop They picked him as a pitcher.

931

:

So he's in his third year playing

professionally We got Everett Cooper

932

:

who was supposed to be coming here.

933

:

He got picked by the nationals.

934

:

And I think the 18th

round, something like that.

935

:

Um, he's been now three years

professional, uh, and a kid, uh, Canon

936

:

people's who was supposed to come

here, kind of screwed us over a little

937

:

bit, uh, chose to go to NC state.

938

:

Then it kind of screwed them

over a little bit, but going to

939

:

Tennessee.

940

:

Uh, but he's had a, had a monster

year at NC state did okay at

941

:

Tennessee.

942

:

But those are three

extremely talented players.

943

:

Who were supposed to be part

of that same freshman class.

944

:

So as good as that group we

have right now is, it's kind of

945

:

so I think it's just, if nothing

else, it's worth looking back and

946

:

remembering like, Oh yeah, our coaches

do a really good job of getting talent.

947

:

Um, cause again, you got two guys,

one's in his third year pitching

948

:

professionally, one's in his third year,

uh, as a hitter professionally, and

949

:

one's, uh, playing at the highest

level of the SEC after playing

950

:

at a high level of the ACC.

951

:

So it just shows, you

know, we, our coaching

952

:

staff at Old Dominion does a great job of

953

:

acquiring talent.

954

:

Gary: It's the double edged sword

of being able to recruit and

955

:

find good talent before other people do.

956

:

Then you're

957

:

just keeping your fingers crossed

958

:

and hoping that no one else finds out

959

:

that they're also really

960

:

good until you

961

:

can get them enrolled.

962

:

Um, it's, it's always

tough and it's even tougher

963

:

in baseball because you have that

option to come out of high school

964

:

and go pro like, like

some of these guys did.

965

:

I mean, Seth Keller would be

an amazing arm dad, Everett

966

:

Cooper would be a great bat.

967

:

I mean, I think you said why

he's been hitting like 281 or

968

:

something like that in pro ball.

969

:

CB: Yeah, those numbers are a little,

970

:

uh, skewed because he went

out, he hit like in the 100s

971

:

his first season in the Gulf Coast.

972

:

And then he

973

:

repeated it last year, hit like 370.

974

:

And this year so far he's playing low

A in Fredericksburg, hitting about

975

:

205 or something like that.

976

:

So, overall it's 280, but

again, he's only 20 years old.

977

:

As

978

:

long as they're patient with him, he's

an amazing athlete, uh, great, great kid.

979

:

You know, I'm definitely rooting for him.

980

:

Uh, but yeah, so that's

981

:

definitely three talented players.

982

:

It could have been

983

:

on the team

984

:

Gary: Yeah, crazy to think what,

what could have been there, Uh,

985

:

with those guys being added to it.

986

:

but

987

:

on that topic, uh, we want to take a look

988

:

at who is definitely out of eligibility

989

:

and leaving, uh, or at

990

:

least we're pretty sure that

they're going to be leaving.

991

:

Oh, to You And then also touch on.

992

:

Some of the guys that

993

:

are coming in at but want to go

through the guys that were, were

994

:

leaving out here that are going to

be, you know, definitely done with,

995

:

with ODU in terms of their eligibility

and that's Kenny LaVarie, Jake

996

:

Tyser, Hunter Cole, and Jack Spites.

997

:

Uh, tough for all four of them.

998

:

I know Hunter, just came over, uh, after

a nice successful career at Randolph

999

:

Macon, uh, which the Yellow Jackets

are back in the College World Series.

:

00:48:02,220 --> 00:48:04,420

So, congrats to Coach

Ray Hedrick up there.

:

00:48:04,820 --> 00:48:08,450

Jake Tyser, Juco transfer in, did a

lot of great things for us, uh, last

:

00:48:08,450 --> 00:48:10,230

year before some injuries slowed down.

:

00:48:10,550 --> 00:48:11,200

And then, Mr.

:

00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:12,740

Monarch himself, Kenny LaVarie.

:

00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:16,670

Uh, that's, that's a tough

foursome to, to be losing.

:

00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:19,820

Uh, but I think it may look

worse on the pitching side when

:

00:48:19,820 --> 00:48:20,570

we get to that in a little bit.

:

00:48:22,490 --> 00:48:27,890

CB: Yeah, I mean it it's huge especially

losing kenny Um the upside I guess

:

00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:32,550

is when you look at it We're losing

22 of our at bats for the year Uh,

:

00:48:32,550 --> 00:48:35,650

which is not a huge amount when you

have this many seniors You would think

:

00:48:35,670 --> 00:48:36,860

you feel like you're losing a lot.

:

00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:39,645

We're really We're losing

a third baseman and a DH.

:

00:48:40,125 --> 00:48:44,265

Uh, so there's going to be room in the

lineup for at least two guys to come in.

:

00:48:44,615 --> 00:48:48,505

Um now again, whether or not that means

Boucher moves over to third base and

:

00:48:48,515 --> 00:48:50,315

you have a first base and DH available.

:

00:48:50,695 --> 00:48:54,484

If you know who knows we

decide TJ Aiken is a DH.

:

00:48:54,485 --> 00:48:56,595

I think he's a left fielder.

:

00:48:56,955 --> 00:48:58,355

so there's a couple of

spots in the lineup.

:

00:48:58,655 --> 00:49:01,865

Um, Yeah, I unfortunately have

not seen a ton of these guys.

:

00:49:01,875 --> 00:49:03,955

Frankly, they keep they keep

getting from all over the country.

:

00:49:03,955 --> 00:49:05,945

We have kids coming in from California.

:

00:49:05,945 --> 00:49:08,805

You Florida, we got a kid from Utah.

:

00:49:08,815 --> 00:49:10,435

I mean, we got guys from

all over the country.

:

00:49:10,435 --> 00:49:13,725

So I've really One guy i've

seen a ton is tanner shadal.

:

00:49:13,885 --> 00:49:16,705

Uh, he's a corner infielder

outfielder played shortstop and

:

00:49:16,705 --> 00:49:19,515

pitched at high school But he's

gonna be more of a corner guy.

:

00:49:19,595 --> 00:49:25,365

Uh, he had a another great year

Uh, let's see 433 here five homers

:

00:49:25,385 --> 00:49:27,015

pitched on the mound 139 era.

:

00:49:27,015 --> 00:49:31,445

I mean tanner's uh, He's gonna be a

hitter for odu Really good ball player.

:

00:49:31,445 --> 00:49:34,975

I could very easily see him playing

at third base or in right field

:

00:49:34,975 --> 00:49:37,435

You Um, so that's a local kid.

:

00:49:37,915 --> 00:49:40,975

Um, but there there's some other

a kid canin george the outfitter

:

00:49:40,995 --> 00:49:47,965

from uh, central florida Uh, he had

:

:

00:49:48,075 --> 00:49:54,660

14 homers 46 rbis Um, a kid,

Andrew Morocco, who was a, I think

:

00:49:54,660 --> 00:49:55,770

it's Morocco is how you say it.

:

00:49:55,770 --> 00:49:56,110

I don't know.

:

00:49:56,110 --> 00:49:57,200

That's the first time I

ever said it out loud.

:

00:49:57,510 --> 00:50:02,220

Uh, he is, he was a red shirt at coastal

Carolina, ended up at Gaston college.

:

00:50:02,510 --> 00:50:04,370

Um, had a really big year there.

:

00:50:04,370 --> 00:50:10,570

, uh,:

eight homers, 51 RBIs, 12 steals.

:

00:50:10,990 --> 00:50:13,050

I know they said he plays

like second and third.

:

00:50:13,130 --> 00:50:14,950

Uh, I think he probably

could play first also.

:

00:50:15,470 --> 00:50:18,970

Uh, another first baseman

from, from California, Zach

:

00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:20,580

Leet, I'm going to assume.

:

00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:22,180

Can you see the Leet or Light?

:

00:50:22,655 --> 00:50:28,855

Uh, he hit 314, 098 OPS, 12

doubles, 10 homers, 43 RBIs.

:

00:50:28,855 --> 00:50:31,575

I mean, those are just some,

some Juco guys coming in.

:

00:50:31,635 --> 00:50:32,615

Efrain Morales is an

:

00:50:32,615 --> 00:50:34,565

extremely good catcher from South

:

00:50:34,565 --> 00:50:35,205

Carolina.

:

00:50:35,515 --> 00:50:38,095

And then you got Will Orbison from IMG.

:

00:50:38,095 --> 00:50:40,995

If anybody knows anything about

IMG, that's a huge big time,

:

00:50:41,325 --> 00:50:43,155

uh, producer of talent.

:

00:50:43,550 --> 00:50:45,640

And Brody Connors, an infielder from Mater

:

00:50:45,820 --> 00:50:48,770

D out in California, which is,

again, one of the best high

:

00:50:48,770 --> 00:50:49,870

school programs in the country.

:

00:50:49,870 --> 00:50:50,760

So there's a lot of

:

00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:54,100

ta Oh, I forgot, Ryan Thomas

is A is a outfielder from

:

00:50:54,110 --> 00:50:55,650

Utah, had a good year at

:

00:50:55,650 --> 00:50:56,160

JUCO.

:

00:50:56,190 --> 00:50:57,560

Um, that's a lot of

:

00:50:57,560 --> 00:50:58,170

talent coming in.

:

00:50:58,180 --> 00:50:59,560

You, you love seeing I couldn't get

:

00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:00,540

stats on all the guys,

:

00:51:00,570 --> 00:51:03,810

but the juco guys all have

really good stats and that's

:

00:51:03,810 --> 00:51:04,960

something you like seeing and say

:

00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:07,200

A good indicator that

you might succeed at the

:

00:51:07,210 --> 00:51:10,959

next level is you succeed

at the level you're at It

:

00:51:11,140 --> 00:51:12,960

Gary: with some of the guys

that are coming from the academy

:

00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:17,475

route, I mean, If you've even

looked at college athletics in the

:

00:51:17,475 --> 00:51:21,905

last 10 years, you've heard of

IMG Academy, um, uh, matter day.

:

00:51:21,905 --> 00:51:23,055

Like that's another huge one.

:

00:51:23,055 --> 00:51:23,675

a lot of big

:

00:51:23,675 --> 00:51:25,225

football stars come through matter day and

:

00:51:25,225 --> 00:51:28,265

then end up, uh, going to

the power five now that,

:

00:51:28,265 --> 00:51:29,945

uh, the PAC 12 is officially done.

:

00:51:30,365 --> 00:51:32,795

Um, so you're just seeing A lot

of good academy guys are getting

:

00:51:32,795 --> 00:51:34,235

that good training plus the Jucos.

:

00:51:34,235 --> 00:51:37,275

I mean, I think on the

offensive side of the ball,

:

00:51:37,895 --> 00:51:40,055

you know, we're definitely

replacing what we're losing there

:

00:51:40,055 --> 00:51:41,315

from a production standpoint.

:

00:51:41,745 --> 00:51:43,665

Uh, you know, it's got to

all work out and they got to

:

00:51:43,665 --> 00:51:44,035

get here

:

00:51:44,035 --> 00:51:46,105

and stay in school and all that fun stuff.

:

00:51:46,115 --> 00:51:49,975

But I feel pretty good about what's

coming in on that, that hitting side.

:

00:51:50,415 --> 00:51:55,335

Um, pitching side might be a

little bit different because we are

:

00:51:55,335 --> 00:51:59,905

losing 57 percent of our innings

pitched from this year's team.

:

00:51:59,905 --> 00:52:02,865

CB: seemed low to me when I did

that number I was like it feels

:

00:52:02,865 --> 00:52:06,475

like more because you're talking

about Like four or five of your

:

00:52:06,475 --> 00:52:08,015

top six or seven pitchers

:

00:52:08,065 --> 00:52:11,035

Gary: I think the bigger thing

is a lot of those 57 percent

:

00:52:11,035 --> 00:52:12,275

were a lot of our weekend guys,

:

00:52:12,635 --> 00:52:14,735

you know, John, being

number 1 on that list.

:

00:52:14,735 --> 00:52:17,715

You know, he technically does have

another year of eligibility, but I

:

00:52:17,715 --> 00:52:18,325

have a hard time

:

00:52:18,325 --> 00:52:18,985

believing that.

:

00:52:19,265 --> 00:52:21,055

If he gets drafted, he's not going to go.

:

00:52:21,055 --> 00:52:23,385

I don't think he has anything

left to prove at this level.

:

00:52:23,755 --> 00:52:27,595

Uh, of course, Jacob Gomez, Vincent

Bechera, two senior stalwarts for

:

00:52:27,595 --> 00:52:29,045

us, spent their whole careers here.

:

00:52:29,405 --> 00:52:32,065

Uh, we may, we're definitely going to

miss them and their production on the

:

00:52:32,075 --> 00:52:33,515

mound, but I think the team

:

00:52:33,515 --> 00:52:36,175

is going to be missing them a lot

from like a leadership and seniority

:

00:52:36,175 --> 00:52:37,895

standpoint within that locker room.

:

00:52:38,265 --> 00:52:41,715

I'll throw Jay Cassidy in that

mix for a locker room guy as well.

:

00:52:41,715 --> 00:52:45,635

I mean, I don't know how many players

that we had come on our show throughout

:

00:52:45,635 --> 00:52:48,515

the course of the year that talked

about Jay Cassidy leading this Jay

:

00:52:48,515 --> 00:52:51,935

Cassidy being involved in that, uh,

he kind of came in for that one year

:

00:52:51,935 --> 00:52:55,175

from Christopher Newport and came

one of the old guys on the roster.

:

00:52:55,175 --> 00:52:56,335

I feel like pretty quickly.

:

00:52:56,695 --> 00:52:57,175

Um,

:

00:52:57,180 --> 00:53:00,910

CB: but you know what you what you hope

from that is that it's kind of like what

:

00:53:01,210 --> 00:53:04,250

Bashara told us where he said You know, uh

:

00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:08,700

heartline and I feel terrible about

forgetting whoever who else he mentioned

:

00:53:09,190 --> 00:53:11,150

But the other guys setting the standard

:

00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:14,474

for him is you really hope

what you see is these guys

:

00:53:14,735 --> 00:53:15,165

Have set the

:

00:53:15,165 --> 00:53:16,115

standard for the next guy.

:

00:53:16,155 --> 00:53:18,525

And we'll see, you know, again,

hopefully next year we see

:

00:53:18,525 --> 00:53:21,935

like Dylan Brown and Ben Moore and Bailey

Mattela and some of these other guys

:

00:53:21,945 --> 00:53:23,535

stepping up and being the new leaders

:

00:53:23,545 --> 00:53:23,795

and being the

:

00:53:23,805 --> 00:53:24,355

new guys.

:

00:53:24,355 --> 00:53:25,395

Gary: Yeah, absolutely.

:

00:53:25,445 --> 00:53:30,815

Brandon Pond, Lincoln Ransom, Aiden

Kuhl, and Ben Moisan, uh, they will not

:

00:53:30,815 --> 00:53:35,715

be with ODU next year,, but we got some

guys coming in, I would be shocked if we

:

00:53:35,715 --> 00:53:39,845

don't add a couple more arms here over the

summer when we go rolling into fall ball.

:

00:53:40,175 --> 00:53:40,435

CB: Yeah.

:

00:53:40,435 --> 00:53:43,945

I'm going to have to imagine both

hitting and pitching wise, you know,

:

00:53:43,945 --> 00:53:47,445

and again, we, we listed off the

guys we know are done including, and

:

00:53:47,445 --> 00:53:50,465

we included Alabetts because he's

getting drafted, uh, but there's.

:

00:53:50,620 --> 00:53:53,690

I'm sure there's some other guys

that are on the roster who have

:

00:53:53,690 --> 00:53:56,920

eligibility who are going to move

on I don't just things happen.

:

00:53:57,190 --> 00:53:59,330

There's probably somebody out

there right now making that choice.

:

00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:03,260

Um, So there are some guys we don't

know about they're gonna be gone And

:

00:54:03,260 --> 00:54:05,920

there are some guys that we've never

heard of who are going to be with us

:

00:54:05,940 --> 00:54:08,410

and they might right now not even know

They're gonna be playing for older man.

:

00:54:08,900 --> 00:54:10,830

Um, but we have some guys come again.

:

00:54:10,860 --> 00:54:15,000

I've seen very few of these i've

seen cole lanford Uh, he's a big

:

00:54:15,010 --> 00:54:18,245

left handed pitcher Um Um, he was

originally committed to NC State.

:

00:54:18,535 --> 00:54:20,905

Uh, he, he played this P5 Academy.

:

00:54:21,255 --> 00:54:24,205

Um, I got to see him come and pitch

against, uh, Bryant and Stratton.

:

00:54:24,505 --> 00:54:27,895

And he did really well against

a, a team called College Hitters.

:

00:54:28,295 --> 00:54:31,025

Um, kid Luke Ridley, a right hander.

:

00:54:31,055 --> 00:54:33,825

He's at the same college, Central

Florida, that Kane and George was at.

:

00:54:34,435 --> 00:54:36,745

Um, he had a very nice

season as a reliever.

:

00:54:36,765 --> 00:54:40,855

3 1, uh, 4 13 ERA, 43

strikeouts, 32 innings.

:

00:54:41,335 --> 00:54:44,575

Um, Julian Areola is a pitcher

from Burlington, North Carolina.

:

00:54:44,575 --> 00:54:47,740

Uh, Had a very nice year, 31 innings.

:

00:54:48,260 --> 00:54:52,329

Uh, Jace Park from Philadelphia,

another right hander, 6 1,

:

00:54:52,510 --> 00:54:54,690

uh, 69 strikeouts, 53 innings.

:

00:54:55,260 --> 00:54:59,140

Maddox Jack is a smaller

kid, but really good pitcher.

:

00:54:59,170 --> 00:55:02,020

I've seen him pitch a couple times at

the camps, uh, they've had over the

:

00:55:02,020 --> 00:55:04,010

summer, uh, from Hickory, North Carolina.

:

00:55:04,700 --> 00:55:05,050

And then

:

00:55:05,050 --> 00:55:07,110

Jacob Perrone Salisbury

from, I'm gonna, I'm

:

00:55:07,110 --> 00:55:10,360

gonna say this incorrectly,

Niskayana, New York.

:

00:55:10,510 --> 00:55:11,100

No idea.

:

00:55:11,220 --> 00:55:11,950

I'm not, I don't know how to

:

00:55:11,950 --> 00:55:12,740

pronounce those things.

:

00:55:13,140 --> 00:55:13,460

Uh,

:

00:55:13,470 --> 00:55:13,790

he's

:

00:55:13,790 --> 00:55:15,040

a really I had I did

:

00:55:15,040 --> 00:55:17,420

have a chance to meet a lot of

these guys back when they um,

:

00:55:17,470 --> 00:55:19,190

Officially signed back in the fall.

:

00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:20,480

Um, and then

:

00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:22,330

rocky green is a kid from uh,

:

00:55:22,450 --> 00:55:24,830

Reston who was kind of

a late signing for him.

:

00:55:25,210 --> 00:55:29,120

Um, so still might be a few guys like

that So there's not quite as many.

:

00:55:29,170 --> 00:55:32,330

Uh, Established players, you know a

:

00:55:32,330 --> 00:55:32,490

lot

:

00:55:32,490 --> 00:55:32,920

of a lot of

:

00:55:32,920 --> 00:55:36,215

talented freshmen coming in

So you, you, I agree with you,

:

00:55:36,215 --> 00:55:37,415

I think they're gonna probably fill

:

00:55:37,415 --> 00:55:38,705

in with some, some,

:

00:55:38,705 --> 00:55:40,475

uh, juco, some more juco,

:

00:55:40,475 --> 00:55:41,765

guys and some more transport

:

00:55:41,765 --> 00:55:42,455

portal guys.

:

00:55:42,455 --> 00:55:44,245

Gary: So, the incoming

pitching class has some

:

00:55:44,245 --> 00:55:48,525

like, Hall of Fame level names there,

like Maddox, Jack, and Rocky Green.

:

00:55:48,845 --> 00:55:49,745

Like that, those are

:

00:55:49,745 --> 00:55:52,675

some, some high quality baseball

names that are coming in.

:

00:55:52,715 --> 00:55:57,325

So maybe they don't immediately, uh,

replace the production that we're losing,

:

00:55:57,325 --> 00:55:59,545

but, uh, with names like that, they have

:

00:55:59,545 --> 00:56:01,005

to be an interesting cast of characters.

:

00:56:01,015 --> 00:56:04,925

So Lucy won't be bored, uh, when we're

talking to him, that is, that is for sure.

:

00:56:05,185 --> 00:56:06,985

CB: Jace Park is a solid one too, I think.

:

00:56:07,135 --> 00:56:08,425

I think when I googled

him that actually there

:

00:56:08,425 --> 00:56:10,405

is some park called Jace Park where people

:

00:56:10,405 --> 00:56:11,215

play baseball,

:

00:56:12,575 --> 00:56:14,715

Gary: yeah, I mean, there's

just up and down that lineup.

:

00:56:14,725 --> 00:56:15,665

There's a couple other ones

:

00:56:15,665 --> 00:56:16,225

that would make some

:

00:56:16,225 --> 00:56:17,425

very interesting t shirts.

:

00:56:17,965 --> 00:56:18,425

Uh,

:

00:56:18,505 --> 00:56:19,805

for us looking into

:

00:56:19,805 --> 00:56:24,335

the future, but, a lot of this could

change, the transfer portal and

:

00:56:24,335 --> 00:56:26,405

baseball is not nearly as crazy as

:

00:56:26,405 --> 00:56:28,565

it is in football, uh, but it is

:

00:56:28,575 --> 00:56:29,545

still pretty crazy.

:

00:56:29,585 --> 00:56:32,775

And there are power programs out

there that will see a guy like.

:

00:56:33,250 --> 00:56:40,170

Luke waters, or, Bailey, Mattel, or,

Ben Moore or Dylan Brown, and they may be

:

00:56:40,170 --> 00:56:42,370

reaching out, uh, to see if

they can try and convince him

:

00:56:42,370 --> 00:56:43,760

to go in the transfer for that happens.

:

00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:45,460

It happened to Southern

Miss a couple of times,

:

00:56:45,460 --> 00:56:47,100

the Marshall few others.

:

00:56:47,410 --> 00:56:50,630

Uh, so a lot of things can change,

but that's the best, as we know of

:

00:56:50,630 --> 00:56:54,540

right now, of, of who is leaving

the program, who we have coming

:

00:56:54,540 --> 00:56:57,650

in, uh, we'll keep you updated, of

course, if anything changes and,

:

00:56:57,765 --> 00:56:57,945

CB: and,

:

00:56:57,945 --> 00:57:01,725

I personally, I don't

really worry about that.

:

00:57:01,785 --> 00:57:03,015

I guess it's going to happen.

:

00:57:03,690 --> 00:57:07,560

I'm sure it will happen and maybe though

i'll be proven wrong But at this point,

:

00:57:07,630 --> 00:57:13,400

I don't see with baseball with your mid

majors that being a huge thing um, I think

:

00:57:13,410 --> 00:57:17,910

a lot of guys they might hopefully be

aware that if you're in a mid major And

:

00:57:17,910 --> 00:57:20,190

you're playing well,

the team's playing Well,

:

00:57:20,190 --> 00:57:22,480

I mean if you're in the sunbelt

sunbelt's one of the top five

:

00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:23,810

conferences in baseball, right?

:

00:57:24,040 --> 00:57:26,830

You're already playing at a high

level of baseball Uh, you can get

:

00:57:26,830 --> 00:57:30,270

seen get drafted become a pro from

there You know You really don't have

:

00:57:30,270 --> 00:57:34,290

to go play in the acc or sec and and

frankly if you go They're bringing you

:

00:57:34,290 --> 00:57:35,080

in to compete

:

00:57:35,080 --> 00:57:37,860

with five other guys for a

spot and maybe you get to play.

:

00:57:37,880 --> 00:57:43,650

Maybe you don't Uh, so I you know,

I know, our football fan base and

:

00:57:43,650 --> 00:57:45,730

our basketball fan base are very

:

00:57:46,110 --> 00:57:50,650

um uh Snake bit by the portal.

:

00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:52,750

I I currently am not

:

00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:54,470

that worried about it

when it comes to baseball

:

00:57:54,470 --> 00:57:56,200

Gary: Yeah, shouldn't

have as big of an impact.

:

00:57:56,210 --> 00:57:58,420

And yes, we are very

scarred from football.

:

00:57:58,430 --> 00:58:01,960

Um, and then basketball was like

all kinds of crazy this year with

:

00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:03,460

coaching change that was going on.

:

00:58:03,660 --> 00:58:07,070

CB: I I'd argue if anything it's going

to benefit us because we see you call it

:

00:58:07,080 --> 00:58:11,305

like kind of bounce back guys a guy that

They go to it, you know, it didn't work

:

00:58:11,305 --> 00:58:13,405

out this year, but a guy

like a gavin abrams, right?

:

00:58:13,405 --> 00:58:14,305

Gavin abrams who was

:

00:58:14,305 --> 00:58:15,475

at clemson,

:

00:58:15,835 --> 00:58:17,695

ends up coming back to kind of a

:

00:58:17,775 --> 00:58:20,185

uh, Yeah, I guess you

could say lower level.

:

00:58:20,215 --> 00:58:20,695

I would I would

:

00:58:20,695 --> 00:58:21,995

argue that let play up level

:

00:58:22,045 --> 00:58:23,204

I don't think i'm crazy to say the

:

00:58:23,205 --> 00:58:25,665

level play in the sunbelt is

not as high as level play in the

:

00:58:26,195 --> 00:58:29,395

sec Uh now it didn't work out for

gavin, which but again, he's a he's a

:

00:58:29,395 --> 00:58:30,725

talented ballplayer I don't you know, who

:

00:58:30,725 --> 00:58:31,215

knows what happened?

:

00:58:31,225 --> 00:58:34,445

Maybe he'll get another shot next

year Uh, but that's the kind of thing

:

00:58:34,445 --> 00:58:37,005

you're hoping for is those guys who

for one reason or another didn't

:

00:58:37,005 --> 00:58:39,765

quite work out in the big power

five schools And they're going

:

00:58:39,765 --> 00:58:41,065

to cut you get a chance at old

:

00:58:41,065 --> 00:58:41,405

dominion

:

00:58:42,495 --> 00:58:45,415

So I always as a baseball fan

look at the transfer portal as a

:

00:58:45,415 --> 00:58:46,115

positive thing,

:

00:58:46,115 --> 00:58:51,225

Gary: Yeah, and I think that is a hat tip

to coach Finwood and what he's built at

:

00:58:51,225 --> 00:58:54,625

ODU and the reputation we have and the

number of guys that we currently have

:

00:58:54,625 --> 00:58:58,815

in the pros and in the minor leagues

and we're going to have, I would say, at

:

00:58:58,815 --> 00:59:01,165

least one, possibly two drafted this year.

:

00:59:01,535 --> 00:59:02,115

Um,

:

00:59:02,120 --> 00:59:02,830

CB: you know When

:

00:59:03,080 --> 00:59:04,660

you speak of finney, he always points out.

:

00:59:04,690 --> 00:59:05,370

Hey, you know what?

:

00:59:05,840 --> 00:59:06,530

We want guys who

:

00:59:06,530 --> 00:59:07,150

want to be here.

:

00:59:07,940 --> 00:59:08,360

So at the

:

00:59:08,360 --> 00:59:09,480

day, you know

:

00:59:09,540 --> 00:59:10,400

If a guy wants

:

00:59:10,400 --> 00:59:12,270

to go because they give him a

couple bucks somewhere else.

:

00:59:12,380 --> 00:59:12,500

All

:

00:59:12,500 --> 00:59:13,650

right, take

:

00:59:13,650 --> 00:59:16,470

care We want guys, you know

We want those lunch pail guys,

:

00:59:16,470 --> 00:59:17,570

one of the guys who want to show up and

:

00:59:17,590 --> 00:59:20,070

be old dominion guys

and work hard and play

:

00:59:20,080 --> 00:59:20,400

here

:

00:59:21,025 --> 00:59:22,435

Um, but yeah, so, so

:

00:59:22,635 --> 00:59:23,185

continue your point.

:

00:59:23,185 --> 00:59:23,565

I'm sorry.

:

00:59:23,575 --> 00:59:25,615

Gary: No, I think, uh, I

think that wraps it up nicely.

:

00:59:25,675 --> 00:59:29,025

Um, but it's, uh, not quite like

football where there's going to be a

:

00:59:29,025 --> 00:59:32,235

mass exodus of everyone who touched the

field and even some guys that didn't.

:

00:59:32,615 --> 00:59:35,835

Uh, somehow getting power for

offers, uh, not going to be quite

:

00:59:35,835 --> 00:59:38,065

the same here in baseball, but

that's not to say that it couldn't

:

00:59:38,065 --> 00:59:39,445

have some one offs here and there.

:

00:59:39,755 --> 00:59:44,515

Um, it could be a, a mutual benefit for

some, but it seems like a lot of that

:

00:59:44,515 --> 00:59:47,435

was kind of weeded out over the past

couple of seasons for us, thankfully,

:

00:59:47,435 --> 00:59:49,455

but we'll keep you updated either way.

:

00:59:49,715 --> 00:59:53,915

Um, through Monarchist social media,

any new commits, uh, any, any info

:

00:59:53,915 --> 00:59:56,390

we get will be Pass it along to you.

:

00:59:56,820 --> 00:59:57,350

Uh,

:

00:59:58,300 --> 01:00:00,820

maybe some of you are asking, maybe some

of you are just glad that we're not going

:

01:00:00,820 --> 01:00:04,360

to be an alert on your Spotify anymore

for a little bit, but we are planning

:

01:00:04,360 --> 01:00:08,300

some episodes here over the summer,

to keep you plugged into the program.

:

01:00:08,620 --> 01:00:10,940

Uh, there's a couple of guys on

the team that we just didn't get

:

01:00:10,950 --> 01:00:12,130

the chance to talk to this year.

:

01:00:12,330 --> 01:00:15,260

And we want to talk to them at some

point this summer and hear their story

:

01:00:15,260 --> 01:00:16,720

and be able to bring it to you all.

:

01:00:17,020 --> 01:00:19,910

Uh, we also want to talk to guys

like Rick French to talk about

:

01:00:19,930 --> 01:00:21,170

the new bud that's being built.

:

01:00:21,170 --> 01:00:24,200

Cause that's a fairly exciting thing

that's happened on the campus of Old

:

01:00:25,060 --> 01:00:28,750

Uh, you want to talk to Coach Finwood,

talk about scheduling for next year.

:

01:00:29,050 --> 01:00:31,729

Uh, we want to get you updated on

the draft and, and where, where

:

01:00:31,730 --> 01:00:34,250

John Halibut is going to go and

potentially some other guys.

:

01:00:34,260 --> 01:00:37,320

So probably looking at a couple

episodes here over the summer

:

01:00:37,330 --> 01:00:41,520

before, uh, football fully takes

over and ruins all of our lives.

:

01:00:41,520 --> 01:00:43,490

And then we get fall ball as a nice break.

:

01:00:43,790 --> 01:00:46,050

Uh, we'll let you know where

that's going to be played too.

:

01:00:46,050 --> 01:00:47,090

That could be an interesting.

:

01:00:47,090 --> 01:00:47,960

CB: Yeah, who knows?

:

01:00:48,020 --> 01:00:51,110

Uh, but yeah, so like you said, you were

about to start talking about the draft.

:

01:00:51,160 --> 01:00:54,930

I am not as optimistic as you

and it's not because I don't

:

01:00:54,930 --> 01:00:56,090

think our guys are talented.

:

01:00:56,690 --> 01:01:00,060

I think it's because the minor

leagues and the way they scout and

:

01:01:00,100 --> 01:01:04,720

draft and develop has changed so

much the last 5 years that it doesn't

:

01:01:04,740 --> 01:01:07,130

really matter if you're talented.

:

01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:09,980

You have to be a specific kind

of talented in specific places.

:

01:01:11,770 --> 01:01:14,110

We have, I think, four

or five guys who are

:

01:01:14,110 --> 01:01:16,660

every bit talented and ready

to go, ready to play pro

:

01:01:16,660 --> 01:01:17,110

ball.

:

01:01:17,290 --> 01:01:18,740

And if it was five years ago, I would

:

01:01:18,740 --> 01:01:19,180

believe they're

:

01:01:19,180 --> 01:01:19,850

getting drafted.

:

01:01:20,245 --> 01:01:22,845

Uh, I think the only guy we're gonna

have draft of this team is gonna be john

:

01:01:22,845 --> 01:01:25,445

holovitz I think he's gonna be in that.

:

01:01:25,495 --> 01:01:26,305

After the fifth

:

01:01:26,305 --> 01:01:28,165

round, you're kind of six to ten range.

:

01:01:28,225 --> 01:01:30,665

He maybe leaks out to the 10 to

:

01:01:30,665 --> 01:01:34,795

15 range but he is an extremely talented

player, he's the kind of guy you

:

01:01:35,185 --> 01:01:38,975

You see 100 miles an hour in his

arm I would draft him have him

:

01:01:38,985 --> 01:01:41,655

start for a year or two and then

put him in the bullpen He probably

:

01:01:41,955 --> 01:01:43,155

shoots the big leagues in a year

:

01:01:43,155 --> 01:01:44,495

Gary: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

:

01:01:44,495 --> 01:01:45,235

And, and you're right.

:

01:01:45,235 --> 01:01:46,465

Like it's really tough to get

:

01:01:46,465 --> 01:01:47,525

drafted in baseball now.

:

01:01:47,535 --> 01:01:48,715

I think it used to be

:

01:01:48,725 --> 01:01:52,485

a little bit easier, but we're down

to basically 20 rounds at this point

:

01:01:52,495 --> 01:01:54,765

when it used to be what 60, I think.

:

01:01:54,885 --> 01:01:58,355

CB: It was At well at one point

it was unlimited at one point They

:

01:01:58,355 --> 01:02:00,845

would keep going until every team

said I don't want to draft anymore.

:

01:02:00,855 --> 01:02:05,365

That's why there was a I think travis

harper was like a uh, 88th round draft

:

01:02:05,365 --> 01:02:09,775

pick that made the major leagues Um, and

then it got down to 50 then it got down

:

01:02:09,775 --> 01:02:14,725

to it was at 40 for about a good 10 15

years Now they got down to 20 and not just

:

01:02:14,725 --> 01:02:18,105

20 rounds But they've also eliminated all

a bunch of the short season minor league

:

01:02:18,105 --> 01:02:21,805

teams where guys usually get drafted and

go play So now it's kind of like you get

:

01:02:21,805 --> 01:02:24,865

drafted Especially if you're a college

guy, you better be ready to go play

:

01:02:24,895 --> 01:02:29,435

eight balls a day So they really want

the guys who are basically playing at

:

01:02:29,435 --> 01:02:34,145

the high levels, you know, the, the big

power fives and ready to rock and roll.

:

01:02:34,225 --> 01:02:36,595

Um, now that's

:

01:02:36,595 --> 01:02:37,545

not always the case for everybody.

:

01:02:37,555 --> 01:02:38,175

Some guys it would

:

01:02:38,185 --> 01:02:39,965

be better off and they, can

just finish out the summer

:

01:02:39,965 --> 01:02:41,165

playing short season ball and

:

01:02:41,165 --> 01:02:41,595

develop.

:

01:02:41,835 --> 01:02:43,185

Uh, I think there's a lot of detriment

:

01:02:43,195 --> 01:02:44,285

being happening to the pro

:

01:02:44,285 --> 01:02:44,775

game.

:

01:02:45,125 --> 01:02:48,495

That's why you see guys coming up and

getting basically their asses handed

:

01:02:48,495 --> 01:02:49,535

to them when they come up in the big

:

01:02:49,535 --> 01:02:50,465

leagues, cause they're not ready.

:

01:02:50,465 --> 01:02:51,225

They didn't get developed.

:

01:02:51,235 --> 01:02:52,115

They, they kind of want.

:

01:02:52,480 --> 01:02:53,460

To draft finished

:

01:02:53,460 --> 01:02:53,930

products.

:

01:02:53,930 --> 01:02:55,300

And that's not the way baseball works.

:

01:02:55,300 --> 01:02:56,310

It's not football.

:

01:02:56,650 --> 01:02:57,440

It's very reasonable to

:

01:02:57,450 --> 01:02:58,490

take a guy in

:

01:02:58,490 --> 01:02:59,570

the first round, even out of

:

01:02:59,570 --> 01:02:59,950

college

:

01:02:59,950 --> 01:03:00,400

and still have to

:

01:03:00,410 --> 01:03:03,410

wait, take two, three years where he

makes it to major leagues, even I'm

:

01:03:03,450 --> 01:03:04,290

talking about first round

:

01:03:04,340 --> 01:03:05,690

college player, your best players.

:

01:03:06,150 --> 01:03:07,110

So for guys who

:

01:03:07,110 --> 01:03:08,900

are not the first rounds, it's

very reasonable to draft the guy

:

01:03:08,900 --> 01:03:10,970

out of college and still expect

them to take three or four years

:

01:03:10,970 --> 01:03:11,880

to maybe become a big leaguer.

:

01:03:13,015 --> 01:03:13,555

But that's not what they

:

01:03:13,555 --> 01:03:13,785

want to do

:

01:03:13,785 --> 01:03:14,105

anymore.

:

01:03:15,320 --> 01:03:16,970

Gary: No, they they want the Paul skeins

:

01:03:17,010 --> 01:03:19,150

type where you're going to throw

a little bit in the minors.

:

01:03:19,150 --> 01:03:22,020

And then before the year is up,

you're going to be up in the pros.

:

01:03:22,030 --> 01:03:22,970

We've seen a lot of them.

:

01:03:23,080 --> 01:03:23,690

I mean, that's what they want.

:

01:03:23,690 --> 01:03:24,020

They want the

:

01:03:24,030 --> 01:03:24,690

ready made.

:

01:03:25,200 --> 01:03:28,540

Guys, and they're just

so dismissive these days.

:

01:03:28,910 --> 01:03:30,580

Like, all right, you don't

exactly fit the mold.

:

01:03:30,580 --> 01:03:32,760

So we're not even going to

bother taking a look at you.

:

01:03:33,790 --> 01:03:36,120

Like, it's not that you're

not good and don't deserve it.

:

01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:36,270

It's.

:

01:03:36,800 --> 01:03:39,680

And you only check

seven of our nine boxes.

:

01:03:39,690 --> 01:03:43,500

So we might get to you later

on and even see if you're worth

:

01:03:43,500 --> 01:03:44,040

drafting.

:

01:03:44,975 --> 01:03:48,875

CB: In another year, when

Maverick Stallings did what he

:

01:03:48,875 --> 01:03:50,805

did, that would get him drafted.

:

01:03:51,295 --> 01:03:53,635

That would have made him, now maybe

it would have been like a 28th

:

01:03:53,655 --> 01:03:54,935

round pick or something like that.

:

01:03:55,415 --> 01:03:58,235

But it would have got him drafted, but I

don't think anybody was even watching him.

:

01:03:58,795 --> 01:04:02,745

I don't think anybody even, I don't think

I saw scouts even aware that he existed.

:

01:04:03,265 --> 01:04:05,215

And because what they would look

at is be like well The overall

:

01:04:05,215 --> 01:04:07,345

numbers weren't that great

or they were just fine,

:

01:04:07,855 --> 01:04:08,245

right?

:

01:04:08,595 --> 01:04:12,715

Um, and that's not to say maverick

if you put maverick on a like I

:

01:04:12,745 --> 01:04:13,955

said back when they have appellation

:

01:04:13,955 --> 01:04:17,265

league If I drafted maverick now here

in june, but in the appellation league,

:

01:04:17,275 --> 01:04:18,465

he would compete for a whole summer and

:

01:04:18,485 --> 01:04:22,545

do well Um, so again, I think jacob gomez.

:

01:04:22,625 --> 01:04:23,365

Absolutely.

:

01:04:23,485 --> 01:04:25,925

Absolutely Should be a pro player

:

01:04:27,065 --> 01:04:28,475

do not believe he'll get drafted.

:

01:04:28,505 --> 01:04:28,825

I would

:

01:04:28,835 --> 01:04:30,665

be I would be very pleasantly

:

01:04:30,665 --> 01:04:33,180

surprised if a team signed him He, if

:

01:04:33,180 --> 01:04:33,250

he

:

01:04:33,250 --> 01:04:35,770

wants to keep playing, I think he might

have to end up playing Indie ball.

:

01:04:35,960 --> 01:04:38,820

And that's not anything

against Jacob Gomez or who he

:

01:04:38,820 --> 01:04:39,600

is as a player.

:

01:04:39,945 --> 01:04:40,205

That's

:

01:04:40,205 --> 01:04:41,945

just the unfortunate

way they're doing things

:

01:04:41,945 --> 01:04:42,275

these days.

:

01:04:42,275 --> 01:04:44,695

Gary: Yeah, it's unfortunate, but

we're rooting for a lot of these

:

01:04:44,695 --> 01:04:44,925

guys.

:

01:04:44,925 --> 01:04:48,785

So at least get the opportunity, even

if it's try out, get signed, go play

:

01:04:48,785 --> 01:04:50,175

indie ball for a couple of years.

:

01:04:50,630 --> 01:04:53,610

Um, because, you know, we, we definitely

want to know we want to be looped in.

:

01:04:53,610 --> 01:04:54,690

We want to be able to cheer you on

:

01:04:55,040 --> 01:04:55,830

the rest of the way.

:

01:04:55,950 --> 01:04:56,700

CB: Trent Buchanan!

:

01:04:56,950 --> 01:04:59,820

I mean, that guy throws

96 from a funky angle.

:

01:04:59,830 --> 01:05:03,320

Like, that's the kind of guy you

should sign and develop and let

:

01:05:03,320 --> 01:05:04,610

him keep pitching to get better.

:

01:05:04,950 --> 01:05:06,120

Kenny LaVarie does everything

:

01:05:06,120 --> 01:05:07,420

you want out of a player.

:

01:05:08,080 --> 01:05:08,900

But because he

:

01:05:08,920 --> 01:05:14,615

didn't hit 370 this year, I don't

think there's any hope of It Now, can

:

01:05:14,615 --> 01:05:16,475

you go out and play, uh, Indie ball?

:

01:05:16,475 --> 01:05:17,115

Yeah, for sure.

:

01:05:17,315 --> 01:05:18,205

And if also,

:

01:05:18,225 --> 01:05:21,335

if I was a team, I'd look at him and say,

Hey, if I sign a worst case scenario, all

:

01:05:21,335 --> 01:05:22,235

right, you're not that much of a hitter.

:

01:05:22,235 --> 01:05:22,815

Go on the mound.

:

01:05:23,520 --> 01:05:24,060

He had four

:

01:05:24,060 --> 01:05:24,650

years of not

:

01:05:24,720 --> 01:05:25,800

using his arm on the mound.

:

01:05:25,810 --> 01:05:26,980

That arm is fresh and ready.

:

01:05:26,980 --> 01:05:28,500

And I guarantee he's got 97.

:

01:05:28,500 --> 01:05:32,230

And, uh, so I, it, it, it

frustrates me this kind of

:

01:05:32,230 --> 01:05:35,170

year where it should be nothing

but successes for these guys.

:

01:05:35,180 --> 01:05:35,430

Nothing, But

:

01:05:35,480 --> 01:05:36,220

things are great.

:

01:05:36,600 --> 01:05:37,380

But then I have to sit here And,

:

01:05:37,380 --> 01:05:37,930

say, I,

:

01:05:38,050 --> 01:05:39,110

think it's just unfortunately not

:

01:05:39,110 --> 01:05:39,920

going to happen for most

:

01:05:39,920 --> 01:05:40,820

of them because of the

:

01:05:40,820 --> 01:05:42,040

way base MLB

:

01:05:42,040 --> 01:05:42,980

baseball has gone

:

01:05:42,990 --> 01:05:43,120

now.

:

01:05:43,120 --> 01:05:43,930

Gary: It's tough.

:

01:05:43,970 --> 01:05:45,970

Definitely not nearly as exciting.

:

01:05:46,020 --> 01:05:48,840

It was always funny when, you know,

some random kid in high school will

:

01:05:48,850 --> 01:05:52,180

be drafted like the 56 round and

it was like the 3rd best kid on his

:

01:05:52,180 --> 01:05:54,490

team, but somehow gets an opportunity.

:

01:05:54,500 --> 01:05:56,140

It gets some major league

development and all of a sudden,

:

01:05:56,140 --> 01:05:57,440

boom, like, he's popping up in the

:

01:05:57,440 --> 01:05:57,920

pros.

:

01:05:58,390 --> 01:06:01,120

Like, those stories just, you It's

not really going to happen anymore.

:

01:06:01,120 --> 01:06:03,130

And you've got teams being scolded

:

01:06:03,130 --> 01:06:03,620

for trying to

:

01:06:03,700 --> 01:06:04,410

skirt the

:

01:06:04,850 --> 01:06:07,660

the draft itself to go

to like the international

:

01:06:07,740 --> 01:06:09,400

signing pool and all of these

:

01:06:09,410 --> 01:06:10,029

things, like.

:

01:06:10,470 --> 01:06:14,490

It's, it's just become so much

about, we just want the product to

:

01:06:14,490 --> 01:06:15,910

the league as fast as we possibly

:

01:06:15,910 --> 01:06:16,230

can.

:

01:06:16,230 --> 01:06:18,150

And half the teams in

the league are once we

:

01:06:18,150 --> 01:06:20,630

get that prospect up and

have them looking good.

:

01:06:20,630 --> 01:06:23,000

We can't wait to trade them away

for more draft picks that are never

:

01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:24,230

going to stay with our program.

:

01:06:24,500 --> 01:06:27,880

Just kind of the constant cycle of

half the league tanking all year long.

:

01:06:27,890 --> 01:06:28,160

So.

:

01:06:28,660 --> 01:06:31,580

Baseball is just not, not what it used

to be, but I think that's why you and I

:

01:06:31,640 --> 01:06:34,180

are so obsessed with college baseball.

:

01:06:34,190 --> 01:06:36,180

Cause it is pure and awesome.

:

01:06:37,420 --> 01:06:41,330

CB: I was just going to say, there's,

I used to, I used to go cover.

:

01:06:41,360 --> 01:06:43,779

I used to take pictures

for the Braves, my leagues.

:

01:06:43,779 --> 01:06:44,810

I love the Braves.

:

01:06:45,200 --> 01:06:46,680

Big fan goes to the minor leagues.

:

01:06:46,680 --> 01:06:48,830

I kept I knew like every guy

in the minor league system.

:

01:06:49,040 --> 01:06:52,840

I I enjoyed it I loved it and it's

just different now and you're right.

:

01:06:52,850 --> 01:06:55,260

That's why i'm like, hey, i'm

just gonna hang out at home

:

01:06:55,490 --> 01:06:56,910

I'm gonna watch od baseball.

:

01:06:56,910 --> 01:06:57,880

I'll go see him in high school If

:

01:06:57,880 --> 01:06:59,910

I can't I enjoy whenever

the high school game I can

:

01:06:59,920 --> 01:07:01,350

get you around here Uh,

:

01:07:01,390 --> 01:07:01,990

because it's

:

01:07:01,990 --> 01:07:06,510

just it's and yeah, obviously is the

level of play better No, I go to I went to

:

01:07:06,529 --> 01:07:07,820

big league game last year's last I

:

01:07:07,820 --> 01:07:09,270

went and saw to see benny,

:

01:07:09,330 --> 01:07:09,540

uh,

:

01:07:09,580 --> 01:07:11,310

pasquotino He had got hurt the day before

:

01:07:11,310 --> 01:07:13,300

but just watching like bobby witt You

:

01:07:13,710 --> 01:07:15,970

Just playing shortstop and

it's just like and just

:

01:07:15,970 --> 01:07:18,370

watching him take ground balls

between innings It's like this guy

:

01:07:18,370 --> 01:07:19,180

is and I got

:

01:07:19,220 --> 01:07:22,040

i've seen him when he was like 16 So

just seeing him, you know five years

:

01:07:22,040 --> 01:07:25,050

later, it was amazing So the level of

play is not like it Yeah, the level

:

01:07:25,060 --> 01:07:25,490

playing the major

:

01:07:25,490 --> 01:07:26,360

leagues is insane

:

01:07:26,400 --> 01:07:29,700

level playing the minor

leagues is is crazy Uh, but the

:

01:07:29,700 --> 01:07:31,810

actual like baseball baseball.

:

01:07:31,850 --> 01:07:32,410

I I really

:

01:07:32,410 --> 01:07:34,520

love college and high

school baseball because it's

:

01:07:34,520 --> 01:07:35,320

just more fun

:

01:07:35,870 --> 01:07:39,930

Gary: Well, major league baseball is lost

is our gain because I'm really happy.

:

01:07:39,930 --> 01:07:40,850

We're going to have guys like

:

01:07:40,850 --> 01:07:44,520

Maverick Stallings and Luke

waters back playing for us

:

01:07:44,520 --> 01:07:46,710

next year and potentially longer.

:

01:07:47,090 --> 01:07:50,090

Uh, and I'm going to enjoy rooting

them on and, and getting to watch

:

01:07:50,090 --> 01:07:52,470

them play and get to watch some

good baseball in the Sunbelt.

:

01:07:52,529 --> 01:07:57,880

So I think that's going to, uh, going to

do it for us as we put a bow here on the

:

01:07:57,880 --> 01:08:01,450

:

definitely stay subscribed.

:

01:08:01,680 --> 01:08:04,770

Uh, if you know people that aren't

subscribed, shame them into subscribing

:

01:08:04,770 --> 01:08:09,270

in case we do sneak one of those episodes

off over the summer, just to to give you

:

01:08:09,270 --> 01:08:11,430

a little taste of, of ODU baseball before

:

01:08:11,430 --> 01:08:15,520

we hit the fall and all of that fun

and excitement starts kicking back up,

:

01:08:15,529 --> 01:08:17,210

CB: yeah, and I I thoroughly appreciate

:

01:08:17,210 --> 01:08:17,689

everyone that

:

01:08:17,689 --> 01:08:20,640

listened to the podcast I I know I had

people stopping me all the time when I

:

01:08:20,640 --> 01:08:22,200

was going to the games and

:

01:08:22,200 --> 01:08:22,529

um

:

01:08:22,955 --> 01:08:25,255

I I really really love ODU

:

01:08:25,255 --> 01:08:26,055

baseball and i'm glad we

:

01:08:26,055 --> 01:08:26,285

got

:

01:08:26,475 --> 01:08:28,305

an opportunity to talk about it

Really enjoyed it with you gary.

:

01:08:28,354 --> 01:08:29,795

Gary: yeah, I, I agree with you CB.

:

01:08:29,795 --> 01:08:33,055

It's been a lot of fun doing this

podcast, hopefully reaching some of

:

01:08:33,055 --> 01:08:36,734

you and giving you some more insight

to ODU baseball and just awesome

:

01:08:36,734 --> 01:08:38,215

people that surround that program.

:

01:08:38,215 --> 01:08:39,995

So thank you all so much for listening.

:

01:08:40,295 --> 01:08:43,234

Appreciate all the parents

and the coaching staff in the

:

01:08:43,234 --> 01:08:45,895

athletic communication staff,

that's welcomed us with open arms.

:

01:08:46,274 --> 01:08:46,375

So

:

01:08:46,375 --> 01:08:47,005

thank you.

:

01:08:47,505 --> 01:08:48,755

I'm Gary go monarchs

:

01:08:48,921 --> 01:08:50,850

CB: I'm cb go monarchs

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About the Podcast

Hudson Homers
Covering Old Dominion Baseball
Co-Hosts CB and Gary cover all things in the world of Old Dominion Baseball. Join us for this weekly podcast keeping you up to date on the Monarchs, Dollars for Dingers and Sun Belt Baseball. We will be joined by current and former ODU players, coaches and even a few of you from Monarch Nation. As always, The Monarchists Podcast Network is By Fans, For Fans. www.odumonarchists.com

About your host

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Gary Williams

ODU alumn and diehard Monarch sports fan.